Best movie to demonstrate surround sound system?

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Mtenga

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Tom cruise version of war of th worlds, a real bass rattler. Tested my new amp with it the other day and the neighbours were downstairs to complain.
 
Hi Mtenga

How are you finding the MRX 710?

Btw, try Halo 4 Forward Unto Dawn. From 48 minutes on and until the end of the film an absolutely crazy soundtrack :twisted: :grin: We had Halo 4 Forward Unto Dawn on in the AV Tech Solutions/JL Audio room in the Bristol Show this year (partly using an MRX 710) and all hell broke loose :twisted: :grin:

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft
 

Mtenga

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It's a truly wonderful sound for movies. More bold than the Yamaha 2020 it replaced. I'm delighted so far. Thanks for the tip.
 

chrisup

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Car chases: Quantum of Solace, Bullit, Transporter 1-3 Fast & Furious Franchise

Good Films Last Samurai and Kingdom of Heaven both have good plots and acting and the battle scenes are amazing.
 

ellisdj

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Pacific Rim is a test in every regard.

Sound - bass especially - can be a lumpy boomy mess if not right - if right some serious lfe

Picture and 3D picture - no better disc so far in my mind
 

Leeps

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Here are a few ideas:

1. Unstoppable - plenty of scenes with a raging heavy goods train out of control panning across the screen / channels.

2. Johnny English - reborn. One of the best produced sountracks on any bluray I have. The Bond-esque score towards the end of the film really is outstanding.

3. The Importance of Being Earnest - yes I did just say that. There are points in the film, particularly when Judi Dench is 'interviewing' Gwendolyn's potential suitor, Colin Firth's "Earnest" aka John etc, when his entrance in the echoey grand rooms actually sounds like you're in an echoey grand room. It's not just the whizz-bang summer blockbusters that are improved by a decent surround system. Oh and you can actually hear the dialogue of Oscar Wilde's sharp-witted play, none of which you'd want to miss.
 

duaplex

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I used to always say Spiderman 3 and the first Goblin fight with Peter where he scoops him up off the scooter. That is still a great one, however I have another three that I think have better qualities for surround and all out awe!

1. Super 8 - train wreck scene, if you want to test the subs and feel some serious bass, watch it

2. Prometheus - When the engineer is first awoken, the detail and effects you get with the chords popping off his chest will test your tweeters in the system and detail of your speakers on the whole

3. Master and Commander - Midway through chapter 4. You will hear the wonderful creaking of the wood and crashing of waves, which will simply consume you. Great for 11.2 also when using height speakers ;)

Hope that helps
 
Mtenga said:
It's a truly wonderful sound for movies. I'm delighted so far. Thanks for the tip.

Hi Mtenga

Thanks for your reply and your welcome.

Good to hear that you're enjoying the performance of the MRX 710 :cheers: Now get yourself the Blu Ray of Halo 4 Forward Unto Dawn and let Anthem Room Correction really flex it muscles
smiley-smile.gif


All the best

Rick @ Musicraft
 

Frank Harvey

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I know a lot of people mention the train crash scene in Super 8, but I find the later scene where the alien corners the kids inside the crashed bus to be much better balanced over all. The train crash is a little hit and miss. Yes, it immediately impresses people because there's a lot of bass, but only about half of the scene seems to have been done properly. There are some amazing thuds that will test your sub's ability to start and stop immediately, and it will also highlight subs that are prone to running out of steam. But, half of the scene (bits and bobs of it) just lacks impact where there should be plenty of it, and some of it is just plain OTT.

Another one mentioned is Tron. Again, it tends to impress because it has a lot of bass (seems to be mixed that way throughout the film). The funny thing is that if you play this film on a system with subs that can control the bass properly, people ask where the bass is, because they're not used to hearing it how it should be.

The Dark Knight is another film that I would say the sound quality is a little overrated, as well as favourites like the Transformers movies.

If you really want to get all of your speakers working over time and the sub into overdrive, Hot Fuzz. Yes, the sub channel is excessive, but it has purposely been mixed that way, which will be understood by those who are familiar with the types of films that it is paying homage to. Some of the action is non stop, with all speakers going at it together, relentlessly. It isn't the best quality sound out there, but I'd say its a bigger assault on the ears than Pacific Rim. On a system that is lacking, it'll sound a mess and probably give you a headache, but if the system is well set up and up to scratch, its a wonderfully busy soundtrack that isn't the slightest bit fatiguing.

I watched The Family tonight, and I have to say that the audio on that film - music, dialogue, and effects - were excellent. The animated feature "9" is a fantastic example of detail and clarity, if quality is called for. As I say, it depends what aspect of a film's audio soundtrack you want to showcase, but based on the thread title, give Hot Fuzz a try.
 

naughty573

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it depends on what you mean by workout ..... if you just mean excessive bass from your subwoofers then most of the movies mentioned above will do the trick .... but when i listen to surround i am after totally realistic effects

in terms of my aims the best demo movie i have ever come across has to be Avatar and i will point out the specific scenes i like :

1) the first one of these is the scene where the hero lands up in the forest and lights up a fire and is followed around by the dog like creatures - their yelps and growls really seem sinister and menacing and to be honest in terms of the way i have my system set up it actually sounds as if i can perceive height information without having any front height speakers - when they climb the trees they actually sound as if they are higher ie with my system almost at ceiling level and the ambient athmosphere of the jungle in this scene really makes you feel as if you are really in a jungle

2) then the fight scene occurs where he fights these creatures and is assisted by the heroine of the movie but this isnt the amazing scene - its after when she is lamenting the fact that she had to kill these creatures and he decides to say sorry ..... whats so amazing is that if you have a 7.1 configuration and those speakers are correctly set up the insects flying around the characters heads actually sound as if thye are buzzing around your head and once again you are transported to the jungle with howling in the distance that sounds as if its outside your room and even outside your house and actually across the street from your house

3) then theres the scene where airborne army comes to destroy the tree dwelling and initially they deploy smoke grenades as the grenade goes off you actually hear it start off in front of you heading toward you and then passing you and finishing off a fair distance behind you .... i have had some people not really into home cinema who have listened to this scene and claim that it sounds like the smoke goes "through" you

and then the sandstorm scene mentioned above in Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol is also a realistic scene if played loud enough ..... but to be honest i find that its better to have 7.1 surround even if you use Dolby Pro-Logic 11x/z to matrix the rear effects to make these scenes sound as good as i have described - and room size and room treatment can play a big role to getting them as realistic as they can potentially be. I also cannot stress how important it is to actually run the autosetup properly or if you set up manually then to do so as accurately as possible especially when it comes to speaker distances and levels
 

Glacialpath

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I find some of the well made Horror films have really good surround sound mixes. I guess because the sound can play big part in the tention of the films. Also most of the CG animation films are very good as the whole soundtrack has to be constructed from scratch

30 Days of Night =5.1, Tim Burton's "9" =5.1, Act of Valor =5.1, The Amazing Spiderman =7.1

Monsters Inc. and Monsters Universaty. Very good for atmospherics and detail. 7.1, The Day after Tomorrow 5.1

The Descent =5.1, Finding Nemo =7.1, House at the end of the Street. Near the end when the lights go out and there is no picture. =5.1

Das Boot. It is a new mix they did for the special edition DVD and it's been very well done in my book. =5.1

U571 Especially the depthcharge scense and when the sink too far. =5.1 Jurassic Park =7.1 Man of Steel =7.1

Max MAnus: Man of War. Some really good atmospherics and action too. =5.1

2 Films that I find show good hight even without using my front hight channels are City Of The Living Dead when someone is walking round upstairs. =7.1

Also Master and Commander as people have mentioned before. When they are on the gun deck but the are still people walking round above you.

Enjoy.

The Cable Madman (Glacialpath) :rockout:
 

cleggton

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I've listened to quite a few films lately (new system and Love film postal subscription!) a lot of the one mentioned here are really good soundtracks. But the one that really knocked my socks off from a sound effects perspective was Jack Reacher.

A couple of scenes stood out. The initial scene in the car park, the helicopter going overhead. The car chase (as already mentioned). The scene in the quarry when it starts to rain was the one that made me go wow. I really felt like i was in a rainy quarry.

Pretty thin plot for this, but the engineers did a great job on the sound. I enjoyed it so much I watched it the next night.
 

Alantiggger

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Pearl Harbour is a good un for surround sound... not a great movie, not as bad though as critics say that it is.... it's gungho at the ending but okay,

Amazing sound when they Zero's (fighter planes) and Archivals (bombers/torps) attack Pearl Harbour, quite AMAZING !
 

buzz_lightclick

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Saw the new Godzilla at the cinema tonight, and thought it had an incredible soundtrack, (movie itself only average though), so that will be a blu ray to look out for, for demonstrating your home surround system, when it comes out!
 

Leeps

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Saw 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty' today. Reasonable flick; excellent soundtrack. Good use of surrounds & sub and well-chosen Jose Gonzalez songs. Very well produced - a good system tester.

Tempting to get the soundtrack (rather than the score itself).
 

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