Star Trek: The Next Generation Blu-ray Audio Issues

[tomalak301]

I just called the Deluxe Company and there is no ETA on the discs at this point. People should be receiving confirmation emails when the discs are ready but it's not known when that will be. I don't mind waiting, as I was surprised it would take only a week to fix all these corrections. The thing I was surprised about though was being told about the August 10th date. Not sure if they should have done that.

[Scotty]

LOKAI of CHERON wrote:

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Do you want to rephrase that?!!! In seriousness, no problem with freezing on my disc.

I don't think I need to rephrase, but I should've checked my spelling though.

My disc froze once for several seconds during Skin of Evil. Freezing however in my experience is usually a problem on individual discs and not entire batches so I don't expect that a lot of people are experiencing the same issues. The sound issue however is a problem in the mixing of the sound.

[tomswift2002]

Maxwell Everett wrote:

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"Encounter at Farpoint"

No problems.

"Hide and Q"

No problem

"Haven"

Tiny bit in the holodeck scene with Riker, Troi and Troi's "future husband", but that was the same as on the 2002 DVD 5.1 mix, so I think that might be an issue on the original audio tapes at Paramount/CBS and not a result of the new mix.

"The Big Goodbye"

The sounds of those automobiles was really good, but no problems with the audio.

"Datalore"

No issues

"11001001"

Again, no issues.

"Too Short a Season"

I don't hear what the problems are, except for source problems that can't be fixed since they were not caught back in the 80's.

[LOKAI of CHERON]

tomswift2002 wrote:

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No problems.

No problem



Tiny bit in the holodeck scene with Riker, Troi and Troi's "future husband", but that was the same as on the 2002 DVD 5.1 mix, so I think that might be an issue on the original audio tapes at Paramount/CBS and not a result of the new mix.



The sounds of those automobiles was really good, but no problems with the audio.



No issues

Again, no issues.

I don't hear what the problems are, except for source problems that can't be fixed since they were not caught back in the 80's.

The problem is specifically with the DTS HD Master Audio on seven of the episodes. If you're not listening on a home cinema system you might not notice anything. But, if you do, the problems are horribly, blatantly obvious. All other sound options across the set are fine.

[tomswift2002]

LOKAI of CHERON wrote:

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The problem is specifically with the DTS HD Master Audio on seven of the episodes. If you're not listening on a home cinema system you might not notice anything. But, if you do, the problems are horribly, blatantly obvious. All other sound options across the set are fine.

I'm listening on a Yamaha 5.1 surround system (it's 10 years old so it doesn't have the decoder for DTS-HD or Dolby Digital True or even PCM 5.1, but it does have standard decoders for DTS and Dolby Digital) and I'm switching between the regular DTS and the enhanced matrices that make the playback sound like you are in a theater or add reverb to mono movies, etc, and as I said before, unless I 'glue' my ear right to the speaker, I don't hear anything wrong with the audio.

[Maxwell Everett]

tomswift2002 wrote:

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I don't hear what the problems are, except for source problems that can't be fixed since they were not caught back in the 80's.

The full extent of the problem can be exposed by connecting your blu-ray player directly to your HDTV and listening to the episodes "Haven" and "11001001" with its built-in speakers. You will hear a very bad echo and/or muffling of the sound.

And look no further that the press releases from Paramount and CBS to confirm that the problem is real and in the process of being fixed.

[Scotty]

tomswift2002 wrote:

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No problems.

No problem



Tiny bit in the holodeck scene with Riker, Troi and Troi's "future husband", but that was the same as on the 2002 DVD 5.1 mix, so I think that might be an issue on the original audio tapes at Paramount/CBS and not a result of the new mix.



The sounds of those automobiles was really good, but no problems with the audio.



No issues

Again, no issues.

I don't hear what the problems are, except for source problems that can't be fixed since they were not caught back in the 80's.

Then you have a bad audio receiver. CBS has admitted that these audio issues are present on ALL discs all over the world. You absolutely can't miss the audio issues on EaF.

[Falcor5]

Scotty wrote:

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Then you have a bad audio receiver. CBS has admitted that these audio issues are present on ALL discs all over the world. You absolutely can't miss the audio issues on EaF.

And even on regular TV speakers you can not miss Havens audio problems. Sounds like they are talking into a tin can!

[Scotty]

Falcor5 wrote:

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And even on regular TV speakers you can not miss Havens audio problems. Sounds like they are talking into a tin can!

I have a confession to make. I watched Haven the other day and apart from the fact that the dialogue is mixed in the front channels, I only heard an echo during one scene about three quarters into the episode. Other than that, fine. I was expecting the sound to be much worse after reading the forum, but IMO the sound of Haven isn't THAT bad. Same goes for 1100101. Dialogue was wrognly mixed, but otherwise the sound was okay.

I think people are confusing tinny sound with lower quality ADR. The dialogue and sound recording on early episodes of TNG just wasn't as good as it would be in later seasons. I don't think they can improve on the source material.

[Trekker4747]

Scotty wrote:

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I have a confession to make. I watched Haven the other day and apart from the fact that the dialogue is mixed in the front channels, I only heard an echo during one scene about three quarters into the episode. Other than that, fine. I was expecting the sound to be much worse after reading the forum, but IMO the sound of Haven isn't THAT bad. Same goes for 1100101. Dialogue was wrognly mixed, but otherwise the sound was okay.

I think people are confusing tinny sound with lower quality ADR. The dialogue and sound recording on early episodes of TNG just wasn't as good as it would be in later seasons. I don't think they can improve on the source material.

Well, NOW you say something! And after CBS has spent tremendous effort and resources to take care of things! Sheessh.

Oh, how about the fact that on my speakers the 7.1 sound channel on some episodes only seems to be coming from one of the speakers creating a very "mono" effect? Is that something I shouldn't worry about either and just chalk it up to shitty recording at the time the episode was made? Because it certainly sounds okay when I switch to the next audio channel (standard Dolby.)

[Scotty]

Trekker4747 wrote:

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Well, NOW you say something! And after CBS has spent tremendous effort and resources to take care of things! Sheessh.

Oh, how about the fact that on my speakers the 7.1 sound channel on some episodes only seems to be coming from one of the speakers creating a very "mono" effect? Is that something I shouldn't worry about either and just chalk it up to shitty recording at the time the episode was made? Because it certainly sounds okay when I switch to the next audio channel (standard Dolby.)

Short answer: yes.

Long answer: You shouldn't worry sbout it, you should accept that this is the best the source material can and will sound. Many people around have stated that they haven't watched TNG for a long time for various reasons. I myself haven't watched the first season of TNG for at least 3 years. That isn't even such a long time. I can imagine that some haven't watched these episodes for much longer than that. There are probably others that are watching Trek for the first time on a home theatre system. In the past 5 to 10 years the quality of home theatre equipment has improved with leaps and bounds. Modern day tvshows and movies often have amazing audio/visual presentations and we have become used to it. Now, a 25 year old show has been released on Blu and some people clearly think that it should sound like it was made yesterday. It can't. I think that perhaps due to the inherent clarity as a result of the uncompressed audio of the DTS track, people are noticing how old the show is starting to sound. The dolby track is a mere 192 kbps. It doesn't have the clarity so it would be less noticable.

All of the above doesn't excuse the echoes or the dialogue being mixed into the front speakers. Like you I want these errors fixed. Other than that I think the show sounds great, better than I remember, but still pretty much as I remember it. And that is not a bad thing.

[Trekker4747]

But people aren't complaining or getting replacements because the audio sounds bad but because it was incorrectly formatted to the discs! It is an actual problem!

This isn't a "Harumph! It sounds like this was recorded in the '80s!" problem it's a "Holy shit! The sound is actually coming through the speakers incorrectly!" problem.

I shouldn't have to switch the audio tracks on my discs so it sounds like the show isn't coming from a tin-can. It should work perfectly as soon as I hit "play."

Now, I'm just on a simulated 5.1 soundbar but on the default setting certain episode's sound is only coming through the center channel of my speaker. Other episodes are coming through all of the speakers of my soundbar correctly creating a dynamic, normal, sound.

The episodes listed I DO have problems with and it's VERY obvious and it's NOT a "this was recorded in the 1980s so of course it sounds like shit!" problem it's an actual problem with how the disc was made.

So I change the audio track to DTS and hey, guess what, it sounds normal! Sound through all three speakers just like it should be. I can't say if it sounds that much different than the 7.1 but, whatever. But it IS a problem and it IS a defect. I shouldn't have to manipulate the audio settings on my sound system in order for the sound to come out normally.

[BriGuy]

Mutai Sho-Rin wrote:

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ENOUGH! By my standards, you ARE whining and the repeated angry posts are bordering on trolling. Perhaps you should avoid this thread for a while.

I have, but not from your "suggestion," which I just saw now for the first time. I haven't felt like coming back to this after those rude and juvenile posts were made directed at me.

I came back because I otherwise find this site a source of useful information, and I was hoping to keep track of the progress on resolving this issue, as well as take part in the conversation about it.

I talked about the issue. I offered my comments, and I also presented useful information. I hadn't been doing anything different than anyone else bothered by this problem has been doing all along.

I have no idea how you determined my posts are "angry." That's quite a leap.

Then, out of nowhere, I get insulted and personally attacked. Yet I get blamed.

Whatever.

[Scotty]

Trekker4747 wrote:

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But people aren't complaining or getting replacements because the audio sounds bad but because it was incorrectly formatted to the discs! It is an actual problem!

I'm not denying that. I was one of the first around here complaining about it.

I shouldn't have to switch the audio tracks on my discs so it sounds like the show isn't coming from a tin-can. It should work perfectly as soon as I hit "play."
Now, I'm just on a simulated 5.1 soundbar but on the default setting certain episode's sound is only coming through the center channel of my speaker. Other episodes are coming through all of the speakers of my soundbar correctly creating a dynamic, normal, sound.

Listen, when you say "simulated" it means that you are doing something other than listening to the audio tracks as they are intended. The 7.1 mix can be listened to with 6 or 8 speakers (subwoofer included) and the dolby stereo track should only be listened to with the 2 front speakers. If you are using the dolby sound to create a surround mix then the success of the end result will be down to your receiver.

People here have been complaining in particular about Haven and 1100101 sounding like comng from a tincan. I'm just saying that I did not have that experience. Yes some lines of dialogue and occasional scenes have an echo (which needs to be corrected). But some people say they hear it all the time. That simply is not the case and I still believe that some viewers are mistaking 80s soundrecording for bad remastering or authoring.

[Maxwell Everett]

Scotty wrote:

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People here have been complaining in particular about Haven and 1100101 sounding like comng from a tincan. I'm just saying that I did not have that experience. Yes some lines of dialogue and occasional scenes have an echo (which needs to be corrected). But some people say they hear it all the time. That simply is not the case and I still believe that some viewers are mistaking 80s soundrecording for bad remastering or authoring.

You can only hear those issues on those episodes if you connect your Blu-ray player DIRECTLY to your HDTV (no receiver) and the main DTS-HD audio is downmixed to 2.0. If you are listening in 5.1 or 7.1 with a receiver, it will sound essentially balanced across the front soundstage and the echo and/or muffling CAN NOT be heard.