danny_boy said:
Star Wars Special Edition
In remastering the sound for the 20th-anniversary release, it was decided that the original four-track master, which had maintained its integrity over almost 20 years of storage, would serve as the backbone for the creation of a new 5.1-channel master. This master was the LCRS (Left-Center-Right-Surround) mix for Dolby Stereo, recorded on magnetic tape. In preparation for the new soundtrack, the first step was to duplicate this master, and then reduce inherent tape hiss by using the Cedar DH-1 noise-reduction system. Then, the four tracks were equalized using a GML Model 8200. Finally, an Aphex Dominator II limiter was employed to reduce harshness in the sound caused by sharp transients.
Because the surround channel in the original master was monaural, stereo surround was created by running the mono surround through a home theatre THX® processor, which splits the single channel into left and right, and then scrambles their relative phase. In some cases, stereo surround effects were added, to an extent similar to what is done with today's digital sound mixes (such as separate left and right effects to impart a feeling of spatial dimension in the theatre). For the LFE (Low Frequency Effects) channel, deep bass effects, such as for explosions, were added to give some visceral impact at key moments in the film.
New mixes were necessary for the added scenes, which were created in the 5.1-channel format. These mixes were meticulously blended into the four-track master, plus original dialog, music and effects elements to create a new 35mm Dolby SR (Spectral Recording) noise-reduction-encoded, six-channel master. Print masters were then created for the three digital sound formats (Dolby Digital, SDDS® and DTS®).
How did this new creative work sound? It was quite apparent upon listening to the first 10 minutes or so of the film that the sound engineers were trying to achieve a delicate balance of remaining faithful to the original mix and incorporating embellishments (mostly reflecting creative ideas originally envisioned but not carried out for various reasons). The music recording sounded remarkably clean, mostly devoid of excessive brightness, and with good fidelity.
The precise panning of sounds (and occasionally dialogue) along the screen from the separate front channels actually was very convincing, and was a testament to the remarkable work of the sound crew in the early days of Dolby Stereo. Of course, being able to hear the accurate placement of sounds on-screen is commonplace with today's digital sound, but experiencing this from a 20-year-old master is breathtaking.
In many scenes, "opening up" the ambient soundfield through stereo surrounds was apparent. One is the desert landscape on Tatooine, where the sound of the wind sweeps between the front and back. The opening scenes aboard the rebel ship and the final attack sequences on the surface of the Death Star exhibited similar enhanced depth in the surround field. And, some left-right rear effects were noticed, as in Tie Fighter scenes, though they seemed to be more subtle compared to current digital soundtracks. The LFE was present in the explosions of Alderan and the Death Star, and from the Millennium Falcon, though again the intensity of the effects was less pronounced than what would be encountered in a contemporary movie. These apparent subtleties could have been deliberate, in deference to the "delicate balance" mentioned earlier.
The one aspect of this new edition that was controversial was the dialogue. While there were no problems with intelligibility, it was almost impossible to overlook the dialogue's bright and strident characteristics. Such imperfections are to be expected due to the dated fidelity and recording technology. Nonetheless, the dramatic improvements to the sonics for this seminal film have prompted many film sound experts and enthusiasts to offer high praise for the achievements at Lucasfilm.http://www.filmjournal.com/filmjournal/esearch/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000692295
This would completely explain why the 97SE 5.1 has a more tinny and airy quality when compared to the 93 and 70mm audio. The masters used are actually different mixes.