Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Movie soundtrack fidelity

This is topic Movie soundtrack fidelity in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Lakshman Thodla (Member # 1211) on 07-09-2003, 03:36 AM:

i have noticed many sources saying movie soundtracks are not good for testing the fidelity of a sound system compared to music tracks is it really so as i feel movie sound due to it standardistaion and uniformity of standards is the most lifelike and natural presentation source of sound if played back properly .

bye
lakshman

Posted by Dave Macaulay (Member # 813) on 07-09-2003, 08:02 AM:

Optical sound tracks are weak material for critical sound tests. All current sound tracks will be Dolby encoded but even with a calibrated processor the physical limits of the optical track and reader impose constraints on frequency and dynamic range.
Digital cinema sound ttracks are better as far as frequency range and dynamic range but they all use some type of lossy compression to fit multiple audio channels into the data space available. This compression can introduce sound artifacts.
For listening tests I would use the best audio source material I could get. Right now I suppose that would be DVD-Audio or SACD but regular CD is fine.
It's hard to tell what you're listening to - a speaker problem or some distortion in the source for example - if you don't use as perfect a source as you can get and are familiar with the recording. There are plenty of technically awful CDs available so you need to find a selection of material that tests the sound system well and that is properly recorded and produced.

The sound system tuning gurus I've worked with had certain music tracks (on CD) they knew well and would play over and over and over (and over again) as adjustments got made. That gets old in a hurry, and there's a few tracks I would gladly never hear again.

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 07-09-2003, 08:04 AM:

After objectively setting up and measuring the sound system, it's always a good idea to critically listen to some real soundtracks. SMPTE (ASTR-6 35mm Theatre Sound Test Film) and Dolby ("Listen") have provided subjective films in the past for mono and analog stereo sound. Old trailers can provide a free source of material for current tracks. How about a list of trailers having excellent mixes for subjective evaluation of sound?

Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 07-09-2003, 11:56 AM:

Dolby Jiffy is the best listening test

Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 07-09-2003, 12:15 PM:

"THX Wow!"

Posted by Christopher Seo (Member # 7) on 07-09-2003, 06:57 PM:

THX Wow? I have heard that in a couple different auditoriums (including THX certified) and was not impressed at all. Granted, the age of the source materials is probably the cause, but all the same it doesn't qualify as listening test material.

Posted by Oliver Pasch (Member # 1335) on 07-10-2003, 09:02 AM:

"THX Wow"...you must be kidding! [puke]

It might have been good to demonstrate, well, what, the benefits of a THX-certified-auditorium [Frown]

, but it's definitely not suitable for testing purposes.

Dolby "Jiffy" plus a selection of good sounding trailers that represent not only heavy use of the surrounds and low frequency effects, but also dialogue-material. I don't change my test-reel very often in order to get used to the specific sound of each trailer, so you really get a chance to evolve an impression of what it should sound like.

Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 07-10-2003, 02:15 PM:

[Smile]

I was wondering what kind of reaction that would get. But I wasn't expecting [puke]