Making Movies Sound Better With Bass EQ

Those demo files are a bit weird. I dumped Unbroken onto my Mede8er media player and it did not play well. Like you I found the track incredibly quiet and there was no bass on either soundtrack.

I then tried Universal Media Server and they played OK and with bass but I could not figure out how to switch between the before and after audio tracks. In the end I had to resort to using MKVToolnix to remux two separate video files, one with the original audio and the other with the BassEQ'd track.

It surprised me that Unbroken needed any more bass. I get plenty of bass from the Monoliths and the machine guns have a nice tactile punch from the Behringer near field sub and the Buttkicker does it's business with the flak explosions, with the normal soundtrack.

Thanks, glad it's not just me :)

Likewise with Unbroken given that's used on the Dolby Atmos demo disc and hadn't noticed any shortcomings..
 
No. You would need to raise the volume higher than you would normally. At least that’s what the volume reading should be telling you.

Er... YES, I always set the volume to how loud I want it to be per viewing, agreed they are often around the same level but some films are far too quiet and some far too loud and I adjust to my liking not of the bod who mixed it.
 
@mossym you said it yourself, you've had enough of the Filtered bass movies.. Now if that's the 'hard of hearing' directors intent then what's the problem correcting it and not having your subs restricted? :)
 
Er... YES, I always set the volume to how loud I want it to be per viewing, agreed they are often around the same level but some films are far too quiet and some far too loud and I adjust to my liking not of the bod who mixed it.

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:
 
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better start pulling these out of the attic, they'll be worth a fortune

so i can imagine the response i am going to get to this, but i'm kind of torn on this, so going to play devils advocate for a second. while i like bass as much as the next guy (currently building two 18" subs), and am as displeased as anyone when movies are released with poor bass (yeah Disney), isn't this moving away from the whole idea of "as the director/sound editor wanted"? you could say it's no different to someone stretching images to remove black bars cause they want to use all their screen.

instead of what the director signed off on, (which not please you) you are now allowing these guys creating the BEQ files to decide how it sounds.


before i get slammed, i see all the obvious advantages, and i know someone will say that the signal is there, just the levels are wrong and this just fixes it. and i know audyssey/dirac/etc is a multiband eq at it's heart as well.

something just seems different about this

Know where you're coming from and if logic came into it they'd all be chopped by the same amount so you could just set up your system accordingly, one preset for unmolested and one for ones that have been fiddled with but, given there is the implied need to have a unique BEQ for every film, logic seems to have left the building.
 
We have likes, funny, agree.. We need a disagree :)
 
@mossym you said it yourself, you've had enough of the Filtered bass movies.. Now if that's the 'hard of hearing' directors intent then what's the problem correcting it and not having your subs restricted? :)


like i said i'm torn, can see the pluses and minuses. however, the more i think of it this isn't that different to custom hdr curves, i'm already using those so hard to argue against these.
i think individual files might be overkill for me though, i think a single shelf and a table of movie versus gain that needed to be applied might suffice, but i'll definitely give a couple of these a go and see how it works
 
There are no minuses in my opinion, you have the option to use the BEQ file or not, if you don't like it then stick with the original track. This is just an additional option to further enhance the experience. I personally think its the biggest upgrade you could ever do as whatever equipment you buy you're still limited to the Filtered track if you're not BEQ'ing.. And let's face it, some of them sound pathetic, like they were made for the sound bar crew :D
 
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? Not sure what you mean.. No problems here, but I have the BD :)

I have the Atmos demo disc which uses the bomber scene from Unbroken on it and has a ton of bass so I was suggesting maybe they use a different mix to the full BD version though as @Dolus said he didn't consider anything was missing despite the graphs suggesting it's just as neutered as many others.
 
I’ve just done a little test with Unbroken using the Atmos Demo disc and BluRay and I wouldn’t say there’s a noticeable difference between the two. Both sound equally good.
 
I have the Atmos demo disc which uses the bomber scene from Unbroken on it and has a ton of bass so I was suggesting maybe they use a different mix to the full BD version though as @Dolus said he didn't consider anything was missing despite the graphs suggesting it's just as neutered as many others.

I get you now. I doubt they have two Atmos tracks especially with no 4k release..
 
isn't this moving away from the whole idea of "as the director/sound editor wanted"?

I don't think it is. Take the DVD :eek: version of Fellowship of the Rings. Tons of lovely low end bass. Now play the BD version. The bass has been neutered (filtered). Now play the BD with the BassEQ filter applied, all the bass comes back. :smashin:
 
I was surprised to see Matrix Revolutions on that list. My BD copy, at least, has so much sub 15hz LFE, especially the yellow scene towards the end where Neo "sees" the world around him. I'm glad I didn't blindly boost that or I think I'd have popped my sub. I would urge caution on just blindly following the guidelines and test before applying these huge corrective boosts at normal listening levels.
 
I was surprised to see Matrix Revolutions on that list. My BD copy, at least, has so much sub 15hz LFE, especially the yellow scene towards the end where Neo "sees" the world around him. I'm glad I didn't blindly boost that or I think I'd have popped my sub. I would urge caution on just blindly following the guidelines and test before applying these huge corrective boosts at normal listening levels.
That's the 4k Atmos version (rolls off at 20hz)
Bass EQ for Filtered Movies - Page 62 - AVS Forum | Home Theater Discussions And Reviews

Also, note that BEQ's don't exceed -15dbfs between 10-20hz :) Which is less than the standard track of The Incredible Hulk that reaches -10dbfs at 10hz on disk..
Bass EQ for Filtered Movies - Page 80 - AVS Forum | Home Theater Discussions And Reviews
 
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There are no minuses in my opinion, you have the option to use the BEQ file or not, if you don't like it then stick with the original track. This is just an additional option to further enhance the experience. I personally think its the biggest upgrade you could ever do as whatever equipment you buy you're still limited to the Filtered track if you're not BEQ'ing.. And let's face it, some of them sound pathetic, like they were made for the sound bar crew :D

Couldn’t agree more, loving the posts from the naysayers.:D
As you say Paul if your prefer the standard mix of the film then that’s great, but some of us just prefer BEQ.

For me it’s a must wouldn’t watch most films without it.;)
 
I think it's always going to be a valid opinion when it comes to directors intent, more so for video than audio IMO, as one could even argue just running your bass hot or raising your surround levels is veering away from directors intent, even watching below reference level is veering away ;) Audio is simply more subjective than video :)

What I don't agree with is something pretty much everyone here has done.. paid hard earned money for perfectly capable subwoofers, only to have them neutered after you've paid out even more for a movie that's had all the good stuff filtered out :thumbsdow There doesn't seem to be any explanation as to why they filter it out, although it seems to be becoming more frequent nowadays.

But, luckily there's a simple solution, it just might take a while for people to accept it.. In the same way, 'seeing is believing' You won't really know what you're missing out on, until you know it's there ;)
 
Everyone has a preference that’s the great thing about BEQ, if I didn’t like what it does then I can switch to another configuration.
That’s not happened yet for me with any film.:D

I know some just prefer films as they are whether that’s Audio or video (directors intent).

But I agree a lot of films are neutered just for the sake of it.

I remember watching Infinity War at the cinema, the scene were Thor turns up with stormbreaker, sounded amazing in the cinema.
Got 4K disc and it was so bass light that I ran my receiver plus 5 volume wise which I never have done in all the years I’ve been into AV.

Thing is nowadays what ever your flavour is, we have so many options on how we can set up our A/V we are basically never had it so good.:)
 
Re the discussion of 2x4 HD and the version that is a third of the price, I have one sub and run all my media that I would want any BEQ on from my htpc, if I connect the non HD version to a usb port on that which would also have the software on it so any changes would be quick and easy from the sofa. In that scenario, are there actually any advantages in spending loads more on the hd one, for most it seems to offer little extra beyond remote control which doesn't bother me given I'd be using the pc anyway.
 
Re the discussion of 2x4 HD and the version that is a third of the price, I have one sub and run all my media that I would want any BEQ on from my htpc, if I connect the non HD version to a usb port on that which would also have the software on it so any changes would be quick and easy from the sofa. In that scenario, are there actually any advantages in spending loads more on the hd one, for most it seems to offer little extra beyond remote control which doesn't bother me given I'd be using the pc anyway.
Not that I can tell
 
Everyone has a preference that’s the great thing about BEQ, if I didn’t like what it does then I can switch to another configuration.
That’s not happened yet for me with any film.:D

I know some just prefer films as they are whether that’s Audio or video (directors intent).

But I agree a lot of films are neutered just for the sake of it.

I remember watching Infinity War at the cinema, the scene were Thor turns up with stormbreaker, sounded amazing in the cinema.
Got 4K disc and it was so bass light that I ran my receiver plus 5 volume wise which I never have done in all the years I’ve been into AV.

Thing is nowadays what ever your flavour is, we have so many options on how we can set up our A/V we are basically never had it so good.:)

How long did it take to learn how to use the BEQ.

Also how long does it take to load the file ?

At times I find it hard enough to find the time to watch a movie (especially when the weather improves as Golf is a huge part of my life) so don’t want to spend to long setting the BEQ up for each film.

Also does anyone know how long the delay is as I don’t want to really have to re-run audyssey as I’m finally happy with it.

Finally and apologies for off topic but would getting the DDRC-24 be a good way of adding Dirac or is it better to get an AVR or processor with Dirac built in.

Cheers
 
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Re the discussion of 2x4 HD and the version that is a third of the price, I have one sub and run all my media that I would want any BEQ on from my htpc, if I connect the non HD version to a usb port on that which would also have the software on it so any changes would be quick and easy from the sofa. In that scenario, are there actually any advantages in spending loads more on the hd one, for most it seems to offer little extra beyond remote control which doesn't bother me given I'd be using the pc anyway.
Only if the BEQ requires more than 6 filters..
 
How long did it take to learn how to use the BEQ.

Also how long does it take to load the file ?

At times I find it hard enough to find the time to watch a movie (especially when the weather improves as Golf is a huge part of my life) so don’t want to spend to long setting the BEQ up for each film.

Also does anyone know how long the delay is as I don’t want to really have to re-run audyssey as I’m finally happy with it.
Quite easy to use, seconds to load if you're using the Github repo. Entering manually will take a little longer.
Think the delay is around 4feet but its just easier to run Audyssey if you want exact :)
 

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