Digital Source for the '77 Stereo Mix

I just received a copy of the 1991, Japanese P&S laser disc release of Star Wars, and can confirm that it includes the 1977 Theatrical stereo mix in digital.  I will be ripping it tomorrow and syncing the sides over the next week so that I can share this, as I believe the only sources up until now have been from analog laser discs.

Here are some links to info about this disc:

http://www.lddb.com/laserdisc/31580/PILF-1236/Star-Wars:-A-New-Hope-(1977)

http://www.blam1.com/StarWars/PILF-1236.htm

Fantastic!! will be interesting to compare its quality with the analog track. Didn't even know a digital track existed. Thanks for doing this! :)

If this is not the 85 remix but a digital version of the analogue sound on 1130-84, this is a good find....

It's definitely not the 85 mix.  I've verified it using star killer's guide.  There's no tractor beam line.

With no tractor beam line, this is looking promising.......

I put all my research into Post 1 here...

  http://originaltrilogy.com/forum/topic.cfm/The-Definitive-tractor-beam-Close-the-blast-doors-Blast-it-Biggs-Wedge-you-dont-taste-very-good-Noooooo-Preservation-Guide/post/544646/#TopicPost544646

This may show other lines that prove your findings.

Obviously this predates the 1993 mix, but I also checked the snake head thing in the cantina scene mentioned here:

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/russdawson/mono/mono1.htm

This release matches the 1977 mix presented on the site.

schorman would you be interested in a video capture or passing the disc along to someone with the capabilities?

I've got a short update on my progress.  I've finish ripping the audio and I've checked and verified that this is definitely not the 1993 mix.  However, other than the tractor beam line I couldn't determine if there were any other differences between the 1977 and 1985 mixes, so I don't really know where else to check to verify this.  

One place that doesn't seem to fit is the 20th Century Fox fanfare.  The 1985 mix has the re recorded version while the 1130-84 version is the original 50's recording. This disc has the newer version, instead of the one that should be on the 1977 mix.  

Any thoughts? 

The pre - THX Pan and Scan releases swapped back and forth between the Fox logo from the round zero of 20 to the slanting zero of 20. I put up a few screen shots here in Post 1.

http://originaltrilogy.com/forum/topic.cfm/OBITUARY-Star-Wars-Fullscreen-Pan-and-Scan-versions-RIP/topic/13517/

The fanfare may also be different as well but I have never checked too closely....

I am sure there is a thread somewhere listing other audio differences between the 85 mix and others but cannot find it!!!!

The '85 re-mix have wider imaging and sligthly better fidelity but other than the tractor beam line it should be identical to the original Dolby Stereo in terms of content, I've also heard some say that the music reverb are not as pronounced in the re-mix as in the original.

schorman13 said:

One place that doesn't seem to fit is the 20th Century Fox fanfare. The 1985 mix has the re recorded version while the 1130-84 version is the original 50's recording. This disc has the newer version, instead of the one that should be on the 1977 mix.

Belbucus said:

Other previously documented issues included the wrong Fox logo cue, and some instances of pretty severe "wow" or sudden pitch shift. Everything has been repaired and/or filled from alternate sources, taking great care to match the EQ and level so the fixes integrate seamlessly.

I have just been re-reading the Pan and Scan OBITUARY thread and seen that my 1987, 1988 and 1989 Star Wars Fullscreen releases did not have the tractor beam line that was in the 1985 mix.

Another instance alongside the 1991 Japanese Laserdisc from this thread where an older audio mix - not the current audio mix -  was used on a retail release.

My thinking is that those issues could be due to the way in which analog audio is stored on laserdisc.  They may not be present on a digital mix.

Joel, yes I'll share both the raw capture and a gout synced version.  Right now I'm recapturing to ensure that I have a 100% accurate rip.  

My copy of the 1130-84 does have the original fanfare, not the rerecorded version, as does my copy of the 1983 Japanese analog, CLV version (FY570-35MA).

Russs, are those fullscreen versions on laserdisc or vhs?

VHS....

schorman13 said:

My copy of the 1130-84 does have the original fanfare, not the rerecorded version, as does my copy of the 1983 Japanese analog, CLV version (FY570-35MA).

The re-recorded fanfare Neil S. Bulk mentioned and those issues Belbucus described might be what the original '85 pressing was plagued by, the 1130-84 was re-issued in '92.

Looking forward to hear your rip schorman13! :)

I don't know about the 1992 version.  I've never heard of a digital CAV version of the Pan & Scan LD.  

The Japanese version is CLV on three sides.  It's not time compressed.  It has the correct logo and fanfare.

TServo2049 said:

The '92 reissue of 1130-84 would have been the 1985 remix in digital, with the tractor beam line...right?

schorman13 said:

I don't know about the 1992 version. I've never heard of a digital CAV version of the Pan & Scan LD.

Both the '85 CAV standard play LD editions of Star Wars and Empire were reissued in '92, not to be confused with the CLV editions released that same year. So maybe you own the reissue schorman? or maybe Belbucus did. I don't know, I don't own any of them. They are supposed to be identical on the jackets as I understand it, so you need to check mint marks etc. I know Empire were treated with an additional digital track on the '92 repressing but I'm not sure about Star Wars.

As I understand it, the original pressing of Star Wars was done by Pioneer USA and the repressing was done by Pioneer Japan. The original pressing of Empire were pressed by Pioneer USA and the reissue by Mitsubishi.

EDIT: I will also add that the running time on the jacket are supposed to be incorrect on both pressings of these editions, some might be confused by that thinking they have the time-compressed versions.

I agree with you TServo, but I'm not entirely sure about all this, the difference in audio is just a theory of mine. The reissue is probably the exact same transfer with a few issues fixed or introduced?

I think Mallwalker was about to rip the '92 reissue of Empire a while back. He might chime in on this soon, he knows far more than me about the different Star Wars LD's.