[BC] Loud movies (was: Digital Intgerference)

[Barry Mishkind]

Hi Mike,

Good observation.

And the loudness wars have been with us since the jukebox.   Remember 
how the record companies would turn the lathes up until just before 
the needles jumped?

... or was it the quarter on the tonearm that kept them from sticking?

In any event, it wasn't only station copies that had "cue burn"-like effects.


At 08:24 AM 12/21/05, Michael Yoshida wrote
>Hi,
>
>As someone who used to setup post production mix stages daily for 
>the past 8 years in a previous job, 90 db is nothing. Each of the 
>left, center and right speakers are individually set for 85 db at 
>the mix position and the surrounds are combined to sum to 85db. 
>Combined subs lap 92db. It's not unusual for an effects driven film 
>to hit 112db during loud parts.
>
>On the other hand, most theaters (despite the Dolby presentation 
>standard) will turn down their audio if enough customers complain so 
>the efforts of directors and producers are all for naught. Loud 
>films have existed way before digital, ie Judge Dredd. But the 
>average levels seem to be going up probably due to the use of an 
>obscene number of tracks during rerecording all made possible by 
>ProTools and digital consoles with 350 inputs.
>
>Michael Yoshida
>former tech at the Saul Zaentz Film Center
>
>At 03:53 PM 12/20/2005, you wrote:
>>--- At 20.12.2005 00:10, Kevin Tekel wrote: ---
>>>Goran Thomas wrote:
>>> > Sound level in cinemas is also very high these days (though large
>>> > dynamic range of movie soundtrack helps here).
>>>
>>>IIRC, the "loud" parts of a recent Harry Potter movie were measured at an
>>>SPL of around 90 dB.  Considering that constant exposure to sounds above
>>>85 dB can cause hearing damage, that's pretty damn loud for a _children's_
>>>movie!
>>
>>Actually, loud parts at 90dB are OK. It is prolonged levels of high 
>>SPL that are dangerous.