Bram Stoker's Dracula 4K UHD (1992) (25th Anniversary Edition)

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

The music is meant to be DEAFENINGLY loud and assaultive here, as the choir of probably a hundred people all scream in unison.

The 7.1 mix completely ruins this moment, and I'm sure it ruins others.

I'm so glad we have the original mix. I can't understand why modern remixes routinely drop the levels on the music, especially in a film like this, with one of the most iconic scores of the 1990s.

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Apart from rare instances like the TMP DE Atmos remix the mantra these days is 'effects effects effects' when doing remixes. **** the music, let's justify all these speakers existing by dialling up the effects! Yay! Ben Burtt can suck my left one.

Originally Posted by PonyoBellanote

This is why, for the sake of it, I like to have optional other audio versions besides Atmos, like the original DTS-HD or etc, in my backup, just in case the Atmos ****s up something..

Well I compared both on my 7.1.4 setup and once the levels between the Atmos and 5.1 were compensated for...the music is just as loud, it's just spread throughout the entire soundfield, heights included. The rumble of the blood approaching Elizabeta's body and Dracula's screams are the same level.

So much ado about nothing here, move along. Move along...

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by LSK

The movie won an Academy Award for Best Sound Effects Editing, but you primarily want to hear the music and not the sound effects?

Yes. Because that's how it was originally mixed.

The sound effects were designed to be present, but not to be dominant. That's the overall change in tastes from the 1990s to today. It's why the early James Bond films were all remixed (in the early 00s, I think) to have the music buried under the effects.

Also, the film was robbed of the Best Score Oscar, the score from this film is one of the greatest in the history of cinema.

[PowellPressburger]

I still recall reading many LaserDisc reviews back in the day and even years after of many praising the Stereo audio mix.

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by GaragePoet

i ordered a whole bunch of these:

SC2 Blu-ray Steelbook Protective Slipcovers

Thanks! I think I'm leaning toward their plastic bags though, that look like the ones some Japanese CDs come in, instead of the hard plastic cases. I'm afraid the hard cases would create too much friction and scuff the artwork.

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

Well I compared both on my 7.1.4 setup and once the levels between the Atmos and 5.1 were compensated for...the music is just as loud, it's just spread throughout the entire soundfield, heights included. The rumble of the blood approaching Elizabeta's body and Dracula's screams are the same level.

So much ado about nothing here, move along. Move along...

I truly heard the volume of the music drop noticeably during his scream, like someone was actively dialing the music down over a period of about a second, to let the scream have more impact. And the music volume was already noticeably low to begin with. By the time the music volume finished dropping, right before the title card appeared, I knew something was off. That's why I A/B'd that moment carefully.

Yes, the 7.1 is a bit "quieter" overall, and I needed to increase the overall volume to make them equal, but even when I did, the music was lower on one than the other.

I'll admit I didn't listen to the entire 7.1 mix. After comparing that scene on both, I knew I only wanted to listen to the 5.1 mix.

[GRSN]

Originally Posted by Kyle15

Keenu Reeves made it harder to finish as well but not the British Accente but he continously looked into the screen filling me with symptoms of sinful temptation against all that is regular.

[HeavyHitter]

How are you guys compensating for the sound level differences of the Atmos vs 5.1 to make a comparison? Are you using a sound meter and if so, where in the film? This release is tempting for the 5.1 and I wonder if the encoding is a tad better like many of the Sony re-releases?

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by HeavyHitter

How are you guys compensating for the sound level differences of the Atmos vs 5.1 to make a comparison? Are you using a sound meter and if so, where in the film? This release is tempting for the 5.1 and I wonder if the encoding is a tad better like many of the Sony re-releases?

Just raising the volume, no meter needed really.

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

Just raising the volume, no meter needed really.

Yep, I found that was all that was needed.

I still found the mixing level of the music to be different on the two, however.

[hoejunter]

Watched the 25th anniversary release last night and it’s still one of my favourite 4K discs

[LSK]

Originally Posted by LSK

The movie won an Academy Award for Best Sound Effects Editing, but you primarily want to hear the music and not the sound effects?

I also clearly remember the loud music in the theater and on different versions of the movie at home, starting with the CAV Criterion Laserdisc. And some of it just seemed too loud, drowning out sound effects.

There's a very specific sound effect of a man falling on his back, toward the end of the movie, when Dracula is let free, and I sincerely hope they haven't dialled the volume down on that, on any of the new soundtracks. That sound effect was present on my Criterion LD, and sounded great.

I haven't watched any of the UHD's yet but I own the 2017 UHD. Are the soundeffects preserved on the Atmos and DTS-MA, or do I only get the good sound effects on the 2022 UHD, or the 2017 one?

Good to know that it was an amplifier thing and not something to do with the 2017 UHD after all.

The Bloodlines doc is an interesting feature too, but it's on YouTube, so I don't need the new disc that much after all.

[oddbox83]

I’ve decided I do need to upgrade after all. It’s the subs that did it, seeing caps comparing the new 4K with theatrical subs vs. the player generated ones. Everything else about the upgrade is a bonus.

[Angry Virginian]

Is the new disc confirmed as BD-100? The old one is BD-66.

[Buck Turgidson]

This being a darker movie I'm happy with the HDR10 grade paired with the HDR optimizer on my panny. Might double dip later on.

[professorwho]

Originally Posted by Angry Virginian

Is the new disc confirmed as BD-100? The old one is BD-66.

It is a triple layer, BD-100. There are three distinct rings.

Originally Posted by PowellPressburger

Dracula I was noticing the same while it would at times spike higher, but no where one would hope they could max out the disc space of a BD-100

I bet they aimed for a BD-66, but with the added extras (mainly the inclusion of the half hour piece on older Dracula films), it probably pushed it just over the limits of a BD-66, and decided to keep the encode the same. (Not that it's a bad thing, as it's quite good)

[PonyoBellanote]

Originally Posted by professorwho

I bet they aimed for a BD-66, but with the added extras (mainly the inclusion of the half hour piece on older Dracula films), it probably pushed it just over the limits of a BD-66, and decided to keep the encode the same. (Not that it's a bad thing, as it's quite good)

Is there a rule or something in the UHD association that SD content cannot, at all be in a UHD disc? Because I find it amusing that they bloat encode upscaled SD content to 1080p, sometimes with even the wrong aspect ratio.

[professorwho]

Originally Posted by PonyoBellanote

Is there a rule or something in the UHD association that SD content cannot, at all be in a UHD disc? Because I find it amusing that they bloat encode upscaled SD content to 1080p, sometimes with even the wrong aspect ratio.

SD content is not possible on UHD spec in native resolution. It has to be upscaled.

[oddbox83]

Originally Posted by professorwho

SD content is not possible on UHD spec in native resolution. It has to be upscaled.

Which is fine, perhaps preferable.

The problem is when the labels don't upscale the material correctly, not the specs.

[Hedrox]

Originally Posted by professorwho

SD content is not possible on UHD spec in native resolution. It has to be upscaled.

Also, by upscaling it themselves they can control how it will look, bypassing the TV's own (potentially dodgy) internal upscaling. FiM like doing this on their releases.

[PonyoBellanote]

I disagree. I honestly prefer the original SD and let the TV and my player do a job. A lot, if not most encodes of SD content to 1080p are just bloated garbage. And sometimes the encode ****s up something that wasn't in the source and in the encode, it'll be baked in. You gotta stick with it. Like how Sony put extras in The Last Action Hero and the aspect ratio is wrong.. that's baked in and you cannot fix it.