This is topic Movies, music and SDDS in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.
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Posted by Rory Burke (Member # 512) on 08-24-2000, 12:16 PM:
Does anyone have an opinion regarding movies with really good music parts like "Singles"
"Selena" etc..... The reason I ask is over the last few years I have been trying to figure out if SDDS does anything different to the sound of Music played as opposed to DD or DTS. I haven't found a noticable difference in overall sound quality of movies for the three digital formats but for some reason I always notice that "live music scenes" sound much different in fact better while in SDDS.
"Selena" is a good example.
The reason I ask is because of Dreamworks' new movie "Almost Famous". It is comming out next month and reportedly it has excellent "live concert" scenes throughout the movie with that great Classic Rock n Roll!!!Rory
Perhaps it is the "placebo" effect, but I do seem to enjoy SDDS especially with music.
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 08-24-2000, 12:21 PM:
I would say that is due to the harshness of the digital eq. All of the examples you quoted are for rock music, specifically "live concert" type music. In that instance, that may be preferable. However, I'll bet you would be more pleased with DTS or SRD for something like classical. They are more detailed, warmer and crisper.
Posted by Ari Nordström (Member # 288) on 08-24-2000, 04:28 PM:
I agree with Brad here; in my limited experience, the SDDS sound is rather harsh, which could very well explain your preference, strange as it may sound... 
So, does anyone remember a Dolby Digital or DTS title, simultaneously released in SDDS, with lots of classical music?
Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 08-24-2000, 05:52 PM:
Our print of 'Hilary and Jackie' had SDDS - we couldn't play it, though. Can't think of any other classical music films that do, though.
Posted by Michael Cunningham (Member # 210) on 08-24-2000, 06:45 PM:
You might see if anybody is still playing "Music of the Heart". It's about a violin teacher and therefore has a lot of classical sounding music at least.-Mike
Posted by Nic Margherio (Member # 273) on 08-25-2000, 01:10 AM:
"The Red Violin" was released in SRD and SDDS, though I never had the opportunity to hear it in SDDS. I think that would have been a very good track to compare. I don't remember if I was VERY, or just moderately, impressed the SRD version or not (I do remember that it was at least -decent-) but I did hear it on a CP500 which has been critizised as having similar EQ characteristics to SDDS, (both digital EQ) i.e. excessive "brightness" and/or "harshness, "lack of warmth" etc.
Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 08-25-2000, 03:41 AM:
How about 'Sense and Sensibility' with SDDS and SRD?...I think it had SRD... 
Posted by Stefan Scholz (Member # 147) on 08-25-2000, 04:09 AM:
Immortial Beloved - The Ludwig Van Bethoven story, European releases, were dual format.
The 8 ch. orchestra was great, the film is a bomb.
I like the characteristics of the digital EQ, compared to the modulation distortions of the analog systems.- Well it is a matter of taste. Total anaslog without any EQ -- the way to go. But I think, we had this point previously.
Posted by Rory Burke (Member # 512) on 08-25-2000, 10:35 AM:
Oooooh!! Don't forget the Tango scene in "True Lies" Think it would be could reference too but not sure what formats it came in if at all in digital.
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 08-26-2000, 01:59 AM:
True Lies was SRD and DTS only.
Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 08-26-2000, 08:36 AM:
As far as I am concerned the only prints of True Lies that count are the 70mm ones
Posted by Charles Everett (Member # 889) on 01-27-2002, 05:25 PM:
"A Dolby Digital or DTS title, simultaneously released in SDDS, with lots of classical music?"Gosford Park Sounds quite lovely in SDDS.
Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 01-27-2002, 08:23 PM:
I did alot of the dailies work for True Lies and you should have seen how good Super 35 can look! You'd think you were watching it in 70mm. Russell Carpenter did an amazing job on that film. My 35mm print looks, a bit grainer than the 70mm's did, but great to say the least and all I can say is the heck with the digital tracks! With a finely tuned optical system this is one of the finest examples of how good analog SR can get!! Almost indestinguishable from the SRD track except for seperation.
Mark
Posted by Aaron Sisemore (Member # 145) on 01-27-2002, 10:00 PM:
As for musical type films sounding better in SDDS, it may be true:Amazing as it seems, 'Spiceworld' is the best sounding SDDS print I have EVER heard, and I have played a LOT of films in that house [Sebastopol #1] in SDDS in my time!
'That Thing You Do!' was another that sounded GREAT (in DTS however: the print we had had a bad SDDS track, so I never got to hear it that way)
'Moulin Rouge was nice in SDDS as well, save for the bigtime dropouts on a couple reels due to ready-to-die LEDs in the reader) 
-Aaron
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 01-28-2002, 02:13 AM:
I am going to add to this because in the last year and a half since this thread was started I have done an interesting test. What I have done is to makeup my own pin swapping cables and inserted the SDDS signal straight into a Dolby processor, leaving the SDDS's internal EQ disabled. Let me just say this, the results are phenomenal!!! I challenge anyone with the means to get two SDDS players and mount them both in one rack. Wire one of them "normally" in between the Dolby processor's output and the crossover and take the other one and insert the signal into the Dolby processor's digital inputs. (On a CP200 with an Aux rack you can actually do full 8 channels.) Now EQ both processors at the same time with the same equipment, mic placement and tech at the controls and make absolutely certain that both SDDS players are outputting the exact same signal level with both set to "0.0" and the Dolby set on "7". (You will have to level match the output of a DA20 on the second SDDS unit.) Run a reel of film and have someone randomly bypass the unit that is wired in "normally" and see if you don't hear an amazing difference. 
If you think SDDS sound great normally, try it THIS way. Digital EQing sucks!
Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 01-28-2002, 02:06 PM:
From an "audiophile" perspective, what Brad says makes total sense. Whatever good things might be said about digital EQ, preserving the integrity of the original source signal material (especially music) cannot possibly occur once you start mucking around with it in the digital domain. It's all downhill once you add all that nonsense in the signal path.------------------
- dave
Stay away from the meadow...