I have not heard the disk yet but was wondering what people feel about the bass levels on this disk. Did your sub take the onslaught or did you have to re adjust levels to compensate? and what were the best moments? Does the opening beat Toy Story 2 for LFE? Regards Mahmood
I set the sub with the THX optimizer on the disc and I wouldn't say its as gut thumping as Toy Story2 but when the cruiser pans from different directions on 3 different shots it certainly sounds quality rather than thumpin for the sake of it. Then its used subtley throughout the film which I personally prefer. Matt................
Matt Interesting that you set up the sub using the optimode signals. The THX web site states that optimode signals are individual to each release and listening to films with levels taken from these test signals are closer to what the director intended. I have not heard it yet at home and it would be interesting how much of a difference there is to the overall experience when heard 'straight' thru the processor and then with levels adjusted with optimode. The fact that you used optimode and found the bass not that overwhelming may explain why a lot of poeple have stated that there is too much bass in the movie.... Has anyone else got any thoughts? Regards Mahmood
Yeah, I had to turn down my sub levels as well, too much bass used during the lightsaber scenes methinks.
I use to use the Calibration tone on my TagAV32R to set channel levels but Id could only ever listen to movies at -10 and this IMO was equal to the level at the cinema. So the processor or DVD/AMP is gaining 10db somewhere,dont ask me where. So when AOTC arrived I decided to try the THX optimiser and set the AV32R volume to 0db and dropped all the channels on the calibration screen untill they reached 75db on the SPL meter. Now when I watch a movie I set the volume to 0db and it seems about right. As to bass levels on AOTC I thought they were on the low side. A good scene to test this is in the areana. The first time I watched it at 0db the spider creature hardly made any bass sounds at all. As it strikes the floor there was vertually no bass. Turn the LFE channel up 5db and the thumps on the ground come through clearly. The only thing is every flyby from a ship comes across as completly over the top. So I dont think you should take the THX optimiser or the calibration tone on your equipment as the word of god as the amalgimation of all your equipment will show you otherwise. Instead use it as base from which to start your final tweaks, and I think that is all down to personal preference.
I run my sub a around 3-4 DB hot and this is fine for most movies. With ATOC the LFE seem to recorded very stong, indeed I should have backed the sub level down a few notches for balance sakes but I wanted the extra bass so up it stayed. My sub did work pritty hard on this movie, it made me smile.
My bass level is always set to 0db and it sounded absolutely superb on AOTC. As for the arena there was a healthy bit of bass on my set up.
With everything calbirated to 75dB, it does seem to be a little on the heavy side. Then again when I saw it at the cinema the scene in the asteroid field with the seismic charges was way over the top too. Played it at home just for a laugh at silly volumes (about reference level) and it felt like getting to close to a very large church bell.