MemX

Do we know what scene has that huge amount of <5Hz content? It would be a very rare system indeed that can do anything with it. Even with a BIG sealed system, transducers or IB the typical electronics roll off chain is going to be way down in level below 5Hz. Probably a good thing too cause look at the peak level on that at 1Hz!

*awaits Bosso's feedback* 

lol

That's a monster!

Nice - hopefully it will continue the decent lower end of the later Harry Potter films.

I watched 'Birdman' the other night - I'd forgotten I'd bought it and it was on the top of the pile, so we gave it a watch

It's no ULF monster (as in there is pretty much none  lol) but has an excellent drum track as the score, which would sound great on a well-aligned system with 'tight' bass. 

The film's also weird but good - it's a recommend from me!

Wouldn't folks be better off buying ported, rather than sealed subs for there HT?

Since most flicks today don't  have much to offer, down into single digit territory.

But wouldn't you rather have the capability to reproduce it when it is there? 

Could it be that the sound was just too thin and/or bright?  That will definitely contribute a lot of edge.

I hear what you're saying (now my hearing has recovered, lol) but it was a case of speech causing one to wince slightly - I usually set my listening level by whether speech is 'comfortable' or not, and this definitely wasn't comfortable...

I suppose it could have been lack of bottom end meaning it sounded unbalanced and harsher - I think I might pick it up after it's come out (and come down in price ) so I can listen to it on system I know sounds alright when set at a reasonable level!

I guess that at least the info is there under 30Hz, which should mean we can lift the bottom end and create something monstrous

At least it's not hard filtered!

I watched Beauty and the Beast at the cinema over the weekend.  The biggest screen so should have had the best sound - or so you would have hoped...

It was ridiculously loud, like it had that 'edge' that you get when you just need to turn it down a couple of dB to make it comfortable, yet this was a screen half full of kids.  Hardly good for their more sensitive hearing...

Anyway, when we weren't being deafened there did seem to be reasonable dynamic range on it, and there was quite a lot of bass at times, although it wasn't particularly low.  I'm going to thrown my hat in the ring and predict it's filtered, which would be a shame if it is, as it reminds me of some of the large productions from the earlier days of cinema.

Just to ask the question...  what was the reason ULF started becoming more common, then?

Was it just improved microphones recording real life events for use in films, capturing the low stuff properly?

Or was the technology better?  (sound design, playback equipment, etc?)

Or was it recognition that human hearing / the loudness curves didn't actually stop at 20Hz?

Or just increased pressure from this new fangled internet thing for more realistic sounds?

Whatever the answer is, I'm grateful it's around!

John Wick (7.1 TrueHD)

 

Level        - 3 Stars (109.38dB composite)

Extension - 5 Stars (1Hz)

Dynamics - 5 Stars (28.5dB)

Execution - 4 Stars (by poll)

 

Overall     - 4.25 Stars

 

Recommendation - Buy (by poll)

 

Notes:  Very solid bass.  Nothing demo worthy, but just generally good.  Movie was OK.  Loved the scenes in the hotel and nightclub.

 

PvA:

 

Fiiiiinally watched this - at a friend's house, on a boom-tastic soundbar+ported sub combo.

Sounded pretty good even on that - will pick up the BD and watch it on my system

The fight scenes were ace!

See the movie.

 

Wow!

 

It is an excellent film through and through. Terrific bass and Atmos sound.

 

 

 

That looks monstrous, nice graph

That looks like it's going to be excellent!

Has anyone seen the 12 Monkeys TV-series?

I recently watched the first season and am half way through the second now and it has lots of loud bass. And it's not just your typical boomy TV-show bass, it's clean despite being loud and it reaches very low at times.

The first season finale was particularly crazy as almost half of the episode (about 17-18 minutes I'd say when looking at the waveforms) had a deep bass pumping. Very similar to Pulse but not quite as deep and it seemed to vary a bit more. It actually started to annoy me after a while because it just wouldn't go away, I'm sure some people would have gotten a headache from that.

There was some TV show the missus was watching (one of the various ones with Vampires in IIRC) and it seemed like the production team had a "Add bass for added tension" button that they were leaning on for half the time, even when nothing of any note was taking place on screen - too much can be too much!

We watched 'The Finest Hours' tonight - thanks to those recommending it earlier in this thread - I'm not EQd properly but even so, the added weight from bass digging deep was much appreciated and also pretty nicely done.  Not too much, not too little, and tied in with what was happening on screen.  I'll had to re-watch it when the neighbours are out as I had to watch it quieter than I would have liked. 

Film itself was a bit cheesy and some of the filming techniques weren't quite as seamless as I would have liked, but overall I recommend a watch

I'm starting to wonder if the Old PB12-Ultra/2 could compare to this thing. Does anyone have one? Its going to have a power disadvantage with that 1k bash amp, but I think it could be a cool battle

I've got a PB2/Plus, which I think was later renamed to the PB12-Plus/2 - not quite the same model but a similar design

It's been gathering dust since my PPSL build!

I need to sell it TBH, at the moment it's just a convenient table for dumping things on  lol

We watched 'Home', the one with Jim Parsons in, this weekend.

I wasn't expecting a lot but, er...  yeah...

Unless there's a shedload of <15Hz stuff that I'm just not getting because I've not setup my MiniDSP yet  , there was a distinct lack of bass associated with anything happening on screen.  The end section could have been insane but it's like there was a 40Hz filter or even higher - ridiculous.

For a Rizzo / Thom combo on sound, I can only assume that the studio laid down ground rules that it had to be suitable for 3-year-olds, which meant lots of kick-drum on songs but nothing that might be 'scary' 

At least the levels were good and it sounded pretty clean, I had it up to -8 on the AVR, which I only ever do with Oblivion and similar.

Good posts

I smiled at the first part, though - it does seem as though sometimes the tweaking time overtakes the actual time spent just playing content for fun!

I tend to like the presentation of mine, but I'm just running Audyssey for processing.  Perhaps one gets to like what one is used to until one is presented with something that is better?

I do take my hat off to everyone who spends so much time improving their system - I've still not got round to putting the MiniDSP (which I bought about 18 months ago) into the system, and I really must do it soon before I have to move out and back into the missus' dad's house so we can save for a bigger place...

I sincerely hope  you addressed the distortion/comb filtering and overall experience in your room in your fast-bass system with these:

 

http://www.machinadynamica.com/machina31.htm

 

And think of all the upgrades you could do with all of these products:

 

http://www.machinadynamica.com/machina5.htm

 

We are so behind the curve here at d-b it sucks.

 

JSS

Oh damn that's just what we need! A few pebbles scattered about the room. What are we thinking with bass traps, measurement systems and modern dsp? Simply strategically place a few minerals and instantly get that last 1%. Only $99 too. What a steal.

Sadly, I know people that would fall for that.

With all the nonsense that is spouted on some audiophool forums, I don't even know if that's a joke website or not!!

Got round to watching Star Trek: Beyond at home last night.

I quite like the film, decent action, albeit not entirely believable at points. 

Soundwise?  Poor.  First section had seemingly massively overblown 30-40Hz focus, which then seemed to basically disappear in the end two-thirds of the film.

It could have been so good.  Instead...  I doubt I will be watching this one much. 

I guess the one thing that was better is that the levels seemed fairly consistent - I was constantly turning the previous film up and down, the dialogue-to-noise ratio was all over the place.

I didn't recognise the sound crew but someone needs to sit them in Bosso's room and make them compare notes with the 2009 reboot...

(Where is Bosso BTW?  Don't think I've seen him around for ages now.)

As I'm living in a cave I'm not sure what's out when and where, so I don't know if 'Passengers' has already been commented on / measured elsewhere?

Either way, I have now watched it at the good cinema I mentioned above, and it seems promising.  Strong swelling bass associated with the ship in space (think Elysium camera fly-pasts), plenty of firm thuds and rumble associated with things happening, and while a somewhat predictable / cheesy storyline, the music had that nice 'enveloping' feeling that washes over you and immerses you into it, like a warm blanket

I don't think I noticed any clipping, there were no scenes I can recall that elicited that slight grimace I'm sure we all make when something obviously sounds harsh, but the volume was just right - not too quiet, but loud enough to draw you in and not deafen you - so I think that helps a lot.  (Amazingly the adverts at the start were actually quieter!  I really must write to the manager / chain MD and compliment them / tell them not to change a thing, because usually the adverts are ridiculously cranked up to the point of whincing.)

I fear a strong 30Hz-ish hump as some of the bass seemed a touch 'samey', but there were a couple of parts that seemed to be a bit lower as well.  It's hard to call, I guess, but if it's unfiltered, this one will be awesome

*goes off to pray to the gods of the mixing desk*

Awesome

You could sell them as pre-cut kits, just needing assembly!

As far as the technical presentation one of the worst I've ever seen was at a drafthouse/dinner theater as well.  The Bourne Identity was the movie and when it started out the optical soundtrack was visible on the left side of the screen.  Then the picture slowly went out of focus.  Then someone fixed the lens.  Then it slowly went out of focus again.  This time someone removed the entire lens housing, while the movie was still running!  After a minute or so they put the housing back in and everything worked after that.  Damn near asked for my money back.  It goes without saying that the sound was crap too.

LOL

Well, they do say that one needs to visit the cinema for a movie 'experience'...

That sounds dreadful indeed SME.

 

I'm going to see Rogue One tonight at the local Regal cinema. I know what to expect. Little support of the low end to speak of, some harshness on the loudest scenes and quite loud playback overall. In fact this theater seems to be borderline too loud for some people and kids. On the other hand the video quality isn't too bad and the dialog always seems to be a bit hot but at least it is heard.

Will look forward to your thoughts!

Forgive my ranting.

 

I saw "Rogue One" today at the Alamo Drafthouse, my first time at one of these.  The Regal RPX that I usually go to only offered the movie in 3D, and I wanted 2D.  The Alamo claims that it gives "attention to detail in film presentation and programming", but my experience does not support that statement at all.  For starters, there seemed to be no LFE or subwoofers at all.  OK, so maybe it's trying for more of an "art house" vibe.  We forget that lack of subwoofers is a relatively minor offense as far as cinema presentations go.  The major offenses were the lighting and the playback level.

 

They never dimmed the lights which were part of wall sconces that were not shielded from the screen or from the viewers eyes.  They cast shadows on the screen and caused blinding glare behind my wife's glasses.  The screen also appeared to be mounted on the wall a lot higher than necessary, forcing us to strain our necks more despite being a fair way back from the front.

 

My biggest complaint was that the playback level was so low that I struggled to make out the dialog amidst the sounds of chairs squeaking among other things.  I'd guess it was at least -15 from reference.  An audience member quietly laughing sounded louder than the actors in the moving shouting.  I kind of wondered if the noise floor contributed more to LEQ than the movie did.  I liked the movie, but felt like I missed most of it and was glad when it was over as the over 2 hours of listening to people make noise had finally come to an end.

 

I'm gonna write them a detailed complaint to see how they respond, but if this is what "attention to detail in presentation" looks like in a cinema, the industry is pretty well screwed.  I mean, I actually have decent hearing even if I have more trouble hearing dialog (both in movies in real life, something about how my brain processes it) than most.  Someone like my Dad who has significant hearing loss would probably have missed the entire movie.  I told my wife that I could have heard the dialog better if I watched it on a phone or a tablet, and I'm completely serious.

That sounds like a crap cinema experience!

Hope they sort it out but I wouldn't hold your breath.  I don't understand how hard it can be to get it right - surely, with everything being digital now, they can just press play mid-way through an action scene, go and sit in the seating with a SPL Meter, get some readings to make sure it's not deafening, then fast forward to a quiet scene to make sure it's loud enough in those parts?

Hopefully the home viewing will be a pleasant surprise!

I am jealous of your tools and woodwork skills!

Oh, I was going to say - I watched Star Wars: Rogue One at a new cinema at the weekend

Presentation was very good, not cranked up too loud but with strong yet balanced bass throughout - I'm hopeful that this will measure the same as The Force Awakens, with the usual 30Hz hump but decent amounts of content below it.  If it does, certain scenes have the potential for much epicness

Bass.......

 

 

150dB peak?!