2014 Summer Movies (Guardians of the Galaxy, Dawn of the planet of Apes, etc)

If I was to rate the best summer movies of this year that I have seen thus far they will in this order:

1) Guardians of the Galaxy:

Masterfully done. Brilliant acting and scripting. It was gritty and does not take the audience to be stupid. Great CGI and great soundtrack. Watched it twice.  I watched in a Dolby Atmos Theater the first time. Liked the sound but the screen presentation left a lot to be desired. The second time was in IMAX 3D and I really loved the audio and video presentation in IMAX. 

2) Dawn of the planet of the Apes:

Great CGI and storyline. Not as good as the first one but still pretty good. Also watched if twice. Sound was much better the second time around in a real theater.  The CGI is remarkable. You start believing that the apes are real. 

3) Edge of Tomorrow: 

Loved Tom Cruise in this one. It was funny and had a great storyline. Sound was really good. Special effects were equally good. Had some really funny moments. A little like Groundhog Day. 

4) Godzilla:

I might have to watch it again to really appreciate this one.  Decent sound. CGI was good.  The story was true to the original.

5) The Amazing Spider-Man:

Better than the first one. Decent audio but amazing CGI. Too many bad guys.  Hated the ending. 

I missed Transformers but imagine it's much of the same. I also missed Captain America but my boys really enjoyed it.

Beverly Hills Cop - Netflix SuperHD with Dolby Digital Plus Review

Beverly Hills Cop - Netflix SuperHD with Dolby Digital Plus Review
By Doctorr

Video: 3 Mo's/5
Audio: 2 Mo's/5

Equipment Used: Elite Pro-70X5FD, Pioneer Elite VSX-53, Oppo BDP-105, MartinLogan Theos (Fronts), MartinLogan Stage (Center), MartinLogan Descent-i (Subwoofer), and MartinLogan Montage (Surrounds).

Video: In order to test the Netflix SuperHD streaming I wanted to pick an older movie that I have seen countless of times on Cable TV in High Definition. A movie that looks pretty bad on Hi-def cable is Beverly Hills Cop. Full of video noise, banding, and video grain. Beverly Hills Cop is a true classic and there is only one way to watch it. Uncensored!  Cable TV censored version really doesn't do justice to this timeless classic. I am happy to report that the Superhd video streaming surpassed all my expectations. Video grain was minimal with virtually no video banding compared to the cable TV broadcasts which are full of video banding and grain. The video was crisp at times but soft during some of the other scenes but the video artifacts normally found on cable TV broadcasts were non existent.

Audio: The Dolby Digital Plus - 5.1 track is also fun to listen to. The Axel F theme is definitely a classic theme. The audio obviously was front heavy but that was expected. In my opinion the Dolby Digital Plus track was clean and did not suffer from the compression that cable broadcasts suffer from. If you just want to watch a light funny movie Beverly Hills Cop is a good pick. They certainly don't make 'em like they used to.

Rant - Blu-ray rentals without uncompressed audio from Lionsgate and Universal

The bastardization of the Blu-ray format continues as studios like Universal and Lionsgate have started to omit one of the key features of the format from the rental versions.  I was extremely disappointed to find out that my rental version of Cabin in the Woods (Lionsgate) contained only the Dolby Digital 5.1 track as opposed to the DTS-HD Master Audio track which is only available on the for-sale version.   

I refuse to buy a Blu-ray disc without knowing if the audio/video is worth owning.

I don't mind watching Twilight-Breaking Dawn in Dolby Digital at all but come on.

In my humble opinion by employing this strategy the studios are hurting the only people that truly care about the format.  Your average Netflix-streaming-soundbar happy-I want a cheap blu-ray player person could care less.

Audio/video enthusiasts (like me) who pay roughly $300/year to Netflix for movie rentals love to see their receivers front display read "DTS HD MASTER AUDIO", but thanks to Lionsgate and Universal we now see TWO LETTERS (not F-You but close): Dolby Digital.

I feel sorry for all the people including me who ran out and purchased a bit-streaming blu-ray player and an HDMI bit-stream decoding Receiver just so that they can see the display read "DTS HD Master Audio". 

Remeber the excitement over Blu-ray?

Remember the format war with HD-DVD?

Remember when Blu-ray Players used to weigh 20 pounds.

I remember!

I remember reading about the potential of Blu-ray especially on the audio side.  Up to 24 MBPS for DTS HD Master Audio and up to 18 MBPS for Dolby TrueHD compared to 460 KBPS for Dolby Digital and 1.5 MBPS for DTS and saying "Holly Crap! I need a Blu-ray player".  Then it was, "I need a new receiver", and then "I need a new TV".  It didn't stop there because then I needed speakers that could handle the hi-res audio.  Then it was on to Separates!

All of that has now gone down the drain!!!!

Thanks to all the Netflix-streaming-soundbar happy-I want a cheap blu-ray player people out there.

Thanks to Lionsgate and Universal for ruining a perfectly good A/V medium

Thank you Netflix or Quickflix, whatever it's called now, for following along

Thanks to Sony for killing HD-DVD and for teasing us with what could have been.

Sucker Punch—Blu-ray Review

Sucker Punch—Blu-ray Review

By Doctorr

Video: 4.5 Mo's/5
Audio: 5 Mo's/5

Mo's Take: "It's you.  You have all the weapons you need.  And now...Fight!".  Sucker Punch is a story of Babydoll (Emily Browning), Rocket (Jena Malone), Blondie (Vanessa Hudgens), Amber (Jamie Chung) and Sweet Pea (Abbie Cornish) who try to escape from a mental asylum run by Blue (Oscar Isaac), Madam Gorki (Carla Gugino) and the High Roller (Jon Hamm).  Scott Glenn is their guide through the Dream world.  In order to set themselves free they need 5 items, a Map, a lighter, a knife, a Master Key, and an unknown item.  Babydoll's imagination takes the girls on a journey through time where they fight to survive and ultimately escape from the sad realities of the asylum.  Director Zach Snyder does what he does best, uses his vision and superb imagery to create distant worlds and battlegrounds where the girls fight to aquire the 4 items and their freedom. 

Equipment Used:
Sony KDL-55HX800, Pioneer Elite SC-35, Pioneer Elite BDP-23FD, MartinLogan Vantage (Fronts), MartinLogan Motif (Center), MartinLogan Depth-i (Subwoofer), and MartinLogan Montage (Surrounds).

Video:
The script itself is nothing special but the imagery is eye catching and the audio puts you right in the middle of all the action and provides a great movie theater ambiance in your home.  The film flip flops between reality of the Asylum and imagination.  I liked how the color palette switched every time Babydoll and the gang went into the Dream world.  The image has great dimensionality and detail.  The action is highly stylized and despite the presence of some film grain the image is spectacular, or should I say "eye candy".   

Audio:
The DTS-HD Master Audio was decoded via Pioneer Elite SC-35.  The audio bit-rate maxed out at 3.31 Mbps.  My favorite scene on this movie is chapter 4.  The entire battle sequence is choreographed to Bjork's "Army of me".  That was the perfect song for this particular scene in my humble opinion.  Through the Pioneer Elite SC-35 the sound stage was wide and deep.  The surrounds were highly active with an impressive low-end that kept my room shaking.  Low bass extension is system threatening and dynamic range is outstanding.  Dialogue was clean and never became an issue even during intense battle sequences. 

I also watched the movie with the PQLS  engaged on Pioneer SC-35.  In order for PQLS to work I needed to change the audio output on the Pioneer Elite BDP-23FD to PCM (Internally Decode).  The sound with PQLS engaged was more open and the bass was less boomy.  The quieter moments during the movie had less perceived background noise.  I definitely prefer the PQLS for music but I am not sure if I prefer it for movies yet. 

Conclusion:
I must admit that the main reason why I enjoyed this movie was because of the soundtrack and the stylized action.  The video is absolute eye candy.  I highly recommend that you first rent this movie because it is not for everyone.  I on the other hand will be purchasing this movie because it is definitely a demo worthy movie.  Oh, and one last thing..."If you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything"....Scott Glenn/Sucker Punch.

Denon DBP-2012UDCI 3D Universal Blu-ray Player Review

 

 

 

 

 

Denon 3D Universal Blu-ray Player DBP-2012UDCI —Review

By Doctorr

Video: 4 Mo's/5
Audio: 4.5 Mo's/5
Media Server: 2.5 Mo's/5
Netflix Streaming: 2.5 Mo's/5

Overall: 3.5 Mo's/5

Retail Cost: $899

PROS:
-Played all my 3D Blu-ray's, SACDs, DVD-Audio discs.
-BURR-BROWN PCM-1795 192kHz/32-bit audio digital-to-analog converters are as advertised.
-Anchor Bay Technologies VRS ultra performance ABT-2015 processor does a great job with standard DVD de-interlacing.
-Blu-ray video is spectacular.

CONS:
-no built-in Wi-Fi
-Anchor Bay's solution is not as good as Marvell's video processor with Qdeo™ technology
-The player takes a long time to boot up. 
-Slow and Sluggish operation on 3D blu-rays
-On Blu-ray's the player would freeze up during layer changes.
-Audio streaming through the media player is sluggish with occasional freeze ups.

Equipment Used:
Sony KDL-55HX800, Pioneer Elite VSX-33, Emotiva XPA-3, MartinLogan Vantage (Fronts), MartinLogan Motif (Center), MartinLogan Montage (Surrounds), and MartinLogan Depth-i (Subwoofer).

Cables used:
Audioquest Vodka.

Unpacking:
The player comes with a rack mounting kit, remote, power cord, and manual.

I connected the player using my newly purchased Audioquest Vodka cable to the Pioneer Elite VSX-33.  Plugged in the power cable and hit the Power button on the remote.......and nothing happened.  I then tried to turn the player on using the power button on the player itself and........still nothing. 

So, I just sat there thinking that the unit is DOA, but after about 20 seconds or so (I have not timed it yet) the player turned on.  Prior to that there was nothing going on.  Very strange!!!!

Setup:
With the player turned on (sigh of relief) I proceeded to setup the video and audio features.  Video setup was pretty basic and standard.  On the audio side, I set player to output audio as bitstream and SACDs to DSD. 

You can select SACD layers (Multi, 2-channel, and CD) on the fly. 

You can also fine tune DNR, Mosquito Noise, Block Noise, etc. on the fly.  I actually did set that to the middle for standard DVDs. 

After that I proceeded to add the player to my network for DLNA purposes.  Setup the Netflix. 

Setup was a breeze and there were no surprises.

Last step in the setup process was to update the Firmware which also went smoothly.

Video Performance:
I ran the player through my standard Blu-ray, 3D Blu-ray, and DVD tests using my some of my reference discs. 

Blu-ray:
The video performance on 3D and 2D blu-rays is indeed reference quality.  The image is sharp without being edgy.  The player does produce and preserve below black and above white information in the video signal.  I verified that using the HD Basics test disc by Digital Video Essentials. The player passed all my shadow detail tests from Dark Knight, Avatar, and Star Trek.  The depth and detail in the image on Rango was spectacular starting.  Especially, Scene 5, when Rango enters the Salon.  The detail in the faces/furs/beards of the various characters is just amazing.

The player did freeze up during layer changes on Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows: Part 1, Dark Knight, a couple of others that I don't remember.

DVD:
De-interlacing on standard DVDs was pretty good.  The image was clean without any artifacts.  All of my DVDs looked very good upscaled to 1080p.

Audio Performance:
I love the A/V presentation of Battle Los Angeles.  The surround mix is very aggressive. The first scene is a classic demo scene. Short and sweet. Scene 5 and 10 (highway scene) are as good as any other A/V demo scenes I have seen.  I found the audio on this Blu-ray to be a little compressed possibly because the bit rate maxes out at 3.3 MBPS. Just to give you an idea Apollo 13 Special Edition, on DVD, has a DTS audio track that is 1.5 MBPS, highest possible for DVD. So this one is only twice the bit rate of DVD. Movies like Hurt Locker (maxed out at 6 MBPS), Law Abiding Citizen had audio bit rates in excess of 8 MBPS, Pirates was at 6.9 MBPS, and Tron was at 7.7 MBPS. All of these movies sounded very open and natural through the Denon.

I also tried the internal decoding capabilities of the Denon and other than the difference in volume level I heard no audible differences in the sound mix when it was decoded Internally vs. Bitstreamed to the Pioneer Elite VSX-33.

Netflix:
This is where I started to have issues with the Denon.  Netflix video streaming was the same as my reference PS3 or the Panasonic BDT210 that I had in my system for the brief period of time.  The Denon does not support 5.1 multichannel audio for movies that have that option on Netflix instant play.  The PS3 can.  I digress....The player would freeze up when I wanted to end my Netflix session occasionaly.  It is also very slow as far as the Netflix navigation is concerned.  In comparison both the PS3 and Panasonic BDT210 are speed kings.

Media Streaming using DLNA:
This is also where I found the player to have issues.  First off, the Denon cannot play Flac or AIFF.   It will only play WAV and iTunes.  I had to convert all my Flac files to Wave.  The other issue I experienced was that after playing 24/192 files through the Denon using the DLNA feature the player would freeze up and I would have to power down and power up again. 

Having said that, music, at all resolutions (44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, and 192 khz) sounded really good but not as good in comparison to ASUS Xonar STX audio card on my media server.

SACD and DVD-Audio:
This is where I really enjoyed the Denon.  SACD's and DVD-Audio's sound really good.  The same tracks played via digital downloads at the same resolution through the media server or using the Denon's media player don't sound as rich and open.  Go figure!  

Conclusion:
This is a tough player to rate.  Audio and video through the Denon are top notch and I would rate it fairly high in that regard.  But a player that is designed as HIGH END and carries a HIGH END price tag should not have this many functionality issues.  I can deal with slow players.  I don't put a lot of credence in how fast a player goes from Disc-In to the main menu and all that garbage.  But, Freeze ups requiring you to power down are silly and annoying. I don't expect that from a high end disc player. 

Faster—Blu-ray Review

By Doctorr

Video: 4.5 Mo's/5
Audio: 4.5 Mo's/5

Mo's Take: I am pretty sure Director, George Tillman Jr. was trying to do "The Good The Bad and The Ugly" thing here.  Dwayne Johnson, Driver (The Good), is released from prison after 10 years and right from the beginning you can see he wants to Avenge his brother's death........Faster.  Billy Bob Thornton (The Ugly), is a "bad" cop who is investigating the death toll left behind by Driver.  Killer (The Bad) is a bounty hunter who has a contract on Driver.  His phone ring even has the "The Good The Bad and The Ugly" ring tone.  

Equipment Used:
Sony KDL-55HX800, Denon DBP-2012UDCI, Pioneer Elite VSX-33, MartinLogan Vantage (Fronts), MartinLogan Motif (Center), MartinLogan Montage (Surrounds), and MartinLogan Depth-i (Subwoofer).

Video:
If you like action movies and like me are sick of the look that most action movies these days suffer from then FASTER is the perfect cure.  I am talking about that Tony Scott, Ala Unstoppable, Domino, Man on Fire, type of movie look with an almost unnatural high contrast and sharp/edgy picture quality with lots of film grain.  That style of film making was good on movies like True Romance, but now almost all action movies these days seem to have that same visual style. 

Faster is dark with lots of fine detail throughout the movie.  Colors have a natural tone.  I thoroughly enjoyed the darker look and feel of the movie aided by superb black levels and shadow detail.  I would compare the look and feel of "Faster" to "Taken".

Audio:
This was the first movie I watched on my new Denon DBP-2012UDCI and it was a blast.  The DTS-HD Master Audio mix is very aggressive with lots of surround imaging and deep bass.  The sound stage is wide and very engaging.  The gunshots, especially, from Dwayne Johnson's gun (not sure what it is) are loud and bass heavy.  The overall sound design is very natural without being over the top.  In my opinion it had enough dynamics to make the movie enjoyable and did little to distract from the film. 

Conclusion:
I really enjoyed this film on blu-ray.  I was not expecting much from this movie, but was pleasantly surprised.  Dwayne Johnson was perfect in this role because he did not have to talk much, just shoot people up..........Faster

Oppo BDP-93, Denon DBP-2012UDCI, Samsung BD-D6700, or Oppo BDP-95

Which one should I buy?  Over the last 3 weeks I have been struggling with which one of these fine blu-ray players I should buy next?

My music/movies split is pretty much 50/50.  My number one and two choices are Denon DBP-2012UDCI and Oppo BDP-93 respectively because both are Universal Players and will play all formats including SACD, DVD-Audio, and HDCD.

Here are the Pros and Cons of these players and you can help me decide which one I should go with by taking the survey above.  I don't care about streaming capabilities so those are not listed.

#1 Denon DBP-2012UDCI ($899):
Stay Tuned for my upcoming review
My first universal player was a Denon DVD player DVD-2910 which I purchased back in 2003 for $600 from Crutchfield.  I loved that player because of its excellent Audio and Video capabilities.  No player has remained in my system longer than the 2910.  I sold it (big mistake) in 2007 to pay for the PS3 (fatty) which is about to beat the 2910 in terms tenure in my system this October.  I have also owned a host of other blu-ray players (between $400 and $1000) since the format was first introduced back in 2007 including the top of the line Pioneer Elites, Sony, Samungs, and Panasonics.

PROS:
-3D, Universal Player (SACD, DVD-Audio, and HDCD)
-BURR-BROWN PCM-1795 192kHz/32-bit audio digital-to-analog converters.  Same DACs as the Onkyo TX-NR5007 which I have first hand experience with and loved.
-Independent Block Construction isolates electronic circuits for faithful playback of audio and video tracks
-Direct Mechanical Ground Construction suppresses vibration and ensures high-quality sound and video
-Standard definition content from DVDs is deinterlaced and scaled up to HD via Anchor Bay Technologies VRS ultra performance ABT-2015 processor

CONS:
-no built-in Wi-Fi
-The front plate is plastic
-Anchor Bay is good but I prefer Marvell's video processor with Qdeo™ technology
-Previous Generation Denon's have been a little sluggish and slow with firmware issues

#2 Oppo BDP-93 ($499):
Oppo has made quite a name for themselves since they first burst on the scene with their upconvert DVD players in the mid 2000's.  I personally have not tried an Oppo yet and have always been curious.  I chose the Pioneer Elite BDP-23FD over the Oppo BDP-83 last year after reading Tom Norton's Blu-ray shootout on UltimateAVmag.com, in which he compared the video on the 23FD to Marantz 7004 and the Oppo 83.

PROS:
-Fast Load times
-Solid Build
-3D, Universal Player (SACD, DVD-Audio, and HDCD)
-Plays FLAC, WAV, and other media through USB and eSATA.
-Dual HDMI, but only HDMI-1 uses Marvell processing while HDMI-2 uses the Mediatek decoder.  
-Wi-Fi (with provided USB adaptor)
-Qdeo by Marvell
-Best Customer Service in the World

CONS:
-Cirrus Logic DACs.  Not a fan
-I think I have seen multiple firmware versions since the release.  Makes me wonder a bit

#3 Samsung BD-D6700 ($399):
This one is interesting.  I just read a review of this player in the July 2011 issue of the Hometheater magazine by Kris Deering.   He said and I quote "the BD-D6700 provided all the picture and audio quality I get from even Oppo BDP-95.  Images were razor sharp, with jaw-dropping levels of detail and dimensionality.  The audio experience was second to none."  This is what has made me add the BD-D6700 to this list.  Pretty impressive! 

PROS:
-Superfast load times
-Gorgeous Looks
-3D
-Dual HDMI,
-built-in Wi-Fi
-2D to 3D upconversion

Cons:
-Samsung? I do not like Samsung Blu-ray players
-If you are looking for solid construction, look elsewhere.
-no name DACs and Video Processor
-not a Universal player
-no Analog outputs
-subpar DVD-upconversion
-Did I mention it is a Samsung

#4 Oppo BDP-95 ($999):
Review and First Impressions coming soon as I just purchased the BDP-95.  Stay tuned!
Pretty much the same as the BDP-93 but with upgraded Audio Section for 2-channel and Multi-Channel analog audio.  The upgraded audio is available in the form of ES9018 SABRE 32-bit Reference DACs.  That is true high-end Turf. 

PROS:
-SABRE³² Reference Audio DAC delivers an impressive DNR (Dynamic Range) of up to 135dB and THD+N of -120dB. 
-Toroidal Power Supply for Analog
-XLR Balanced Stereo Output
-Competes with players that cost 4 times or sometimes 10 times as much, e.g. (AYRE DX_5 $9,950)

CONS:
-Hometheater magazine mentioned BDP-95 and Samsung BD-D6700 in the same sentence and stated that the digital Audio and Video performance of the Samsung was just as good as the Oppo BDP-95.  Things that make you go hmmm!