MONO SVA Sound Tracks and Noise Reduction

[Steve Guttag]

Universal was definitely slow to embrace Dolby. Movies like The Blues Brothers were 4-track, not Dolby. Even later pictures like Scarface went with 4-track, not Dolby.

[Paul Finn]

What I was searching for is if a print has a bilateral variable area sound track, regardless of the print title, was a noise reduction process (probably Dolby) applied to that sound track? Thank you for this discussion. I feel maybe yes, maybe no, and there is no definite fits-all answer. It is still seems best to decide what works best for each print/title when presenting it. The Dolby CP200 in particular has great optional programing format flexibility to optimize film sound track conditions.

Paul Finn

[Steve Guttag]

There were, indeed, mono variable area bilateral Dolby NR encoded prints (format 02). They were on the rare side. I don't recall any such titles after 1977 but some, like Michael Coate, keep track of such things better than I. A case-in-point movie would be A Clockwork Orange that was Dolby-Mono. That said, just because a title was offered with Dolby NR does not mean that ALL prints had the Dolby NR. I was not in the industry during that time so I do not have first hand knowledge but by the time of SVA prints, there were definitely dual-inventory titles for mono and stereo (Dolby Stereo).

[Martin Brooks]

There were, indeed, mono variable area bilateral Dolby NR encoded prints (format 02). They were on the rare side. I don't recall any such titles after 1977 but some, like Michael Coate, keep track of such things better than I. A case-in-point movie would be A Clockwork Orange that was Dolby-Mono. That said, just because a title was offered with Dolby NR does not mean that ALL prints had the Dolby NR. I was not in the industry during that time so I do not have first hand knowledge but by the time of SVA prints, there were definitely dual-inventory titles for mono and stereo (Dolby Stereo).

I don't think that's correct regarding "A Clockwork Orange". That was the first film to use Dolby NR on all premixes and masters, but I don't believe any of the release prints had Dolby NR. It was released in December of 1971 and the Model 364 mono cinema processor wasn't released until February of 1972 and the E2 Cinema EQ Processor wasn't released until September of 1973.
Dolby released a demo film using Dolby NR called "A Quiet Revolution" in February 1972, several months after ACO was released.

According to Dolby's own history, the first film with Dolby mono noise reduction was a film called "Callan", which was shown at the Cannes Film Festival in May of 1974.

There were a number of other Dolby films released in mono or in 4-track mag with NR, but the first commercial Dolby LCR film for general release was Lisztomania in October of 1975.

The CP50 wasn't released until October of 1976.

[Paul H. Rayton]

I think a number of film titles from that era (early 1970s) used a variant of a "Dolby" sound logo in their end credits, but it applied to equipment used in the post houses for the editing and audio recording for the mag master sources. Remember, Dolby noise reduction was in lots of home recording equipment by that time, and could be switched on or off, depending on the tape used, etc.

I was working in the biz in 1971 and all the prints I encountered of "Clockwork Orange" were mono. Yes, bilateral variable area, but mono. Years later, after Kubrick died in 1999, WB brought out a whole bunch of new prints of his titles. We got "Clockwork Orange" (and others) as full quad prints (i.e., analog, plus DTS, Dolby SVA, and SDDS). I was mesmerized listening to the fantastic music of "Clockwork Orange" in full digital stereo, since I'd never heard it that way before. I just don't know whether Kubrick heard it that way in the dubbing studio or not!