America: The Story of Us - Audio Issues - Blu-ray Forum

NorCo_1806 · 11-27-2010, 06:00 PM

Hey...has anyone else viewed this A&E Home Video release? It's something I'd really like to own, having watched most of it on the History channel. But the review on this site has me worried. Here is some info from that review:

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman, September 9, 2010

America: The Story of Us Blu-ray, Audio Quality 3 out of 5

There are big problems to report with the two lossless soundmixes included. Jeff wasn't sure if he possibly received defective discs for his review, or if there's an authoring error, or if this is just a case of overly aggressive LFE .

The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix is unlistenable on some systems. There is a completely odd, and overpowering, low frequency hum which drowns out narration, on screen commentary and sound effects. He spot checked almost all of the episodes over the three discs and it was present on all of them. He tried playing the discs on different players and got the same result. Another odd thing: when toggling between the two tracks, for a brief moment the 5.1 track shows a negative bitstream.

The DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mix is marginally better. It at least does not have the omnipresent low hum, but it is a very annoyingly noisy track (by which he means sound effects, not hiss or the like). This track is hampered by some poor mixing. When the sound effects do gear up, they often overpower Schreiber's voicework. While it's understandable to pump up battle scenes with appropriate sound effects, this is one exhausting soundtrack to listen to for any length of time.

Sometimes less is more.

Again, has anyone experienced these same issues? Or even better, have you viewed this title and NOT had these issues? In which case, maybe he did get a bad copy???

I'm hoping at least a few forum members have some positive comments for us. As I said, I really want this in my collection, but not if it sounds terrible.

Thanks

Arkitect76 · 11-27-2010, 06:13 PM

^^^ what he said...i want this one also but I wanna make sure if this is a defect or if this is the way the set is...

NorCo_1806 · 11-27-2010, 06:24 PM

There are several members on the site with this in their collection.....don't make me single you out

JMK · 11-27-2010, 06:31 PM

Sony (the mastering company) took my initial copy back and I got another one, which had the very same issues. They never followed up with any additional information. I poked around the internet and noticed that many reviewers stated the same thing I did. Of course, my review was up first, so they may have simply taken my lead (a nice way of saying they copied me LOL). I think this boils down to an extremely over aggressive use of LFE which some home theaters decode better than others. This was completely unlistenable on my Sony system, but was only slightly hideous (

) on my Onkyo.

NorCo_1806 · 11-28-2010, 02:38 PM

Thanks for your reply Jeff....sad that Sony didn't get back to you with anything else.

Thank goodness my system isn't a Sony

But I'm not quite to Onkyo yet either....hmm..???... more thinking and considering for me then

Geologist · 02-28-2011, 07:35 PM

bump since it is on sale. Concerned about the audio.

Called A&E to inquire and they state that they have NEVER heard of the issue.

HMMM - maybe now we know why it is being discounted?

KinoNiki · 03-01-2011, 08:16 PM

Might buy it since it's on sale and looks interesting. I actually have a 5.0 system so the LFE shouldn't be a problem, I hope.

Lino11 · 06-11-2011, 03:31 AM

Slowly going through this... the first few films have had not had any audio issues whatsoever. Awesome set, for anyone debating, this is worth it.

JaseT · 11-07-2013, 04:31 PM

Amazon price drop: $6.99

Ordered....Love this series!

bluskies · 11-07-2013, 06:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JaseT

Amazon price drop: $6.99

Ordered....Love this series!

See it became #1 here under Best Blu-ray Deals...and out of stock now.

benbess · 11-07-2013, 06:37 PM

Good documentary. High production values. Good information. Nice enough cgi. Worth the money, esp. at this price imho.

jdw89 · 11-07-2013, 07:30 PM

Looks like a pricing error as neither Amazon or Walmart have it in stock anymore. I PM'd at BBY for $5 earlier though.

JaseT · 11-11-2013, 03:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jdw89

Looks like a pricing error as neither Amazon or Walmart have it in stock anymore. I PM'd at BBY for $5 earlier though.

$5 is fantastic! I wish that some other History Channel series would drop down this low!

11-27-2010, 06:31 PM	#4
JMK Blu-ray reviewer Top contributor Member since:Aug 2009 Blu-ray collection:- Trading Score:3	Sony (the mastering company) took my initial copy back and I got another one, which had the very same issues. They never followed up with any additional information. I poked around the internet and noticed that many reviewers stated the same thing I did. Of course, my review was up first, so they may have simply taken my lead (a nice way of saying they copied me LOL). I think this boils down to an extremely over aggressive use of LFE which some home theaters decode better than others. This was completely unlistenable on my Sony system, but was only slightly hideous () on my Onkyo.

06-11-2011, 03:31 AM	#8
Lino11 Active Member Member since:May 2010 4K collection:114 Blu-ray collection:1144 DVD collection:164 Trading Score:85	no issues Slowly going through this... the first few films have had not had any audio issues whatsoever. Awesome set, for anyone debating, this is worth it.

11-27-2010, 06:00 PM	#1
NorCo_1806 Blu-ray Samurai Top ranked HT gallery Member since:Aug 2009 Location:Colorado Home Theater Gallery:41 Blu-ray collection:465 DVD collection:94 Trading Score:1	America: The Story of Us - Audio Issues Hey...has anyone else viewed this A&E Home Video release? It's something I'd really like to own, having watched most of it on the History channel. But the review on this site has me worried. Here is some info from that review: Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman, September 9, 2010 America: The Story of Us Blu-ray, Audio Quality 3 out of 5 There are big problems to report with the two lossless soundmixes included. Jeff wasn't sure if he possibly received defective discs for his review, or if there's an authoring error, or if this is just a case of overly aggressive LFE . The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix is unlistenable on some systems. There is a completely odd, and overpowering, low frequency hum which drowns out narration, on screen commentary and sound effects. He spot checked almost all of the episodes over the three discs and it was present on all of them. He tried playing the discs on different players and got the same result. Another odd thing: when toggling between the two tracks, for a brief moment the 5.1 track shows a negative bitstream. The DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mix is marginally better. It at least does not have the omnipresent low hum, but it is a very annoyingly noisy track (by which he means sound effects, not hiss or the like). This track is hampered by some poor mixing. When the sound effects do gear up, they often overpower Schreiber's voicework. While it's understandable to pump up battle scenes with appropriate sound effects, this is one exhausting soundtrack to listen to for any length of time. Sometimes less is more. Again, has anyone experienced these same issues? Or even better, have you viewed this title and NOT had these issues? In which case, maybe he did get a bad copy??? I'm hoping at least a few forum members have some positive comments for us. As I said, I really want this in my collection, but not if it sounds terrible. Thanks

11-27-2010, 06:13 PM	#2
Arkitect76 Blu-ray Guru Member since:Jan 2008 Location:New York City Blu-Ray Steelbooks™: (75) 4K collection:129 Blu-ray collection:814 DVD collection:1 Digital collection:1 iTunes collection:2 Trading Score:145	^^^ what he said...i want this one also but I wanna make sure if this is a defect or if this is the way the set is...

11-27-2010, 06:24 PM	#3
NorCo_1806 Blu-ray Samurai Top ranked HT gallery Member since:Aug 2009 Location:Colorado Home Theater Gallery:41 Blu-ray collection:465 DVD collection:94 Trading Score:1	There are several members on the site with this in their collection.....don't make me single you out

11-28-2010, 02:38 PM	#5
NorCo_1806 Blu-ray Samurai Top ranked HT gallery Member since:Aug 2009 Location:Colorado Home Theater Gallery:41 Blu-ray collection:465 DVD collection:94 Trading Score:1	Thanks for your reply Jeff....sad that Sony didn't get back to you with anything else. Thank goodness my system isn't a Sony But I'm not quite to Onkyo yet either....hmm..???... more thinking and considering for me then

02-28-2011, 07:35 PM	#6
Geologist Special Member Member since:Feb 2010 Home Theater Gallery:1 Blu-ray collection:760 DVD collection:87	bump since it is on sale. Concerned about the audio. Called A&E to inquire and they state that they have NEVER heard of the issue. HMMM - maybe now we know why it is being discounted?

03-01-2011, 08:16 PM	#7
KinoNiki Junior Member Member since:Feb 2011 Location:Sweden 4K collection:257 Blu-ray collection:748 iTunes collection:229	Might buy it since it's on sale and looks interesting. I actually have a 5.0 system so the LFE shouldn't be a problem, I hope.

11-07-2013, 04:31 PM	#9
JaseT Blu-ray Samurai Member since:May 2009 Location:Colorado, USA Blu-ray collection:- Trading Score:2	Amazon price drop: $6.99 Ordered....Love this series!

11-07-2013, 06:37 PM	#11
benbess Blu-ray Guru Member since:Aug 2009 Location:Louisville, KY Blu-ray reviews: 65	Good documentary. High production values. Good information. Nice enough cgi. Worth the money, esp. at this price imho.

11-07-2013, 07:30 PM	#12
jdw89 Blu-ray Ninja Top contributor Member since:Jun 2013 Location:Oklahoma 4K collection:92 Blu-ray collection:1052 DVD collection:206 Digital collection:106 Trading Score:159	Looks like a pricing error as neither Amazon or Walmart have it in stock anymore. I PM'd at BBY for $5 earlier though.

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