Lossless audio studio ranking

[davcole]

This is not a thread about which codec is superior but a question of how well you feel each studio presents their lossless tracks via whatever means. Is there a studio you feel does an outstanding job with their lossless tracks and is there a studio that you are less impressed with their lossless tracks?


I own titles from each BD studio (along with some HD DVD's) and have Netflixed several titles on BD. I've found some instances where some studio's efforts i've been more impressed with than others.

I would be hard pressed to find a Universal lossless track that I haven't loved. While it's true most of their releases are day/date, they certainly have been impressive with their new release titles and catalog titles. Some of their's that have impressed me are:

The Incredible Hulk
Wanted
U-571
King Kong
Bourne Ultimatum

all count as reference in my book.


Now I may take some heat for this one but this is my observation: I'm less impressed with the Disney lossless tracks than the other studios. To their credit, every single title of theirs has been lossless and usually at master bit depth and their video quality may lead the way, but i've been under-impressed with their audio. While I do count THE PRESTIGE as reference, I can't say i've been as impressed with the other's i've heard from the studio.

PEARL HARBOR
WALL-E
BOLT
THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRICE CASPIAN
NATIONAL TREASURE
PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN (all 3)


are all titles that I experienced less than I anticpated.


There is no right or wrong answer to this thread but I am curious what your breakdown would be on each studio's lossless audio performance.

[MacDaddyOJack]

I think there might be something wrong with your setup if you weren't impressed by some of those movies..... Bolt and Wall-E were nearly perfect. POTC was PCM and I thought it was excellent as well.

I do agree with your first selections on being reference, but it may just have been your ear that day for those other ones.

[seigneur_rayden]

Excellent Job

Universal
Fox
Lionsgate
Disney
New Line Cinema (before Warner Bros took over)

Good job

Paramount
MGM
First Look Studios

Average job

Sony

Poor job

Warner Bros

[davcole]

While i'm not saying those Disney titles were bad sound, for me they delivered less than expected and less than what i've come to expect from other's studio's releases.

Of the titles that i've sampled that have impressed me are:

CRIMSON TIDE
CHICAGO
CON AIR
THE PRESTIGE


but no title has impressed me as reference level (except THE PRESTIGE).

[ZIPPO]

Dream Works Kung Fu Panda

[cajmoyper]

Some of the most impressive tracks were TrueHD track that were on WB movies.

I am Legend
Superman Returns
Constantine
Troy
300
The Dark Knight
The Matrix

Sure, not all of their films have had lossless at all but the ones that do are amazing.

[typ44q]

Originally Posted by MacDaddyOJack

I think there might be something wrong with your setup if you weren't impressed by some of those movies..... Bolt and Wall-E were nearly perfect. POTC was PCM and I thought it was excellent as well.

I do agree with your first selections on being reference, but it may just have been your ear that day for those other ones.

I agree, might want to go over your setup, I thought Bolt and Wall-E were amazing.

[BaronVH]

Originally Posted by typ44q

I agree, might want to go over your setup, I thought Bolt and Wall-E were amazing.

Wall-E is reference material. Best audio IMHO is Master and Commander.

[davcole]

Originally Posted by BaronVH

Wall-E is reference material. Best audio IMHO is Master and Commander.

Fully agree on MASTER AND COMMANDER.

This is what's interesting the differences in interpretation. Scenes that I remember specifically in WALL-E that I was underwhelmed with where E-va's shooting her laser on earth, Her rocket blastoff from earth and specifically the quiet surrounds while they were inside the man-made enclosure. All those moments underwhelmed me, whereas a film like KUNG FU PANDA gave me all I expected. While there is a artisitic reason for a different sound design, WALL-E was less than I expected.

That's what I mean by underwhelmed.

In BOLT, while the train sequence was pretty lively, I was wondering where the impact was on the initial attack that was part of the TV show was underwhelming or should I say inconsistent for the bombast I would expect.

[rileyparrish]

I watched Wall-E in HD (rental from Xbox Live) and the regular 5.1 was amazing so I can only assume the lossless track was reference material.

Lionsgate & Fox are easily the best for lossless tracks(quality/consistency). Universal has great DTS-HD MA tracks as well.

I watched Wanted last night, I don't know what it was but the dialouge seemed quieter than all my other movies. Everything else was great so I just turned up the volume.

POTC is amazing...all three movies, reference as well IMO. Ive been impressed audio-wise with almost every BD I've watched come to think of it, maybe I'm just easy to please.

My Favorite Titles for AQ:
Rambo
Transporter 3
War
3:10 to Yuma
Behind Enemy Lines

[doctorD]

Originally Posted by seigneur_rayden

Excellent Job

Universal
Fox
Lionsgate
Disney
New Line Cinema (before Warner Bros took over)

Good job

Paramount
MGM
First Look Studios

Average job

Sony

Poor job

Warner Bros

I would agree that current Dolby TrueHD Sony is average but prior to that the PCM Sony releases were Awesome!!!

[doctorD]

Right now my favorite new release movie studio's are:

Lionsgate (7.1 DTS HD MA)
Disney, Fox and Universal (5.1 DTS HD MA)

If Paramount start releasing movies in Dolby TrueHD 7.1 then that may move to one of my favorite lists.

[Hi-Def Steve]

When I read this question the first studio that popped into my mind was FOX.

[rileyparrish]

Fox BD Releases = Consistency of DTS-HA MA 5.1 + Consistency of Quality

Isn't every single Fox release DTS-HD?

[rileyparrish]

I'm gonna bump, this is a good topic/discussion!

[Octavio]

Originally Posted by cajmoyper

Some of the most impressive tracks were TrueHD track that were on WB movies.

I am Legend
Superman Returns
Constantine
Troy
300
The Dark Knight
The Matrix

Sure, not all of their films have had lossless at all but the ones that do are amazing.

Let me add Beowulf and Batman Begins, even Blade Runner and Amadeus, considering their age and source limitations, sounds terrific.
(not mentioning Warner PCM tracks such as Blood Diamond, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Departed, Troy, The last 3 Harry Potter movies, etc.)

[Clark Kent]

Originally Posted by rileyparrish

Fox BD Releases = Consistency of DTS-HA MA 5.1 + Consistency of Quality

Isn't every single Fox release DTS-HD?

Yes, every single Fox Blu-ray ever released has had a DTS-HD MA audio track.

[cajmoyper]

Originally Posted by Octavio

Let me add Beowulf and Batman Begins, even Blade Runner and Amadeus, considering their age and source limitations, sounds terrific.
(not mentioning Warner PCM tracks such as Blood Diamond, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Departed, Troy, The last 3 Harry Potter movies, etc.)

Not for nothing, but I think speaking of BR, we can drop all this "for it's time" junk. When I turned that movie on, I had to turn my sub down. That movie literallly rocked the house. Now if only the movie was as good as the audio track .

[singhcr]

It really does depend more on the movie (codecs don't mean anything as long as they are lossless/uncompressed) than anything else, but:

Disney, Fox, and Sony supported high def audio from the beginning. Fox was always DTS-HD MA and Disney/Sony both started with PCM. Disney moved on to DTS-HD MA, whereas Sony went with TrueHD. I know whenever I get one of their titles it will sound as good as it can.

Paramount initially had lossy releases but ever since they went BD exclusive they've used TrueHD on every release and I have had several good titles from them, such as Kung Fu Panda and Iron Man.

Universal has DTS-HD MA on every release, they have all been stellar so far.

Warner is finally starting to have lossless audio on every release, although I find it annoying that it defaults to the lossy track every time. Sony and Paramount don't even use lossy tracks anymore, they default to the lossless track. The rest use DTS-HD MA only and it works fine!

It is hard to rank, but I would do this:

Fox/Sony/Disney for supporting BD from the start and having lossless on every release.
Universal for DTS-HD MA on every release.
Paramount for getting their act together after the format war and going lossless on every release.
Warner for finally realizing that consumers want more than 640kb lossy DD. They still owe me a TrueHD BD of Phantom of the Opera though

[robertc88]

Originally Posted by singhcr

It really does depend more on the movie (codecs don't mean anything as long as they are lossless/uncompressed) than anything else, but:

Disney, Fox, and Sony supported high def audio from the beginning. Fox was always DTS-HD MA and Disney/Sony both started with PCM. Disney moved on to DTS-HD MA, whereas Sony went with TrueHD. I know whenever I get one of their titles it will sound as good as it can.

Paramount initially had lossy releases but ever since they went BD exclusive they've used TrueHD on every release and I have had several good titles from them, such as Kung Fu Panda and Iron Man.

Universal has DTS-HD MA on every release, they have all been stellar so far.

Warner is finally starting to have lossless audio on every release, although I find it annoying that it defaults to the lossy track every time. Sony and Paramount don't even use lossy tracks anymore, they default to the lossless track. The rest use DTS-HD MA only and it works fine!

It is hard to rank, but I would do this:

Fox/Sony/Disney for supporting BD from the start and having lossless on every release.
Universal for DTS-HD MA on every release.
Paramount for getting their act together after the format war and going lossless on every release.
Warner for finally realizing that consumers want more than 640kb lossy DD. They still owe me a TrueHD BD of Phantom of the Opera though

Exactly.

If forced for an answer I'd say Lionsgate, Universal, and Fox as well.

It is important with TrueHD tracks on applicable BDs to make sure that DNR is turned OFF both in the player and AVR. I cannot stress this more.