Dragon Box Sound Quality: My Conclusion

[gallagtor]

It's rare, but not extremely, I think. Actually, I saw Big Box on Yahoo! Auctions several times, and actually the cassette tape in it is listed right now.

Woah! Thanks! I'm so getting this! But wait... Is it possible/affordable to rip cassette tapes?

It's a simple as hooking your cassette player to the line-in on your computer's sound card.

[pjay]

Wait a minute, so the original audio elements for Dragon Ball Z did survive and Toei didn't use them for the dragon boxes? Or are the original audio elements gone forever? Also is this all just speculation or has Toei come out and said they dumped the original audio elements?

[TonyTheTiger]

I think everybody assumes that Toei threw it all out because it would take a special kind of incompetence to have them in storage but not actually use them when producing the so-called "definitive" home release.

But knowing Toei? I wouldn't doubt the possibility. Although given the volume of material a show like Dragon Ball would inevitably produce, I equally wouldn't doubt the possibility that Toei just threw everything out.

[Daimo-Rukiri]

The spanish GT boxes raise some questions as some of the eps had superior audio than the dragon box, it was just a few but makes ya wonder.

[GotenDaisuki]

Now this is very interesting. The quality on the original run on VHS was astounding. I would rather have those TV rips than the Dragon Boxes any day (for some reason I like Japanese commercials and NEPs before the Ending).

[Goku100xKamehameha]

Now this is very interesting. The quality on the original run on VHS was astounding. I would rather have those TV rips than the Dragon Boxes any day (for some reason I like Japanese commercials and NEPs before the Ending).

Even with the superior video quality?

[GotenDaisuki]

Even with the superior video quality?

Well, the video samples uploaded had decent quality good enough for my standards, video quality isn't a top priority for me anyway. If it's not terribly pixelated, I think it's alright. The sound on the Dragon Boxes seems much worse and muffled than the original run, and I would rather have better sound than better picture.

[Turtle Marked Stone]

Ah, the magic of old cartoons. I'd be more upset but things like this are pretty expected for some children's show in the 80's.

[CODii]

Even with the superior video quality?

Well, the video samples uploaded had decent quality good enough for my standards, video quality isn't a top priority for me anyway. If it's not terribly pixelated, I think it's alright. The sound on the Dragon Boxes seems much worse and muffled than the original run, and I would rather have better sound than better picture.

So just to get this straight when you are watching something you are more concerned with how it sounds than how it looks? So I could hook up a blu-ray player to an old crt tv using an rf adapter and you would be fine with it as long as I hooked the audio up to a top tier surround sound system system?

[Daimo-Rukiri]

You can make the dragon box audio sound good you just have to reconstruct it, it's not cheap.. Plus the money it'd take for DVDR's.

Also the audio alone sounds pretty awesome on a high end Surround System. If there's any audiophiles on here you'll know how pricey it can get

[GotenDaisuki]

Even with the superior video quality?

Well, the video samples uploaded had decent quality good enough for my standards, video quality isn't a top priority for me anyway. If it's not terribly pixelated, I think it's alright. The sound on the Dragon Boxes seems much worse and muffled than the original run, and I would rather have better sound than better picture.

So just to get this straight when you are watching something you are more concerned with how it sounds than how it looks? So I could hook up a blu-ray player to an old crt tv using an rf adapter and you would be fine with it as long as I hooked the audio up to a top tier surround sound system system?

I would be OK with it, as long as the video quality is decent enough to be viewed. One of my nitpicks is pixelation on video, so I'm not sure if it would be alright unless I see it for myself. As for the sound, that would be nice. The problem is what audio source you would use.

[Daimo-Rukiri]

Depending on what TV you have 333x480 pixels would be pretty pixelated on a HDTV.

[linkdude20002001]

It's a simple as hooking your cassette player to the line-in on your computer's sound card.

Awesome! I bought the cassette. Now I just need a cassette player... Hahah.

[ThunderPX]

The whole discussion above seems like a non-issue, given the fact that you can combine the VHS audio with the Dragon Box video.

[kei17]

The whole discussion above seems like a non-issue, given the fact that you can combine the VHS audio with the Dragon Box video.

There are still many problems in doing that. For example, some episodes have a beep of flash news, and there is an error in playing the master tape in DBZ episode 171. Rather, the very issue is that Toei themselves have neither the master tapes nor such video tapes.

[Mountain]

The whole discussion above seems like a non-issue, given the fact that you can combine the VHS audio with the Dragon Box video.

There are still many problems in doing that. For example, some episodes have a beep of flash news, and there is an error in playing the master tape in DBZ episode 171. Rather, the very issue is that Toei themselves have neither the master tapes nor such video tapes.

I have been satisfied with the Dragon Box audio quality, though anything superior is only icing on the cake; a few errors are negligible in the bigger picture. However, I am also very interested in the higher-quality audio of the original broadcast now. The difference is astounding, to me. I doubt I'll stop until I have a perfect release of DragonBall, both the manga and the anime.

[mister yummy]

Even with the superior video quality?

Well, the video samples uploaded had decent quality good enough for my standards, video quality isn't a top priority for me anyway. If it's not terribly pixelated, I think it's alright. The sound on the Dragon Boxes seems much worse and muffled than the original run, and I would rather have better sound than better picture.

So just to get this straight when you are watching something you are more concerned with how it sounds than how it looks? So I could hook up a blu-ray player to an old crt tv using an rf adapter and you would be fine with it as long as I hooked the audio up to a top tier surround sound system system?

You mean there's another way to hook up my blue ray player? I'm just kidding, but I'm someone who might actually do this. My newest TV was built in 1994, but I've been thinking about getting a blue ray player. And it still pisses me off that I can't find a DVD player with built in RF out and a tuner. I always have to hook up my players through a VCR since none of my TV's have the RCA inputs, so I can't watch macrovisioned DVD's, so I watch everything on my ps2 or my x-box, with the rf modulator instead of the rca cables.

Thankfully, most Dragonball DVD's are very watchable with full on macrovision goijng. It alters the brightness on my season sets and DB saga sets. The singles aren't much worse. I don't think the Saga of Goku set from Trimark is macrovisioned at all.

[Levlik]

I synchronized the preview clip of episode 237 on the Big Box that Kei uploaded:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RUJv9pb0Y0
And for comparison's sake, the DVD audio

You need to set the video to 720p in order to hear the best audio quality. I really long for the day we're able to hear the entire series at this quality but I doubt that'll ever happen :(

[TonyTheTiger]

I synchronized the preview clip of episode 237 on the Big Box that Kei uploaded:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RUJv9pb0Y0
And for comparison's sake, the DVD audio

You need to set the video to 720p in order to hear the best audio quality. I really long for the day we're able to hear the entire series at this quality but I doubt that'll ever happen

This is the worst thread on the entire site. Talk about depressing.

Maybe one day somebody with enough time and the resources can mix the entire Dragon Box with the VHS audio. I'd pay good money for that even if there are a few instances of "this is a test of the emergency broadcast system" kind of interruptions.

[SonEric84]

That's quite a difference. It sounds so much clearer and less muffled.