Bad sound quality for Japanese DB/DBZ

[dbboxkaifan]

I watched all of it through the Dragon Box Z FUNimation Collection, and to be honest, I didn't mind the muffled sound perhaps because I got used to it.

But yea, it would have been way better if Kei17's captured broadcast audio had been included instead. Much betta'.

[eledoremassis02]

Whats weird is that on the Pioneer Dead Zone DVD they have snippets of stuff cut out from the show with Japanese audio.

Whats interesting is that it's the clearest I've heard it, outside the first gen TV rips. It's even clearer than the Bluray audio, especially the sound effects, the vocals seem about average though.

I don't know if youtube captured the audio well but here's a clip. If you have the DVD defiantly check it out.

http://youtu.be/Bzf6Fs9TrEc

[Fulicer]

Whats weird is that on the Pioneer Dead Zone DVD they have snippets of stuff cut out from the show with Japanese audio.

Whats interesting is that it's the clearest I've heard it, outside the first gen TV rips. It's even clearer than the Bluray audio, especially the sound effects, the vocals seem about average though.

I don't know if youtube captured the audio well but here's a clip. If you have the DVD defiantly check it out.

http://youtu.be/Bzf6Fs9TrEc

I remember that the audio and video quality was good. Seems to have an echo though

[eledoremassis02]

gahh... I think the echo came from Youtube messing up the video.. I'll re-upload it

EDIT: New Link (the source video does have an echo hmmm)
http://youtu.be/_nyM2iAH0fY

[Fulicer]

gahh... I think the echo came from Youtube messing up the video.. I'll re-upload it

EDIT: New Link (the source video does have an echo hmmm)
http://youtu.be/_nyM2iAH0fY

Maybe they tried to make it sound louder?

[eledoremassis02]

I though the same thing. While it is louder, it's also not a muffled and has less static as well. Atleast compared to the Blu-ray. I dont have this episode in Dbox or brick format though.

[Gonstead]

Here's a few different ones for the same scene.

Ultimate Uncut Edition
Orange Brick Season Set

[eledoremassis02]

Thank you

The Ultimate Uncut sound just like the clip I have (minus the echo). I wonder whats with the Blu Ray Japanese audio? Maybe just age?

[MCDaveG]

Yeah, Dragon Ball is probably series with the worst sound I heard. Even Saint Seiya from 1986 have great sound and the release I have is probably stereo or faux stereo, because it sounds like it was recorded yesterday.

[ThunderPX]

You have to keep in mind that "mono" and "stereo" aren't indicators of quality. It's just the amount of audio channels there are so you can create a sense of space (although one could argue that having more audio channels makes it easier to mix audio well in the first place.) Mono can sound great (just listen to the various rips of DBZ's first airing floating around) and stereo can sound like crap.

[Gaffer Tape]

Thank you. The more reminders we can have of this fact, the better, because it does seem like most people just don't understand the difference.

[Pretorious]

If you are confused about the difference between stereo and mono (and why mono is sometimes BETTER than stereo) go get a pair of headphones and listen to these two versions of the same song:

Strawberry Fields Forever (Stereo): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTXyoPVOUso
You'll notice the imbalance right off the bat. You don't have to listen to the whole thing, but at least wait until the drums start to play regularly (from about the 1:00 mark on). Now tell me your left ear doesn't feel beat up after taking in virtually ALL of the drums. Stereo recordings are designed to be played through (at least) two speakers (or channels), and both speakers can play different sounds.

Strawberry Fields Forever (Mono): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdIeSHYin88
With mono, every speaker plays the exact same sounds. Now doesn't this sound way way more balanced? And less painful?

I love the Beatles (this is the song that made me fall in love with them), but this was a primitive and gimmicky use of stereo. It's great for educational purposes though!

I think what is happening with lots of people talking about Dragon Ball audio is that they are confusing "stereo/mono" with "fidelity." Fidelity literally means "faithfulness." In the context of audio recording, it means faithfulness to the original sound source. If I record something and the recording sounds as clear as it did in real life, it is high fidelity (or hi-fi: highly faithful to the source). If it has hiss, static, vinyl crackle, or any other kind of noise that was not part of the original source sound, it is low fidelity (lo-fi). Sometimes this is a desirable sound, for example, with some bedroom four-track tape recordings, because tape hiss, some people think, adds a certain warmth, or character, or nostalgic value. But often people want high fidelity sound, probably because in real life, there is no hiss or crackle.

So the Japanese Dragon Ball original broadcast audio is the hi-fi version and the versions on the market are, sadly, low fidelity. But both are mono.

[Fulicer]

If you are confused about the difference between stereo and mono (and why mono is sometimes BETTER than stereo) go get a pair of headphones and listen to these two versions of the same song:

Strawberry Fields Forever (Stereo): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTXyoPVOUso
You'll notice the imbalance right off the bat. You don't have to listen to the whole thing, but at least wait until the drums start to play regularly (from about the 1:00 mark on). Now tell me your left ear doesn't feel beat up after taking in virtually ALL of the drums. Stereo recordings are designed to be played through (at least) two speakers (or channels), and both speakers can play different sounds.

Strawberry Fields Forever (Mono): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdIeSHYin88
With mono, every speaker plays the exact same sounds. Now doesn't this sound way way more balanced? And less painful?

I love the Beatles (this is the song that made me fall in love with them), but this was a primitive and gimmicky use of stereo. It's great for educational purposes though!

I think what is happening with lots of people talking about Dragon Ball audio is that they are confusing "stereo/mono" with "fidelity." Fidelity literally means "faithfulness." In the context of audio recording, it means faithfulness to the original sound source. If I record something and the recording sounds as clear as it did in real life, it is high fidelity (or hi-fi: highly faithful to the source). If it has hiss, static, vinyl crackle, or any other kind of noise that was not part of the original source sound, it is low fidelity (lo-fi). Sometimes this is a desirable sound, for example, with some bedroom four-track tape recordings, because tape hiss, some people think, adds a certain warmth, or character, or nostalgic value. But often people want high fidelity sound, probably because in real life, there is no hiss or crackle.

So the Japanese Dragon Ball original broadcast audio is the hi-fi version and the versions on the market are, sadly, low fidelity. But both are mono.

It would be cool if there was an "audio guide" on the website since this "mono vs stereo" issue has been confusing people for years. And yeah, the stereo version that you posted sounds really strange. It's like stereo for the sake of stereo.

[Metalwario64]

Thank you. The more reminders we can have of this fact, the better, because it does seem like most people just don't understand the difference.

Yeah, I've known that since I was a kid. It's kinda annoying seeing people say "wow, the TV recordings almost sound like stereo quality!", or "I can't watch "jap" DBZ, 'cuz it's in mono quality". I've seen those plenty of times.

[Gaffer Tape]

Thank you. The more reminders we can have of this fact, the better, because it does seem like most people just don't understand the difference.

Yeah, I've known that since I was a kid. It's kinda annoying seeing people say "wow, the TV recordings almost sound like stereo quality!", or "I can't watch "jap" DBZ, 'cuz it's in mono quality". I've seen those plenty of times.

It's weird. I'm just reminded of the first time I ever heard the term "mono" in regards to audio, when I was about 9 years old, and that was in a settings menu on a Super Nintendo game (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, if you're curious). Many games were like that then (for all I know, maybe they still do that?) where you could change the audio between Stereo and Mono, and that's obviously because, if you only had a single-speaker television and, thus, only one of your two audio composite cables could be plugged in, you should switch to mono so you wouldn't lose half the sound. But bringing the Dragon Ball logic into this example, it's almost as if people expected if they chose that option on their video games, the sound would suddenly become tinny, muffled, and full of pops!

[Pretorious]

It would be cool if there was an "audio guide" on the website since this "mono vs stereo" issue has been confusing people for years.

I think that is an awesome idea. I only learned about the hi-fi original broadcast audio a few weeks ago (thanks to this forum!). The bad audio on the home releases is a serious defect to me. I don't really care about the previews and end credits being switched (honestly, I consider this an improvement). I can live with the trailers for the movies being taken out, and even the occasional defect in video quality, but the bad audio is not occasional...it's always playing. I mean, except for the opening and end themes. And it's not just that it sounds muffled, but there is a layer of gritty noise in there, too.

I was really disillusioned when I got my first Dragon Box and listened to the sound the first time. Nobody in the reviews I read for the boxes brought up this issue, which made me think my box or soundsystem were bad. I wish. It's such a huge flaw to me. I mean, I love my Dragon Boxes, so this wasn't a deal breaker, but still, I think I have old fansub tapes that sound better than these.

One of you guys posted this comparision video ("over 8000")...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqEzK6lTsYw

...and after I heard that, I was even more upset because it made me realize how much I was missing. I noticed sound effects in the original broadcast audio that I completely glazed over in the Dragon Box version! Listen to the part where Vegeta takes his scouter off and crushes it. You hear: clatter, POP, sizzle, shatter. I didn't even notice the shattering glass sound in the Dragon Box version! Not because it wasn't there, but because it was buried. And I wasn't listening harder during the original version, it was just much clearer and easier to hear. When I listen to the Dragon Boxes (or blue bricks) I am constantly trying to ignore the noise. As someone who has put a lot of effort into mixing his own audio for maximum clarity, this kind of drives me nuts.

Anyway, I don't mean to me super negative. It does comfort me to know that somewhere out there are VHS and beta recordings of the show as it was meant to be heard. If Toei really wanted to, they could release a perfect edition of Dragon Ball using this donated hi-fi audio and an HD transfer, say, five or ten years down the road. I know that's probably just a dream, but it's nice to know that it is not impossible. Am I the only one who would re-buy the series for this?

[Fulicer]

Anyway, I don't mean to me super negative. It does comfort me to know that somewhere out there are VHS and beta recordings of the show as it was meant to be heard. If Toei really wanted to, they could release a perfect edition of Dragon Ball using this donated hi-fi audio and an HD transfer, say, five or ten years down the road. I know that's probably just a dream, but it's nice to know that it is not impossible. Am I the only one who would re-buy the series for this?

I would probably buy the original DB series (not Z) if that were the case. But as you indicated, it's not likely.

[Metalwario64]

It's weird. I'm just reminded of the first time I ever heard the term "mono" in regards to audio, when I was about 9 years old, and that was in a settings menu on a Super Nintendo game (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, if you're curious)...

Well, I learned about mono and stereo from Street Fighter II on the SNES and Super Mario 64, so I guess we're in basically the same boat here. I remember Super Mario 64 had missing instruments on Stereo, and I didn't know what was going on until I asked my parents.

[takarajima]

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[TheGreatness25]

It never bothered me. They're mono, recorded a very, very long time ago. There are times when the picture quality is bad and it matches the bad audio. But to me, I was never bothered by it. I just look at it as a time piece. I don't pretend it's a real modern show. Otherwise, I'd constantly be bothered by the animation.

On another note, the audio on the Japanese Dragon Boxes sounds a lot better.