RE: THX and other matters

["Timothy Morris" <timothy.morris@xxxxxxx>]

Jerome, thanks - most interesting post I've read on here for weeks.

I've just started working in telly (in an executive rather than
production capacity, and it is fascinating!)

Tim

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jerome O'Donohoe [mailto:jerome@xxxxxxx]
> Sent: 09 November 2002 20:36
> To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx > Subject: Re: [ukha_d] THX and other matters
>
>
> On Saturday, November 9, 2002, at 06:43  pm, Timothy Morris wrote= :
>
> >  none of the (six) power amps have a THX badge on them nor d= o the
> > speakers, nor does the DVD player or screen. I HAVE to have a hyb= rid
> > system, and I wouldn't buy THX speakers (because they do sound pa= nts
> > with music). I wouldn't out of choice buy anything else with a TH= X
> > badge
> > on it per-se (the Meridian was a different matter when I bought i= t,
> > because anything comparable had a THX badge on it), purely becaus= e
it
> > adds several hundred quid to the price, and I trust my own ears m= ore
> > than a set of arbitrary specs!
> >
> I wonder if I might chip in here, just to offer another view.  I = don't
> have any high-end or THX approved HC kit at home, but my job is as a > dubbing mixer (a re-recording mixer on US films) , which makes me
> responsible for the soundtracks that go to the flicks and end up on TV=
> & DVDs. My lowly position in a UK sound house means you won't see = my
> name on any credit rolls in your DVD collection (save for something i'm
> pretty sure you won't have or want to have, though if you've seen the<= BR> > Mummy Returns, Rugrats in Paris or Jimmy Neutron in a language other > than english, you'll have heard my work, such as it is on foreign
> versions :-) ).  What I can comment on is the kit and the nature = of
> listening rooms, as we have 2 dubbing theatres kitted out with
> THX-grade amps & speakers and jolly nice AMS Neve mixers feeding t= hem,
> and another two smaller rooms with the same mixers but non-thx
> monitoring.
>
> I can guarantee that any of you would prefer the sound of the non-thx<= BR> > Genelec speakers in the smaller rooms over the THX approved (for
> cinemas, the most stringent spec) JBL systems in the bigger theatres,<= BR> > which would maybe be about the same size as a seriously well off
> uber-celeb might have for his home cinema.  Genelec could well ha= ve
> sought, and got, THX-approval for their speakers but the $15,000 cost<= BR> > of approval per model gives them pause for thought, as would the cost<= BR> > of additional THX approval on the mixing room itself for the mixing > house.  For sure the specs in the THX approval are high, but many=
> products meet & exceed them and sell without the expense of the TH= X
> badge.  Cinema-derived specs apply to dispersion & throw
> characteristics that are inappropriate for home use, and i'm sure most=
> list members consider their HC setup to be better than their local
> cinema, and given that some of your kit will have cost just as much, if
> you've a favourable acoustic environment, they almost certainly do. > THX did a good thing in dragging the appalling standards of cinemas in=
> the 80s up from the depths, but Dolby have done as much if not lots > more since then for the bulk of cinemas.  THX approval has been dropped
> as an unnecessary expense by a lot of US cinema chains as they are now=
> as good as the customers demand, and only a miniscule portion of their=
> customers will seek THX approval .
>
> To get back to the point, most good sized (yes, size matters) music > systems should provide fabulous cinema sound reproduction  (Quad = ESLs
> and valve amps excepted here!). A THX badge will not mean it sounds any
> better, scientifically speaking.  As long as your monitoring can = cope
> with the dynamic range at a low S/N ratio, you're getting good
results.
> Any further processing on a 5.1 signal other than delay for the rear > speakers and screen HF rolloff compensation for the front is
completely
> unnecessary (it may occur to some that the screen HF compensation
> usually applies to the centre speaker, when in any dolby-approved
> cinema or mixing stage, all three (or five, in SDDS rarities) front > speakers are behind the screen).
>
> I suppose i'm trying to say don't get hung up on approval.  High = end
> music systems are incredibly different from decent HC, and require a > higher standard in the production chain, which you need to carry on to=
> some degree in the home if you want the ultimate reproduction.  B= y
this
> I do NOT mean cabling, by the way.  The listening room is 1000% m= ore
> important than the electrical connections.  Most audiophiles woul= d
have
> a heart attack if they saw how recording studios & mixing faciliti= es
> are wired - analogue & digital audio passes through telephone grad= e
> single-core wiring, punched into krone frames that will be very
> familiar to those of you with telecoms backgrounds.  The Dolby > equipment used for monitoring in cinema mixing rooms & theatres > themselves is connected, *unbalanced*, to solder tags with bog
standard
> screened copper. And yet we still produce CDs & film mixes that > consumers are tricked into reproducing with silver speaker cable and > =A3100 interconnects, which I think is a scandal.  Money would be= way
> better spent on soundproofing & tuning the listening environment,<= BR> which
> is where we spend it in the construction of mixing facilities.
>
> Not sure if that helped anyone, but I felt like a bit of a rant about<= BR> > how consumers (and I am one...and I was a perpetrator, having worked in
> a hifi shop many years ago flogging interconnects & speaker cable,=
with
> their enormous margins compared to the kit) get fleeced.  Why not=
throw
> up a few layers of plasterboard, float the floor and bolt down
anything
> that'll vibrate to improve your listening rather than line the pockets=
> of the cable con-artists?!
>
> If you like it, it's in all likelihood probably pretty good.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Jerome.
>
>
> http://www.automatedhome.co= .uk
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