[Help] The Thing (1982) -> Best Mix?

[Hitcher]

Another big thanks from me as well for all the work you put into making this.

[weegee2392]

DTS X? Nooooooo!? All jokes aside it’s nice to have all the audio for The Thing, I thought SF or Arrow would be doing their version first, but hey it’s nice to see Universal atone for the first American BD with the transfer.

[alexpeden2000]

Amazing work, can't wait to do some back and forths to see which version sounds best

[spoRv]

Guys, I made my homeworks, and written a long article "Disentangling “The Thing”!" talking about audio, too: http://blog.sporv.com/disentangling-the-thing/

For the lazy ones that don't want to read it all: I don't know if these info were already available here or somewhere else - my memory lacks; if not, they could be interesting...

• According to Widescreen Review: “The original 4.0 printmaster has been remastered and coded in Dolby Digital 5.1 discrete.”
  
• Shout claims “NEW 4.1 Audio Mix Created From The Original 70MM Six Track Dolby Stereo Soundtrack” - read well: “… Audio Mix Created…” – it does not mean the 4.1 IS the 70mm 6-track mix – with the obvious omission of the left center and right center “baby boom” channels mixed into the LFE… indeed, the Shout 4.1 track is – drum roll… – nothing more than a glorified 5.1 DVD version
  
• as someone stated that the stereo PCM track from the Signature laserdisc is only a folddown of the Dolby Digital 5.1 included in the same disc, that are thought to be from the 70mm 6-track master, and as the upmixed PCM track shows a lot more information on the surround channels, it means that those info are included in the 5.1 track; if it’s true, it means that the Signature Dolby Digital 5.1 is the best original track available!!!
  

only for FanRes members, here you can download the surround comparison: https://fex.net/s/3fcdtnb
Go to any empty space of the 4.1 or 5.1 channel and crack up the volume; you will hear the corresponding dialogue found on DPL'ed 2.0 track, but at a very faint volume - WARNING! Remember to take down volume before switching to "full" parts!!!

[stwd4nder2]

Great write-up! Real shame about the 4.1, I always thought it was a direct port of the 70mm mix. Looking forward to checking out how the LD sounds.

[spoRv]

Would be great to have the Signature laserdisc AC-3 track!!!

[Hitcher]

Nice write-up. So does someone have the Signature Dolby Digital 5.1 track on here then?

[Scavenger]

Turbine version used the Arrow master “fixing” a gamma error – that was limited to one frame AFAIK – and also audio tracks sync issues.

It's a lot more than just one frame. Check 01:36:25.822 - 01:36:39.961 on Arrow BD.

The opening titles apparently also have a gamma correction, but I have not compared that scene.

[alexpeden2000]

Had a listen through a lot of the tracks last night, have to say I prefer the WS LD (with Superstition obviously!) over all the others I checked. I’m no expert but just seemed a lot more natural - the 4.1 mixes sound a bit forced/hollow to me

[spoRv]

It's a lot more than just one frame. Check 01:36:25.822 - 01:36:39.961 on Arrow BD.

The opening titles apparently also have a gamma correction, but I have not compared that scene.

Corrected, thanks!