minnjd

I actually posted the numbers for The Martian on the last page but I'll repost here since they kinda got buried by the Star Wars/2012 discussion:

The Martian-20th Century Fox

DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1

Sound Design/Supervising Sound Editor: Oliver Tarney

Sound Design: Michael Fentum

Mixing: Paul Massey, Mark Taylor, Dafydd Archard

Level - 3 Stars (109.29dB composite)

Extension - 5 Stars (1Hz)

Dynamics - 5 Stars (33.46dB)

Execution - TBA

Overall - TBA

Ridley Scott's newest Sci-Fi soundtrack is a lot like Prometheus in that the bass is restrained and often subtle, but unlike Prometheus it makes up for it's low level with some semi strong ULF rumbles down in the 10Hz region.  These rumbles appear to be deliberately placed as they accompany most of the 'uncomfortable' scenes in the movie (such as when Matt Damon operates on himself).  Most of the 'big' effects (such as they are) are full bandwidth and extend all the way into single digits with virtually no rolloff.  No clipping on any channel and the dynamic range is pretty good, so if the low level is an issue, just bump your sub by a few dB.

Now all he needs to do is raise the level a bit.......

If maxmercy does a poll for the Martian he should definitely add those graphs onto the numbers I posted a few pages ago. They look nice!

They all have their moments, but it's really hard to watch them all the way through.  Sound wise, The Phantom Menace probably had the best mix in terms of dynamics and overall 'smoothness'.  The bass may not have had the same extension or overall level of AOTC, but I found it a lot less overbearing.  Sometimes raw volume isn't everything.  Episode III seemed to forget just about everything that made the first two good.....

On a side note: Figures are upcoming for Super 8, which will finally put an end to the debate on whether it's filtered (yes, it is), how rampant the clipping is in loud sections (pretty bad), and open a whole new line of arguing over where and how JJ lost his way 

Yeah out of all of the original trilogy only ROTJ comes close to the first two prequels in terms of bass. I agree the sound design of the prequels was a bit lazy in places. I can't count the number of times I heard one specific explosion effect repeated throughout all three.

I'd take Revenge of the Sith any day over the other two.  ROTS at least had some bass, and on a few occasions it was even decent.  Although a huge letdown compared to the first two prequels, you could easily turn up your sub and still get a good experience.  Hobbit and 2012, on the other hand, don't benefit at all from additional volume as there's no bass there to reproduce in the first place.

2012-Sony

DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1

Sound Design/Supervising Sound Editing: Paul NJ Ottosson

Mixing: Jeffrey Haboush, Michael Keller, Rick Kline

Level - 3 Stars (109.24 dB composite)

Extension - 1 Star (26Hz)

Dynamics - 4 Stars (27.17 dB)

Execution - TBA

Overall - TBA

Ouch, what a shame.  This movie had so much potential for some awesome ULF, with scenes of entire cities collapsing into the ocean and a mile high tsunami wiping out Washington DC.  In many regards the soundtrack delivers; it's fairly dynamic, doesn't clip, and has some great surround effects.  But then we come to the low end, and at no point is it anything other than pathetic and underwhelming.  The level rating comes from a few quick transient effects and some moderate action in the 40-50 Hz region, but as the PvA graph shows, there is virtually nothing of any power below 45Hz, and entire scenes of massive devastation pass with little more than a burp from the subwoofer.  There's no doubt about it, this one falls into the same ignominious company as Battleship and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

0:45:00

0:59:00 (spoiler: this is when the Yellowstone caldera erupts from the vantage point of a character a few miles away.  Yes, that graph is correct)

The Martian-20th Century Fox

DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1

Sound Design/Supervising Sound Editor: Oliver Tarney

Sound Design: Michael Fentum

Mixing: Paul Massey, Mark Taylor, Dafydd Archard

Level - 3 Stars (109.29dB composite)

Extension - 5 Stars (1Hz)

Dynamics - 5 Stars (33.46dB)

Execution - TBA

Overall - TBA

Ridley Scott's newest Sci-Fi soundtrack is a lot like Prometheus in that the bass is restrained and often subtle, but unlike Prometheus it makes up for it's low level with some semi strong ULF rumbles down in the 10Hz region.  These rumbles appear to be deliberately placed as they accompany most of the 'uncomfortable' scenes in the movie (such as when Matt Damon operates on himself).  Most of the 'big' effects (such as they are) are full bandwidth and extend all the way into single digits with virtually no rolloff.  No clipping on any channel and the dynamic range is pretty good, so if the low level is an issue, just bump your sub by a few dB.

0:13:00

1:56:00

Not sure if there were plans to do a poll on this one, but here's what The Martian looks like:

Not all that impressive and most of the movie is pretty bass free (although very good)

One interesting quirk though that you can see on this graph:

This section has no audible bass for the most part outside of a thump or two as it isn't an action scene (this is around 13:30 in the film), but check out that 9Hz rumble.  It's at a decent intensity and it ends up running for over a minute!  This happens at a few other points in the film so it has to be intentional.......In addition there's a few spots where a ULF only 'hit' will occur centered around 6Hz.

So despite the low volume there's some crazy unfiltered ULF moments in this film.

I'll comment on this one when I get around to seeing it, but I thought the first "Despicable Me" had a better soundtrack with better bass than its sequel.  I also liked the first film more than the second.

Gotta agree.  All of the Despicable me movies sound nice, but the first one definitely had more balls than the other two.  Despicable Me 2 and Minions are actually almost identical in sound (overall low levels with just a few good bumps).

All three were done by the same guy (Chris Scarabosio) so it's a bit of a mystery why he dialed back after the first one.

On a side note: rewatched Edge of Tomorrow at near reference level, and man what a nice soundtrack.  Explosions and crashes had a nice, full bandwidth punch to them that hit quick and then got out of the way.

Okay, I see.  I'd like to still help out with graphs if I can.

They don't come from the graph.

 

What are you guys using to calculate them then?

Hi.  Question: I'd like to help out on graphing, but I'm having some issues understanding exactly how the 'level' category is calculated.  Would someone be able to fill me in using the peak/average graph for Jupiter Ascending above?  Specifically, where are the three numbers used for the average are coming from on that chart?  Peak level is pretty obvious, but what about the two RMS numbers?

Thanks!