OT: Well Sorta

[SCOOTERDOG]

I decided to post this up here in the HT forum because I believe it is relative to home theater. The technical review below illustrates what are home theaters were designed to be used for.

Many of us have been waiting for this for years.

The new Pink Floyd Pulse Concert release is perhaps the finest concert ever recorded and was made to be played in the fasion as it was meant to be.

With

HIGH db

Wide Dynamics

Big Screen Picture

and of course

With Sound reinforcement by

Klipsch Loudspaekers

Note the 2nd audio stream

TECHNICAL REVIEW

Pink Floyd Pulse

Technical Specifications.

North American release: NTSC

2 x DVD-9 (Dual Layer)

Disc one data: 6.9 GB

Disc two data: 7.86 GB

Authored with Sonic Scenarist 3.1

Region coding: ALL regions

Video Format: 4:3 NTSC 1.33:1

Bitrate: 8.5 Mbps (nominal)

Jacket Pictures: none

Available audio streams:

1) Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround (448 kbps) Default track

2) Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround (640 kbps)

3) Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo (448 kbps)

Subtitles: none

It's clear that substantial work has

gone into the video and audio preparation of the

DVD version of Pink Floyd's Pulse.

Although the image still shows its video, (as opposed to film),

origins; the overall quality is good.

Video noise is slight, but varies from

scene to scene, with some portions of the concert appearing 'noiser'

than others. Colour appears to be accurate, with very little bleeding.

Detail is average to good. I made comparisons with the old Pioneer

Laserdisc release, and the difference is substantial.

For the first time I could see all

kinds of visual information that is absent from the Laserdisc release.

As for the audio? Well...in a word,

spectacular. This is the first concert DVD I've come across that

accurately replicates the sound and feel of being at a live performance.

The weight and power of the bass/drums is breathtaking. This, combined

with a sense of air and space, creates an enormous and enveloping

soundstage. By the way, the user is free to change between the three

available audio streams on-the-fly.

The 640 kbps track is the way to go,

(if your system supports this bitrate). However, the 448 kbps 5.1

Surround track is no slouch either. The 640 kbps track is just that

much richer, fuller sounding. The 448 kbps 2.0 stereo track is very

good too, but I much prefer the 5.1 Surround mixes.

Whether the 5.1 mixes are an accurate

replication of what the audiences experienced at Earls Court, I

do not know. However, the use of the surround channels to feed crowd

sounds, and more importantly, elements of the music being performed,

is extremely effective. Many of the prerecorded elements of the

songs are gently filtered through the surrounds, and on numerous

occasions instruments pan from front to back, left to right surround.

All of this is achieved without sounding in any way gimmicky.

The new edit of the concert is a great

improvement too. Cuts are now slightly more frequent and many new

camera angles have been introduced. All in all, a much more involving

visual presentation compared to the old Laserdisc/VHS releases.

Final thoughts. The only thing that

could improve upon this release is an HD-DVD or Blu-Ray disc release,

with both formats superior audio and video properties. Given that

the title is handled in most territories by Sony, a Blu-Ray release

seems likely sometime in the future.

Technical review thanks to Peter Calcroft

I hope you enjoyed that!

scooter

[RickB]

I'll be at Best Buy later today so I'll pick up a copy. I would be a lot more enthused about it if it wasn't for that 4:3 video format. God, what were they thinking? I can't remember the last time I've even seen a TV show that wasn't widescreen.

[kelA]

Well I picked up my copy this morning, and have had a chance to listen to the entire DVD. I don't know if it is my copy or if others are experiencing this as well, but the center channel is VERY WEAK, almost non-existant. I noticed that there was a system calibrator included in the menu of the dvd, but I do not want to calibrate my system for the use of this dvd only. I would swear this is a 4.1 recording had the dvd not had it labled 5.1. I can put my ear right up to my RC7, and the material is VERY faint. Have any others experienced this? My system is calibrated properly, and I have only noticed this with the Pulse DVD.

Scooterdog, you mention that it is excellent 5.1 quality, so I am thinking maybe it is my copy.

Folks, please post your experiences with the center mix.

[Big Piney]

Just got my copy but I can't see it until this evening. Will check out the center channel. Hope it is not a defect.

[colterphoto1]

Indy was kind enough to call me from Best Buys, picked me up a copy and brought it to the house. Problem is, with the passing of Syd announced today, I'm going to hold off on Pulse in order to spin my vinyl Piper at the Gates of Dawn this evening.

Shine on you Crazy Diamond!

Michael

[kelA]

Indy was kind enough to call me from Best Buys, picked me up a copy and brought it to the house. Problem is, with the passing of Syd announced today, I'm going to hold off on Pulse in order to spin my vinyl Piper at the Gates of Dawn this evening.

Shine on you Crazy Diamond!

Michael

That was kind of a shock to hear. I read about it in the "General Questions" forum of his passing. Weird how things play out.

[Big Piney]

I had already listened-watched the new Pulse DVD before hearing of Syd's passing. As told on another thread. It's appropriate I guess to lament the passing while enjoying the work of a great band and in such a wonderful form. This DVD presents the music as it was meant to be enjoyed. The 5.1 is excellent. The special effects were superb and to address an issue brought up earlier, The center channel seemed just fine. I believe this might set the bar for what we come to expect from all music video's.

[colterphoto1]

Yup, I agree, great titles, video cuts and sound, but WHERE IS THE CENTER CHANNEL? There's just the faintest vocal and guitar coming from there. My system is calibrated just fine for other movies and concerts. This DVD gives a very wide soundstage, but there is a bit of a hole in the middle.

But I'm not complaining. The low end had me running for my THX to turn it down however!

Michael

[SCOOTERDOG]

Tonight my son and I sat down and spun this bad boy. It is everything I was hoping for. Having a good Laserdisc copy with digital stereo to campare with all that I can say is does anyone want to buy my LD of Pulse.

Video source for my setup is an Infocus SP4805 projected onto a 106" diag screen with the video processing done by my Zinwell Briteview 3000 Pro.

The video quality of this disc is nothing short of amazing. The closeups of DG are just crystal clear. I can appreciate the band not wanting to crop a concert that was filmed in a 4.3 aspect ratio. Personally I let my processor handle the conversion to 16.9 and it was excellent. I had no color bursting or bleeding at all considering the outstanding lighting the PF uses.

For the audio my first concern was not being able to play the higher bit rate DD track since it is noted that not all can. I set up the disc and my player handled it without breaking a sweat. The sound quality of this recording is nothing short of phenomenal. As far as the concerns on the center channel I had no problem at all. I would suggest if some are expecting the center to be louder it was probably do to the fact this is a concert and not a movie. I was fortunate to see this show live in Oakland and as with all floyd concerts it is a true 360 degree quadraphonic system and not really based on a 4.1 or 5.1 setup. The transfer to 5.1 is excellent with rear channels providing plenty of discreet surround especially from the DSOTM portion. Richard Wrights keyboards are just awesome. There is so much more music here compared to my laserdisc copy.

If any of you have heard the DVD Audio of DSOTM thats been available on the web you will realize just how good the live surrund sound is done.

We also watched some of the extras but did not get through but a couple.

I give this a 10 ot of 10 for production quality, surround sound, video transfer and especially the high bit rate DD track...

Now go buy it and add some money to the mighty PF machine.

scooter

[colterphoto1]

Perhaps you're right Scooter. The center wasn't absent, just lower than I'm used to. Perhaps it's the other concert DVD's that have poor implementation.

The soundstage seemed very large (well my LS are like 13' apart) and quite still. By this I mean on some concert DVD's there seems to be some attempt to move the close up views into the center channel, or pan around as the camera angle changes. On Pulse, the soundstage seems to remain fairly still despite the myriad camera angles. This solidly ground the viewer in his seat, and gives some cohesiveness to the sound.

However, I still have one gripe. There are a couple of songs where a synthesized drum hit is much much too loud. Rattled the house it did, then when I turned the THX's down, the rest of the song was a big low in bass. I remember the second song on disc one being bothersome right off the bat. Perhaps it's some single tone where my room gain is extraordinary, but thus far my THX subs have been very musical and without this annoying BOOM.

M.

[pierceb]

I picked mine up and gave it a spin last night, but didn't quite get through the whole disk set. I agree with colter regarding the synthetic bass and center channel. Overall, the audio just didn't sound quite balanced to me (although my HT is not fully calibrated). I thought the soundtrack was also a bit on the quiet side, as I had to turn my volume up much higher than other DVD concerts. Both bitrates worked fine on my system with the nod going to the higher bitrate stream.

I'll have to wait until the family is out of the house to crank it up and really give this a fair test.

-PB

[IndyKlipschFan]

colterphoto..Time for a center La Scala or Cornwall to save you!!!!

YOU WILL appreciate it trust me!!!