What the hell, Warner Bros.? (Batman The Dark Knight DVD)

Chen · March 2009

I bought the DVD today (region 1) and noticed it didn't have DTS 5.1 format. So I surfed the net looking for answers but didn't find any. Even the Blu-ray version doesn't support DTS apparently. This is the 21th century for Christ' sake. I really, really prefer DTS over Dolby and would like to have a DVD that has DTS if possible. Do any exist or do I need to suck it up?

Doc · March 2009

I don't know if they exist, but I can tell you that the sound mastering on The Dark Knight is really bad to start with. Explosions and loud sounds are loud enough that I have to turn down my speakers, and voices are so quiet I have to turn it up.

cooljammer00 · March 2009

Doc wrote: »

I don't know if they exist, but I can tell you that the sound mastering on The Dark Knight is really bad to start with. Explosions and loud sounds are loud enough that I have to turn down my speakers, and voices are so quiet I have to turn it up.

That's really a shame that they fucked it up so hard.

MetroidZoid · March 2009

Doc wrote: »

I don't know if they exist, but I can tell you that the sound mastering on The Dark Knight is really bad to start with. Explosions and loud sounds are loud enough that I have to turn down my speakers, and voices are so quiet I have to turn it up.

2nd this. My speakers were having issues awhile back where they'd cut-out (stereo would completely turn off, actually ... fixed now) if the sound got too loud or something. Well we had the sound up to be able to hear people talking, and as soon as a car explodes *pop* no sound. Ridiculous indeed.

PeregrineFalcon · March 2009

Are they just assuming that everyone will use the shitty dynamic range compression on their $30 Wal-Mart DVD player and make it sound "good"? o_O

Is there LPCM on the BD, and does it not sound like ass?

mcdermott · March 2009

PeregrineFalcon wrote: »

Are they just assuming that everyone will use the shitty dynamic range compression on their $30 Wal-Mart DVD player and make it sound "good"? o_O

Is there LPCM on the BD, and does it not sound like ass?

According to amazon.com, no. It uses Dolby TrueHD for its uncompressed audio track, and everything else is straight Dolby Digital (AC3).

PeregrineFalcon · March 2009

mcdermott wrote: »

PeregrineFalcon wrote: »

Are they just assuming that everyone will use the shitty dynamic range compression on their $30 Wal-Mart DVD player and make it sound "good"? o_O

Is there LPCM on the BD, and does it not sound like ass?

According to amazon.com, no. It uses Dolby TrueHD for its uncompressed audio track, and everything else is straight Dolby Digital (AC3).

Hmm. The TrueHD mix doesn't seem to suffer from the same problems, unless HDD is full of shit:

HighDefDigest wrote:

Warner provides a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 Surround (48kHz/16-bit) track for 'The Dark Knight,' which is also sure to please. This is first-rate audio and also surely a new demo-worthy soundtrack.

'The Dark Knight' is unusual for a comic book movie in that it avoids over-the-top, wall-to-wall sonic gimmicks. The score is almost subliminal at times in its use of low tones, rumbling bass, and ominous cues. The subwoofer really gets a workout here, with some of the most effective low bass I've heard on a Blu-ray. The centerpiece action scene with the Batmobile is a stand-out, and will likely be playing in Best Buy showrooms for months. Surround use is finely-tuned both for discrete effects (the rear soundstage is active and engaging) and subtle, sustained ambiance.

Tech specs are easily up to par, with expansive dynamics. Low bass is again as tight as a drum, and depth of sound and spatiality across the front soundstage is top-notch. Dialogue is perfectly balanced and always intelligible (even the oddly-modulated voice of Batman is clear here, which wasn't always the case during theatrical showings). The source is, of course, as clean and polished as you would expect from a major studio film. There isn't a note out of place on this TrueHD mix.

Locust76 · March 2009

... Some would argue that preserving the original recording's full dynamic range is indicative of a good recording. Pumping the volume up and potentially introducing distortion would be rape, as would compressing it and making everything uniformly loud. It's annoying, and I typically enable the dynamic range compression on my receiver, but I'd rather have the choice to set it to the way I want it, rather than the studios assuming I want everything at max volume.

Doc · March 2009

Locust76 wrote: »

... Some would argue that preserving the original recording's full dynamic range is indicative of a good recording. Pumping the volume up and potentially introducing distortion would be rape, as would compressing it and making everything uniformly loud. It's annoying, and I typically enable the dynamic range compression on my receiver, but I'd rather have the choice to set it to the way I want it, rather than the studios assuming I want everything at max volume.

It's a good thing if you have a good enough setup to make it sound okay. If you're playing it through a cheapo receiver or just tv speakers like tons of people do, it sounds awful.

Let me put it another way: I can watch tons of movies and they all sound fine without me messing with them. Then I put in The Dark Knight and I constantly have to play with the volume.

BladeX · March 2009

I know this is slightly off-topic to the original question but we had the same problem with audio being ridiculous when we first got our blu-ray player and watched Tropic Thunder. Since we can't currently swing surround sound our TV speakers are it. Everything was either BOOOOMMM HOLY SHIT explosions or whisper quiet what are you saying?!?! It turns out there isn't an option for stereo audio on all Blu-ray titles like there was on I think all if not almost all DVDs, only 5.1/DTS/DOLBY TRUE HD or whatever encoding they use BUT in the Blu-ray player itself there is an option to force the audio to play at 2.1 which fixed that issue (at least on our Sony BDP-S350). The Dark Knight also sounds normal on our TV speakers with this fix.

PeregrineFalcon · March 2009

Doc wrote: »

Locust76 wrote: »

... Some would argue that preserving the original recording's full dynamic range is indicative of a good recording. Pumping the volume up and potentially introducing distortion would be rape, as would compressing it and making everything uniformly loud. It's annoying, and I typically enable the dynamic range compression on my receiver, but I'd rather have the choice to set it to the way I want it, rather than the studios assuming I want everything at max volume.

It's a good thing if you have a good enough setup to make it sound okay. If you're playing it through a cheapo receiver or just tv speakers like tons of people do, it sounds awful.

Let me put it another way: I can watch tons of movies and they all sound fine without me messing with them. Then I put in The Dark Knight and I constantly have to play with the volume.

It's also an issue of "is this the original recording with full dynamic range, or did they cock it up somehow?" Or does TDK just have a way, way wider spectrum than other movies naturally, and you really can't play it through TV speakers/a weak HT without using DRC?

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What the hell, Warner Bros.? (Batman The Dark Knight DVD)

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