Info: Alien Anthology - Dolby Digital 4.1 Surround — Page 4

Jonno said:

Jetrell Fo, you should have a PM with the info now.

I'm certainly up for a V2 if the 5.1 does become available, though in that case it might be easier to sync the picture to the sound rather than vice versa!

Anyway, anyone who's got a copy of this project should pester Bigrob for his fantastic cover. Rob, are you happy to share it here?

your making me blush lol!

it's just something i knocked up in my downn time at work using Micorsoft paint and picture manager

no issue with sharing. shoot me a PM with your email address and i'll send it direct

can't seem to get it to print out the correct size though.

So what do you guys think of this mix when you've now heard it? I'm curious to hear your thoughts on it. Personally I'm very fond of the polished 35mm but absolutely love the dynamic range, bass, clarity and some of the more subtle variations heard in this mix. I can tell you that the discrete version is not that huge of a difference from the 2.0 version, some fx are awesome with more clearly defined surrounds (the sound of the chains before Harry Dean Kitty Crap Stanton gets killed for example) but it's still a quite front heavy mix like many mixes were at the time (just the way I like it, too many films nowadays keep the surrounds too busy) 

Some of the more obvious differences in content compared to the 35mm Dolby Stereo mix (will try to make a complete documentation at some point) you'll probaly notice right away in this mix if you're familiar with the 35mm:

• Jerry Goldsmith's score on the title sequence and opening is a little bit different, pay attention when we first enter the corridors of the ship, the 35mm is scored right away.
• What appears to be a distant horn emanating from Nostromo when we first see the ship is absent.
• Dallas line "Good morning, Mother." is an alternate take.
• Kane's line "Roll 92 degrees port yaw." is absent.
• Lambert has an additional line of dialogue heard when they prepare to land on the planet, "900 meters and dropping." (subtitled on the 20th anniversary DVD)
• From the moment when Nostromo is approaching the planet until they enter the atmosphere, the sound editing is very rough with a few alternate cues heard. (Deep bass from the engines)
• Right before the Space Jockey scene, Kane's lines "Come on down here. Something different down here..." are absent.
• When the crew discusses Brett's death, Ash's response "Kane's son." is absent.

Also, you might have noticed something odd with this track which is noticeable right before they land on the planet, the score in particular sounds like it's played in the wrong pitch/speed for a moment. Perhaps the sound elements used was in bad shape or something? Anyway, not my doing.

BDgeek said:

msycamore,

having gone through the whole thread, I still have one doubt regarding this PCM track. If you don't mind me asking, is it a bit perfect rip or is it a capture?

If it's indeed the former, then it must be a real gem and must sound incredible. I'm a huge fan of Laserdisc audio and I'm very much interested in preservation projects that tie their PCM tracks with BD video.

Hi BDgeek, welcome to the forum!

What's been made available by me so far is only a capture of the PCM track, a bitperfect rip of the PCM and AC-3 is the plan. Would be nice to have a rip of the 35mm Dolby track as well.

I presume that the accompanying 35mm audio mix would be taken from the 4.1 soundtrack from the BD

I've sampled some scenes from Jonno's brilliant BD of this pumping the PCM 2.0 through my amp and outputting it as DTS Neo 6 and your right, much better dynamic range, a bit more oompfh as well with the low ends.

I watched Alien on BD just before Prometheus came out and was a tad let down by the DTS-MA 5.1 mix. didn't have a lot of impact

I'm hoping when you've successfully ripped the 5.1 audio from the LD and synched it up to the 2010 BD, it should sound brilliant

I'd very much appreciate a PM for the re-edited track. Many thanks.

Jonno said:

Thanks for your patience everyone - I've been working on a re-edit of the 70mm track which I wanted to finish before sending out any more links. I'm afraid it's still just the PCM Dolby Surround track (which will yield something like 4.1 through a Pro Logic processor), but this version syncs to the BD video far more tightly than before (and it should, since this is my third attempt!)

I'm sorry everyone for the lack of updates and progress, I'm pretty sure I've got everything that I need for bitperfect audio rips of the AC-3 Alien LD now. Read all the info I came across regarding this a few moths ago and it shouldn't be impossible with what I now have. I feel ashamed of myself that I haven't tested and done this already but I have seldom free time for the fun stuff these days, new job where I travel a lot and are seldom at home, several LD projects waiting to be completed... :( Jonno, will contact you regarding this as soon as possible, it needs to be done.

Jonno said:

I'll send PMs to everyone who's waiting, let me know if I forget you or if you'd like to be added to the list.

As a bonus I've also done a sync of the PCM Dolby Stereo mix from the 1992 collector's edition laserdisc. I haven't managed to do a full video test of this sync yet, but if you'd like to try it and let me know how you find it, feel free!

I would of course like to be added to that list. Awesome that you've acquired the PCM 35mm Dolby track! Not a bad bonus, very interested.

Thank you, Jonno!

Also, I know it's an old standard def transfer but can I be bold and request a potential sync with the '99 DVD transfer as well? I absolutely understand if you're not willing to as it's not fun and an easy job audio syncing, it is in fact a real bitch if I have to voice my opinion. ;) Just a thought I had as I'm still very fond of that old transfer.

I also plan to at least make a quick and dirty preservation of the AC-3 Alien as its color timing is quite interesting in a few scenes.

Btw, what are your thoughts on the 35mm PCM track Jonno? Compared it with the AC-3 tracks? Curious...