And the muddy/boomy lowend I hear might just be a function of how I have my system set up. Although this isn’t something that has bothered me with anything else I’ve played through it recently. But I will admit I’m constantly making adjustments looking for that “perfect” sound. The search for the holy grail, yes? Lol
You hit the nail on the head when talking about the bass. Muddy and Boomy at least on my system as with yours. The thing that gets me the most, is many times I have read what others have been experiencing while listening to this same mix is that the bass is either thin or very weak, and very few (you and one or two others) mentioned that the bass was either muddy and/or boomy. So what gives? The only thing I can think of is it's very possible that audio systems were not as capable in the low end department during the time this disc was originally released. Of course systems even then could very easily play bass very low and very loud, however over this past eight years or so, subwoofers have increased in the size including the amount of wattage their built in amps are capable of, and the drivers have also increased in size. My two brand new (sealed) subs are 13" each and even today those fall somewhere in the mid bass driver size when compared to what people can easily buy today...woofers with 18" drivers are typical for those looking maximum bass output for the Low Frequency Effect channel in movies and of course those same woofers can be used for music...though may not be as detailed sounding as a smaller sub driver, but it sure will kick.
The other thing that might be more common today when compared to just about eight years ago or so, is there are more and more audiophiles and or enthusiasts today either doing their own calibrations with equipment that was simply way too expensive and/or not as readily available even when compared to just a few years ago. And, there are others like me who have a professional come over to have their audio/video system calibrated. So bass in the lower end being more equalized will (probably in most cases) be playing most if not all lower frequencies at (ideally) equal levels throughout the low end range. And of course from there, it's typical to boost the bass somewhat since flat sounds lifeless in most cases. There's personal preferences to consider too.
I have also read there are a few who thought the bass was pretty much the right amount. Boosted bass from the mix in other homes may be ideal if their systems are somewhat bass deficient, so that may sound ideal to them.
And then of course we have to realize how all this sounded with whatever equipment they were using in the mixing room during the making of this 5.1 mix. It probably sounded very good, with their equipment and the room they were in. Equipment is different, every room is different, and different placement of the same subs even in the same room will sound different. By the way, studio speaker monitors I've recently learned are to help point out what's wrong with the mix as apposed to listening for audiophile qualities. Of course I do not know if it's really practiced like that industry wide or not.
I've just read pretty much read all the way through this thread because now just after discovering QuadraphnicQuad, I have a good excuse to experience the surround sound mixes of some of these multi-channel discs I've bought well over 10 years ago. Many I've only listened to one time and maybe a couple others a couple of times. The other reason why I've been revisiting my multi-channel discs is because of a recent upgrade to my audio system and I want to hear the differences. And of course now that I know about QQ, it's fun to listen to a multi-channel disc and then come hear to compare with others what they thought of the same mix I just heard.
Originally I listened to my Blu-ray version of "Moving Pictures" only one time because at that time it just didn't sound good on my system. If I remember correctly, it sounded bass heavy and everything else sounded kind of weak. It was like something was missing or sounded off, so I simply listened to the high resolution stereo mix which by the way I think sounds great. Now with my audio upgrade; I've discovered the bass is way too overpowering and boomy sounding on the 5.1 version. Of course I can take the time to turn the bass down...and I will soon and take another listen to see if it helps to hear other details I may have recently missed. But I'm not one to be adjusting my system's audio levels and/or TV settings once something has been calibrated by a professional. If a recording sounds too thin or has way too much bass, well that was the way it was mixed, approved and released.
During the 70s and 80s, my equipment had tone controls to easily turn up or down bass and or treble for such occasions. Even some of the equipment I used to have had midrange controls. I've even had equipment with no tone controls, so however it sounded in my room was well...how it sounded. And even though the equipment I have today does not have tone controls, it does have a way to adjust equalization. Yea, I could go into the menu's setup and start playing with those adjustments, but again after a professional calibration; I'm just not going to go in and start messing with those as most everything I put through my system sounds great as I would expect.
I would simply say with my system in my room; the 5.1 mix of "Moving Pictures" is way too bass heavy.
