spencersmb Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 Wondering what movies everyone uses to test their setup with? A specific scene that shows off all the channels? Something they know has rear speaker effect, surround side-rear, etc. I have an old pioneer VSX-1021-K (7.1) receiver that I'm currently using but can't seem to make it just do 5.1...I can only do 5.1 with an option to put the rear speakers as the rears, or as rear surrounds. However I've noticed that some movies only use rear surround audio, or just the rear speaker channel but not rear surround, and sometimes both on newer movies. Cheers, Spencer 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TasDom Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 One of the very best I have listened to is Master and Commander. That is my go to demo to showcase my surrounds. The cannon battles are epic... 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shiva Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 The movie Valerian, has some scenes with the ships computer speaking from the rear speakers, a nice effect. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyrc Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 Spoiler alert! Near the beginning of The Grey there is a plane crash from the passengers' point of view. We only have 5.1, with the surround speakers somewhat behind our heads, rather than directly to the sides as some people do. This creates a better sound image in our room: During that scene there is sound all around us, with the kind of detail we might expect from many more channels, rather than 5.1. There were a minimum of 3 phantom channels down each side of the room, between the Right Front and the Surround Right, and Left Front and Surround Left, about 2 phantoms in the back of the room, as well as the usual 7 or so across the front of the room. So, counting physical + phantom, there were about 15 sound loci. There was even a suggestion of up and down, mostly up (all of out speakers have tweeters slightly above ear level). It sounded like we were surrounded by metallic walls, ceiling and floor which were breaking apart. So far, no other movie has provided such a convincing illusion in our room. Holding the room and seating constant, the most important factor in providing how good the surround is would be how it is recorded, IMO. Some recordists and mixers take great pains to make sure it's good, others don't seem to care. Others will suggest films with good surround treatment of music. Amadeus, Shakespeare in Love, Bohemian Rhapsody, the first crowd sounds at the very beginning of A Star is Born (2018) come to mind. There are a few other things that may be different about our set-up. Because we have Klipschorns, the Right Front and Left Front speakers are placed in the corners, as opposed to the way they are shown in the diagram. The Klipschorns are 13.5 feet apart, tweeter to tweeter (16.75 feet wide, sidewall to sidewall). The front soundstage is a little wider, partly due to the surrounds and the Klipschorns painting the side walls with sound (sometimes). We sit about 12 feet from the center speaker, making the sound field just about 60 degrees wide. The 13.5 width doesn't conflict with the visual image width, because our projection screen is 130" wide ('scope 2.35:1). The center speaker (a modified Belle Klipsch) has had its distance electronically adjusted to the same distance as the Klipschorns by Audyssey (which does that in terms of time of arrival, down to 0.1 foot). The tweeters of the surrounds are a few inches higher than the front tweeters. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtr20 Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 My go to scene for a demo for non atmos surround sound is in the first Jurassic Park when the trex is chasing the smaller dinosaurs and young Timmy says they are flocking this way. This scene on Blu-ray will rock a 5.1 or 7.1 setup. Every channel is very active. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pats3of4 Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 I use any of the Transformer movies. Those are my go to for dialing things in. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tromprof Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 Some of the best surround effects I have come across. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willland Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 "Flight of the Phoenix" dust storm/crash scene. By far one of the best for LFE scenes as well as surround realism. My go to demo scene for the last decade. Link below is geared toward LFE content but many apply in the surround sound thing also. http://data-bass.ipbhost.com/topic/12-the-low-frequency-content-thread-films-games-music-etc/ Bill 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emile Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 2001 - A Space Odyssey 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schu Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 The latest mad max is an auditory feast... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shiva Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 The animated movie Kaena, had impressive surround sound during its opening scene. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K5SS Posted March 17, 2019 Share Posted March 17, 2019 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boilermaker86 Posted March 19, 2019 Share Posted March 19, 2019 The beginning rain scene....great bass and awesome surround effects and thunder 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paducah Home Theater Posted March 19, 2019 Share Posted March 19, 2019 edge of tomorrow and the later transformers have about the most aggressive surround effects I've heard. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Islander Posted March 22, 2019 Share Posted March 22, 2019 "House of Flying Daggers" has a scene called "The Echo Game" that has a large circle of vertically-mounted drums being hit, first just a few, then a cascade of drumbeats all around. It's quite good. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert_kc Posted March 22, 2019 Share Posted March 22, 2019 4 hours ago, Islander said: "House of Flying Daggers" has a scene called "The Echo Game" that has a large circle of vertically-mounted drums being hit, first just a few, then a cascade of drumbeats all around. It's quite good. I discovered this movie because Kathleen Battle sings the song whose leitmotif is featured throughout the movie. I think this movie would surprise a lot of people - it's not really about martial arts. This scene where we first see The Echo Game is pretty cool - Mei can't resist the challenge of The Echo Game, and it becomes apparent that she is not the "poor helpless blind girl" she pretends to be. Zhang Ziyi is gorgeous ... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert_kc Posted March 22, 2019 Share Posted March 22, 2019 Kathleen Battle singing "Lovers" from The House of Flying Daggers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunburnwilly Posted March 22, 2019 Share Posted March 22, 2019 Saving Private Ryan War of the Worlds Cloverfield 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt6VZ Posted January 5 Share Posted January 5 (edited) Testing surround sound setups can be a lot of fun. One of my go-to movies for this is "Interstellar." There's a particular scene where the spaceship takes off, and the sound design really immerses you in the experience. You'll feel the rumble of the engines and the sweep of the music in all directions. It's a great way to check your system's ability to handle various channels and effects. Also, if you're into checking out movies, you might want to see new movies out this week. You never know what exciting films are out there that can provide an amazing surround sound experience. Edited January 9 by Matt6VZ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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