Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by One Dark Cat (i) on December 13, 2000 at 08:28:49:

In Reply to: Films with real BASS posted by Jimmy N on December 07, 2000 at 23:15:19:

Poached this from the Sound & Vision web page and their review of bargain subs.
http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/SoundAndVision/FrameSet/0,1670,_sl_SoundAndVision_sl_Article_sl_0_cm_1653_cm_100_3606_1_cm_00,00.html

16 EASY WAYS TO BREAK YOUR LEASE
Movies on DVD
· Lost in Space (New Line), main menu and Chapter 1. This is one of the few movie DVDs with strong content below 25 Hz throughout the disc. The rumble and swell can be breathtaking on a high-output sub.

· Godzilla (Columbia Tristar), main menu. You don't have to go beyond the monster's 25-Hz footfalls in the main menu to put this disc to good use. Letting the menu loop the effect over and over will give you all the time you need to position and adjust your sub.

· Clear and Present Danger (Paramount), Chapter 14. My all-time favorite subwoofer torture test is the bomb blast near the end of the chapter. All that energy between 25 and 100 Hz ought to have you pinned to your couch. If it doesn't, it's time to change either your subwoofer settings or your sub.

- The Jackal (Universal), Chapter 27. Like the big boom in Clear and Present Danger, the scene where the two subway trains go flying past has loads of energy from 25 to 100 Hz. If the speeding trains don't push you back as they go by, or if you don't feel a slight aftershock once they're gone, you ain't been properly woofed.

· THX Trailer. To be found on practically every DVD bearing the THX seal of approval, this is the trailer with the spreading wave of sound that simultaneously sweeps up and down, bottoming out at 30 Hz. If your subwoofer is doing its job, you should find yourself swimming in the sound.

· Twister (Warner), Chapter 1. You'd think this disc would have all kinds of deep rumbling going on, but most of the action actually happens between 40 and 50 Hz. While nothing noteworthy happens down around 25 Hz, there is the occasional 30-Hz jolt. If you find that your main speakers or a small sub can convincingly reproduce these effects, don't waste your time looking for anything bigger or more expensive.

· Super Speedway (Image Entertainment), the whole disc. Apparently there was no high-pass filtering used on this DVD's soundtrack, which means it has lots of 20-Hz energy scattered throughout. Strap yourself in and enjoy the ride.

Music CDs
· A Taste of DMP (DMP), "Salamander Pie." Your sub should be able to reproduce all of the notes evenly as Jay Leonhart plucks his way up and down the bass line. The lower notes will sound softer than the higher ones if your sub has a falling frequency response.

· Joe Williams, I Just Want to Sing (Delos), "Dimples." Listen for evenness of bass. If your front speakers are inadequate, a good sub will make the horns sound warbly.

· Cantate Domino (Proprius), "Cantate Domino." A really good subwoofer will reproduce the 16- and 32-Hz fundamentals on the title organ piece with full force. There aren't many that can do full justice to 16 Hz, but any good sub should be able to faithfully render a 32-Hz tone. A lesser sub will muffle that fundamental and favor its harmonics, or it might not be able to reproduce the fundamental at all. (All good pipe-organ recordings make excellent test discs.)

· Bass Erotica, Bass Ecstasy (Neurodisc), "976-BASS." With its isolated, high-level sine-wave-like fundamental at 22 Hz, this is the best disc I know of to find out if your subwoofer is susceptible to "doubling" (the tendency to emphasize bass harmonics instead of the fundamental tone). It will also help you diagnose other problems, such as port noise, limited bandwidth, amplifier clipping, and other kinds of distortion.

- The Great Fantasy and Adventure Album (Telarc), "Jurassic Lunch." The T-Rex approach on this track goes all the way down to a deeper than deep 10 Hz. Other test tracks might claim they can break your lease, but this is the one that'll get the job done.

· Telarc Sampler V Plus, excerpts from the 1812 Overture. The loudest cannon blasts actually have energy at 5 Hz, a region off limits to all but the best subs. This disc is still useful even if your sub can't go that low, and Telarc has made it easy to locate and repeat the blasts by giving them separate track IDs.

· Rob Wasserman, Duets (MCA), "Ballad of the Runaway Horse." The acoustic bass on this track, which was recorded with an almost larger-than-life immediacy, will cause all but the hardiest subwoofers to distort.