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Idea & Info: 'Friday the 13th' - Original Sound Mixes

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Hi, Guys. I wanted to ask all you smarties what we can do to preserve all the Friday the 13th original sound mixes in a lossless format? I know Laserdisc is the best option for 6, 7, 8, and 9. But what about 1-5 in MONO? I just imported the German Blu-Ray mediabooks and they are better looking picture quality wise than even the US BDs. Only problem is… NO ORIGINAL SOUND MIXES!!! I’m sorry, but to Hell with remixes. I don’t do them unless I have to. I currently sync the original mono tracks from the deluxe DVDs to my BD copies to watch… but I want better quality sound than DVD.

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Paramount has a terrible track record for remastering it’s early LD titles. I still have fits from trying to find a digital sound remaster of Grease pre 20th anniversary remix.

Going off a brief perusal of the LDDB, there are two Japanese pressings of the original 13th that have CX noise reduction where the domestic pressing doesn’t.
http://www.lddb.com/laserdisc/36423/08JL-61172/Friday-the-13th
http://www.lddb.com/laserdisc/29192/NJEL-11172/Friday-the-13th

It’s a mixed bag on the rest as Paramount went CX depending on whether the sun was out that day. Analog LD tracks have a bit of background hum and hiss without CX, but I suppose somebody could filter it out?

Unfortunately, none of these will be cheap as fans snap up everything to do with the films these days.

Where were you in '77?

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Thanks for your insight, SilverWook. So the mono tracks from parts 1-5 are worth ripping from LD if they have CX?

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Yes, but non CX analog audio is better than nothing at all. Mono seems to fair better than stereo on older titles. The trick is to capture them on a older gas tube player like I have. Later models with digital sound aren’t so hot in the analog dept. Some models make it difficult to turn CX off on non encoded discs resulting in muffled sound.
VHS or Beta Hi Fi might be better, but finding a flawless tape is another hit or miss situation. When I captured a factory sealed VHS of Grease I still had audio dropouts to contend with.

Where were you in '77?

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Hmm, I am thinking of buying some Fridays on LD if I can find them. I would have to have someone else do the captures tho. I don’t have the equipment at the moment. I wish you could find the original Grease mix. That really sucks.

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I’m starting to wonder if mixing the English DTS-HD 2.0 and the German DTS-HD tracks from the German blu-rays could recreate the original mixes. The German track doesn’t have the newly added efx like the English one.

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The problem was all the U.S. discs recycled the same ancient Discovision master with mediocre sound. The common Japanese disc wasn’t much better. The only digital version that seemed to exist was a PAL version in Europe. Someone did eventually find the elusive Japanese Grease LD remaster with digital sound and captured it. Need to bug them about getting a copy. The sync someone else did with my VHS Hi Fi capture turned out great though.

I’d be more than willing to do the captures for you. Analog LD audio is a lot easier for me to deal with actually, as I run it straight into a DVD recorder on the highest quality setting, so the end result is PCM audio.
I have some home repair pending, so I might have to move my gear where it won’t be easy to access until this winter though. Going to try and make space in another room for it if I can.

Where were you in '77?

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I see. I appreciate your willingness to capture LD audio for me. Obviously I wouldn’t expect you to do it for free. I’m sure we could come to some sort of an arrangement. First I’d need to find the right discs of course. That will be the biggest challenge. I just want better quality than DVD lossy audio. I actually have a sealed Nightmare On Elm Street 2 LD. That would be interesting to capture… I just don’t want to open it. Haha I also have both Grease and Grease 2 sealed on LD as well. Too bad the Grease track is so complicated or I’d loan that for sakes of preservation. I have a sealed Ghostbusters, Barbarella, Rocky Horror Picture Show and others. Come to think of it… That Rocky Horror LD has a unique mix on it. That would be awesome to have captured too.

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The Rocky Horror box set? I’ve heard the audience participation track is not the same as the DVD. I’ve got the first bare bones LD release somewhere around here.

Where were you in '77?

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No, mine is the standard release. The unique sound mix is unlike any other format I believe.

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So, not the THX mastered one?

Where were you in '77?

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Pretty sure that’s the one I have.

Where were you in '77?

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I figured. It is the most common LD if I remember right. You haven’t ever captured that audio from your copy?

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It hadn’t occurred to me. The impression I got from poking around a RH forum many years ago was that it wasn’t held in high regard, (being considered a “home video” mix) using album versions of the songs and losing little things from the mono mix.
I could certainly capture it though.
But is the THX remaster the same mix, or a another thing altogether?

Where were you in '77?

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I personally would love it captured for sake of it being a unique mix. I like the mix, sure it has issues but I do like it. Original mono is best imo tho. And to be honest, I don’t know if the THX is different in any way. I haven’t owned it or heard it. I believe it is the same… but that is an uneducated guess. And speaking of the original mono track… is that available anywhere in higher quality than DVD?

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The Blu Ray reviews I’ve read said they somehow managed to mess the mono up again, so the DVD remains the best version to date.

Where were you in '77?

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Yeah, I own the Blu-ray and the mono is mostly intact… but they changed the outro instrumental track of Time Warp in the end credits to a different version. DVD is all original tho.