OUR SECRET SAUCE
Manufacturers sometimes claim that a special connection with certain movies or music proves that their brand provides the only true entertainment experience. Fortunately, this isn’t necessarily so, and some of the latest technology trends have been develo
Manufacturers sometimes claim a special connection with certain movies or music... but good material should work anywhere.
Inoted with interest that Sony’s latest Master Series TV advertising campaign was heavily pushing the link between program creators, notably Netflix, and the Sony Master Series displays that feature a “Netflix Calibrated Mode”. The advertising proclaims that this special feature allows owners to watch Netflix streamed content “in the way it was originally created and intended to be seen.” The inference, of course, is that with other brands — or lesser models — you won’t be able to have the same experience that the director was striving to bring to the screen.
This isn’t a new advertising pitch. When JBL introduced the L-100, the best-selling speaker of the era back in the 1970s and now out in a rejuvenated modern version, JBL made much of the fact in its publicity material (such as the ad shown below) that its speakers were to be found in more recording studios than any other brand. If you wanted to get the authentic sound as the artist and the audio engineer intended, you should surely be listening through the same brand of speakers.
This wasn’t entirely spin. JBL were (and are still) well known for consistent voicing across their entire range of studio monitors. Around that time they were leading proponents for the “West Coast” sound — created by ported designs and preferred by many for its punch, especially on rock and pop music. This was definitively different from so-called East Coast speakers which were considered to be more refined and balanced and were generally based on acoustic suspension (infinite baffle) designs.
Sony makes many of the same points in the current campaign, pointing out that not only are Sony video monitors an industry standard, but Sony video cameras are also used to shoot many of the top TV series. That is also true, and the latest Master Series models demonstrate that Sony’s consumer division is back to its best across a range of display technologies.
Kept in the dark
However, I don’t think it is helpful to the consumer to push the line that only by buying a particular brand or model of TV or loudspeaker can you recreate the experience of sight and sound the way it was meant to be.
Firstly, there is a lot to be considered in the viewing conditions and the acoustics of your listening situation. For a start, not everyone can (or wants to) view entertainment in low-light theatrestyle conditions. The same goes for listening. We should be able to enjoy the music (or soundtrack or whatever) in a variety of situations — not just sitting in the sweet spot of an acoustically tailored
listening room. But more than that, well-made video — and well-mixed sound — will stand out in any viewing or listening situation. If a Netflix stream fails to be engrossing whether viewed on a tablet on the bus or on a 75-inch OLED in a darkened media room, there is something lacking in its production values.
Twenty years ago, I was involved in a truly disastrous TV project that failed because the producers were carried away by claims of amazing new technology that pushed out the boundaries of what was possible in video.
This was a film noir thriller and they used a newly developed video camera with (for the time) extended dynamic range that was claimed to produce “highly detailed, silky smooth blacks with incredible shadow detail”. During the week-long shoot, the producers would view the rushes huddled around a special monitor draped by a black velvet shroud to keep out the light, marvelling at the dramatic effect of action scenes shot by little more than moonlight.
Alas, when post-production came around, the editors were unable to make sense of the murky mess when it was viewed on standard monitors — even in near total darkness. Instead of recreating Bogart and Bacall, the visuals viewed on ordinary TV monitors were more akin to black cats in the proverbial coal-hole. The footage that needed special settings and a special monitor on-set was never to see the light of day.
Master audio
The same is true of audio. You will never have a hit with music that needs a particular brand or style of loudspeaker to be enjoyed as the artist intended. Very early in my career, I was taught a valuable lesson by the late Noel Cantrill, a world-class sound mixer who was at that time head of TV Sound at the ABC in Sydney.
I was working as his assistant on the ‘Farnham and Byrne’ TV series when he invited me to try my hand at mixing down one of the showstopping numbers directly from the original instrumental and vocal tracks that he had recorded on a 24-track recorder. Sitting in front of the massive JBL 4350 speakers, I put together a track that sounded just terrific in the control room.
“Make a copy on cassette and listen in a few different places,” Noel advised sagely.
When I did, I found that listening in the car, and on hi-fi speakers at home, my fantastic mix sounded dreadful! It was different in each situation, sometimes strident with the vocal dominating, while on different equipment the bass and drums swamped everything.
I soon discovered that the problem was my less-than-expert mixing skills — and not the different listening equipment. By contrast, Noel’s deft touch in front of those same marvellous JBLs produced a mix that sounded magnificent and was beautifully balanced in the car, on hi-fi speakers and, needless to say, even on a four-inch TV speaker when the show went to air. Of course great speakers always sound better and more detailed, but you don’t need a particular brand to appreciate good music when it is properly produced.
Intelligent adaptation
Today, we really are able to push the boundaries in a way that was impossible 20 or 30 years ago. High Dynamic Range (HDR) would have saved my film noir drama by being able to accommodate the shadow detail in its broad dynamic range. More than that, we would have been able to create a version using digital post production techniques that would have played back on a standard television by tone-mapping the shadow detail to put it back within the gamut of a standard dynamic range device.
One of the great strides in digital technology over the last decade has been the ability to create program material that can be adapted (or can intelligently adapt itself) to accommodate the playback equipment. Dolby Atmos is a case in point. Sound effects that seem to come from above, behind, or moving around the viewer are encoded as ‘objects’ with metadata attached that defines where the sound should appear to be located in 3D space. A helicopter sound effect, for example, may be encoded to appear from directly behind, fly directly overhead, then exit to the left of screen.
In a fully Atmos-equipped cinema, the Dolby Atmos processor will take that helicopter effect and route it in succession to one or more of the 34 speakers that are positioned around the walls and on the ceiling. This will allow the system to recreate the sound from precisely the right directions behind, then above, then to the left of the audience.
But because the directional properties are encoded as instructions, it will also work without needing the full 34-speaker cinema rig. In the home, the Dolby processor will first determine how many speakers are available. These might range from a single Dolby Atmos soundbar with upward-firing speakers to a 5.1.2 system or a 7.1.4 or even more. The Atmos decoder then uses whatever resources it has to hand to steer the sound where it was intended. A 7.1.2 speaker set-up will probably sound more detailed, precise and convincing but even an Atmos soundbar will attempt to create the desired effect of a helicopter actually flying above the listener.
The real Masters
Great equipment, like Sony’s Master series televisions or JBL speakers will always heighten the entertainment experience. But the real masters are the great artists, great movie or music producers and technicians, who will be always able to create experiences that can be enjoyed regardless of the brands we choose. Derek Powell