Official DVD Reference Sound Thread

[JesseJ]

I haven't heard what people have said about Kong, but I'm sure it sounds good.

Throw The Fast and the Furious on there. After watching it today, it's definately a reference disc.

[BCScott]

My local didn't have the Fast and the Furious, but today we watched Howl's Moving Castle and it was amazing. Just cracked the new Sound and Vision mag and they rated it 5/5 for picture and sound. It really is a stellar movie, especially watching with our 6 & 9 year old. No Hollywood predictability with this one!

[BRAINSTORM 3417]

2010 1984, Dolby Stereo 5.1 monaural surrounds, air-breaking as the space ship rockets around Jupiter WOW!

Satrman 1984, Dolby Stereo 5.1 monaural surrounds, and the huge sphere at the end of the film lovely rumble!

Aliens 1986, original release only, were Ripley and the others are escaping from the planet, before the reactor explodes Kaboom!

Dances with Wolves 1990, Dolby Stereo 5.1 with split-surrounds, feel the ground rumble with the buffalo!

Earthquake 1974, (((Sensurround))) Dolby 5.1 with split-surrounds, now this one is very loud! Super evasive! Stick in the ear plugs and feel that low end pound you, and roll all over your body, lookout for any lose items that might come apart!

Star Trek IV the Voyage Home 1986, Dolby Stereo 5.1 with split-surrounds, feel the U.S.S. Enterprise blast off to warp speed towards the end 25Hz! WOW!

[DrPainMD]

Taken from SVS subwoofers site: http://www.svsound.com/questions-faqs.cfm

* "Aliens" Not just another modern sci-fi horror classic, this one rocks from intro to final scene.
1. "THX Intro" *
2. "Express elevator to hell", Scene 9 (41:20) *
3. "Awakenings", Scene 15 (1:12:52)
4. "Marines we are leaving!", Scene 15 (1:19:45)*
5. "Drop ship explodes", Scene 17 (1:24:49)*

* "Alien v. Predator" The end of a franchise, or rather, two. Lots of great bass, just don't plan to get cozy with the protagonists, or even figure out who they are.
1. "Laser Beam Mining", Scene 5 (00:13:40) *
2. "Lift Off", Scene 27 (01:27:35) *

* "Alien 4" Call it curse of the sequel(s) it has some cool bass, so we'll watch it anyway.
1. "Betty Flies In", Scene 5 (13:09)

* "Antz" Another good family movie, though not perhaps for small children. Extremely loud bass above 30 Hz.
1. "Terror from Above", Scene 17 (51:48)

* "Apollo 13" Moving story, with some surprisingly subtle, but revealing, bass where it counts.
1. "Lift off", Scene 13 (35:12)*
2. "Re-entry", Scene 53 (2:05:20)*

* "Apocalypse Now" Making This Vietnam war movie, Francis Ford Copolla nearly went crazy...imagine what it'll do to your subwoofer!
1. "Chopper ride" Scene 2 (0:19:47)*
2. "ARC LIGHT" Scene 4 (0:26:02)*
3. "Grenade launch" Scene 12 (1:27:58)

* "Atlantis Lost Empire" More Disney animation, this time with some killer bass.
1. "Leviathan Moves", Scene 5 (0:20:53)*

* "Attack of the Clones" Follows in the deep, off the map bass of Phantom Menace.
1. "Ship explodes", Scene 3 (0:3:19)*

* "Backdraft" One of the first DVDs out, with smokin' bass
1. "Dad", Scene 1 (4:30)
2. "Check that door", Scene 10 (1:19:05)

* "Basketball Diaries" Thunder that should sound and feel real.
1. "Thunder", Scene 8 (37:53)

* "Blade" Not one for the kiddies, but loaded with deep bass.
1. "Footstep", Scene 4 (7:15)*
2. "Pinned", Scene 4 (9:05)*
3. "Invitation?" Scene 17 (41:20)*
4. "Door blown" Scene 20 (50:05)*

* "Blue Man Group" The Boys in Blue, with characteristically dynamic bass that has to be felt to be believed..
1. "PVC", (IV: 0:9:50)*

* "Braveheart" Mel Gibson directs himself in this brutally realistic depiction of war and intrigue, and not a little bass!
1. "Knocking on the Door", Scene 12 (1:39:30)
2. "Cavalry Charge", Scene 11 (1:26:50)

* "Broken Arrow" Another "military out of control" flick, but lot's of deep stuff.
1. "Underground explosion", Scene 13 (1:08:50)

* "Butterfly Effect" Creepy "what if" story that twists and turns right to the end.
1. "Opening sequence", Scene 1 (0:01:05)*
2. "I'll come back...", Scene 11 (0:54:55)*

* "Castaway" Proof that one actor can carry a movie, and that ultra low, ultra demanding bass is everywhere these days.
1. "Brace for impact!", Scene 8 (0:26:01)*
2. "Engine splash", Scene 8 (0:27:43)*

* "Contact" SETI with a (bass) twist or two along the way.
1. "Bombing", Scene 28 (1:36:30)
2. "Space truckin", Scene 33 (1:55:56)

* "The Core" Another "the world as we know it is about to end" movie... but one with unusually aggressive low frequency effects!
1. "Destruction of Rome", Scene 9 (0:49:26)*
2. "Golden Gate Bridge Breaks", Scene 14 (1:30.56)*

* "Dark City" One of Roger Ebert’s favorites; think he likes bass too?
1. "Let the tuning commence", Scene 8 (34:30)
2. "City makeover", Scene 15 (1:27:45)

* "Das Boot" Arguably one of the best war pictures of all time with bass dipping under 20 Hz. Very loud, very intense.
1. "Depth charges", Scene 21 (59:30)
2. "Storm surfing", Scene 25 (1:15:15)
3. "Hitting bottom", Scene 17 (53:15, Side "B")

* "The Day After Tomorrow" More end of days theme, that'll have you signing the Kyoto Accords as a private citizen. Flash frozen movie that was better than expected.
1. "Freezing", Scene 12 (0:40:20)*
2. "Tidal wave", Scene 14 (0:49:05)*
3. "Tanker on the boulevard", Scene 16 (01:02:55)*

* "Dawn of the Dead" Remake of the original zombie cult-classic. Some bass good enough to wake the dead, of course.
1. "Opening flame sequence", Scene 1 (0:00:40)*
2. "Explosion", Scene 18 (01:35:50)*
3. "Another explosion", Scene 19 (01:42:01)*

* "Detroit Rock City" More proof that stunning digital bass tracks can show up where you least expect them.
1. "Oh Chungo...." Scene 12 (53:50)

* "Fahrenheit 9-11" Politically incorrect, and unabashedly biased documentary about the "war on terrorism". Surprising bass passages.
1. "Fireworks", Scene 1 (0:00:30)*
2. "Credits", Scene 4 (0:13:46)*
3. "Bombing begins", Scene 16 (01:09:30)*

* "Fight Club" Dark, brutal, shocking. And that's just the bass. Strong below 10Hz. Take your gloves off. Wimpy subs don't even try this.
1. "THX Intro" *
2. "Mid-air collision" Chapter 8 (0:21:39)*
3. "Ass-whippin" Chapter 9 (0:21:59)
4. "Calling Marla" Chapter 10 (0:27:29)*
5. "Fridge explosion" Chapter 10 (0:27:35)*
6. "Car wreck" Chapter 27 (1:40:28)*
7. "My eyes are open" Chapter 35 (2:13:00)
8. "Final explosions" Chapter 36 (2:15:31)*

* "Final Destination 2" Horror thriller that will have you putting your seatbelt on, always.
1. "Logs hit highway", Scene 2 (0:10:09)*

* "Finding Nemo" The usual stunning Disney animation, with a nice story for the entire family. If you have an SVS and you are playing at theater levels, get ready for some SERIOUS bass.
1. "Darla taps the tank", Scene 25 (1:18:14)*

* "Godzilla" That's right, the big lizard flick does more than just tear up NYC, it brings you some very good deep bass. Even the menu for this one is something of a bass reference!
1. Menu, building crumbling*
2. "Godzilla enters harbor" Chapter 8 (0:25:23)*
3. "Godzilla emerges from subway" Chapter 15 (1:20:30)*

* "The Haunting" Dark, spooky, bassy:
1. Menu (Intro)
2. "Coming mother!" Scene 10 (38:08)
3. "The cold" Scene 10 (39:18)

* "Heat" The "spare no one" heist movie. Lock and load!
1. "Gun blasts in car" Chapter 32 (1:48:20)*

* "The Hulk" BTE (Better Than Expected) remake of the old comic book and TV show. Some dynamic bass, and plenty of mayhem ... all combined with a love story!
1. "Hulk jumps on a plane", Scene 25 (1:47:43)*
2. "Hulk pounds the pavement", Scene 26 (1:51:16)*

* "Ice Age" BTE (Better Than Expected) animation flick which, like The Iron Giant below, is remarkable perhaps because it's not from Disney!
1. "Squirrel races from a glacier", Scene 1 (0:02:33)*

* "The Incredibles" Typical Pixar Studios animation perfection. Adults, kids, anyone can watch this DVD and have a great time. Some well done, heart-stopping bass. Recording levels uneven during previews and movie intro. Sound is right on feature however.
1. "Building comes down", Scene 6 (0:22:59)*
2. "Syndrome", Scene 13 (0:52:01)*
3. "Ouch", Scene 15 (0:58:15)*
4. "Sticky balled", Scene 16 (01:02:30)*

* "Independence Day" Dark comedy thriller with the feel-good ending, and most importantly, strong bass below 20Hz.:
1. "Intro spaceship flyover" Scene 1 (0:2:12)
2. "Time's Up" Scene 24 (0:51:55)
3. "Got Airbags?" Scene 31 (1:05:15)

* "The Iron Giant" Great family animation with SERIOUS bass, including very strong peaks below 25 Hz. Jump to:
1. "The Giant Sits Down" Scene 8 (0:20:01)
2. "Robot Landing" (Train Impact) Scene 10 (25:41)
3. "Green Boom" Scene 27 (1:11:40)

* "Jumanji" A fresh thrill-a-minute movie you can watch with the family (though not the toddlers!). One of the first state of the art DVD's with bass that still embarrasses some newer fare.
1. "Big Cat" Scene 9 (0:29:01)
2. "Stampede" Scene 14 (0:59:16)

* "Jurassic Park III" After the the second "JP" expectations were low for the third in the series. Better than the second, by far, but still short of the original. Splendid bass however.
1. "T-Rex Lunch", Scene 6 (0:26:30)*
2. "Dueling dinosaurs", Scene 6 (0:26:49)*

* "K19" If you needed another reason not to join the defunct USSR Navy, here you go! Ensure all audience members can handle the intense action plus graphical depictions of radiation burns.
1. "In case I die", Scene 4 (0:36:11)*

* "Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Rings" Those not familiar with the story will have to pay attention very closely... or don't bother ...and just bask in state of the art sound and some of the deepest bass yet put on DVD.
1. "Ring drops", Scene 1 (0:03:49)*
2. "Sauron Explodes", Scene 1 (0:04:04)*
3. "Skeleton falls into well", Scene 8 (0:27:39)*

* "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" A rare thing, a sequel that's done at least as well as its predecessor. With stunning siege and battle scenes, and naturally, bass worthy of the SVS "Bassy Scenes" Hall of Fame.
1. "Gandalf falls", Scene 1 (0:02:48)*
2. "Black riders", Scene 14 (0:49:42)*
3. "Gandalf slays Balrog", Scene 15 (0:53:54)*
4. "Oliphants charge", Scene 30 (1:44:52)*

* "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" The epic finale of the famed Lord of the Rings trilogy. If your sub can handle this DVD it really is "precious".
1. "Green light" Chapter 11 (0:41:40)*
2. "Undead King" Chapter 27 (01:27:22)*
3. "Shelob" Chapter 33 (01:51:40)*
4. "Olephant charge, again" Chapter 42 (2:12:48)*
5. "Mount Doom" Chapter 53 (2:40:50)*

* "Lost In Space" Yes, an oft times cheesy feature film remake... of the oft times cheesy "classic" TV Sci-Fi show. Forget the CGI "monkey" and watch for this bass!:
1. Menu (Intro)
2. "Fighter Launch" Scene 1 (0:1:10)*
3. "Showtime" Scene 1 (0:02:25)*
4. "Exiting Hyperspace" Scene 11 (0:36:15)*

* "Mask of Zorro" The last of the opening music is decaying in mid chart. The the opening logo then turns to fire...and the bottom of the chart shows a great 25hz signal as the fire burns:
1. Opening Logo Scene 1 (0:0:50)
2. "Explosion" Scene 27 (2:04:53

* "The Matrix" Modern, violent, science fiction thriller with plenty of shoot-’em-up bass blasts. Here’s some subtle and not so subtle.
1. "Where we are grown" Scene 12 (0:42:55)
2. "Landing in fight", Scene 15 (50:51)
3. "Chopper explosion" Scene 31 (1:51:11)

* "The Matrix Reloaded" Baffling yet still intriguing story of future.. real, cyber, and quasi-religious sci-fi all mixed up. Any surprise there's some intense bass in there?
1. "Door to the source", Scene 26 (1:38:23)*
2. "It's the hammer", Scene 34 (2:05:15)*

* "Minority Report" Tom Cruise carries this future sci-fi thriller and uses loads of believable technology to do it. Worth the rental even if only for the stellar "factory scene".
1. "Pulse gun in the factory", Scene 9 (0:52:29)*

* "Monsters Inc." Masterful PIXAR animation. Great story for kids or adults and one of the new reference DVD's on audio too.
1. "Ted walks to work", Scene 5 (0:09:01)*
2. "Sock detonation", Scene 12 (0:18:33)*
3. "City block decon", Scene 12 (0:28:23)*
4. "Boo laughs", Scene 13 (0:30:39)*

* "Predator" The Arnold thriller with an unbeatable plot twist (and the Governor of Minnesota like you've never seen him).
1. "Jesse's Gun", Scene 12 (47:43)

* "Resident Evil" Something of a cult classic, end of the world, seriously bad germ flick. If you didn't get enough of Milla Jovovich from The Fifth Element, well, here you go.
1. "T-bone car wreck", Scene 1 (00:05:21) *
2. "Rocket Launcher", Scene 10 (00:38:05) *
3. "Five Kilotons", Scene 24 (01:17:37) *

* "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" The epic finale of the famed Lord of the Rings trilogy. If your sub can handle this DVD it really is "precious".

* "Ronin" Still more plot twists, and some of the wildest car chases put on film. You can see the the graph "anvil" in the 30-45hz range about halfway down the chart. This indicates the signal was so loud at that moment that it went off the scale. Maybe not the lowest bass around, but this has some of the loudest 30-50hz bass on any DVD.

1. "RPG Launch", Scene 13 (44:31)
2. "Green light" Chapter 11 (0:41:40)*
3. "Undead King" Chapter 27 (01:27:22)*
4. "Shelob" Chapter 33 (01:51:40)*
5. "Olephant charge" Chapter 42 (2:12:48)*
6. "Mount Doom" Chapter 53 (2:40:50)*

* "Soldier" OK, so it's not on the AFI "Top 100", but it'll make your subwoofer stand up and salute!
1. "Dumping The Trash", Chap 6, (0:19:25)
2. "Windstorm" Chap 6 (0:19:25)
3. "Planet Killer" Chap 28 / 1:29:54

* "Spy Game" And easily overlooked thriller with action set in China. Some great work by Robert Redford and Brad Pitt. That there would be some demanding audio might be expected.
1. "Chopper crash", Scene 4 (0:25:54)*
2. "Explosion", Scene 17 (1:33.33)*

* "Stargate" A great Sci-Fi DVD, with Kurt Russel as you've seen him many times. Bad to the bone.
1. "Space Traveling", Scene 11 (30:10)

* "Super Speedway" Hanging out with Mario. Bass at the track you can FEEL.
1. "Bump At Speed", Scene 10 (0:16:56)
2. "F1 Closeup", Scene 7 (0:12:45)
3. "Title: Burnin", Title

* "Thirteenth Warrior" Didn't get enough "Antonio"? In the first scene, the top section is the opening...as camera rolls in synch with lighting. You can see most of the bass slopes off....and then the thunder clap hits hard about 8 seconds later (the bottom surge)---the thunder has monster signal at 30hz:
1. "Opening Storm" Scene 1 (0:0:30)
2. "Ambushed" Scene 7 (0:38:27)

* "Terminator 2" Arnold couldn't be a bad buy two times in a row! He did bring some bad bass with him to this killer sequel however.
1. "DVD Intro"
2. "First Footstep" Chap 2 (0:01:40)

* "Titan AE" Fantastic science fiction animation with unreal bass, don't rent this one, buy it!
1. "Ship flyby" Chap 10 (0:36:10)*
2. "Ship engine roar" Chap 10 (0:36:44)*
3. "Drej" Chap 10 (39:50)
4. "Ice Field Part 1" Chap 16 (103:45)*
5. "Ice Field Part 2" Chap 16 (1:04:55)

* "Titanic" You love it...or you hate it. Regardless of which side of the ship you sit, this flick does some serious rumbling for you:
1. "THX Intro"
2. "We can’t leave him" Scene 22 (2:21:50)

* "Toy Story 2" A modern animation classic, and one of the few sequels ever to rival the original movie. More deep bass than we've seen in a while. Serious stuff well below 20Hz! "Monsters Inc." also has a "trailer" prior to Toy Story's start, don't miss it!:
1. "Door knock" (Monsters Inc. trailer)*
2. "Dog growling" (Monsters Inc. trailer)*
3. Opening logo Chap. 1 (0:00:55)*
4. "Aliens explode" Chap. 2 (0:02:30)*
5. "Game over" Chap. 2 (0:04:21)*

* "The Phantom Menace" OK, maybe you hate "Jar Jar Binks" too, but this disk is the KING of killer bass. If you thought you might only want one SVS, you might reconsider after spinning this one. Bass so big it got its own web page! TPM --- Advanced Bass Analysis. Lesser subs don't even try to reproduce most of the bass in this movie. Some highlights:
1. "THX Intro" *
2. "Ambush" Chapter 3 (0:05:12)*
3. "Pod race tunnel exit" Chapter 20 (1:01:40)*

* "U-571" Hollywood's answer to "Das Boot". More underwater explosions that any normal sub(woofer) should be allowed to reproduce.
1. Alarm! Chap. 8 0:40:15
2. "Torpedo hit" Chap 9 (0:47:48)*
3. "They all missed" Chap 9 (0:55:55)*
4. "Plane flyover" Chap 12 (1:06:28)*
5. "Depth Charge" Chap 15 (1:17:34)*

* "Unbreakable" Another Bruce Willis, "what-the-heck-is-going-on-in-THIS-movie?" Sixth Sense-like thriller. Mixed in is the sort of truly disturbing bass that almost by itself creates foreboding tension you have to experience to understand.
1. "Train ride" Chap 1 (0:08:35)*
2. "Walk in the rain" Chap 23 (1:22:55)*

* "Waterworld" A modern curiosity. One of a handful of action DVDs without a dedicated LFE track. A feature sadly missing on this shoot'em up, Kevin Costner flick:
1. "Later cousins" Scene 4 (38:23)
2. "Flare dropped" Scene 12 (1:51:30)
3. "Ship sinking" Scene 13 (1:56:45)

[bete_noir]

An oldie thread but a goodie thread.....

Just picked up "Underworld" Suberbit Ed. at HMV for $7.99.....hadn't seen this for a few years but this has a great DTS soundtrack with all 6 speakers in play and plenty of rumbling, immersive bass. Lots of gunfire, screaming werewolves, rumbling subway trains, etc.....and Kate Beckinsdale is the best looking chick in black leather since Emma Peel......(heh-heh!)

I haven't broken it down scene-by-scene, but overall I rate this one of the best uses of surround sound I've heard. A reference quality soundtrack for me - at least until I wrap my ears around some TrueHD material, hopefully in the near future.

As always, just my $0.02.....

[Black Hawk Down]

The subwoofer gets a workout in this movie.There is also some cool surround sound from the rear speakers when he goes underground in the sewers and subway.

[bete_noir]

I've been trying to check out Black Hawk Down Superbit, but I haven't been able to get my hands on a copy, unfortunately....

[chadsfake]

Three Doors Down Away From The Sun DVD.

Monster cable put this together with 3DD. This is the best sounding concert Video I have heard. The DTS "On Stage Mix" is unbelievable.

http://www.monstermusic.com/catalog/3dd/3dd_main.asp

[rebeljeeper1]

What are your suggestions? One of my all time favorites is the Patriot, with Mel Gibson

[Nanuuk]

Yeah the Patriot's sound track wasn't too shabby at that!

[Tezster]

First let me preface my opinion by saying that I don't have an HDMI-capable receiver, so all the higher bitrate audio tracks on HD-DVD discs are passed through as DTS to my AVR.

Among the more high-action titles, I've watched Perfect Storm, F&F:Tolkyo Drift and Transformers so far of my small library of HD-DVD discs.

But for my money, none of them beats the DTS track on Master & Commander: Far Side of the World (DVD). The deep bass generated during any of the canon fire sequences just has to be heard; not booming but very tight and punchy and I can literally feel it shaking me to the bone.

Anyone else have any favourites?

[BRAINSTORM 3417]

Bump start!

I liked “I Am Legend” (2007) where Neville takes a grenade and pulls the pin, then rashes at one of the night crawling ghouls with slam of LFE.1 that that was practically felt.

In-room-frequency response showed up on the Technics SH-8055 in first order of peaks at.

Individual monitoring levels over LCR showed on playback

Left 87dbc
Centre 82dbc
Right 82dbc

Left summed with sub bass 97dbc
Centre summed with sub bass 89dbc
Right summed with sub bass 97dbc

Surrounds 88dbc

Surrounds summed with sub bass 92dbc

LCRS summed with sub bass 103dbc

LCR LFE.1 105dbc

I like the way the stings pick up in James Newton Howard’s score, as you know he’s going to go though with it, without another moments thought.

LCRS summed with sub bass 102dbc yes I’m not blind I can see what’s happening here!

LCRS LFE.1 105dbc

LCRS summed with sub bass and LFE.1 108dbc

Monitoring the LFE.1 on its own sounded like a fast sine wave sweep just milliseconds after the first hard slam explosion. The LFE.1 mostly peaked at 40Hz very high over the other channels.

The sound of the flames washed over me uniformly with fronts LCR carrying the rest of the low end as it was only the slam on the LFE.1 just as Neville makes contact with one of the darkseekers!!

Input level on FBQ2496 was -12db with THX bass peak limiter set at 0db master fader 0db.

[BRAINSTORM 3417]

Guess it needs another waterfall!


As you can see from chapter 10 "last supper" and what mess blood everywhere! The low end was more or less what I could sense it’s within the 100Hz region. I think Kane should have ordered a dodgy curry rather than noodles; at least it would have been explosive!

Readings for this test was done by patching the LCR into the audio mixer and combining all three channels at once.

[BRAINSTORM 3417]

This one has lots of BASS!

AVP (2005) region 2 DVD six-track Dolby stereo digital
Opening chapter 1 1m:46s centre front.

Opening chapter 1 1m :46s left and right fronts

Chapter 17 50m:36s predator kicks alien VS predator splat! LFE.1

Oh, I can not, bare to watch anymore of those load of onscreen bollocks, it’s so B-movie with hyped up GCI and bollocks soundtrack that doesn’t have any integrity, the franchise is dead because of this load of bollocks!