This is topic What is "Shockwave Cinema Sound"? in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.


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Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 05-10-2005, 09:50 AM:
 
Saw this on a Star Wars forum. Any idea what this is?

Click here.
 

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Posted by Mitchell Dvoskin (Member # 751) on 05-10-2005, 10:39 AM:
 
From the web page link above:

And we use special Xenon bulbs that are 100% brighter than standard equipment movie theater bulbs. The fact is, if we focused all our Xenon bulbs together and pointed them into the sky, their beam could be seen from the moon.

In addition, the Abingon Cinemall is the ONLY theater anywhere featuring the custom-designed Hyperdrive Sound System, containing as many as 65 speakers in all of our 12 theaters, and each of which are specially configured based upon each particular movie's soundtract to deliver as much as several thousand watts of driver-power. Our patrons rely on our unique sound systems to heighten the excitement of the movie-going experience, particularly in action/adventure, sci-fi and horror movies, and we respond by delivering the highest quality of movie sight and sound.


I don't know what's better, their theatre or their HYPE
 

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Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 05-10-2005, 11:31 AM:
 
Oh yeah, look at that! HAHAHAHAA

I see that they also sell "Genuine Energy Lightsabers" (9 volt battery not included)


 

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Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 05-10-2005, 11:34 AM:
 
Their hype is written rather clumsily. But they have the right idea: Good theaters should BRAG about their technical superiority over home theater at every opportunity (as long as they can deliver the goods).
 

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Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 05-10-2005, 11:54 AM:
 
I couldn't resist. I called to ask what a "special xenon bulb" is. I was told by their tech that for their throw, they're rated at what should be a 2000 watt bulb, but they're actually using 3000 watt bulbs. I asked what his throw was, and he said around 70 feet but he wasn't sure off the top of his head. So I asked if he had about 250 to 300 seats in the auditorium, and he said "less than that".

That's funny. In our THX certified 270 seat stadium seating theater, we were using 5000 watt bulbs.

 

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Posted by Mike Olpin (Member # 1115) on 05-10-2005, 12:16 PM:
 
I'm pretty sure that a sound system thats "specially configured based upon each particular movie's soundtrack" is not THX certified.
 

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Posted by Dean Kollet (Member # 1789) on 05-10-2005, 12:21 PM:
 
so, basically, they just turn the volume up louder
 

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Posted by Frank Dubrois (Member # 3042) on 05-10-2005, 12:30 PM:
 
Sounds like a crock of to me.
 

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Posted by Don Furr (Member # 1469) on 05-10-2005, 12:57 PM:
 
Ya know....just when you think you've heard it all. I'm surprised they don't pull a William Castle and offer a Million Dollar Insurance Policy for "death caused by Shockwave Cinema Sound"

Oh Brother...
 

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Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 05-10-2005, 01:14 PM:
 
...reminds me of Universal's "Sensurround" of the early 70's with their trademark release. "Earthquake" and "Rollercoaster" - remember that process that kinda flopped after a few takes?

-Monte
 

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Posted by Jim Bedford (Member # 4) on 05-10-2005, 01:50 PM:
 
Maybe their amps volume controls go up to 11........
 

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Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 05-10-2005, 02:17 PM:
 

quote:

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The sound system in some of the non-*ShockWave!CinemaSound*® theaters is the Cinemall’s nationally acclaimed 'Hyperdrive' sound system. No matter which of these sound systems patrons have experienced at the Cinemall, they say they are 'Wowed'.

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Well the hype is definately there in black and white! "Hyperdrive"...... now thats got to be a ton of hype given out all at once. We ought to get these folks together with those north eastern horn folks. The hype would be so thick as to require a lifeguard to keep all from drowning in it. Also, how can it be nationally acclaimed if its only been installed in a few locations ? Nationally to me means at least the lower 48......
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quote: Mike Olpin

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I'm pretty sure that a sound system thats "specially configured based upon each particular movie's soundtrack" is not THX certified.

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Mike, Actually its very common for the re-recording mixers to go into a theatre and tweek the sound system to get is as close to the mix stages sound system as possible. So, yes in many cases a given theatre is re-adjusted for a given soundtrack mix. This happens all the time even in THX certified cinemas but normally the mix engineers have a second set of cat 64's or they will soore and re-set the eq settings back to what might be termed the neutral setting as was done by THX.
________________________________________
Now more hype from Abingdon..... And....
this gets even funnier!

"About Our Theatres
Projection Equipment

All lenses in our projectors are custom made for us and are the finest quality obtainable anywhere. And we use special Xenon bulbs that are 100% brighter than standard equipment movie theater bulbs. The fact is, if we focused all our Xenon bulbs together and pointed them into the sky, their beam could be seen from the moon. And it shows, on our screens. Our patrons frequently comment that movies they see at the CINEMALL have the brightest and sharpest pictures they've ever seen, with the richest and deepest colors they ever seen."

I hope these iddiots didnn't pay too much to have this stuff written for them... This is about as funny as this stuff can get . All we can hope for is that they don't melt the screen material right out of the frames.

Mark
 

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Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 05-10-2005, 02:43 PM:
 

quote:

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For those of you who are sound-sensitive or bothered by loud sounds, and especially for very young children, we supply ear plugs at no charge. In fact, if you or anyone accompanying you are hearing sensitive or find the sound level in any particular movie we are showing to be too loud or otherwise bothersome, yet you and/or they insist on staying in the movie, we insist and strongly recommend that you and/or they wear ear-plugs, which we keep on hand at all times and distribute free-of-charge.

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Now THERE'S a thought! Does anyone else supply ear plugs free of charge? I never thought of that.
 

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Posted by David Stambaugh (Member # 1102) on 05-10-2005, 03:21 PM:
 
Hmmm... "600 Gallon HydroSubs [and 67 speakers per auditorium]".
 

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Posted by Floyd Justin Newton (Member # 1316) on 05-10-2005, 03:36 PM:
 
Ahhhhhh.... The good old days when we filled a 3,000 seat house
with eight (8) watts of mono audio... out of one (1) speaker and
some of the patrons were saying, "Turn the sound down"!
 

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Posted by Jason Burroughs (Member # 68) on 05-10-2005, 03:45 PM:
 
The THX certified GCC Northpark Cinema I, arguably one of the best cinemas in the US, had house eq's in the rack so that the EQ could be tweaked as necessary from film to film.

The ShockWave!CinemaSound certianly sounds like annother sound system out there, I think it has a four digit number in its name
 

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Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 05-10-2005, 04:26 PM:
 

quote: David Stambaugh

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Hmmm... "600 Gallon HydroSubs [and 67 speakers per auditorium]".

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quote: David Stambaugh

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[and 67 speakers per auditorium]".

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quote: Floyd Justin Newton

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The good old days when we filled a 3,000 seat house
with eight (8) watts of mono audio

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quote: Mike Blakesley

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So if the Northpark had the best sound system ever, and it's gone now, where is the best sounding theatre nowadays? I got vacation time coming up.

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Go to Casper, WY and visit the America Theatre. JBL 5674's, a stack of JBL subs all in a full baffle wall, 24 or 28 8340 surrounds. Lots of power, A Panastereo CSP-1200 with Panastereo EX adaptor,DTS XD-10, DP-70 with Christie SLH lamphouse. Very similar to the MPAA system in all aspects. The theatre was recently completely re-done with stadium seating, larger screen. Definately the best theatre in the western states and its not all that far from you either.

Mark
 

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Posted by Mark Lensenmayer (Member # 134) on 05-11-2005, 01:40 PM:
 
I don't care WHAT equipment they are using. This is good old-fashioned PT Barnum promotion at its best. The audience THINKS the product is better, so, to them, it really IS better.

Nice to see someone being different out there. This is a theater I would seek out, just to see what is going on.

As for great sounding theatres, I wouldn't put any of the current theatres in my area in the running. Northland 8, an 80's vintage THX house (General Cinema), was the best around, but it is long gone. It had the sweetest sound for music I've ever heard.
 

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Posted by David Buckley (Member # 2600) on 05-11-2005, 02:48 PM:
 
Theres this other thread going on right now, you've probably all seen it - Entertainment Weekly article - "Why Isn't Anyone Going to the Movies This Year?"

Well, someone isnt sitting down and watching their audiences dwindle, they're trying quite hard to get the people in.

Sure, what they are saying may be at best hyperbole, and at worst , but whatever they are doing, people are talking about the Abingdon Cinemall. They claim that they've been "rated" (whatever that means) by USA today as one of the top three cinemas in the USA to see Episode 1. People write in blogs and newsgroups that they travel distances to see movies there.

How many of the houses represented here have ever been mentioned on national telly?
 

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Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 05-11-2005, 03:20 PM:
 
Mark, you mean the AMPAS or possibly the Egyptian...the MPAA theatre is tiny and uses Altec A-6s
 

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Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 05-11-2005, 04:25 PM:
 
Thanks Steve for that correction...... You're right!!

Mark
 

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Posted by Louis Bornwasser (Member # 3063) on 05-14-2005, 08:22 PM:
 
This reminds me of the theatre we opened in the 1970's with "Floatation Stereo Sound " in the newspaper. Inasmuch as the system I was installing was the mono Century , reverse scan package, I asked the owner "what is this??" He replied "you know.. PR...press bull shit!"

Now, with water-bed speakers, floatation stereo is possible!
 

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Posted by Jeremy Jorgenson (Member # 2989) on 06-09-2005, 04:42 PM:
 

quote: Scott Norwood

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And about how horrible the Graumann's Chinese theatre (supposedly THX certified) sounded horrible circa Y2K (and perhaps has improved since then)?

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I lived in North Hollywood on and off from summer 1999 until summer 2004. I went to the Chinese a few times in 1999 & 2000 and enjoyed it for the history and spectacle but I agree with you that I was quite unimpressed with the presentation.

Then in 2001 they closed for a bit and underwent a renovation: equipment, seats (and to stay on topic for this thread) entirely new sound system. By the time the first Harry Potter came out, their presentation had improved tremendously both for the audience’s eyes and ears... it became one of my favorite theatres to see a film. The JBL trailer they played to show off their new speakers was always played at an ear piercing level though.
 

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Posted by Don Furr (Member # 1469) on 06-09-2005, 06:28 PM:
 
I seen 4 or 5 flicks at the Chinese in the past 2 years and I've always thought it was a far better presentation than anything I've seen in Atlanta. The sound is awesome.

Don
 

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Posted by Thomas Hauerslev (Member # 566) on 06-10-2005, 02:17 AM:
 
Bet they don´t have a Coolbooster (TM) and one of the new GøjnerScope lenses ;-)
 

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Posted by Larry Zuverink (Member # 1483) on 06-10-2005, 12:57 PM:
 
Without turning this into a THX thread, the one thing I don't like is no tolerance for the X curve. Many house sound over EQ'ed to pass the R2/D2 analyzer test.

Scheduled 2006 ZuverBang Sound Systems. If can hear when you leave. The show was not in ZuverBang
 

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Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 06-10-2005, 12:59 PM:
 
Larry said "Without turning this into a THX thread, the one thing I don't like is no tolerance for the X curve. Many house sound over EQ'ed to pass the R2/D2 analyzer test."
Incorrect there is a +/- limit displayed on the curve that is the band allowed and if it can't fall within that without over EQ then something is wrong with the system, the room or the engineer"
 

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Posted by Louis Bornwasser (Member # 3063) on 06-10-2005, 04:22 PM:
 
Amen! Gordon...deliver me from over eq. (I have been accused of under eq, a fact of which I am most proud.)

Louis
 

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Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 06-10-2005, 05:57 PM:
 
Speaking of over EQ'ing just thought I'd bring up a Smart Mod-8 issue. The new Mod 8 EQ bands cannot be turned up above about +4 to 5 db without overlaoding the output circuit and causing some severe distortion in the B chain. Careful EQ'ing, preferable cut only, with the new MOD-8 is almost essential. Smart is aware of the problem... apparently a re-design is in the works. It was even worse on the first production run units, limiting to about +3 db max and they will swap those boards out for free.

Mark
 

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Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 06-11-2005, 09:34 AM:
 
The mod 6 and 7 had a more interacting eq than older smart products
that is probably why it distorts if the phase shift at the edges of the filters are interacting at higher levels
 

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Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 06-11-2005, 12:22 PM:
 

quote: Gordon McLeod

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The mod 6 and 7 had a more interacting eq than older smart products
that is probably why it distorts if the phase shift at the edges of the filters are interacting at higher levels

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