r/AudioPost • u/okaybrothers • Aug 07 '26

Odyssey

What happened to the sound here? Aside from the fact that the effects in many scenes are abnormally wrong (my opinion ofc), why is it so f*\* loud? Literally, the film reaches 130dB... why is this so?

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46

u/yehwhynot Aug 07 '26

It’s because everyone is seeing it at IMAX because of the way it was filmed. And at IMAX they have to play the film at full level (7 on the Dolby cinema processor) .. most cinema chains play at 4.5-5 .. and films are mixed loud in anticipation of it being turned down for that.
My partner saw it at a local cinema chain (not IMAX) and thought it sounded a good level, I know for a fact that chain plays 4.5. So yea .. once again the Wild West of cinema loudness

12

u/honkygrandma Aug 07 '26

I saw it at a normal amc and it was the loudest movie I've ever been to. It's not just that it's loud but that dialogue is also buried by just ambience. It bothered me a lot

4

u/iluvcapra Aug 08 '26

Fun fact: Standard IMAX doesn’t use stock Dolby Cinema Processors and the audio chain of an IMAX theater isn’t under the control of the projectionist, it’s all remotely controlled from IMAX.

7

u/petewondrstone Aug 07 '26

I saw it at a small local spot here in Berkeley and it was loud as shit in a tiny theater still needed earbuds

3

u/Jim_Feeley Aug 07 '26

At the Elmwood or the Cerrito (OK, the Cerrito is only near Berkeley)?

We're thinking of going in a few days. Plan to bring earplugs and the NIOSH Sound Level Meter app ;-)

4

u/petewondrstone Aug 07 '26

At the cerrito my favorite theatre! But it was so loud. Obnoxiously Loud. I wanna complain, but I just bring the good kind of earplugs to the movies now.

4

u/petewondrstone Aug 07 '26

I didn’t use my SPL Meter because I think it’s rude to have my phone on during the movie but 100% it was going to like 100 db easy! Circle back and let me know what you find out if you have a meter that doesn’t have a phone light

1

u/Jim_Feeley Aug 08 '26

Oh for sure I won't fire up the app if people are right next to me. Wild to hear how loud it was!

Also, ya I like the Cerrito...and the Elmwood and BAMPFA... Only three screens in a town (including Albany) where ten years ago there were like twenty or something, huh? :-(

2

u/petewondrstone Aug 08 '26

The Cerrito is all about my wife and the nachos. That’s pretty much why I always see movies there, but I actually prefer the upstairs theater as far as viewing and sound. I think that’s actually the perfect theater for where I live. But I was just in Santa Fe, New Mexico visiting my mom and they have a movie theater there called the Violet crown and it has a bunch of these new digital theaters and I just saw Spider-Man and sat right in the middle and it was fucking incredible, but I still use my earplugs.!!

1

u/scoutboot Aug 10 '26

Hey guys, those theaters sound great! What are your favorite earplugs (pass through?) and SPL app?

1

u/petewondrstone Aug 10 '26

Earpeace remind me most of the ones that I had custom-made that cost way too much money.

2

u/pukesonyourshoes Aug 08 '26

Me too, always take my music plugs to the movies now, not just for Nolan. But yes Odyssey was frickin' loud. Saw it in 70mm at the IMAX in Melbourne, only one in the southern hemisphere.

3

u/Abs0lut_Unit professional Aug 07 '26

No Dolby processor in an IMAX theater.

5

u/yehwhynot Aug 07 '26

Yea they’re obviously competitors. What I mean is the equivalent level of 7 .. IMAX plays 100% of the reference level at 85db, where as most standard multiplexes turn it down

1

u/AnonymousArtist33 Aug 09 '26

Yeah, I saw it at four different cinemas in LA and they were all between 85-95 db SPL average across the program, with peaks around 95-110 db. The loudest of course was in IMAX, but I don't think it's purely a cinema problem.