Speaking of noise reduction, what is this?

[takearushfan]

I was listening to my DVD collection, to see which 5.1 mixes I like and those I don't.
When I came to The Terminator, I was intrigued. I'm attaching a file that contains around of minute of audio... one in the original Mono track and one in the 5.1 Remaster.
You might need to crank your speakers, but I'd like to know what I'm hearing in the original Mono mix. Now that's what I know is noise, but what kind of noise? What creates that grinding sound? You'll notice, among other things, that Sarah's grieving sigh of "No, no" has a lot of hiss in the original track, but they removed it in the remaster.
I'm amazed at how well the 5.1 track cleans up. If anyone knows how to do that well of a job, speak up! ... on a serious note, the credits say that the restoration work was done at Skywalker Sound. So, I'm assuming that's George Lucas... no small potatoes!

[edDV]

Both my Laserdisc and DVD sound fine. Both have AC3 5.1 tracks. The DVD looks better.

What exactly are you trying to accomplish?

[edDV]

See here http://www.hotmoviesale.com/store/productView.aspx?idProduct=197892&ec=1&ProdId=29&utm...rminator%20dvd

I just checked, my laserdisc that has AC3 was Terminator 2. I have the mono Terminator 1 Laserdisc and the 5.1 AC3 Terminator 1 DVD.

The original Terminator Laserdisc was "digital sound CX" mono noise reduction and was THX certified.

But you are forgetting the producer had all the production tracks (uncompressed) so a 5.1 remix should sound better. They weren't working from the release print, they had all the original production mix tracks. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088247/laserdisc

[edDV]

You've now peaked my interest. "CX" was a noise reduction system designed by CBS Labs, a competing technology to Dolby B for analog recording. Laserdisc used CX encoding for early AAD and ADD Laserdiscs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CX_(audio)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laserdisc#Audio

[takearushfan]

I have absolutely no knowledge of laserdiscs

[takearushfan]

See here http://www.hotmoviesale.com/store/productView.aspx?idProduct=197892&ec=1&ProdId=29&utm...rminator%20dvd
But you are forgetting the producer had all the production tracks (uncompressed) so a 5.1 remix should sound better. They weren't working from the release print, they had all the original production mix tracks. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088247/laserdisc

Yeah. It didn't occur to me 'til you pointed that out. Basically, you mean that it's not as if they miraculously cleaned up the mixed down Mono track, but rather they already had each of the isolated audio tracks ready to be used however they wanted, right? Though even still, there must've been some artifacts/generational loss (proper term?) on one or more of the tracks, 'cause the credits mention that there was audio restoration work... I don't know on what though.

[edDV]

See here http://www.hotmoviesale.com/store/productView.aspx?idProduct=197892&ec=1&ProdId=29&utm...rminator%20dvd
But you are forgetting the producer had all the production tracks (uncompressed) so a 5.1 remix should sound better. They weren't working from the release print, they had all the original production mix tracks. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088247/laserdisc

Yeah. It didn't occur to me 'til you pointed that out. Basically, you mean that it's not as if they miraculously cleaned up the mixed down Mono track, but rather they already had each of the isolated audio tracks ready to be used however they wanted, right? Though even still, there must've been some artifacts/generational loss (proper term?) on one or more of the tracks, 'cause the credits mention that there was audio restoration work... I don't know on what though.

Right.

Their first release was a mono mix ADA CX and ADD digitalCX.

Later they took the same raw elements and did a 5.1 mix to AC-3 for the DVD. The music elements would have already been stereo, the voices and sound effects would have been panned into the 2D sound space.

[takearushfan]

See here http://www.hotmoviesale.com/store/productView.aspx?idProduct=197892&ec=1&ProdId=29&utm...rminator%20dvd
But you are forgetting the producer had all the production tracks (uncompressed) so a 5.1 remix should sound better. They weren't working from the release print, they had all the original production mix tracks. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088247/laserdisc

Yeah. It didn't occur to me 'til you pointed that out. Basically, you mean that it's not as if they miraculously cleaned up the mixed down Mono track, but rather they already had each of the isolated audio tracks ready to be used however they wanted, right? Though even still, there must've been some artifacts/generational loss (proper term?) on one or more of the tracks, 'cause the credits mention that there was audio restoration work... I don't know on what though.

Right.

Their first release was a mono mix ADA CX and ADD digitalCX.

Later they took the same raw elements and did a 5.1 mix to AC-3 for the DVD. The music elements would have already been stereo, the voices and sound effects would have been panned into the 2D sound space.

I need to brush up on my terminalogy. I have no idea what ADA CX or ADD digitalCX mean.
I should've known about the raw elements, 'cause I watched an interview where one of the writers discussed how they originally intended for the film to be released in Stereo, but the budget was all of $1 too much
Just for the record, can someone give me the correct term to use, 'cause I need to describe it all the time, but don't know the proper wording. Are they "bed tracks", "sound stems", "thematic elements", "tracks", etc.?! I've heard all of these used very interchangeably, but what is the right term?

[edDV]

"CX" is a CBS Labs analog noise reduction scheme similar to Dolby B.

As best I can figure out "digital CX" means the analog audio was CX noise reduced before being placed on the digital track.

First A or D means source format was analog or digital.

Second A or D means means the track was mixed analog or digital.

Third A or D means disc mastering was analog or digital.

These were common terms for CD media before everything became DDD.

[takearushfan]

I figured it was along those lines, 'cause (off-topic) my favorite band is Rush, and their first 100% digital album was Counterparts and the CD itself even says "DDD".

[edDV]

Some film sound mixing info

http://filmsound.org/AudiopostFAQ/audiopostfaq.htm
http://filmsound.org/QA/
http://www.partnersinrhyme.com/contact/tutorials.php?nocat=1&cat=Using%20Royalty%20Fre...nd%20FX&sno=31

[takearushfan]

Wow! Thanks. That was a sh*tload of info. I appreciate it!