Sound Makes All The Difference

[Metryq]

It wasn't just dry. Imagine all sound having to go through a single 2-inch transistor-radio speaker, and you begin to get the idea. There was no stereo, no Dolby, no 5.0 / 7.0 Surround, no nothing. Just tinny-sounding lo-fi mono.

Any cringing complaints about sound quality come from the privileged perspective of home-theater stereo mixes with full-spectrum audio, none of which existed in broadcast television at the time the show was produced.

I don't have to "imagine" it. I was a kid at the time, and I was there to experience it. And while you're dressing me down for my "cringing complaints" as a spoiled kid from the privileged, "in stereo where available" age, you might re-read my post where I complimented the SFX used in "The Doomsday Machine"—all done on the same limited dynamic range broadcast system and delivered over the same tiny speakers.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

I don't have to "imagine" it. I was a kid at the time, and I was there to experience it.

In my experience, if you've never had better ones, whatever speakers you're accustomed to will sound good to you. When all I had was a handheld "transistor radio," with just AM reception, that sounded great. That was music to me. When I saw ads for Hi Fi sets, I didn't know what the fuss was about.

Likewise, I never had a problem with the little mono TV speaker, until there was a loud buzzing sound because this old b&w set was turning to crap. And it went through an end of life phase, where the sound would cut out altogether, and you had to jostle the volume control to make the sound pop back on. That's when you really notice.

 

[publiusr]

It's been a while since I watched certain episodes. And I was just cringing at the metal-bucket-being-kicked-down-a-hallway sound effects of Nomad's bolt hitting…"The Doomsday Machine" hammering the Enterprise—deeper, actual explosion-like sound effects followed by a long rumble, like thunder rolling across the hills.

I think John Carpenter used a bit of that—in the burn-through title sequence and as MacCready, Nauls and Garry descended steps towards the end.

Maybe Round2 could hire Hofner to fix the 1/650 model