Project Hail Mary

[Edgar]

Very sad to hear. But hopefully the story and such makes up for it. One of my favorite books of all time so expectations are high!

Same here. The movie itself is still fantastic. I love the book too. I have a first edition in my library. It was my top recommendation when it came out.

 

[WatchDoc]

PHM had reasonably lackluster audio in the theatres as well. Was hoping the home mix might be a bit better but seems not.

 

[Nonametofame]

Haha! I guess I had high expectations, I do consider this benchmark sci-fi like Interstellar and Dune. Shouldn’t spaceships and heavy gravity effects involve bass though?

And while Gadot is a striking lady, I’m not sure I would enjoy dating her. Amy Adams on the other hand…

All beauty is subjective, but this audio track, unfortunately, appears to be objectively a dud.
I'm going to lower my expectations accordingly, and wait for a sale now.
Now I'm curious if the Apple TV audio track is equal to this one. No amount of bitrate or dialnorm will seem to save the audio performance.

 

[rafaelsmith]

Honestly, I was not really expecting a demo worthy sound track. Having read the book many many times...I just figured any good movie adaptation would be kinda subdued in terms of "sound".

 

[Rmarci]

I'm no audio expert, and my system is only 7.2.4, but I thought it sounded pretty good. The Atmos plot(from itunes) doesn't look very dynamic, but it does show activity in all 16 channels. The video quality was very good, and the HDR had enough impact to look impressive without feeling overdone.

 

[Edgar]

I'll be watching the whole film today. I do realize this is a more thoughtful sci-fi movie, but there was one big scene with a lot of shaking and sounds around you that was oddly muted other than the LCR. I'll re-check it. Thanks @Rmarci for coming to the party with the data, as usual!

Speaking of coming with data, I now have a grand unifying theory based on these TWO data points of PHM and F1! Both are funded to be content for streaming platforms, AppleTV+ and Amazon Video. Lossless audio is a big waste of data streaming cost to 98% of their customers. So, they'll optimize for PQ which they upcharge for, and the feels, which they hook mass audiences with, and deliberately write off the 2%ers who just don't monetize – from the very get-go.

 

[rafaelsmith]

I'll be watching the whole film today. I do realize this is a more thoughtful sci-fi movie, but there was one big scene with a lot of shaking and sounds around you that was oddly muted other than the LCR. I'll re-check it. Thanks @Rmarci for coming to the party with the data, as usual!

Speaking of coming with data, I now have a grand unifying theory based on these TWO data points of PHM and F1! Both are funded to be content for streaming platforms, AppleTV+ and Amazon Video. Lossless audio is a big waste of data streaming cost to 98% of their customers. So, they'll optimize for PQ which they upcharge for, and the feels, which they hook mass audiences with, and deliberately write off the 2%ers who just don't monetize – from the very get-go.

I do not think its just movies funded by content streamers....it seems to me as of late most movies have a less than impressive sound mixes. Movies like Superman 2025, Fantastic Four,etc....I expected much more in terms of audio. I think in general the industry is spending less and less resources on the audio side of things. Kinda hard to blame them when the majority of their customers are using earbuds.

Also, the turn around from theater to digital is getting shorter and shorter so less time spent on sound mixing for home.

That said, all in all there are extremely very little titles that actually use ATMOS correctly.

 

[Broncowrangler]

Here is a review by Shane Lee; his observations on the audio component is congruent with my own initial impressions and @Edgar

 

[todo]

I'm no audio expert, and my system is only 7.2.4, but I thought it sounded pretty good. The Atmos plot(from itunes) doesn't look very dynamic, but it does show activity in all 16 channels. The video quality was very good, and the HDR had enough impact to look impressive without feeling overdone.

Not sure where Shane is coming from but my 13.8 (14 woofers).13 speaker ATMOS room had awesome audio, just the right amount of everything as the movie needed.
In fact I have a high LFE house curve when I turned it on the Bass was too boomy so I went back to the Reference house curve and it was perfect - I did boost the volume by 2 db to get it to sound visceral.
Sometimes I am surprised that reviewers get the audio totally different than what I hear, probably because of thier room or thier gear or thier calibration.
Hail Mary Audio is perfect for the movie and has great atmospherics and when needed the LFE including some infrasonic LFE spots also.

 

[Nonametofame]

Not sure where Shane is coming from but my 13.8 (14 woofers).13 speaker ATMOS room had awesome audio, just the right amount of everything as the movie needed.
In fact I have a high LFE house curve when I turned it on the Bass was too boomy so I went back to the Reference house curve and it was perfect - I did boost the volume by 2 db to get it to sound visceral.
Sometimes I am surprised that reviewers get the audio totally different than what I hear, probably because of thier room or thier gear or thier calibration.
Hail Mary Audio is perfect for the movie and has great atmospherics and when needed the LFE including some infrasonic LFE spots also.

Do you mind sharing your gear list? I need to do this here too, but many members will list their gear in their signature.

 

[Furnace Inferno]

Not sure where Shane is coming from but my 13.8 (14 woofers).13 speaker ATMOS room had awesome audio, just the right amount of everything as the movie needed.
In fact I have a high LFE house curve when I turned it on the Bass was too boomy so I went back to the Reference house curve and it was perfect - I did boost the volume by 2 db to get it to sound visceral.
Sometimes I am surprised that reviewers get the audio totally different than what I hear, probably because of thier room or thier gear or thier calibration.
Hail Mary Audio is perfect for the movie and has great atmospherics and when needed the LFE including some infrasonic LFE spots also.

He only watches iTunes streamed stuff now because they give him free movies and KScape wouldn’t. Definition of work ruining a hobby, all that expensive gear wasted.

 

[todo]

Glitter Cinema Now 13.8.13 ATMOS with Infrasonics

UPDATED Post 126 - May 21st 2025 https://www.avsforum.com/threads/glitter-cinema-now-13-8-13-atmos-with-infrasonics.2316025/page-7#replies My one year journey to pack 30 channels of speakers 12000 watts of power ATMOS came through in December 2015. Many thanks to Dennis Erskine my designer...

www.avsforum.com

If you scroll down the page you will see the latest Subwoofer Upgrade
Audio processor is Trinnov Alt32 and DSP is QSC Core 510i and QSC Frame.
@Nonametofame

 

[Nonametofame]

He only watches iTunes streamed stuff now because they give him free movies and KScape wouldn’t. Definition of work ruining a hobby, all that expensive gear wasted.

I'm thinking it's less about frugality and more optimal marketing. His initial ITunes review will better connect and be more suitable to about 95% of his audience vs the Kscape file. Once the disc comes out, he can put out another review. Again, better aligned with the accessibility of the release to his audience.

 

[Nonametofame]

Glitter Cinema Now 13.8.13 ATMOS with Infrasonics

UPDATED Post 126 - May 21st 2025 https://www.avsforum.com/threads/glitter-cinema-now-13-8-13-atmos-with-infrasonics.2316025/page-7#replies My one year journey to pack 30 channels of speakers 12000 watts of power ATMOS came through in December 2015. Many thanks to Dennis Erskine my designer...

www.avsforum.com

If you scroll down the page you will see the upgrade with the latest Subwoofer Upgrade
Audio processor is Trinnov Alt32 and DSP is QSC Core 510i and QSC Frame.

Thank you for sharing. It seems your system, along with Shane's, would be in the upper stratosphere of the hobby. I'd imagine a top tier system would be quite transparent to replicating the source quite well.
I experienced this movie in two flagship Imax 70MM venues (I live in Socal, so we have about 3 of them), and I had no issues with the audio. It wasn't top tier mixing, but should not sound gimped or unsatisfactory in any way, for the home release.

I don't believe one would need a top tier system to replicate that experience, but so far the impressions posted here would indicate so.

 

[thrillcat]

I'm thinking it's less about frugality and more optimal marketing. His initial ITunes review will better connect and be more suitable to about 95% of his audience vs the Kscape file. Once the disc comes out, he can put out another review. Again, better aligned with the accessibility of the release to his audience.

Yep. This is accurate. And the disc review can have an amazon affiliate link.

 

[Furnace Inferno]

I'm thinking it's less about frugality and more optimal marketing. His initial ITunes review will better connect and be more suitable to about 95% of his audience vs the Kscape file. Once the disc comes out, he can put out another review. Again, better aligned with the accessibility of the release to his audience.

Either way it’s a monetary reason, putting money first before quality. Maybe when it’s your main job it can be justified though as you have time to watch the superior version first and then rewatch for “work”.

 

[rafaelsmith]

Thank you for sharing. It seems your system, along with Shane's, would be in the upper stratosphere of the hobby. I'd imagine a top tier system would be quite transparent to replicating the source quite well.
I experienced this movie in two flagship Imax 70MM venues (I live in Socal, so we have about 3 of them), and I had no issues with the audio. It wasn't top tier mixing, but should not sound gimped or unsatisfactory in any way, for the home release.

I don't believe one would need a top tier system to replicate that experience, but so far the impressions posted here would indicate so.

I get the feeling Shane really does not know how to properly calibrate things. Stopped watching him long ago.

 

[Spankey00]

I get the feeling Shane really does not know how to properly calibrate things. Stopped watching him long ago.

As long as the speakers make sounds it’s a good mix!

 

[Edgar]

Here is a review by Shane Lee; his observations on the audio component is congruent with my own initial impressions and @Edgar

Okay, I've seen the whole movie. It does in fact have some good use of surrounds and heights, as well as bass. It's just not throughout the film. There was a lot of surround/spatial when the guy does the thing, and when the other guy does the other thing. And there was a lot of bass when that surprise happens. I'm revising my view on the audio, it's not flat, it's actually being used selectively to heighten the storytelling. Noticeably, there's a lot of silence in the film too, so I really do think this is all deliberate to emphasize what's happening on screen.

And yes, Shane Lee is talking only about an iTunes file. I now wonder if he watched the whole film or just spot checked a couple of scenes.

 

[Nonametofame]

Okay, I've seen the whole movie. It does in fact have some good use of surrounds and heights, as well as bass. It's just not throughout the film. There was a lot of surround/spatial when the guy does the thing, and when the other guy does the other thing. And there was a lot of bass when that surprise happens. I'm revising my view on the audio, it's not flat, it's actually being used selectively to heighten the storytelling. Noticeably, there's a lot of silence in the film too, so I really do think this is all deliberate to emphasize what's happening on screen.

And yes, Shane Lee is talking only about an iTunes file. I now wonder if he watched the whole film or just spot checked a couple of scenes.

I really appreciate this follow up. Makes me feel much more confident in the home mix, matching the imax theatrical sound experience.
Not bombastic but conscientiously dynamic.