Point of view in Season One DVD Box Set

Dear fans,

Last week I had the opportunity to check quality of B5 S1 DVD at a friend of mine. This friend has a home theater installed in his “multi-media” room, and according to his experience, and what I could observe, B5 S1 DVD has a lousy sound quality.

The image as we have discussed many times, and JMS himself, informed that we cannot demand too much regarding image quality, since it was the first season. Which it is reasonable.

However, concerning sound quality, I felt really disappointed. Why? According to the B5 S1 DVD box set, it says in the technical feature: ENGLISH Dolby Surround 5.1. Well, we could observe that, in first place, the amplifier receiver, which automaticly switches to Surround on when the DVD has this feature, in the B5 DVD just kept off this important feature. Also I could only hear three speakers working (Left, Right and Front). The two speakers in the back were completely in silence.

So after this experience I have the following question for anyone who can answer:

1st- Did you have same experience? Or worked a true Surround 5.1 ?
2nd – Also the sound level was too low, compared to others DVD.
3rd - Is WHV lying to us or is my friend’s home theater system connected wrong?
4th- In case it is not a real Surround 5.1, would you say this is the First Season edition problem or it will happen for the entire saga?

For your knowledge:

Hometheater system:
TV: Sony (Model Wega)
DVD: Pioneer
Amplifier Receiver: Harman Kardon (model AVR-7000)

Take care,

Cadu
Za_Ha_Dum

Its either your buddies hardware, or how its set up. It ain't the DVD. I'm not saying the sound quality in Season 1 B5 is spectacular like a Star Wars Episode II or anything, it was afterall a TV show and one in its infancy at that, but it is certainly remastered correctly in Dolby 5.1

1st- Did you have same experience? Or worked a true Surround 5.1 ?

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As stated above, no. I have a Sony DVD player and their top-of-the-line Receiver. It is also set to "detect" the stereo signal it is getting from the DVD player. It does see Dolby 5.1, and also all 5 speakers work with the DVD as well as the subwoofer. The riot scene in "By Any Means Necessary" sounded VERY cool.

I would recommend he go into his DVD player's setup menu and make sure he has ENABLED all of his speakers and allowed it to output to 5.1. Some DVD players need to do this.

2nd - Also the sound level was too low, compared to others DVD.

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Not that I noticed. This is probably due to the fact that the speakers arent set up correctly. Make sure he takes the time to set up BOTH your DVD player AND Receiver for Surround Sound. In both places the system usually needs to be told what basic types of speakers are attached (small meaning they cant reproduce bass on their own, or large which can reproduce bass) as well as how far they are from the LISTENER (i.e. from your sofa).

3rd - Is WHV lying to us or is my friend's home theater system connected wrong?

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Answered above.

4th- In case it is not a real Surround 5.1, would you say this is the First Season edition problem or it will happen for the entire saga?

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Well it is real surround. That being said, I would sort of expect both sound and video quality to get better as later seasons come out. This isnt due to the DVD technology rather B5 the TV show getting better at that stuff. There is even a commentary by JMS in the set saying they recorded the first voice-over with Sinclairs voice for the S1 intro ON SET not in a recording room, so it sounded muffled at first. As the show went on season by season, they made improvements and at least to me, by Season 5 the image quality as well as sound seemed a LOT better over that first season.

Now, I'm not one for technical detail, and I'll confess that most of the episodes I've watched I ran on my laptop, which is not the pinnacle of audio quality, but I did notice that the first disk seemed quieter than the rest. I don't think I made any adjustments in the speaker settings, just turned the volume up and down. The others seem to be fine.

This is loaded with qualifiers, of course, but that's my experience.

Remember, in order for surround sound to work you must have sound coming from behind. Season 1 in B5 rarely has things happening behind the camera. The only instance would probably be the riot scene in By Any Means Necessary (it really felt like i was in that room). I suggest you put that one on and see if you hear anything in the back speakers. I'm guessing that later seasons with the battles will use surround sound a little more. You are correct though a little more sound coming from the back speakers when cast members are in big rooms like the zocolo would have been nice. The only movie i have that i put on whenever I want to show off surround sound is Star Wars Ep I (the pod race scene).

There definitely is surround sound in this season. Yeah, maybe it's not excessive, but it's there. Heck, I was actually relatively impressed with how well some minute details came out in the sound. In one episode, the scene was in the command center, and in the rear speakers, I could actually hear background conversations going on, and it was completely possible to follow the conversation they were having.

When I want so show surround sound, I prefer The Matrix.. you know that moment when Neo is dodging bullets... It's so nice when sound goes round and round... Oh and back to topic. Your friend has something screwed up, my DVD's 5.1 surround is working without any problems or whatsoever and all sounds are coming from right spots.