j/k, Joe

By the way, I used to have to pay US$90.00 per set for DTS trailers until I complained directly to DTS. They then informed me that if I requested them directly from DTS (instead of through my equipment dealer) that they would be issued free-of-charge. So if anybody else is still paying for their DTS trailers it may be due to the fact that you are ordering them through a dealer.

And I'm not being one of those people who will bash SDDS at every opportunity. I think the trailers should be free. Consider it a bona fide complaint. For quite a while SDDS was the only digital system I really knew. This was when I was working for AMC. I liked the system just fine; it was as reliable as Dolby and I liked the idea of it having a digital backup (even though I don't think that works in practice). Anyway, I liked the system well enough to try to introduce it down here in The Bahamas but in my research I discovered that it cost so much more than the other systems and, in reality, what it offers doesn't seem to justify the higher cost. I think that's a legitimate complaint, too.

Sony have always charged for trailers apart from the set supplied with system. Thats their policy.

Have you tried asking them ( Sony ) for free trailers ?

We never adopted SDDS here in The Bahamas because it was too expensive in many ways. This trailer issue was one of them.

Believe me, I was disappointed because I was still very much in love with the system.

But, this chain is still growing and I know there are at least six more screens in the works. That site is slated to be "all-digital" (audio). So, I'm still interested in getting at least one 8-channel system in there.

If Dolby or DTS would do that, I think that would be even more of a reason to choose one or the other. No one likes running damaged logo trailers and let's fact it, trailers in the average booth get beaten to crap due to poor handling.

PS to Karen, PLEASE make a good dts trailer for us! The Sonic Landscape was cool the first time I saw it, but I quickly learned to hate it. It is suitable for art films and dramas, but we NEED a good showoff trailer. The best ones ever were the ORIGINAL Dolby Train logo (not the later versions starting in 1993) and the Dolby City has a nice start to it as well. THX released an original version of the Cimarron that was incredible, but quickly pulled it and replaced the soundtrack with the lame one that is currently on the prints. Also, don't forget to have the timecode extend into the tail leader and to make the file end with dead silence for well into the tail leader as well. I cannot stand these logos that drop out before the end of the logo is reached. The biggest offender is the multiple format THX Broadway logo currently being shipped. No less than 3 feet of GOOD black at the head and tail too.

These logos need to be able to be played at substantially louder volume than they actually will be and not sound like poo. That always marks a great mix. As to the trend of remixing the sound logos to tame them down, the way I see it if a powerful logo is damaging people's systems, then whoever set it up and designed it needs the wakeup call. Give me something powerful!

It may cost money, but it _is_ good.

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The first and GOOD one started out silent with 5 pings around the speakers, then one hell of a powerful CHOOUUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMMPH broke the silence as the train started. Actually thinking back on it, "powerful" is hardly the word. That mix was incredible!!! This one definitely had the "Dolby Stereo Digital" logo on it. It was supposedly remixed because people kept blowing their speakers and blaming it on the logo, which was probably true. The mix definitely taxed the sound system, but really showed off a good one. (If memory serves we played that at 9 on the fader at Northpark. We frequently got raving applause from the audience too. The Lion King was the first and last time we ran that logo for a non-adult movie due to the babies not being able to handle it.)

The second one is just horrid. It starts out with a loud bunch of "noise" before the pings. The "noise" which I think is supposed to be steam whistles was actually louder than when the train started. I have a copy of that around here somewhere and hate it. It's just noisy. Terrible mixing, whoever did it. I am almost positive that this one had the "Dolby Stereo Digital" logo on it as well.

The third one I am aware of is their current one. It is very short (say 20 seconds) and the picture "cuts on" instead of fading up. It tries fairly good to re-create the original Train mix, but it IS toned down (supposedly to help cheap theater owners who put in crappy sound systems from blowing their speakers). It's a decent compromise, but it is definitely too short and just doesn't have that POWER of the first one. The end tag says "Dolby Digital".

I think the whistles on the front of the second "train" trailer were some kind of musical flute like thing, accompanied by some kind of bass whirr-down as the pings hit. That trailer was definitely not as loud as the first one.