THX-Certified DVDs

[jaggrey]

Well I have my new Altec Lansing ADA890 THX-Certified speakers, and quite a few DVDs, none of which are THX-certified. Any1 know of any to add to my collection?

And please, no "You should've got the Klipschs" here. I love my speakers, nothing against the Klipschs.

 

[MasterHoss]

You should've...

Check out the best--Terminator 2 the Ultimate DVD

Also check out the Toy Story collection

 

[sohcrates]

i'm pretty sure true lies is THX, though not positive. good flick

i think independence day (ID4) is as well.

 

[MasterHoss]

I've seen a lot--you can catch a list on THX's website if you want....cross check with Amazon.com and read the reviews.

From my personal experience, The T2 movie sounds awesome with 800W RMS power in my small 11 X 11 cell.

And I have to admit that all the Disney/Pixar DVDs come THX certified and sound great.

 

[Mungla]

I need THX certified DVD's as well. I've completely forgotten about Terminator II!! Man, that'll be a great flick to watch with a 120" screen and seven discrete audio channels. Gotta love those THX certified Proceed Amps.

 

[goldboyd]

More props to the t2 special edition, they did an amazing job on the sound. True Lies is also THX certified as said earlier. Also the die hard triolgy. I'm pretty sure that Independence Day is THX certified too. And of course there is a more, that I own and cannot think of right now and there are many others. Also the DTS version saving private ryan sounds absolutely unbelievable, although not THX certified..

 

[Thor_Sevan]

Wouaw ! I might get T2 too !!
Is the sound really that good ?

I can't wait to try on my Klipsch speakers ! LOL

Thor !

 

[yo2tup]

THX certification is BS

 

[John]

<< THX certification is BS >>



Nice opinion, got facts?

 

[ZurgDawg]

I agree, THX is BS. All THX is are initials for some guy's name (Sorry I forget who ) George Lucas invented THX because he would go and see the original Star Wars movies in theaters and it would sound and look like crap. So many years later - he created THX. Now it is a consumer hit and everyone loves it. The fact is that there are tons of products that are 'THX' equivelent but dont carry the label on them, practically every new dvd could carry the label but they dont want to pay the money to Lucasfilm to put the neat little logo on the cover. Yamaha does not have THX on its recievers but they could easily pass THX standards. So anyways, its obvious you bought a great system but just buy any 5.1 recent movie and it should kick ass Look at who has won the oscars for sfx over the last few years, rent those titles.

Zurg

 

[Pariah]

I wouldn't go as far as to say THX is BS, but it is pretty much a useless icon on a DVD case. More marketing than anything else. Being THX certified means nothing more than the particular piece of equipment meets their standards, which may in no way coincide with your standards. You can easily build a system that meets or exceeds THX standards without having a single piece actually being THX certified. If THX is so important why do so many of the topend companies not bother getting the certification?

&quot;Nice opinion, got facts?&quot;

The same can be said in reverse. Prove to me THX really is better.

 

[Sugadaddy]

THX is kind of misleading... It just means that the sound meets a certain standard, but it doesn't mean THX certified movies will automatically have better sound than the ones which aren't certified. Most movie studios just don't feel the need to pay George Lucas for this certification. THX movies are normal Dolby Digital, it's just that they paid to have it certified. (I'm sure they don't refuse many movies, if any)

On a side note, I might be wrong, but I've never seen a movie that was THX and used DTS, all of them are Dolby Digital.Many argue DTS is better, but let's not get into that.


Here are some movies that have great sound:

U-571
Gladiator
Saving Private Ryan
The Matrix
Fight Club
The thin Red Line
Independence Day
Clear and Present Danger
Titanic
The fifth element
The ghost and the darkness

 

[Mungla]

THX is just a standard, like so many things out there today. If you amp has the THX sticker on it, that just means that your amp can perform at THX levels without a problem. I have a Proceed AVP, which is THX certified; the (THX?) reference level is 72db (out of a maximum 91db for the unit). I do feel better knowing that what I buy can perform outrageous feats such as that. Dang, normally I only set the AVP to 60db when watching a movie and sometimes higher when listening to audio. Any higher and your eardrums begin to whine.

 

[Workin']

THX - developed at Lucasfilm in the early 80's, named after either &quot;THX 1138&quot; (George Lucas' first feature film) or the head engineer for the project, Tomlinson Holman (Tomlinson Holman's eXperiment), depending on which legend you choose to believe.

It's not a recording format or anything like that, actually it was originally guidelines for setting up a commercial movie theater. Later, specifications were developed to apply to home gear to try and attain some uniformity with the commercial sound, so that a properly set up home THX system would replicate the sound of a THX-certified theater to a certain extent.

However, many of the most important THX requirements for theaters are impossible for them to control in a home setting, ie. no noise from outside the theater, no noise from inside the theater (air conditioning, etc.), no obstructed or uncomfortable viewing angles, controlled reverberation inside the theater, and proper image brightness. The other specs are insignificant when compared to these. Therefore, one could argue that THX certification of home audio gear is nothing more than a marketing ploy, since the electrical specs are acheived by the vast bulk of the gear out there, THX cerified or not.

 

[jaggrey]

Previous post makes sense. That's what I heard too.

I don't want anyone to think I'm an idiot. I didn't buy these speakers just because of the THX certification. They're actually about a month old, and sound great!

I guess I could say what DVDs would sound awesome with my setup. I have the Matrix, and am considering alot of the DVDs that were mentioned too.

 

[Workin']

On the other hand, if you have more money than sense (or knowledge), if you only bought THX certified gear you could be assured of getting competent equipment. But it is possible to get the same (or better) performance for much less money. I'm just saying that the THX label doesn't go on garbage, and some components have unique features (re-equalization, etc.) that non-THX pieces don't have, so the point is to shop wisely and get what fits YOUR needs.

 

[Technonut]

Highlander 10th Anniversary Director's Cut is THX certified, and sounds great.

 

[MasterHoss]

Good opinions...to correct 1 misleading thing...THX goes hand in hand with Dolby ProLogic/Digital. In fact, the 2 companies punk each other up the ass to work on their sound. Everything THX certified uses Dolby Digital sound.

(note: dolby and lucas films &quot;butt rape&quot; each other ==> no DTS encoded movie is THX certified)

Again, the whole marketing thing. But when people see that THX logo, you know the sound is at least going to be very good. The T2 movie is awesome. I'll agree that The Maxtix sounds awesome, especially if you have mad bass!!

Another note on Dolby and Lucas Films...I have Twister THX certified--currently in the stores, I noticed that Twister is no longer THX certified (or is it??) but there is a big DTS logo on the box now. I think the same can be said for Last of the Mohicans

 

[tigerbait]

There are benefits to having THX certified hardware. Notably, this means timbre matching, decorrelation, and Re-EQ. For example, if you ever get a chance to play with the Onkyo 787, it has one button THX, and if you listen to a scene with the button off, then listen to it with the THX mode on, the THX sounds much better. I just wish I hadn't bought my Onkyo 575 so soon, would like to his this one.

 

[Workin']

<< There are benefits to having THX certified hardware. Notably, this means timbre matching, decorrelation, and Re-EQ. >>

To be clear, other hardware has the same features just not the same name. Timbre matching only applies to speakers, that just means that they all sound similar. Obviously, almost every set of non-THX home theater speakers are voice-matched. Decorrelation is just one of many DSP effects that can be had. And Re-EQ can be accomplished with any equalizer, and it's effect is debatable because the sound depends on so many other factors beyond the control of the equipment that it's not even funny.

As mentioned before, at least the THX logo on equipment gives some assurance of meeting decent electrical performance specs, but these days it's hard to buy a truly bad component anyway. Where the THX cert would have the greatest value is if they came out and certified your listening room, since the room has a bigger effect on the ultimate sound quality than any electrical component (and arguably even speakers).

In every controlled test of THX/Dolby Digital vs. DTS, using the same title, there are clearly differences in the sound. However, no one can claim either is &quot;better&quot;, they are just &quot;different&quot;. Although on a quantitative scale, both are afflicted with &quot;lossy&quot; compression, but while DTS can allocate up to 1.5 Mbps to the audio channels Dolby Digital can only allocate up to 0.384Mbps to audio. But still no &quot;proof&quot; that either is better.