[Help] Armageddon 1998 Laserdisc audio?

[deleted user]

........Then I had the idea to do a soundtrack-only track, which I'm also working on. But I can't complete that one without a certain ingredient which I can't afford at the moment,....

Great minds think alike

What 'ingredient' are you missing?

It'll be a little surprise.

[deleted user]

Armageddon DTS Laserdisc now available for $79,96:

https://www.ebay.de/itm/382791923859

[little-endian]

Although I quoted from the "trailer regrade thread" since it's more recent overall, I guess the core topic fits better in here:

The Blu Ray track didn't satisfy me, so I set out on a quest to find the best audio.

Ironically, once again that very mix has been rated quite highly here amongst other sites - not that this would mean anything as Interstellar even got a full score there despite the clipping on virtually all channels.

I can't help it, but especially compared to movies such as "Lucky Number Slevin", "9", "A cure for wellness" or "No country for old men", which have a great dynamic range, Armageddon's mix to me sounds bloated, roary and features an omnipresent over-the-top center channel as well.

However, so does the Cinema DTS. To me, it's quite the same to what the Blu-ray provides except for minor differences in the "bass department", which I'm gonna pickup here.

Ended up getting the Cinema DTS from a generous donor. Decided to use it, because it was A) a nice new skill to learn and B) It sounded a bit better than the other tracks I had tried.

I've written that before I went through the "homework" of synchronizing it to the BD video myself:

Here at latest it gets interesting as we now have the span between a "didn't satisfy me" - mix and a "a bit better than what didn't satisfy me" one. Assuming that a Cinema DTS source of any given movie (of that era at least) should be THE reference in terms of non-compromised dynamic range, clarity, correct pitch, etc. (excluding the theoretical loss due to the data reduction introduced by ADPCM which probably no one is able to discern anyway), is there a possiblity that the movie's soundtrack never was really "outstanding" then? Which leads me to the treasure hunt:

P.S. If the DTS track from that super rare and super expensive LD were to turn up and be as good as everyone says, I'd totally include it as well.

While it's possible of course, it would require the case where they put a better mix on a consumer medium than on what got shipped to the theaters back in the days. Are there any examples for that? Could be possible of course.

So, after having halfway watched it now, while I'd love to be proven wrong, I highly doubt that the DTS LaserDisc will be significantly better than any other release, especially since the Cinema DTS didn't positively surprise either. I guess that selective overly positive reviews once again comes from people who reliably confuse loudness with dynamics.

Most probably, it is what it is and the mixing was never done in a more "fishbone-like" way of mixing.

[deleted user]

Yeah it's totally possible and I agree with everything you've said. My thought was that maybe the Laserdisc DTS might have gotten its own special better mix or something, since many people praised it over the internet.

Oh well.

At least we got it somewhat theatrically accurate, what more can one really ask for?

[spoRv]

Got no idea if the LD DTS track could be different from Cinema DTS (IMHO: nope!), but, for example, we got Alien 70mm track in AC-3 on LD (even if it was clearly stated in the laserdisc cover) instead of "normal" 35mm, so there is a slight chance the LD DTS track is indeed different (again, IMHO: nope!)

Still, curious to know if it's the case, and more than happy to be proven wrong!

[little-endian]

Yes, hope dies at last here as well. Considering that "Alien" or "Die Hard" apparently also got different mixes depending on the release, this could totally be possible.

Only one way to find out though, I'm afraid. The DTS LaserDisc hasn't exactly become cheaper since you spotted it, so one might even consider that to be a form of halfway (!) decent investment (alternatively buy it, record it and resell if with hopefully some profit). At least I keep telling me that in order to justify my overpriced purchases of "The Matrix" and "Fightclub". 

At least we got it somewhat theatrically accurate, what more can one really ask for?

Very right, especially when graciously getting it shared, so I shall be grateful as well. 

[spoRv]

Warning: unless someone wants to buy Armageddon DTS Laserdisc for his own collection and NOT only to know if its track is the same of Cinema DTS, I ask to desist, as I checked and discovered that it's in my collection, but I have not access to it now, and don't know when, so do not hold your breath. But sooner or (probably) later I'll capture it.

[deleted user]

That's what you said 3 years ago.

[spoRv]

That's what you said 3 years ago.

You have a too good memory... I hate you!

[deleted user]

Heh.