Underhanded Penguin Posted February 21, 2002 Share Posted February 21, 2002 Hi guys. This has been bothering me for some time. I have reference speakers, and on some dvd soundtracks, some of the speech will make a screeching/crackling kind of noise. Not throughout the entire soundtrack, only in a few instances. I thought maybe it was a defective RC-3 speaker, but I put it in phantom mode on my receiver and my mains produced the same screeching/crackling. I am a VERY discerning listener, and these anomalies are like a thorn in my side. Usually, this distortion only happens in dvd's that are older and/or not mastered as well. It's not in star wars phantom menace or gladiator. I'm almost positive these are just anamolies in the mastering of the dvd soundtrack. I thought dvd sountracks are supposed to be near perfect?????? Can someone confirm this? I've never noticed it before on other home theatre systems. Maybe I've just grown to be a more sensitive listener or maybe the revealing nature of reference horns magnify the small imperfections in dvd's. Can someone please confirm this before I go insane? Thanks a lot. -UP ------------------ Liv Tyler as Arwen: "If you want him, come and claim him!" - Translation: "I am very hot." This message has been edited by Underhanded Penguin on 02-21-2002 at 09:53 PM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickey Posted February 21, 2002 Share Posted February 21, 2002 UP, Been there. Drove me nuts as well. Watched Ronin on DVD, and while I enjoyed the use of the surrounds and low end bass, the dialog distorts in 1 or 2 places. Had to hook up my headphones directly to the DVD player just to make sure my speakers or other equipment wasn't the culprit, but it was definitely there on the disk. Like you, I tend to notice this on a couple of disks that should know better, but not the blockbusters. Check out The Terminator, Special Edition. Scene when Reese has grabbed the guy's pants in the alley way and the guy starts yelling to the cops -- ouch! No, you are not going crazy, it's really there. Chickey (member of the "Did I just hear that?" support group) ------------------ My System Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boa12 Posted February 21, 2002 Share Posted February 21, 2002 colin, this was the noise i was talking about before. remember the famous ground loop study? i finally determined it is in the material. in many cases, i think it's microphone distortion in the actual sound recording. i notice it a lot more when they have to record outside using those outdoor mics. especially notice it when they're recording thru a phone or such. the price we pay for fine AND REVEALING equipment. ------------------ My Home Systems Page Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Underhanded Penguin Posted February 21, 2002 Author Share Posted February 21, 2002 Guys, you don't know how relieved I am that I am not the only one. Thanks Chickey, and yes that was the first thing I noticed about the Terminator Special Edition. I know the EXACT scene you were talking about. I never watched that dvd again because of this. The sound mastering in that dvd is disgusting. You'd think dolby digital es would be mastered better. I'm sure they could take those screeches out or minimize them if they really tried... absolutely unacceptable. -UP ------------------ Liv Tyler as Arwen: "If you want him, come and claim him!" - Translation: "I am very hot." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickey Posted February 21, 2002 Share Posted February 21, 2002 Hmmm, I sense a new list -- DVD's (or scenes) that could have (or should have) been done better audio wise. Any submissions? Looks like we've all experienced a few of these! C ------------------ My System Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boa12 Posted February 22, 2002 Share Posted February 22, 2002 well, i just got some from this sarah hughes screaming in her locker room. prologic sports programs can be the worst. the absolute worst has gotta be blair witch project. i think they used a cassette recorder/mic for that 1. & like i was saying before. when the hooker's runnin away from the guy w/ the chainsaw in American Psycho. that screaming - awful breakup there. otherwise, just certain parts of other movies where they let the distortion slip thru in editing. just try not to listen for it. ------------------ My Home Systems Page This message has been edited by boa12 on 02-22-2002 at 12:25 AM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Underhanded Penguin Posted February 22, 2002 Author Share Posted February 22, 2002 Kiss of the Dragon DVD. The sound in this movie must have been mastered in a massive electro-magnetic field. If you enjoy the sound of people spitting out dialogue through their teeth, this is the DVD for you. -UP ------------------ Liv Tyler as Arwen: "If you want him, come and claim him!" - Translation: "I am very hot." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickey Posted February 22, 2002 Share Posted February 22, 2002 The Bone Collector. That annoying background sound that is constantly there everytime they cut to his apartment, which serves as the command center for the investigation. Finally figured out (via headphones) that it's the sound of dot matrix printers. Urgh! C ------------------ My System Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diggs Posted February 23, 2002 Share Posted February 23, 2002 Top Gun DVD, the sound that comes out of my surrounds anytime when they show a plane flyby is annoying. Maybe its just my crappy speakers, but it's aweful. ------------------ Denon AVR-2800 KG-4 mains (too bad the rest of my speakers aren't this good) Polk C-175 center (it's ok) Infinity RS-10 Surrounds (suck) Audiosource SW-15 subwoofer (excellent sub for it's price) Pioneer DV333 DVD Sony 5 disc CD player All in a 12x12 apartment bedroom. "What?! I can't hear you!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the goods Posted March 26, 2002 Share Posted March 26, 2002 I have noticed this with the war movie Das Boot. The low end is killer and it makes good use of the surrounds but the dialogue is so distorted that I can hardly stand to watch it! And the screeching occurs throughout the movie! Too bad this ruins an otherwise excellent sounding movie. ------------------ the goods Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickey Posted March 26, 2002 Share Posted March 26, 2002 Goods - Me too!!! I thought it was something screwy with my system the night I auditioned Das Boot, so I rechecked everything the next day to no avail. There is one scene I recall when the crew is singing and then the scene cuts to the captain in the conning tower that is absolutely unbearable. Screech, screech, screech throughout. Just to double-check, I listened to the movie using the headphone jack of my DVD player and heard the same thing. I sold that DVD the next week on Amazon and was happy to see it go. You don't know how glad I am to hear that someone else had the same experience...kind of puts my mind at rest. Colin ------------------ My System Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the goods Posted March 27, 2002 Share Posted March 27, 2002 Chickey, I'm also glad to see that someone else had this problem. I think I may consider selling mine as well and I just bought it the other day because it was listed on the svs website as one of their choices of movies to show off the bass in your system. What good is deep bass if you can't bear to listen to the dialogue? I've heard this on other movies as well. There's one scene in the exorcist when the girl screams that comes to mind. But Das Boot is by far the worst! ------------------ the goods Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seb Posted March 27, 2002 Share Posted March 27, 2002 I just bought the Terminator: Special Edition, and that's also the first thing I noticed. It doesn't happen nearly as much in modern movies, actually, it does not happen, except for some exceptions like KOTD, which was mentioned before. ------------------ http://members.fortunecity.com/sebdavid - go laugh at my crappy website/equipment http://www.dvdprofiler.com/mc.asp?alias=Sebdavid - go laugh at my puny little DVD collection Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iftach Landau Posted March 31, 2002 Share Posted March 31, 2002 I have to tell you, thank God for this Forum! Yes, I was going crazy. Thought my speakers are defective, thought the horn was a bad choice, was still uncertain by the choice of Klipsch over Vandersteen. Swapping Monster Cable to Audioquest tamed it a bit, but on T2 (the "Get Down" alley scene) and Almost Famous Bootleg (in-car scene, when the boy shouts "11!")the screetch is veru audible. Makes you wonder how magazines rating DVD sound (like WSR and What DVD) fail to mention this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary W. Graley Posted March 31, 2002 Share Posted March 31, 2002 Glad as well I'm not the only one, didn't think to try the headphone trick but will next time I hear the distortion. I have the RC7 and it is a VERY good center channel, got the Hunchback of Notre Dame one and two the other day for my daughter and the bad guys deep voice came through so nice an smooth, brought a smile to my face! G2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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