Ghostbusters 4K UHD (1984)

[Geoff D]

consumer@SPHECustomerSupport.sony.com

[bigrob]

glad i haven't got round to picking this up yet despite pulling the trigger a few times.

yet another replacement program incoming

[CreasyBear]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

consumer@SPHECustomerSupport.sony.com

Thanks.

This is what I sent them.

Hello, I recently purchased the new 4K Ghostbusters Collection with new Ghostbusters 1 and 2 4K and myself and others have noticed that the “Original Theatrical Audio” 2.0 stereo tracks are faulty. They are not actually 2.0 stereo tracks, but multichannel stereo with dialogue coming out of all of the speakers. On my setup with my Panasonic and Sony players and Denon receiver, I can’t even apply the Dolby Surround processing that I normally would on a DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo track. Others have noted the same issue across various players and receivers. If you could please look into the issue and fix it and issue a replacement program, it would be greatly appreciated. The original stereo audio was one of the big reasons I bought this collection in the first place. Thank you.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by CreasyBear

Thanks.

This is what I sent them.

No worries. I’m glad I haven’t commented on the 2.0 either way but I’m pretty sure I selected it when watching the new UHD and so noticed nothing amiss thru my puny TV speakers. And I think that’s the point with these 2.0 tracks, that whoever QC’d them - if at all - must’ve done so through some awfully crappy setup to have not noticed this.

[CreasyBear]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

No worries. I’m glad I haven’t commented on the 2.0 either way but I’m pretty sure I selected it when watching the new UHD and so noticed nothing amiss thru my puny TV speakers. And I think that’s the point with these 2.0 tracks, that whoever QC’d them - if at all - must’ve done so through some awfully crappy setup to have not noticed this.

It had to be something like that. Which...Jesus...that says a lot about the QC process. There's no way you could listen to this on a discrete surround system and not notice how off the whole track is. It's almost they applied some sort of internal decoding in the track. Like I said, I can't even apply Dolby Surround or DTS Neural on my Denon.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by CreasyBear

It had to be something like that. Which...Jesus...that says a lot about the QC process. There's no way you could listen to this on a discrete surround system and not notice how off the whole track is. It's almost they applied some sort of internal decoding in the track. Like I said, I can't even apply Dolby Surround or DTS Neural on my Denon.

What’s almost stunningly annoying is that people are saying that the 2.0 on the newer BDs decodes just fine, which means that it took *more* work to mess these up than if they’d literally just ported the existing DTS-HD MA 2.0 encodes across, like you said with Escape from LA’s audio which was fine on the shout but all kinds of messed up on the UHD.

[CreasyBear]

I blame soundbars.

[Matt89]

Good Lord, another faulty disc? This is getting so goddamn annoying. I've probably had nearly a dozen discs that needed replacing in just the past 6 months. Absolutely unreal.

~Matt

[JohnCarpenterFan]

I knew and said years ago that there would be plenty of QC issues and replacement programs to come, but I didn't expect it to be this bad. I suppose COVID just complicated things even further.

[sfmarine]

Originally Posted by CreasyBear

Well, I'm glad it's not just me. The original audio was a big selling point of this set. Does anyone know the best customer support contact for Sony?

My receiver is currently being serviced under warranty so I'm only running a soundbar which is why I missed the 2.0 issue. From what you've all been reporting...it sounds very similar to the Shout release of Nothing But Trouble where the dialogue comes through different speakers. It is super annoying with the drifting and unbalanced audio.

Hopefully Sony comes through and issues a replacement. What a mess this set is becoming. Quality control is so poor these days.

[Brian81]

They better fix this! The ONE AND ONLY reason I picked this up was for the stereo tracks.

[Darthbooth1978]

The joy in this hobby is slowly being sapped away by what seems to be a constant screw up by these studios of nearly every physical release. It’s like they are deliberately trying to piss everyone off so they’ll just go digital.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by Darthbooth1978

The joy in this hobby is slowly being sapped away by what seems to be a constant screw up by these studios of nearly every physical release. It’s like they are deliberately trying to piss everyone off so they’ll just go digital.

They certainly want everyone to go digital. Disney is certainly trying to make it happen with Disney+ and their exclusive shows, which none are available on disc. Thankfully, I found a way around that problem.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by CreasyBear

Do you perhaps wear a bowtie?

What's far more probable is that those in quality control aren't given adequate time and money to give every title the attention it deserves, because that would cost money that the studios don't want to spend on shiny discs.

I think there's something to be said for every aspect of this argument. There are plenty of people in every strata of employment who do not give a shit but don't get pulled up on it because you can't tell them that they're incompetent buffoons any more, so they turn up, do their shambling 'best' and then go home. Rinse and repeat. As long as they don't do anything that contravenes the terms of their employment then you're stuck with them, and it's like there are more of them than ever.

But at the same time the studios have indeed cut their home video divisions down to the bone so even though there may be people there who care - and Sony have their finger on the pulse more than most IMO - they're not given the time or money to do their job properly. Though it's not that physically sitting there and watching a disc end to end with all audio tracks and checking all special features, menu operations etc etc was ever a big part of QC for disc, it's been automated for many years so as long as the data is physically intact on the disc then their job is done, the real failure in QC is at the mastering stage where all this silliness is occurring.

I do have to wonder if the switch to streaming has had a major impact on QC'ing content. What I mean is that with streaming you can just swap out the master in a day, right, so if there are problems with the grading or the HDR or the framing or the audio or the subtitles or whatever then you just upload a corrected version when it's available, no muss no fuss. The result is that it *seems* to have taken a hell of a lot of emphasis away from trying to get it right first time. The pandemic has not helped matters, true, and I also have to wonder if 'working from home' is having an effect with all these audio snafus that are piling up at an absolutely alarming rate, i.e. if they're at home they're not necessarily using proper equipment.

I will always maintain that being able to tell left from right should not be beyond the wit of someone using even the dodgiest headphones or TV speakers, if that's what people are using to "QC" audio, but these phase issues like the GB 2.0 tracks and the EFLA 5.1 might well be more difficult to pick up on such equipment.

Still, I think a tiny part of me died when reading the conformation that the GB 2.0 tracks were borked, as the malaise has now infected Sony. As much I hate their approach to HDR grading I've got so much love for them and what they're doing with disc, taking a cue from the indies to provide a boutique quality package from a major studio with DV, OG audio, 'about the transfer' blurbs, copious extras inc alternative preview/TV cuts, tat-laden packaging and so on. A cynic could argue that they weren't ever doing it for our best interests - it's a business, not a charidee - and they're just copying what the indies are doing to extract more dollarpounds from us, which may all be true, yet it seemed like someone there did actually care which made it all the sweeter. Now I'm not so sure.

[tama]

Really Sony? You too? Damn.

Guess I'll email them and keep an eye out to see if a replacement situation pops up given this was a limited release to begin with.

[CreasyBear]

I got a response asking for several pictures of the box, disc, receipt, address, and phone number. That's it. No real response as to the issue present on the disc. Hmmm.

[andreasy969]

Checked my discs as well now and can confirm: Dialogue coming from the rears with the Dolby Stereo tracks of the 4Ks of I and II with Dolby Pro Logic. While the Dolby Stereo of the respective BDs is fine with just music/effects from the rears as it's supposed to be.

Email will go out later, but adding 2 more discs to the 3 pending replacements already. I also somehow doubt that I will see a Hard Target replacement anymore btw. (without contacting Kino that is anyway), since others received it 3 weeks ago by now... (in Germany I mean)

Yay.

EDIT: Email sent...

[andreasy969]

Just had a response in the mail already as well, also asking for several photos, some information and contact info. Will provide all of that tomorrow (or maybe even today) and am hoping for the best. As I stil am with the other 3 ongoing replacements for now.

EDIT: And email sent as well...

[Markgway]

From now on distributors should offer two dates to customers:

The initial release date and the replacement release date.

[mulscul]

Sure would be nice to unlock the thread for the collector's set so these posts can go there as well since that is the disc we are talking about here and not the standard 4k release from 2016. Why was that thread closed?