The Abyss 4K UHD (1989)

[BNex99]

Originally Posted by Markgway

But... as it seems like the 2.0 track maybe the OG stereo I've gone ahead and ordered the Spanish UHD.

If it turns out not to be OG I will hunt each and every one of you down like dogs.

It's either the OG stereo or a very faithful recreation of it.

[SpacemanDoug]

Originally Posted by BNex99

I kind of wish they'd stuck the old '79 stereo remix that was on most of the laserdisc and VHS releases (and the very first DVD from '97) instead of the Atmos for the theatrical cut.

But I'm happy to have the mono on there.

The 98 remix was honestly better, had better fidelity and none of the "enhancements" that were done for the 79 remix, so it sounded closer to the mono just with some stereoized effects

[BNex99]

Originally Posted by SpacemanDoug

The 98 remix was honestly better, had better fidelity and none of the "enhancements" that were done for the 79 remix, so it sounded closer to the mono just with some stereoized effects

Agreed. But I meant that if they were going to put the actual original mono on there anyway, I wish the alternate surround track had been the 1979 mix, instead of a retrofitted version of the 2000 mix.

[ImBlu_DaBaDee]

Originally Posted by Operation Preserve

Sound is the last thing I would worry about this abomination. It has been distorted and mutiliated with ai and fake grain and tainted with revisionist teal.

Hi Mike! Congrats on nearly 50 posts in less than 2 hours from your latest sock account. That’s totally normal behavior!

[Markgway]

Got my Spanish UHD/BD of The Abyss.

Haven't had 3 hours to spare to watch it yet, but I did sample it for a few minutes.

Quick comments on audio:

UHD: The Atmos/7.1 is weak as piss, the DTS-HD MA 2.0 mix blows it out of the water.

BD: Compared the DTS-HD MA 5.1 and Dolby Digital 2.0 mixes and they sound a bit different to me. The 5.1 is more robust, bassier, I think. I used headphones and TV sound so no issues with receivers, channels, etc. If the 2.0 track were a downmix it would surely sound exactly the same, but I detected subtle differences (i.e. the helicopter at the beginning of an early chapter). I don't claim to be an expert, so I could be imaging it all, but those are my initial thoughts...

I'm also assuming the 2.0 mixes on the UHD and BD although encoded differently are the same. I couldn't compare aurally as they're on different discs.

[KMFDMvsEnya]

The Atmos mix sounds great to me.
Just turn it up with a capable surround sound system.

[figrin_dan]

Originally Posted by KMFDMvsEnya

The Atmos mix sounds great to me.
Just turn it up with a capable surround sound system.

I agree. The dts-MA 5.1 from the Spanish blu sounded really weak on my system. I muxed in the atmos and it was much better. It looks like the 2.0 on the blu is just dd so I'll give it a miss.

[Telemachus]

Originally Posted by Markgway

I used headphones and TV sound

Does everyone on this forum with a cat avatar run **** sound setups?

[JohnCarpenterFan]

Yeah, you can't really judge how those non-2.0 tracks sound if you're only listening through TV speakers or stereo headphones because what you'll be listening to isn't what was supposed to be heard at all.

The 2.0 definitely sounds more powerful to me than the 5.1. If the 5.1 sounds like it has more bass on stereo speakers then I'd chalk that up to however the TV is choosing to downmix/process surround tracks.

[hanshotfirst1138]

I wonder if I should bite the bullet and just buy these like the hypocrite I am? Even if a boycott would do anything, which it wouldn’t, the time for it has passed anyway.

[Mierzwiak]

Originally Posted by hanshotfirst1138

I wonder if I should bite the bullet and just buy these like the hypocrite I am?

It's not hypocrisy if you know exactly what you're buying and while not perfect, it's perfectly watchable.

[Markgway]

Originally Posted by Telemachus

Does everyone on this forum with a cat avatar run **** sound setups?

Originally Posted by JohnCarpenterFan

Yeah, you can't really judge how those non-2.0 tracks sound if you're only listening through TV speakers or stereo headphones because what you'll be listening to isn't what was supposed to be heard at all.

The 2.0 definitely sounds more powerful to me than the 5.1. If the 5.1 sounds like it has more bass on stereo speakers then I'd chalk that up to however the TV is choosing to downmix/process surround tracks.

Yeah, that's why I always make it clear I use TV/headphones. If you have a multi-channel, multi-speaker system I'm sure it'll sound much better. My point, which I probably wasn't clear on, is that on headphones the Atmos is weak. Peeps like me NEED the original audios. The BD's 5.1 sounded more powerful than the BD's 2.0. Same as UHD's 2.0? The 2.0 sounded powerful enough - basically just right - on the UHD. But AGAIN I'm not an expert.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by hanshotfirst1138

I wonder if I should bite the bullet and just buy these like the hypocrite I am? Even if a boycott would do anything, which it wouldn’t, the time for it has passed anyway.

The Abyss looks fantastic, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

[Markgway]

I watched the SE last night and am relieved that there was very little that bothered me.

The lack of grain, film texture was the only thing that niggled, but nowhere near enough to spoil the film.

And only one shot - when MEM is lying dead on the floor - stood out as funky.

I'm perfectly OK with owning this.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Markgway

I watched the SE last night and am relieved that there was very little that bothered me.

The lack of grain, film texture was the only thing that niggled, but nowhere near enough to spoil the film.

And only one shot - when MEM is lying dead on the floor - stood out as funky.

I'm perfectly OK with owning this.

It's still the bestest one of the Cameron catalogue UHDs.

[rubystone356]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

The Abyss looks fantastic, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

Damn Straight.

Jacob

[LanceL]

So, I keep hearing and reading about this AI treatment. Most are saying these aren't native 4K scans but upscales. Is there any truth to this?

[jess1581]

Originally Posted by LanceL

So, I keep hearing and reading about this AI treatment. Most are saying these aren't native 4K scans but upscales. Is there any truth to this?

True for Aliens and The Terminator, not true for The Abyss, or Titanic. I don't know about True Lies.

[SpacemanDoug]

Originally Posted by Markgway

Got my Spanish UHD/BD of The Abyss.

Haven't had 3 hours to spare to watch it yet, but I did sample it for a few minutes.

Quick comments on audio:

UHD: The Atmos/7.1 is weak as piss, the DTS-HD MA 2.0 mix blows it out of the water.

BD: Compared the DTS-HD MA 5.1 and Dolby Digital 2.0 mixes and they sound a bit different to me. The 5.1 is more robust, bassier, I think. I used headphones and TV sound so no issues with receivers, channels, etc. If the 2.0 track were a downmix it would surely sound exactly the same, but I detected subtle differences (i.e. the helicopter at the beginning of an early chapter). I don't claim to be an expert, so I could be imaging it all, but those are my initial thoughts...

I'm also assuming the 2.0 mixes on the UHD and BD although encoded differently are the same. I couldn't compare aurally as they're on different discs.

one thing to know about you saying the Atmos mix being weak as piss, the special edition actually has some errors due to branching during the climax, originating on the Fox DVD's 5.1 mix, it frequently incorrectly cuts between the special edition and theatrical cut cues but thankfully the 2.0 and 5.1 tracks are 100% error free, these errors are exclusive to the Atmos mix

[hanshotfirst1138]

Originally Posted by Mierzwiak

It's not hypocrisy if you know exactly what you're buying and while not perfect, it's perfectly watchable.

I said I wouldn’t buy it and to boycott it, so it would be pretty big hypocrisy actually.