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Originally Posted by Latheofheaven
What are audio stems, please...?
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A "stem" in sound mixing terminology is an isolated track of sound (dialogue, music, or sound effects) that makes up part of the final mix of a movie or show. The music stem for a film is the final edited master that contains the music exactly (usually) as it's heard in the film; same with the dialogue and effects stems.
Stems are part of the standard delivery when a film is finished (though not sure how long it's been standard). They're used during dubbing for various languages and in marketing materials (promos, trailers). They can also be used for later remixes.
In the case of Psycho, the raw, master recordings of the music have apparently been lost, but the edited music stem still exists, as it was utilized for the remix.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Latheofheaven
Oh, I was also wondering based upon all this...
I have the previous 2010 Universal release I believe it is. Would they have really screwed with the soundtrack there too, or did they provide the original mono then, or did they do any remastering and offer an alternative track but maybe without redoing all the effects?
It's just been so long since I've seen it and I clearly didn't have a clue before this being explained to me anyway, so I was wondering if someone can refresh my memory about how the did the sound with that release?
Oh, and BTW, did they screw with the audio tracks with the other 3 films in this set too?
Thanks!
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The 2010 Blu-ray of Psycho had a 5.1 remix where the revised sound effects were first heard, which seems to be what the new DTS X is based on. The 2010 disc also included the real original mono, and the new discs were supposed to (and now they will).
Vertigo had a remix done in 1996 for its then-new restoration, which similarly contained numerous new effects which were even more distracting than what was done for Psycho. This mix was used on laserdisc, VHS, and DVD. But the 2012 Blu-ray had a new 5.1 remix that put back many of the original effects and was more faithful overall to the original. That seems to be what the DTS X on the UHD is based on, but the original mono is there, too.
Rear Window and The Birds both have just their mono tracks, as there haven't been any multi-channel remixes of either (I don't think, anyway).
Hope that all makes sense!