[garyrc]

Originally Posted by Farge-TV

... The dynamics were fantastic, but all the high-range sounds were quite distorted at high volumes, which was very noticeable when the score kicked in. I thought that the magnetic track was worn, but I experienced the exact same problem when I watched Patton, so I'm assuming that the problem was with the equipment....

They also had the volume quite high, and significantly higher than I would have had it at home. (But that's part of the charm, except for the mentioned distortion.)

Originally Posted by Mogwai

The 70mm version they ran in Oslo didn't have magnetic soundtrack. I talked to the projectionist, and he told me they used a DTS CD synchronised to the picture.

I guess that means the print was made for the 40th anniversary in 2002, because the Robert A. Harris restoration from 1989 used Dolby SR (as mentioned on the end credits of the 70mm print)

Originally Posted by Farge-TV

Really? Then I wonder what the cause of the distorted sound was. Did you watch it as well?

Thanks to both of you!

Here are my guesses:

• Lawrence was a more difficult than average soundtrack. The music is probably meant to be very bright, and may have been successfully so in the original run in 1962.
  
• When a magnetic soundtrack (in this case, a master) is damaged by a magnetic field the most noticeable effect is a roll off of very high frequencies -- which would produce an effect the opposite of what Farge noticed -- but I truly believe that I have noticed that magnetic fields can produce an increase in harmonic/intermodulation distortion as well.
  
• To my ears, digital is a harsher, shriller medium than magnetic. All of the original magnetic soundtracks I have heard seem "warm" with a few exceptions, and Lawrence was one of those exceptions, although still effective. In the theater, with mag tracks, in 1962, I, as a very young audiophile, noticed that it was just a bit harsh. Since dubbing studio and theater speakers of those days (both Altec and JBL) tended to begin their roll off at about 12K (although the harshest sound is usually below 12K, somewhere between 1K and 8K in the ear's most sensitive range) any "hash" and additional stridency at the very top of the audio spectrum could have been masked in those days, and unknown to even the filmmakers, but clearly audible to us today. Transferring it to digital could have been the final blow.

The reason I asked about the audio in the first place was that the Blu-ray sounds a little harsh in places, but I wouldn't consider it to be "quite distorted" ... too bad the DTS you saw was.

I agree that high -- orchestra level, or even a little higher -- SPL is "part of the charm," in a 70 mm roadshow production. That's a tradition that started with the modestly named The Miracle of Todd-AO and Oklahoma!, both in 1955. That's why it's so important to have low distortion.

It will be interesting to see how one of the really warm soundtracks from a 70 mm production (Around the World in 80 Days, Oklahoma!) will sound if transferred to DTS, especially if they use an updated DTS format.