Turtlerock Forum

Hey Guys,

Just wondering what you think is the best sounding cinema around?

I know that we're all much too cultured around here to go and watch dumb hollywood action flicks...

...but if you were going to see one ;-) where would you go?

Simon "Smash" Ashby

I usually complain about how shit they all are everytime
But I went to top ryde city cinema on sat night and saw gatsby in 3 d
Cinema 3 .. Nothing to complain about at all .. It was beatiful .
.. Take somebody

I know it can be a really immersive experience at a really good cinema, but I've got to say I just hate the fact they let people eat in there, the sound of people chewing gum, eating popcorn and choc tops chewing with their mouth open right behind you, chip packets rustling, mobile phones etc. I just can't concentrate with all that other crap that goes on in there. If I do go nowadays, I wait until the movie is near the end of its season run, and I choose a time mid-school week when there will be as few other people there as possible. Who was it who said "hell is other people"? Never truer than with cinemas in mind imho.

Thanks Rick,

I haven't been to Top Ryde yet, but I've heard good things about it too.

Apparently, they also have one of the best pictures around also.

Thanks,

Smash.

Simon "Smash" Ashby

If you're in Melbourne the cinemas at Victoria Park are excellent for sound if you get a seat near the centre of course. First time I really experience excellent, unhyped bass in a cinema, so often the bass is lumpy, fx, effect bass not smooth and accurate.

+1 on wanting a personal cinema experience rather than hanging out with dozens of the great unwashed...

Although I haven't been there is some years,the Randwick Ritz used to be and may still be the best. The owner was fanatical about the sound and picture and was the first cinema in Australia to go Dolby Digital in 1992, way before any of the big boys did(so I'm told). I did a Dolby Cinema course with Dolby and GUVT in 1993 and remember the guy from Dolby talking about it.Anyone been to the Ritz of late who would care to comment ?

We went to see The Hangover 3 at Event Cinemas on George St in Sydney on Friday and it was horrible!
We sat in the middle, at the back row of cinema 9. It was uncomfortably loud and there was a noticable delay between the front speakers and the back speakers, which was distracting me. I don't think anyone does QC on any of the adds because they changed between average to LOUD for half an hour. I also don't think anyone listens to the sound in the cinema also before they put the movie on because it was out of control. Rant over for now. The movie was funny tho.

mylesgm wrote:Victoria Park

Where's that? Or do you mean Victoria Gardens in Richmond?

I saw the second Charlies Angels film there. Sat in the luxury seats at the back. Most ridiculously loud film I've ever seen (even from back there). I had to scrape my brains off the back wall before I left.

Best investment I've made, video-wise, of late is a Hitachi CPX 2010 projector. I'm happy to wait for movies to come out on BluRay, and I cannot stand wearing glasses to watch 3D. Now I can sit and watch big screen movies in my own armchair, with the sound at a level I want, with no annoying patrons, at a time that suits me, and if I need a comfort stop I own the pause button. When the movie is crap I can put something else into the PSIII.

Victoria Gardens is correct. That's a pretty funny description of volume, nearly spat out my drink... not my sort of movie and never been in the luxury seats but I can see how the techs could be tempted to see how loud they could push it.

The State Theatre - old time sound - and if you get bored with the show you can check out the architecture

Alastair Reynolds wrote:Although I haven't been there is some years,the Randwick Ritz used to be and may still be the best. The owner was fanatical about the sound and picture and was the first cinema in Australia to go Dolby Digital in 1992, way before any of the big boys did(so I'm told). I did a Dolby Cinema course with Dolby and GUVT in 1993 and remember the guy from Dolby talking about it.Anyone been to the Ritz of late who would care to comment ?

The Randwick Ritz is my local, so I go there fairly often. The sound is pretty good as cinemas go. I saw Gatsby there in the big art deco cinema and enjoyed it. It also would have to be the cheapest in Sydney.

mylesgm wrote:That's a pretty funny description of volume, nearly spat out my drink...

Your head-turning reflexes are pretty good, since your keyboard is evidently still working!

mylesgm wrote:I can see how the techs could be tempted to see how loud they could push it.

Well, I haven't dared see it again... even on the small screen. I had the distinct impression that it was mixed that way. I can't see the automated drones at Village or Hoyts cranking it for a single release.

(Sorry to all the projectionists out there, but it's one barely-qualified one per multiplex these days, isn't it?)

The only other time I've had to remove grey matter from the venue was seeing Pop Will Eat Itself at the Old Greek... but that rocked!

Not much skill needed in the big cinemas anymore.just load the selected movie and press play.
Digital projectors are driven off 2RU boxes that are a Satellite receiver with a hard drive and fancy video card and audio decoder. Movies are distributed as an IP data stream as an off line feed . The boxes have a terrestrial IP connection for feedback to the distribution controller to request lost or missing packets, but the main way of getting the data is via "the Bird". The box is basically a industrial PC running Linux OS.
They can also run live vision , but that requires higher satellite bandwidth, e.g. live music shows/ Sport etc shown in cinemas
It's very cost effective.
We use a similar box (1RU) with a 4 channel audio card . These are made by IDC (international Data Casting) in Canada. We uplink on Optus D2 satellite and it's still more cost effective and more reliable than using terrestrial IP/Broadband links and is not subject to "backhoe fade"

http://www.omnicast.com.au/idc-cinema.html

here is a starter for anyone interested

Alastair Reynolds wrote:Not much skill needed in the big cinemas anymore.just load the selected movie and press play.

OK, I wasn't aware of the degree of automation, but I was kind of getting at that. So given that automation, my point is valid, I think. No one's tweaking the sound for a single film any more so it must be all in the mix.

Mind you, those Charlies Angels films were a few years ago.