Transformers HD DVD review up

[Jim Robbins]

My player is and always has been set to "off" for dynamic range. .

Ok, that's good. Now do me a favor. Turn it to "Auto", reboot the player, play the first scene where the Helicopter transforms, listen to the LFE level.

Then, turn it back to "off", reboot it again, then listen to the same scene again.

Does it change? On my system, I went back and forth a couple of times and could clearly hear the difference. If it doesn't change, there might be something else at work in your system.

Of course, if it does change, then you'll know what it's really like when the LFE is lacking! *grin* Avaserfi told me that he thinks the LFE is a little stronger on the normal DVD than on the HD-DVD, but we haven't done a side by side comparison yet. *shrug*

 

[avaserfi]

Avaserfi told me that he thinks the LFE is a little stronger on the normal DVD than on the HD-DVD, but we haven't done a side by side comparison yet. *shrug*

I sent a movie back to netflix today and will have the SD DVD of transformers coming back to me soon. We can compare the two level matched and see whats going on here.


Ohh and I will remember my oppo this time .

 

[TraffMonster198]

good movie

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

We watched "Are we there yet" in Blu ray this evening at the same settings as Transformers SD DVD from last night. There was absolutely no bass in that movie. After the movie, I played Transformers again, going to the 1 hr 56 minute scene (the ultimate bass scene in any movie I can remember to date) - but dialed it in a bit "hot" and cut the crossover point from 70Hz to 40Hz thinking it would protect the drivers. Yeah, right.

Talk about bottoming out the drivers in the Plus/2's. Sheesh. Snap, crackle, and pop. Going from a volume setting of 1/3 to 1/2 and cutting the Hz setting to 40Hz killed that scene. I bet I went from 120dB output to 115dB with a ton of THD.

There is a fine line between dialed in bass, "hot" settings, and total crap. Before you go too "hot" with this SD DVD, play around with your gain and Hz settings so you don't injure your sub.

It sounds like the SD DVD in Dolby Digital is the way to go compared to the HD DVD version for some reason, if you're showing off your system's bass. I'm just wondering if you select "Dolby Digital 5.1" instead of "Uncompressed Audio" in the audio setup menu, if you would get the same audio as in the SD DVD version. This movie is definitely a keeper as far as the absolute best bass movies for subwoofers.

 

[Adam]

...I played Transformers again, going to the 1 hr 56 minute scene (the ultimate bass scene in any movie I can remember to date)...

Thanks for the time marker, BF1. I'll have to check that out! In fact, I think that I'll be doing that tonight. The first time that I watched this movie (in SD DVD), I wasn't impressed by the bass - if only because I didn't actually notice it. So, last night I watched the first part again (louder this time), and there's some good bass...but often not where I expected it. For example, there was some music playing during a scene with the computer hacker and the hottie NSA analyst with some nice bass, but I didn't really notice any bass when the robot is destroying the military base in the beginning.

 

[Sheep]

Thanks for the time marker, BF1. I'll have to check that out! In fact, I think that I'll be doing that tonight. The first time that I watched this movie (in SD DVD), I wasn't impressed by the bass - if only because I didn't actually notice it. So, last night I watched the first part again (louder this time), and there's some good bass...but often not where I expected it. For example, there was some music playing during a scene with the computer hacker and the hottie NSA analyst with some nice bass, but I didn't really notice any bass when the robot is destroying the military base in the beginning.

The scene where Ironhide shoots the ground and flies over the girl is what he's talking about.

SheepStar

 

[Adam]

The scene where Ironhide shoots the ground and flies over the girl is what he's talking about.

Yep! Thanks, Sheep. I watched that about an hour ago. Whew. Definitely got some bass in that scene. It helped that I actually turned the volume up.

 

[mtrycrafts]

My HSU's are set at max extension and they have no problem with scenes such as the lightning and pod emergence in War of the Worlds. I'm just not getting the same dynamic and deep bass out of the Transformer SD DVD.

When I get back home I'll try it out at a higher master volume.

I finally watched it tonight.
I will have to watch the SD War of the World again and compare.
HD-DVD Transformer starts out well and has pretty good lows but then it went flat with those two tank drops, ordinary, not much. I was going to rent the SD version but now it seems from another post that it was about the same
I did not notice the dialogue issues gene mentioned but the lows at places were not there. Now I am wondering if it was in the movie as I have forgotten those passages; didn't take notes in the theater

 

[mtrycrafts]

...The bass - I was blown away. I actually got out my spl meter and was testing it from about 10 feet (SVS Plus/2).

Keep in mind my room is over 4000 cu. ft. and open to a hall way, dining room, and basement. I was consistently hitting 106 to 109 dB with this movie, and around 1:56 into the film, it hit 120 dB!

What level did you get with those two tanks dropped early on, about 8 min into it?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

My player is and always has been set to "off" for dynamic range. I also tried the dialogue enhance on/off feature and it still was lacking. The problem is too much compression. When I directly compare this disc to some of my other titles such as Polar Express (DD+), Phantom of the Opera (Dolby TrueHD) and Pat Metheny (DTS-HD) it is no match other than some very good LFE effects. At times I feel like I am watching Star Wars EP3 hearing the severly limited explosion sounds. I was definately expecting more from an HD DVD title, especially such a large production as this.

Maybe we need to watch Transformers on SD DVD.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Ok you all got me curious so I just popped it in and went to the 1 hour 56 minute section...lol...not bad at all; my walls were vibrating pretty darn good. I will have to watch this movie tonight.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Ok you all got me curious so I just popped it in and went to the 1 hour 56 minute section...lol...not bad at all; my walls were vibrating pretty darn good. I will have to watch this movie tonight.

Check and report on that tank drop scene about 8 min into the movie.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Maybe I need to watch this again without the wife in the room because I just wasn't impressed with the bass....or maybe I'll run the subs a bit hot as I have it pretty flat right now.

The only time I recall feeling the bass was the Optimus/Bonecrusher fight scene, the opening scene I was expecting much more(same experience as Gene)....60ton tanks getting launched and crashing to the ground one would think you'd feel that.

Thank you. Another confirmation that Transformers HD DVD was not 100% impressive. Still good, just not 100% awesome.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Just watched The Metador SD DVD on my Toshiba HD-XA1, same machine I used to watch Transformers HD DVD. The bass on Metador at times were more impressive to me than Transformers. I think one problem with Transformers is that the soundtrack is usually loud most of the time. So when there's an explosion, it's just a little louder. Less dynamic range to me. Compressed to me.

 

[mike c]

well, I've received my copy of transformers and my toshiba player today! can't wait to get home and set this up. though I don't know if I'll have the time to watch.

 

[Gasman]

Your still on the forum????
Why don't you get to watching the movie.

You'll enjoy it Mike (and should love your new player, but let us know what you think of the player....)