Jeffro Posted February 12, 2024 Posted February 12, 2024 Hi all, Have had my surround setup in place for while and was always outstanding with bluray and even dvds. However, my main focus has been 2 ch for a fair while ,but subscribing to Quickflix a few years back before it folded, gave me access to blurays on a rental basis which was great. Now I know my Marantz AV receiver is a little dated but the other night I was excited to stream Top Gun,thinking it was going to be a blast sonically. Im sure on Bluray it would have been an experience but watching through Netflix I was completely underwhelmed. So finally getting to my question here..... what do you people do to get great surround sound now that rentals of BR are a thing of the past. To be clear,I dont want to buy blurays. Music BR i would ,and have done, but Im not a repeat watcher of movies. Many thanks
Quark Posted February 12, 2024 Posted February 12, 2024 What are you using to stream movies? TV apps are often appalling. Apple TV or nVidia Shield pro do it much better. Some streaming services are also useless - are you listening Paramount+? 2
Snoopy8 Posted February 12, 2024 Posted February 12, 2024 Streamíng services uses Dolby Digital Plus. 5.1-ch audio in Dolby Digital Plus is typically encoded at bitrates between 192-256 kbps. Dolby TrueHD audio, on a Blu ray disk, average around 6,000 kbps, up to a maximum of 18,000 kbps . Plus, studios often release movies with poorer audio on streaming services e.g. only 5.1 audio not Atmos. 1
Jeffro Posted February 12, 2024 Author Posted February 12, 2024 1 hour ago, Snoopy8 said: Streamíng services uses Dolby Digital Plus. 5.1-ch audio in Dolby Digital Plus is typically encoded at bitrates between 192-256 kbps. Dolby TrueHD audio, on a Blu ray disk, average around 6,000 kbps, up to a maximum of 18,000 kbps . Plus, studios often release movies with poorer audio on streaming services e.g. only 5.1 audio not Atmos. Ok thanks. So do you just buy movies or ??
sdotmouse Posted February 12, 2024 Posted February 12, 2024 DSP and room treatment are the way forward! s.m
Hi-Fi Whipped Posted February 12, 2024 Posted February 12, 2024 (edited) I use an Apple TV and stream all the major streaming services and actually enjoy the sound to the most part. Maybe check that you are streaming Dolby l to the marantz to decide and that the Apple TV is not converting it to multi channel PCM, does make a difference. Ive listened to Top Gun maverick plenty of times via streaming and sure its not as good as the blu ray but still enjoyable so hopefully just a setting thing. Edited February 12, 2024 by Hi-Fi Whipped 1
Snoopy8 Posted February 12, 2024 Posted February 12, 2024 32 minutes ago, Jeffro said: Ok thanks. So do you just buy movies or ?? Yes for the ones that matter. I also use Dirac Live with my AVR which helps improve audio for both disks and streamed content.
Jeffro Posted February 13, 2024 Author Posted February 13, 2024 Thanks to you all for replying. The main problem that I have fixed thanks to your help was a setting on my fairly new tv. Had it set to tv speakers as opposed to optical which now gives me 5.1 digital. As I was still getting surround sound with tv set to tv speakers, I never realised. Its a significant improvement and will try and tweak further still Once again, thanks everyone 4
RCADees Posted February 13, 2024 Posted February 13, 2024 Check out what Atmos mixer John Traunwieser (The Last jedi, The Force Awakens, Fair Game, etc) has to say about streaming and object channels Dolby Atmos Myths & Facts with Star Wars Recording & Mixing Engineer. They have a lower bit rate and people would be very disappointed if they would mute the bed layer speakers and only listen to the rest of the channels. Check out the video at 19m 25s: Dolby Atmos Myths & Facts with Star Wars Recording & Mixing Engineer I have also seen this mentioned by other Stereonet members, that when streaming the content seems hard to hear. I personally love discs, so I keep buying. 1
Boby Vee Posted February 13, 2024 Posted February 13, 2024 A good guide for most streaming services-https://simplehomecinema.com/2021/11/24/how-to-get-disney-to-sound-great-with-audyssey-and-yamaha-ypao/
dejay Posted February 16, 2024 Posted February 16, 2024 I've streams stuff through the TV apps, a Google TV & now a Nvidia Shield. While you can tweak the settings a bit, the experience just doesn't compare with a blu-ray or 4K disc. The audio just lacks depth. For regular watching it isn't too bad, but with something like Top Gun Maverick I want the full experience.
Jeffro Posted February 16, 2024 Author Posted February 16, 2024 Yeah I agree but I'm not a movie rewatcher so buying blurays isnt an option. I really wish there were rental options like yesteryear ,it was awesome!
Hi-Fi Whipped Posted February 16, 2024 Posted February 16, 2024 I was streaming a movie via my Apple TV last night and was really enjoying the sound, sure 4K blu ray is the ultimate but if streaming is all you have and you use a high enough quality source, the sound and vision is more than enough to immerse you as long as you have everything set up correctly. Last night I also reflected when I started this HT hobby 27 years ago and compared the source material and sound quality back then to the streaming quality we have now and we are so far ahead that feeling like you are missing out unless you watch a disc is almost redundant IMO. All I have to do is throw on a dvd that’s in 4:3 format and poor resolution to remind myself………. now that’s pretty much unwatchable! Enjoy what you have because it’s not all that bad! 2
RCADees Posted February 16, 2024 Posted February 16, 2024 32 minutes ago, Hi-Fi Whipped said: I was streaming a movie via my Apple TV last night and was really enjoying the sound, sure 4K blu ray is the ultimate but if streaming is all you have and you use a high enough quality source, the sound and vision is more than enough to immerse you as long as you have everything set up correctly. Last night I also reflected when I started this HT hobby 27 years ago and compared the source material and sound quality back then to the streaming quality we have now and we are so far ahead that feeling like you are missing out unless you watch a disc is almost redundant IMO. All I have to do is throw on a dvd that’s in 4:3 format and poor resolution to remind myself………. now that’s pretty much unwatchable! Enjoy what you have because it’s not all that bad! Although technology has rapidly moved to a very good standard, my biggest problem with streaming is the lack of control I have over content. So I try not to rely on streaming as this is becoming more and more common these days. Not having available my favourite movies when I want them and with the sound mix I want, but when "they" want to give them to me is a big one and I've had multiple disappointments over the last few years which made me conclude that the streaming life is full of risks and never to my satisfaction. But I can understand that this is important to me but may not be to others. 1
Zinzan Posted February 18, 2024 Posted February 18, 2024 Best tip I’ve heard for streaming (from a professional sound mixer who does movies) is to set the volume wherever normal conversation dialogue sounds about normal. It may be the case that many titles that are streamed are just at a lower overall volume level. so your “normal” receiver volume for blue rays sounds great, but underwhelming from a streaming source. 1
KentL Posted February 19, 2024 Posted February 19, 2024 Sadly us home cinema guys are in the sub 1%, most people that stream content, does it to their TV, Ipad or tablets and so on. Those hardly know what difference it makes in a full blown home cinema. Normal streaming is just not aimed/focused on this market. I watch streamed content in my cinema, but mostly series and stuff and appreciate that it will not sound the same as a disc with "uncompressed Audio" if we were in the US or parts of Europe we could have access to kaleidescape, which is a different animal (Quality beyond UHD Discs) if someone in Australia wanted access to kaleidescape, I'm sure there are ways too. My point is, I don't buy movies to rewatch over and over, But when I buy a disc, it's the same price as going to the cinema, and I get to keep the disc. Either way, we're kinda spoiled. I have kids and they love to watch their streamed cartoons over and over again. (for like 10 bucks per month)..............ok 30 bucks for all services 1
betty boop Posted February 19, 2024 Posted February 19, 2024 yep streaming for series and catchup tv. but for movies blu-ray and 4k uhd discs are only way to go. the studios via their streaming services want to lock you to each of their own services as is a money stream.. but yes its aimed at lowest common denominator .. so audio sadly is indeed as per kentL aimed at folks without systems to take advantage of any better ... 1
RCADees Posted February 19, 2024 Posted February 19, 2024 11 hours ago, betty boop said: yep streaming for series and catchup tv. but for movies blu-ray and 4k uhd discs are only way to go. the studios via their streaming services want to lock you to each of their own services as is a money stream.. but yes its aimed at lowest common denominator .. so audio sadly is indeed as per kentL aimed at folks without systems to take advantage of any better ... Indeed. I remember watching a BBC interview with Hans Zimmer recently, in which he described how some people would write to him to let him know that the music in Dune was really good, except that the last 20 minutes had no music at all and they were wondering why this was the case. It turns out that they've only watched Dune through their laptops!!! It is also worth remembering that when it comes down to the sound mixing of a movie, tv show etc, the type of mixing, the time allowed for this etc will be decided by the budget and involvement (or not) of the Director, producers or others. The sound mixing in most cases will be the last part of the project and sometimes rushed to meet a release date. Now, if it is a project intended to be released in streaming platforms, then the sound mixing priority will be to accommodate headphones, laptops, sound bars and tablets. Therefore, the end result for the theatrical and/or blu ray, 4k release will be compromised from the beginning. As more and more content is intended from the beginning to be the streaming type, the more that sound quality will be sacrificed which is a sad state of affairs for the minority (us). 1
Jeffro Posted February 20, 2024 Author Posted February 20, 2024 All great info there fellas. After some very useful help on here,I've got it to the stage where a streamed movie is enjoyable sonically and can catch my attention ,unlike previously. 2
thebox_4k Posted March 2, 2024 Posted March 2, 2024 A good way to improve the audio capabilities is also through the eARC port. 1
steffanth Posted May 6, 2024 Posted May 6, 2024 I had a projector and 7.2 surround at my old house and loved it. where i am now i have 5.2 and a tv. I miss playing things on the projector via Bluray and 4k but just no point where i am now. After a while you kind of forget how good it was and the new normal is the new normal. 2
thebox_4k Posted May 6, 2024 Posted May 6, 2024 A good movie (actually Part I and II) to test the Dolby Atmos audio track on Netflix is 'Rebel Moon'. It ranks above average based on my compilation list. 2
Cloth Ears Posted May 8, 2024 Posted May 8, 2024 On 12/02/2024 at 4:54 PM, Jeffro said: Hi all, Have had my surround setup in place for while and was always outstanding with bluray and even dvds. However, my main focus has been 2 ch for a fair while ,but subscribing to Quickflix a few years back before it folded, gave me access to blurays on a rental basis which was great. Now I know my Marantz AV receiver is a little dated but the other night I was excited to stream Top Gun,thinking it was going to be a blast sonically. Im sure on Bluray it would have been an experience but watching through Netflix I was completely underwhelmed. So finally getting to my question here..... what do you people do to get great surround sound now that rentals of BR are a thing of the past. To be clear,I dont want to buy blurays. Music BR i would ,and have done, but Im not a repeat watcher of movies. Many thanks We tend to rent Blurays from our local library if we're unsure about them - with a view to buying them later. But we do get a fair few (some are only available on DVD) that we've watched and enjoyed. I prefer the disc process to the online lottery. Admittedly it's much less often that we get freezing or blocking, but it's one of those things I don't like in my movie watching. 1
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