Transporter 3 - anyone else disappointed with the audio?

[nickows]

Finally got around to watching this last night and was really disappointed with the 7.1 DTS-HD track. I run a reasonably decent 7.2 system (see my gallery), and from all reports I was expecting this track to be a killer. Surround use was there, but there seemed to be very little discrete sound emanating from indivual surround speakers. It sounded like all the effects were simply mixed into all the surround channels and cranked up to 10. Very little directionality.

Bass seemed ill-defined and bloated, not tight and punchy like I expected. In comparison to my reference discs (Master and COmmander, Mr and Mrs Smith and Daredevil), or even Transporter 2, the bass sounded sloppy and half baked.

If a movie has a good soundtrack (to my ear) I always remember one or two scenes that sounded great, but there were none that come to mind in this movie.

As soon as I'd finished watching Transporter 3 I gave Transporter 2 a spin, and the audio on that BR sounded much more polished.

Is anyone else with me in regards to this, or am I on my own here?

[deado]

I think Transporter 3 is a poor movie to boot. Photography sucks, story sucks, the chick sucks, and the audio is okay but nothing great.

[dubldown]

That girl can suck all she wants, she was hot

[dubldown]

Originally Posted by nickows

Finally got around to watching this last night and was really disappointed with the 7.1 DTS-HD track. I run a reasonably decent 7.2 system (see my gallery), and from all reports I was expecting this track to be a killer. Surround use was there, but there seemed to be very little discrete sound emanating from indivual surround speakers. It sounded like all the effects were simply mixed into all the surround channels and cranked up to 10. Very little directionality.

Bass seemed ill-defined and bloated, not tight and punchy like I expected. In comparison to my reference discs (Master and COmmander, Mr and Mrs Smith and Daredevil), or even Transporter 2, the bass sounded sloppy and half baked.

If a movie has a good soundtrack (to my ear) I always remember one or two scenes that sounded great, but there were none that come to mind in this movie.

As soon as I'd finished watching Transporter 3 I gave Transporter 2 a spin, and the audio on that BR sounded much more polished.

Is anyone else with me in regards to this, or am I on my own here?

I thought it sounded pretty badass myself

But my rear 4 speakers are a lot more spread out than yours. Yours seem really close so maybe that's why you don't hear the difference?

[crazyBLUE]

Originally Posted by dubldown

That girl can suck all she wants, she was hot

Originally Posted by dubldown

I thought it sounded pretty badass myself

But my rear 4 speakers are a lot more spread out than yours. Yours seem really close so maybe that's why you don't hear the difference?

I AGREE !!!!!!

[Bullseye]

I was very disapponted with the movie as I had enjoyed the first two. Glad I only rented this.

[Hawk]

Overall a lame effort, but my favorite part was at the beginning when the car came crashing through the house. If that does not make you jump when you first see and hear it, nothing will.

[CMM]

Originally Posted by deado

I think Transporter 3 is a poor movie to boot. Photography sucks, story sucks, the chick sucks, and the audio is okay but nothing great.

Couldn't agree more. Only rented it luckily.

Originally Posted by dubldown

That girl can suck all she wants, she was hot

Really? I thought she was ugly

[coldheart]

Got it from Netflix to watch tonight.I'll see.

[bluRazor]

[QUOTE=crazyBLUE;1978633]I AGREE !!!!!!

+ 1 freckles in hd >

[crazyBLUE]

[QUOTE=blu/razor;1978816]

Originally Posted by crazyBLUE

I AGREE !!!!!!

+ 1 freckles in hd >

[Todd Smith]

Originally Posted by nickows

Finally got around to watching this last night and was really disappointed with the 7.1 DTS-HD track. I run a reasonably decent 7.2 system (see my gallery), and from all reports I was expecting this track to be a killer. Surround use was there, but there seemed to be very little discrete sound emanating from indivual surround speakers. It sounded like all the effects were simply mixed into all the surround channels and cranked up to 10. Very little directionality.

Bass seemed ill-defined and bloated, not tight and punchy like I expected. In comparison to my reference discs (Master and COmmander, Mr and Mrs Smith and Daredevil), or even Transporter 2, the bass sounded sloppy and half baked.

If a movie has a good soundtrack (to my ear) I always remember one or two scenes that sounded great, but there were none that come to mind in this movie.

As soon as I'd finished watching Transporter 3 I gave Transporter 2 a spin, and the audio on that BR sounded much more polished.

Is anyone else with me in regards to this, or am I on my own here?

I did not check out your setup, but I am surprised by your findings......I thought the sound was reference quality myself, and infact purchased it largely due to the soundtrack! Explosions/crashes might be the most convincing I have ever experienced in my HT......the car crashing through the house......the ambulance explosion.......the car chase.....the car/train sequence......all these are demo caliber moments (might have missed a few, but those come to mind right off the bat).

I thought Ralphs review over on AVS nailed it pretty much.....

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1128400

I will say that T3 is a dif sound design from the movies you mention and I can see how you may not like it considering that.....T3 is over the top aggressive in comparison to the 3 films you listed.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by dubldown

That girl can suck all she wants, she was hot

Redheads with freckles. And she had some nice sticks too.

[crazyBLUE]

I thought TRANSPORTER 3 had A great DTS sound track ! It sounded great on my system !!

[mac.21]

I noticed that the US transporter 3 was mixed at a lower volume then usual so try increasing the volume a few notches. I did a comparison with my UK blu ray steelbook copy and its dolby true hd track was mixed a few db's hotter which made a big difference in a positive way as it was more in your face.

[romac]

I found the Transporter 3 soundtrack to be pretty aggressive.

I bought it day one because I have the other two Transporters on Blu, and while I agree it's not that good of a movie, I thought the PQ and AQ were top notch. I wasn't a fan of the girl however, didn't find her that attractive and she was annoying imo.

[dalejr88]

I dont no if this will help but i have a sony bdp-350s and an onkyo tx806 transporter 3 would not play the 7.1 sound unless i went to the disc menu skiped the previews went to sceen selection then selected the first chapter and walla 7.1 lit up on my reciever and it sounded awesome i seem to have this ploblem with all lionsgate blurays in 7.1 the only bluray that gave me no trouble at all was rambo hope this helps.

[SammyG]

Originally Posted by Hawk

Overall a lame effort, but my favorite part was at the beginning when the car came crashing through the house. If that does not make you jump when you first see and hear it, nothing will.

My wife jumped out of her seat, she was sitting on the side it crashed into.

[crazyBLUE]

Originally Posted by dalejr88

I dont no if this will help but i have a sony bdp-350s and an onkyo tx806 transporter 3 would not play the 7.1 sound unless i went to the disc menu skiped the previews went to sceen selection then selected the first chapter and walla 7.1 lit up on my reciever and it sounded awesome i seem to have this ploblem with all lionsgate blurays in 7.1 the only bluray that gave me no trouble at all was rambo hope this helps.

I would think having to get 7.1 & do all that to just get it That there might be something wrong somewhere IN you're hookup or settings ! I put A movie in & it gives me what its got with no screwing around with anything !!

[nickows]

Thanks for the replies everyone; looks like I'm in the minority when it comes to dissing this soundtrack. So I went back and listened to parts of the movie again, adjusted the subs down a little, and that seemed to help the bass. Maybe my subs' volume was set too high for this soundtrack. In saying that, they handled BRs like Master and Commander, The Dark Knight and Transformers at the original volume. And when I say 'original volume' one sub is sitting on just under half volume and second is sitting on one-third volume, so they weren't exactly cranked to the max to begin with.

Maybe I was harsh in my original post re: the over-the-top use of the surround channels. Personally I though it was a bit too much info in some scenes, but others were well executed. And the front soundstage was very strong.

On a side note, the video side of the things looked great. There is noticably less grain and a greater level of detail and sharpness, compared to T2. I wonder if this movie was captured digitally?

The fight choreography wasn't half as good as the first two movies, and the camera positioning and quick-fire editing did these scenes no favours either.

I know T3 is a 'leave your brain at the door' action flick, but there's a couple of things that really annoyed me. The Audi A8 at the start of the movie is AWD (quattro), so when it speeds away from the security check it would not smoke up the rear wheels. Same goes for Frank's Audi (A8 W12) as he drives off the bridge towards the end of the movie. Oh, and during the chase scene with the Merc and Audi, there's no way an E Class (looks like an E350 or E500 at best) would keep up with Frank's A8 W12 on the long flat road. Maybe the bad guys should have used an AMG...

Yes I know I'm being pedantic, but when the people behind the movie go to the trouble of reproducing the sound of that glorious W12 engine so authentically, why do they stuff up simple stuff like that mentioned above?

Originally Posted by dubldown

I thought it sounded pretty badass myself

But my rear 4 speakers are a lot more spread out than yours. Yours seem really close so maybe that's why you don't hear the difference?

It's a good point you raise. My four surround speakers are close together because of the smaller room size. If they were in a larger room it might allow the surround channels to breath or 'open up'. In saying that, 3:10 to Yuma sounded fabulous on my system. Surround effects and placement (especially at the start of the movie with the stagecaoch ambush) sounded far superior to Transporter 3.

Originally Posted by Hawk

Overall a lame effort, but my favorite part was at the beginning when the car came crashing through the house. If that does not make you jump when you first see and hear it, nothing will.

I must admit I forgot about this scene when I posted this topic, but it did make me jump Even when I re-watched it made me jump!

Originally Posted by Todd Smith

I did not check out your setup, but I am surprised by your findings......I thought the sound was reference quality myself, and infact purchased it largely due to the soundtrack! Explosions/crashes might be the most convincing I have ever experienced in my HT......the car crashing through the house......the ambulance explosion.......the car chase.....the car/train sequence......all these are demo caliber moments (might have missed a few, but those come to mind right off the bat).

I thought Ralphs review over on AVS nailed it pretty much.....

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1128400

I will say that T3 is a dif sound design from the movies you mention and I can see how you may not like it considering that.....T3 is over the top aggressive in comparison to the 3 films you listed.

Yes, I agree these scenes do sound good, but not spectacular. The chase between the Audi and Mercedes after they stop for gas was probably the highlight of the movie for me in terms of sound reproduction. There are several panning and discrete effects that I didnt pick up on originally. And if anyone gets the chance, listen to the sound design as they pull up at the gas station. The way the rap music playing on the car stereo is reproduced is quite clever, as the camera changes from inside the car, ouside the car, with the windows up and down etc.

I did read Ralph's review but don't think it derserved a 100 rating for the audio. But then again his setup kicks mine to pieces, and maybe it is my system's limitations/small room size/too many speakers that is the problem. Although I'd have thought my two Paradigm DSP-3400 subs would have had a fair chance at reproducing the bass in this soundtrack without crapping themselves

In some scenes of T3 the surround channel mixing is very aggressive, with too much info coming through for my liking. If they had separated out the sound a little more between the speakers I would have enjoyed it more. But this is just personal preference.

Originally Posted by mac.21

I noticed that the US transporter 3 was mixed at a lower volume then usual so try increasing the volume a few notches. I did a comparison with my UK blu ray steelbook copy and its dolby true hd track was mixed a few db's hotter which made a big difference in a positive way as it was more in your face.

Thanks for the tip. I thought the soundtrack was mixed plenty loud enough for my liking; it was more the way the surround channels were mixed in some scenes that is my main complaint

Originally Posted by dalejr88

I dont no if this will help but i have a sony bdp-350s and an onkyo tx806 transporter 3 would not play the 7.1 sound unless i went to the disc menu skiped the previews went to sceen selection then selected the first chapter and walla 7.1 lit up on my reciever and it sounded awesome i seem to have this ploblem with all lionsgate blurays in 7.1 the only bluray that gave me no trouble at all was rambo hope this helps.

Thanks for your input; my system played the 7.1 soundtrack no problems