I am interested in having the Dolby Stereo SR mixes for the LOTR Trilogy.
The DVDs have them, but only in lossy 192kbps Dolby Digital. On the other hand, the US VHS releases would definitely have better 2.0 audio than the DVDs.
Both the Theatrical and Extended versions have been released on VHS, at least in the US. Even The Return of the King Extended has a VHS release.

The main reason I want the Dolby Stereo SR VHS mixes to be preserved is for compatibility purposes, for people who do not have a surround setup.
It would be great to have them for the Dreamastered versions.

(2023-01-08, 05:44 AM)the 2.0Hydra Spectre Wrote: I am interested in having the Dolby Stereo SR mixes for the LOTR Trilogy.
The DVDs have them, but only in lossy 192kbps Dolby Digital. On the other hand, the US VHS releases would definitely have better 2.0 audio than the DVDs.
Both the Theatrical and Extended versions have been released on VHS, at least in the US. Even The Return of the King Extended has a VHS release.

The main reason I want the Dolby Stereo SR VHS mixes to be preserved is for compatibility purposes, for people who do not have a surround setup.
It would be great to have them for the Dreamastered versions.

the 2.0 mixes on the DVD are just fine. My Roku Smart TV does not apply dialnorm to AC3 tracks, and im assuming that other Smart TV's dont apply it either

(2023-01-08, 08:04 AM)dwalkerdon Wrote:

(2023-01-08, 05:44 AM)the 2.0Hydra Spectre Wrote: I am interested in having the Dolby Stereo SR mixes for the LOTR Trilogy.
The DVDs have them, but only in lossy 192kbps Dolby Digital. On the other hand, the US VHS releases would definitely have better 2.0 audio than the DVDs.
Both the Theatrical and Extended versions have been released on VHS, at least in the US. Even The Return of the King Extended has a VHS release.

The main reason I want the Dolby Stereo SR VHS mixes to be preserved is for compatibility purposes, for people who do not have a surround setup.
It would be great to have them for the Dreamastered versions.

the 2.0 mixes on the DVD are just fine. My Roku Smart TV does not apply dialnorm to AC3 tracks, and im assuming that other Smart TV's dont apply it either

The DVDs and the VHS tapes may use the same mixes, but the Hi-Fi VHS audio (when captured well and preserved in FLAC) will sound better than the lossy 192 kbps audio from the DVDs.

(2023-01-09, 04:41 AM)Hydra Spectre Wrote:

(2023-01-08, 08:04 AM)dwalkerdon Wrote:

(2023-01-08, 05:44 AM)the 2.0Hydra Spectre Wrote: I am interested in having the Dolby Stereo SR mixes for the LOTR Trilogy.
The DVDs have them, but only in lossy 192kbps Dolby Digital. On the other hand, the US VHS releases would definitely have better 2.0 audio than the DVDs.
Both the Theatrical and Extended versions have been released on VHS, at least in the US. Even The Return of the King Extended has a VHS release.

The main reason I want the Dolby Stereo SR VHS mixes to be preserved is for compatibility purposes, for people who do not have a surround setup.
It would be great to have them for the Dreamastered versions.

the 2.0 mixes on the DVD are just fine. My Roku Smart TV does not apply dialnorm to AC3 tracks, and im assuming that other Smart TV's dont apply it either

The DVDs and the VHS tapes may use the same mixes, but the Hi-Fi VHS audio (when captured well and preserved in FLAC) will sound better than the lossy 192 kbps audio from the DVDs.

the analog warmth from the Hi-Fi VHS Tape will sound appealing to some, but the DVD has the better quality overall, all you have to do is convert it to another format to get rid of the Dialnorm entirely.

[quote pid="84575" dateline="1673235117"]
the analog warmth from the Hi-Fi VHS Tape will sound appealing to some, but the DVD has the better quality overall, all you have to do is convert it to another format to get rid of the Dialnorm entirely.
[/quote]

i spend a lot of time comparing hi-fi recordings to dvds/blu-ray/etc and there's no 'warmth' to vhs. the only thing that really matters with audio is the source. the way a file is compressed really only matters if you know that both audio tracks are from the same source...then you can look to compression. and even there, hi-fi should sound better than a 192kbps stereo mix.

OP, these movies were all mixed in discrete 5.1...do we know these 2.0 mixes are actually different somehow as opposed to just downmixes of the 5.1? if you're mainly looking for compatibility and quality, why not just use the proper tools to make downmixes of the 5.1/7.1 mixes on the blu-rays?

These 2.0 downmixes are usually done professionally.
From my experience, unofficial downmixes often sound heavily neutered compared to an official downmix.

(2023-01-09, 08:14 AM)Hydra Spectre Wrote: These 2.0 downmixes are usually done professionally.
From my experience, unofficial downmixes often sound heavily neutered compared to an official downmix.

these are most likely the mixes from the Optical Dolby SR Track on the 35mm prints for theaters that were not equipped for Digital at the time.

Did anyone check out the 35mm optical tracks that are on fotr and ROTK scans?

(2023-01-11, 06:55 AM)Endocryne Wrote: Did anyone check out the 35mm optical tracks that are on fotr and ROTK scans?

Unfortunately, they're only for the Theatrical Cuts.
The Dolby Stereo SR mixes for the Extended Editions are only on VHS and DVD.