Tomb Raider II -- poor audio IMO

[Keith from Canada]

First off, let's get one thing straight, the audio on this disc is very solid. It blows your doors off, gives you fantastic 360 degree panning and it's a whole lot of fun BUT, the dynamic range of the track is simply too extreme IMO. It literally requires you to crank the volume to make voices audible and then, if you're not careful, it will blow your eardrums with a sudden action scene.

It might just be me but I was not impressed with the volume extremes and spent most of my time with the volume control in my hands (especially after one of my pictures got knocked off the wall!). Besides, I find it kind of cheezy when a movie requires a sudden increase in volume to 'shock' the viewer.

[John Beresford]

First off, let's get one thing straight, the audio on this disc is very solid. It blows your doors off, gives you fantastic 360 degree panning and it's a whole lot of fun BUT, the dynamic range of the track is simply too extreme IMO. It literally requires you to crank the volume to make voices audible and then, if you're not careful, it will blow your eardrums with a sudden action scene.

It might just be me but I was not impressed with the volume extremes and spent most of my time with the volume control in my hands (especially after one of my pictures got knocked off the wall!). Besides, I find it kind of cheezy when a movie requires a sudden increase in volume to 'shock' the viewer.

I know exactly what you're talking about, Keith. I find many DVDs with this problem of low dialogue and loud effects; and even though my system is calibrated so that the center channel is two decibels louder than the surround and mains to compensate for low dialogue problems, DVDs STILL do this to me. Some movies will have you playing with the volume control the entire length of the disc. I can't really think of a DVD in my collection, actually, that DOESN'T do this. All my DVDs seem to have weak dialogues compared to when action and score hits the soundtrack.

This can be observed even in non-surround environments; I believe it is a Dolby Digital algorithm problem. Try watching a DVD through regular TV speakers with the RCA cables connected; the dialogue is STILL soft and the music/effects louder. You find yourself playing with the remote control of the TV set because of this even when a surround system isnt hooked up.

[Keith from Canada]

Generally speaking, the vast majority of my DVD's have the dynamic range done right. I can usually go through a movie without adjusting the volume and while the action scenes are considerably louder, they are virtually never as extreme as Tomb Raider II. I just think that this was a particularly poor transfer although I would imagine that given the cartoon nature of the flick, that it was done intentionally.

[John Beresford]

Generally speaking, the vast majority of my DVD's have the dynamic range done right. I can usually go through a movie without adjusting the volume and while the action scenes are considerably louder, they are virtually never as extreme as Tomb Raider II. I just think that this was a particularly poor transfer although I would imagine that given the cartoon nature of the flick, that it was done intentionally.

Hmmmm....interesting....I find many DVDs in my collection, and in others, have the same dialogue/effects/score shudder differences even when playing them back through TV speakers; perhaps you and I have DRASTICALLY different film genre collections....

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

First off, let's get one thing straight, the audio on this disc is very solid. It blows your doors off, gives you fantastic 360 degree panning and it's a whole lot of fun BUT, the dynamic range of the track is simply too extreme IMO. It literally requires you to crank the volume to make voices audible and then, if you're not careful, it will blow your eardrums with a sudden action scene.

It might just be me but I was not impressed with the volume extremes and spent most of my time with the volume control in my hands (especially after one of my pictures got knocked off the wall!). Besides, I find it kind of cheezy when a movie requires a sudden increase in volume to 'shock' the viewer.

Keith,
I watched this movie twice this weekend and found that my experience didn't mimick yours at all(I am scratching my bald head!!) I didn't find the dynamic range extreme at all, what I did find is that leaving my system in the music mode(all speakers on large and special eq setting) dialog sounded a little recessed because of the tremendous amounts of bass coming from the center channel, but nothing to suggest dynamic extremes at all. This needs to be filed under things that make you go hmmmmm......

[Keith from Canada]

Since watching this movie, and hearing others claim that they did not share my experience, I've a) re-checked my speaker level settings (they are bang-on), b) watched several other movies and TV shows (including Gladiator and the 2 XMen flicks...which all sounded great) and c) checked my ears for wax build-up (nothing out of the ordinary). After doing a-c, I still have absolutely no idea why I experienced what I did...I may just have to rent this movie again (which sucks because I didn't like it!) to see if it was the disc...???

[Troy]

Keith,
I watched this movie twice this weekend

How could anybody watch this godawful movie twice?

[kelsci]

Keith; WIDESCREEN REVIEW's site gave the Dolby Digital track a 5+. Perhaps an answer to your problem lies in their report of the audio. In fact, I do not recall this magazine giving higher than a 5 to a D.D. track.

[GaToy]

I too noticed this. It was very frustrating.

~C.C.~

[agtpunx40]

my friend brought over 2 fast 2 furious a few weeks ago. I didn't really want to watch it, but he works at a rental place so he got it for free and also brought over the beer so......
anyway, I've never heard so much unneccesary bass in my life. I couldn't figure out why they would put that much bass in the movie. I haven't seen Tomb Raider II, so I can't comment, but I have noticed this in other movies before. I've noticed it more with very poor action movies. I guess they figure you'll think higher of the movie if they can try to give some people that instant wow factor on the soundtrack.

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

How could anybody watch this godawful movie twice?

Different strokes for different folks man, I happen to loke the Laura Croft series. Reminds me of Indiana Jones with boobs!! I liked the movie, it was fun, lighthearted, and some very sexy eye candy. Some like chocolate(I don't) Some people like to watch love stories(I don't) Some like film noir(I don't, boring) and some like Tomb Raider(I do!)

[joel2762]

I found the same thing in this movie. Voices weren't loud enough so I did adjust the volume alot...Also found myself adjusting the volume in Ghost Ship. But that was a few years ago, when I was running only 2 channels in the front