Earth: The Biography

These comments perplex me:

"Normally I'm pretty gung-ho about lossless audio formats, although in this case an English DTS-HD HR 5.1 track for a documentary almost seems like overkill."

"It's just that Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS 5.1 probably would have worked just as well."

Overkill? Is this a complaint? They give us the best audio available and that's a bad thing? Would you have scored it higher if it was DD instead of lossless or even consider given it the same score? I thought we were talking next gen video AND audio when discussing Blu-ray. Encouraging studios to put out "good enough" is asking for trouble in my opinion. We should always expect the best. I do not want a studio deciding for me what audio is good enough for my viewing and listening experience....they should always choose the best. Why would DD have worked just as well but two BD 25s do not? Very odd comments.....

Because this isn't the type of film where the audio is going to blow people away. The sound was good, I just didn't notice much of a difference when comparing to DD or DTS. In these cases, I would have preferred the title to have one of the inferior audio formats (since there wasn't much difference anyways) in order to upgrade the picture to 1080p and maybe include some bonus material.

Don't get me wrong, I love seeing lossless tracks. And I've noticed on other forums that many users were complaining about WB continuously releasing titles with Dolby Digital 5.1. So at least they are starting to take steps forward in the right direction. But if it's a cost factor or time factor that lossless can't go on every title, then this one should have been left on the sidelines.

I hear what you are saying. If space was an issue, which might of been since they were using BD25s, then yes, I agree, but then we end up at your other argument regarding the use of BD25 where as BD50 would have given us everything....1080p, lossless audio and more bonus materials. I understand that not everyone gets the luxury of putting out their material on BD50s, or if they are trying to maximize profits, then BD25s are the way to go. Either way, we get screwed some how.

Maybe I have sensitive hears (or maybe my hearing isn't that good?), since I've find dialogue to come across a lot clearer when lossless is being used. When listening to DD mixes I find myself more often than not increasing the volume to hear the dialogue then end up decreasing the volume during loud scenes. Given that this is mainly dialogue, clear as possible is what I want.

Don't get me wrong, I hear you. When I made my comments regarding "I do not want a studio deciding for me what audio is good enough" I was 100% talking about WB. I'm one of those people who has complained openly about WB. I refuse to purchase any of their next-gen titles when all they offer is DD (i.e. The Assassination of Jesse James).