Odd Review of A&E UFO DVD Set 1

Hi all,

I was looking through the customer reviews of UFO DVD Set 1 on
Amazon.com, and I was a bit mystified to read the following
review:

===========================================================
Good DVD, but sloppy production

Excellent to have this show out on DVD, but they lose one star for
really quite poor production values. Typical of many DVD products,
the "team" that produced the DVD are likely four guys using a
PowerMac or some such thing. Besides the overall production being
unimaginative and dull, the sound quality is very poor on these
discs. The special effects and music tracks are cranked all the way
up, but if you try to save your ears by turning it down you will find
the dialogue impossible to hear at times. What is worse is that
several times the sound is completely out of synch for 30 or 40
minutes at a time. It is doubtfull if the media team producing this
product even checked their work afterwards. Five stars for Gerry
Anderson and minus one for the sloppy, sloppy transfer to DVD.
===========================================================

Poor sound quality? special effects & music tracks cranked up?
Dialog impossible to hear? Audio out of synch? It makes me wonder
if this person is reviewing the same discs I've got...

BTW, if you want to read all 10 of the customer reviews, here's
a link:

http://amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/stores/detail/-/dvd/B0000687BN/customer-reviews

Marc

SHEESH! If I didn't already know several people who have the set,
reading that would probably put me off getting it! <boggle>


-- Y


Marc Martin wrote:
>
> Hi all,
>
> I was looking through the customer reviews of UFO DVD Set 1 on
> Amazon.com, and I was a bit mystified to read the following
> review:
>
> ===========================================================
snip

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Avon: "I said shut up; I apologize
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--- In SHADO@y..., Marc Martin <marc@u...> wrote: find
> the dialogue impossible to hear at times.


> Poor sound quality? special effects & music tracks cranked up?
> Dialog impossible to hear? Audio out of synch? It makes me wonder
> if this person is reviewing the same discs I've got...
>
> Marc

Marc,

Actually, I must have the same set of discs that reviewer has. When
playing all the discs on my JVC-701 DVD player, the sound track and
special effects are definately louder than the dialogue. To the
point that I actually have to turn the sound up or down to hear
the dialogue or not be blown away, respectively.

Dan

>Actually, I must have the same set of discs that reviewer has. When
>playing all the discs on my JVC-701 DVD player, the sound track and
>special effects are definately louder than the dialogue. To the
>point that I actually have to turn the sound up or down to hear
>the dialogue or not be blown away, respectively.

Interesting! I can't imagine that there are 2 sets of different
UFO discs, so I wonder if it has something to do with people's
DVD player or amplifiers. I'm just using a Sony DVD player, with
RCA audio jacks going to the stereo inputs on a Carver pre-amp, with
no sound processing options active. (and I'm NOT having this problem)

Marc

At 02:56 PM 8/11/02 -0700, you wrote:
Uh, I have to admit, the soundtrack leaves a lot to be desired. The music
and some effects certainly are way higher "in the mix" than they ought to
be. I found myself riding the volume control up and down on my television
throughout the entire 13 episodes. As for it being "out of sync"...I can't
say that I noticed any of this, however.

To be fair though...I have found that a lot of DVD's have this same
problem...not just the A&E UFO Set 1 disks. It might possibly be a problem
with certain types of DVD players, rather than the DVD themselves, or it
may be the sound selection used by user.
I forget the exact name of the sound setting, but I just use the default
(something 5.1). It may be that the sound effects and music have been
"stereoized" or something which makes them tend to jump out at you, whereas
dialog is mixed in the center and doesn't appear so "up front" at
times. Oddly, though, in music production, usually center mixed voices and
instruments tend to appear "louder" than those panned across the stereo
spectrum.

>To be fair though...I have found that a lot of DVD's have this same
>problem...not just the A&E UFO Set 1 disks. It might possibly be a problem
>with certain types of DVD players, rather than the DVD themselves, or it
>may be the sound selection used by user.
>I forget the exact name of the sound setting, but I just use the default
>(something 5.1).

Do you have a plain old "mono" setting? I'm wondering if all this
fancy surround sound processing is somehow enhancing the dynamic
range of the original discs. I've certainly had to ride the volume
control on theatrical movie releases, but not with these UFO DVDs...
unless I'm doing it and not noticing it... hmmm, perhaps I'll have to
watch an episode and see! :-)

Marc

At 09:14 PM 8/11/02 -0700, you wrote:
>Do you have a plain old "mono" setting? I'm wondering if all this
>fancy surround sound processing is somehow enhancing the dynamic
>range of the original discs. I've certainly had to ride the volume
>control on theatrical movie releases, but not with these UFO DVDs...
>unless I'm doing it and not noticing it... hmmm, perhaps I'll have to
>watch an episode and see! :-)

Well, I don't have a surround sound system. The TV set that I have has
stereo speakers on the front panel down below the picture tube. It's not a
huge set, I think it's a 29 inch, or maybe a 32...I'd have to measure
it. But in any event, I have not tried setting it on "mono" (although it
may have such a setting), because so many movies are now filmed in stereo,
that I don't want to miss out on it. There is a possibility that if I did
have everything hooked up to a true stereo system, it might sound
completely different.
I agree with you that I think that the built-in processing monkeys with the
sound to a bit. I find that overall sound output of most DVD's is a lot
lower than videocassettes and broadcast television (or actually cable
television as I receive it). It's not a big deal to ride the volume, as
I'm used to it now.

I don't know what set they're reviewing either - I just got mine and the
only complaint I have was that the lower frequencies of the sound track seem
to have been boosted - turning off the sub-woofer (power off if possible)
helps on our system, otherwise it adds very odd low-end distortion.

Deborah
-----Original Message-----
From: Marc Martin [mailto:[hidden email]]
Sent: Sunday, August 11, 2002 2:57 PM
To: SHADO Discussion Group
Subject: [SHADO] Odd Review of A&E UFO DVD Set 1


Hi all,

I was looking through the customer reviews of UFO DVD Set 1 on
Amazon.com, and I was a bit mystified to read the following
review:

===========================================================
Good DVD, but sloppy production

Marc

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--- In SHADO@y..., Marc Martin <marc@u...> wrote:
> >Actually, I must have the same set of discs that reviewer has.
When problem)
>
> Marc

I'd agree with you if I had the same problem with any other
discs I own or have rented. However, this is the first time
I've experienced this behavior with this DVD player and my
Pioneer VSX-D1S.

I'll try it on my Sony PS2 and report back.

Dan