|  IP: Logged

Why? It's printed on the film. There is no outboard equipment that can set you back thousands of dollars.

Almost any 35mm sound projector in the world can play it properly.

Drawback: Iffy stereo, pops and clicks at splices. A sprocket run in the soundtrack is usually the end of the print... Until I come along....

I have no problem with MONO sound, personally...

Glad you have come here, Peter. Now I will yield the floor to others that have projectors that are newer than a 1941 Holmes model 8.

 |  IP: Logged

Regarding the digital formats of today, both SRD and DTS can produce good results and are relatively reliable. I haven't heard that many SDDS movies, but none of the ones so far has matched SRD or DTS in sound quality. As for SDDS reliability, read the Film-Tech archives...

As far as practical formats go......
1. Cinerama Sound System
2. Dolby Optical SR
3. Dolby SRD if you have to have digital.
4. 70mm Dolby 6 Track SR
5. DTS Digital.
There is nothing left after these as any other film format that may exist is not practical to have in the booth.
Mark

 |  IP: Logged

You ask a big question that will never have a specific answer, not to mention will result in heated debates. Look at the results so far. I too like a 70mm 6 trk in a well tuned room. I've also enjoyed many digital sound tracks as well as optical. I assume your question was more specific as to which of the three current digital sound formats are better???

As mentioned, you will not find a specific answer for this question. As most of us know, you can run the same print in ten, or more, different rooms (same size or not) with the same sound format and each room will sound different. Many of the differences will be slight, and then some will be major. Most of the rooms may sound great, but then others may sound horrible. Many things play a factor in sound quality, with acoustics and tuning having major rolls. You can have perfect acoustics (is that possible?), but if your room is not tuned properly--of which many are not--then you will not get the best sound. Etc, etc. etc.

Another thing that plays a big roll in good sound quality is the recording itself. Most soundtracks today are well done, but all too often motion pictures are on a schedule that is too short or falls behind which means the sound mix has to be rushed. The results are still usually quite good, but can be much better. And what about prints that have errors on them--this is a topic of much debate already here on the fourm, so we do not need to go there.

As to your specific question as to which digital sound format is better (putting aside all the issues of reliability, maintenance, support, etc.) and considering only the sound playback quality, how about the one that sounds as close to the original print master? But that leads to another question. How many people actually get to hear the print master? Not many. When I ran film (changeovers of course!) I would run in the format that was prefered by the sound mixer, or at least the studio's preference. On occasions I was given specific instructions as to which format to run, instructions coming from the sound editors. Not everyone has this information, but mixers, directors, studios, etc. usually have a preference and that is what the motion picture should be ran in if you have the ability to run all formats. i.e. Columbia pictures would be of course SDDS; Universal dts; Disney, Fox, Warner, and Paramount Dolby Digital--and these are not always the case. Are we confused yet? How about when it comes to a Woody Allen picture? I ran in SR with all amps turned off except for the center channel, unless other intructions stated differently, because this was the usual choice. The bottom line, when I ran/run motion pictures I do my best to run in the sound format prefered by the mixer/director because that is what they want. If you only have one digital sound format then you do not have much of a choice as to which one to run.

The chain where I work, has got DTS, SRD, and SDDS in all big Houses (well they are all Duplex-Houses). First choice system is DTS, then SDDS and finally SRD. Although SRD sounds way better than SDDS (my opinion), we run films in SDDS because the Cinemeccanica DD-Readers do not read very well, which results in many dropouts. Even new copies run at 6 or max. 7 ! So if the film is not DTS, we run SDDS. Personally I don't like SDDS to much, because the sound is very cold compared to SRD or DTS. And I know many people who share the same opinion. Just look for the topic "SDDS" in this forum and you'll know what I mean ;-) !!!

Have a nice weekend

 |  IP: Logged

The most practical current digital sound system for 35mm today is SRD. Virtually every 35mm print produced today has an SRD soundtrack. AFAIK, it is standard for any film wanting a Dolby SR analog track to get the SRD track included in the deal. The SRD track my simply be the 2 channel mixed into 5.1 channels for a clearer reproduction. I could be wrong on that, but that's what I have heard.

I agree with John. No digital format sounds as good as the print master. Especially in the room the soundtrack was mixed in.

As to the issue of which format sounds the best.... I've done a number of A-B tests in the same auditorium between all of the digital systems. When the digital systems are aligned properly there are not great differences in the playback of the program material. The truth is that you don't want the competing systems to sound different. Each system should accurately reproduce the print master. The question then becomes which digital system is the best economically and is the most reliable in regards to day-to-day operations.

I'm going to leave it at that.

Best format for quality and reliability: DTS

Best format for convenience, programming, quality and reliability (if not a basement reader): SRD

Overall my choice is SRD. There are no discs to mess with and provided it is being read by a penthouse reader, will very rarely ever have problems. Of course for all around reliability, DTS wins provided you do not have Toshiba drives.