MovieChat Forums > Fantasia (1941) Discussion > Sound Mix on VHS vs. old DVD

Sound Mix on VHS vs. old DVD

posted 15 years ago by mpb922-1
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Am I the only one who thought the sound mix on the old VHS was superior to the DVD?

I'm not talking about the whole "dub Deems Taylor" bit or the "Pastoral" cuts. I'm talking about how DIsney handled the Fantasound on both the releases.

On the video from '91, the music is panned (sometimes it's not very well, in the case of the ending of "Toccata and Fugue" but sometimes it works, like during the solo of "Dance of the Reed-Flutes". Should probably mention I was listening on my surround setup.If you listen just in stereo, it's bad 'cause there are things that sound REALLY distant.

On the DVD, however, most of the sound was in the front speakers with the back ones just used for ambience.

[–] caracallac 15 years ago

On the DVD, however, most of the sound was in the front speakers with the back ones just used for ambience.
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That's sort of the point. The reason for the existence of multi-channel music (either Stereo or Surround) is to exploit the phase and time differential between microphones to recreate a representation of the original performance space. Not to put the listener in the middle of the performers.