WKRP In Cincinnati: The Complete Series Review (See Posts #218 & 356 for Info) (1 Viewer)

[KPmusmag]

It has always been the home receivers (aka TV sets) which were the weak link in the broadcast chain, especially with audio.

At some point my Dad figured out how to hook up the TV sound to his big stereo set-up. I think we were watching Mission: Impossible and you could actually hear the string bass in the opening theme - and then there was an explosion with some low-frequency sonic impact and I realized there was potential in the sound being broadcast that TVs of the time could not deliver.

 

[BobO'Link]

At some point my Dad figured out how to hook up the TV sound to his big stereo set-up. I think we were watching Mission: Impossible and you could actually hear the string bass in the opening theme - and then there was an explosion with some low-frequency sonic impact and I realized there was potential in the sound being broadcast that TVs of the time could not deliver.

It was typically the small cheap speakers manufacturers used that were the issue. If they had they used decent size/quality speakers the cabinets would have been larger than most people would have accepted. Worst part is they also cheaped out on the speakers for TVs in those larger "console" style cabinets yet charged considerably more (mainly for the furniture portion).

BUT people really didn't care about the frequency response of the music and only cared about the voices being heard/understood. Music quality/fidelity was mostly secondary, even on variety shows, as most people didn't own a "quality" sound system so had no real basis for comparison. Basically, if it sounded as good as the AM radio they normally listened to music on they were OK with it.

 

[Mifr44]

Side topic related to the recent posts about ordering the Shout! box set. I just received a response from Shout! that this box set has dual layered discs. We purchased our set four years ago, and we just recently started watching it. Yep, it has single layered discs!

 

[justarandomstan]

Side topic related to the recent posts about ordering the Shout! box set. I just received a response from Shout! that this box set has dual layered discs. We purchased our set four years ago, and we just recently started watching it. Yep, it has single layered discs!

Well, not to be a captain obvious or anything, but you most probably bought a counterfeit set.

Where did you buy it from? Do you remember?

 

[Mifr44]

Well, not to be a captain obvious or anything, but you most probably bought a counterfeit set.

Where did you buy the set from? Do you remember?

I thought it was on Amazon, but I can't find record of it. Regardless, it seems many have been duped by the counterfeits. Not much I can do about it now except not to make the same mistake again.

 

[BobO'Link]

FWIW - *All* Shout! TVonDVD releases are on dual layer discs. If you get one that's not it's a counterfeit. There are some *very* good ones out there that absolutely look legit The only way to tell for sure is to check the disc capacity on a computer.

 

[Mifr44]

FWIW - *All* Shout! TVonDVD releases are on dual layer discs. If you get one that's not it's a counterfeit. There are some *very* good ones out there that absolutely look legit The only way to tell for sure is to check the disc capacity on a computer.

That's how I could tell. So, the best place to purchase this box set is with Shout! Factory directly?

 

[BobO'Link]

That's how I could tell. So, the best place to purchase this box set is with Shout! Factory directly?

It's the safest. I'd somewhat trust Amazon (*not* a MP vendor but a "sold and shipped by Amazon" item) but would immediately open a Shout! set and check the discs just to be safe.

 

[Mifr44]

I opted for the safe route and went with a Shout! purchase. I will be curious to see the video difference with the counterfeit box set. Not sure if they compressed the audio also with the counterfeits.

Of course, free shipping will likely mean I won't see it for two weeks, so any episode editing will have to wait. As it is, based on what others have been doing with their copies, my edits probably have less precision.

 

[dietcola]

this is my worry every time i got a good deal on a boxset that's been sitting sealed on my shelf for years. if it's a bootleg, that return window's long gone!

as far as my audio "restorations" go, cutting/pasting clips is pretty much all it amounts to. amateur stuff. but it's taken real effort to get results i can live with.

my least successful attempts so far:

first, the opening scene in for love or money. again, the syndi-cut doesn't catch all of "doctor, doctor." i prepared around eight seconds to cover that, and it sounds decent, but you can still tell when it switches over -- like the midrange opens up slightly, and it runs hotter. but, i really don't know what to do other than that 'cause there's SFX and dialogue in the scene...

the other one i've spent way too much time on is fever/tide, trying to work around "sympathy for the devil." the broadcast copy is poor, and the scene runs long, putting way too much attention on it. since shout drops the replacement completely after jennifer turns the speaker down, i tried combining the two tracks at that point with broadcast at a lower volume. problem is the timing shifts in and out causing doubling. last resort, i tried cutting up the whole scene into fresh sections. still wasn't right. i think i'm just going to go ahead and use the scene from broadcast, fix the two major audio blips (there's an audible gap as andy's singing along) and re-time it.

 

[dietcola]

^ just to put a capper on this whole thing: i ended up using the crappy audio for fever's talk-up, then switched to my own preparation after the replacement drops out. had to slow the song down by about half a semitone to match the tape, otherwise it was in a different spot by the end of the scene (and made the change-over very obvious). added a clean station ident (cin-ci-nnati!) from les on a ledge, threw in an edited "freak out" from the repeat then called it a day. it's serviceable, but i'm not satisfied and won't watch it this way. mr. tide might be my least favorite episode of the entire series, so it rarely gets watched anyway!

 

[dietcola]

a little thread bump. did the alt. contest using the FOX set, pasting over the credits with the nicolette larson & lip-gloss bit from the syndicated copy. simple to do. pleased with how it turned out. hadn't seen the shiavelli wrap-up in years! used to be i wasn't sure which one i preferred. when the shout box came out i really liked the original broadcast tag, and over time i just got used to that version.​

 

[Mifr44]

I opted for the safe route and went with a Shout! purchase. I will be curious to see the video difference with the counterfeit box set. Not sure if they compressed the audio also with the counterfeits.

Of course, free shipping will likely mean I won't see it for two weeks, so any episode editing will have to wait. As it is, based on what others have been doing with their copies, my edits probably have less precision.

So, the box set came from Shout! today, taking only four days from order to delivery. With the new set in hand, here are some observations:

• The Good: The discs are indeed double-sided, so the single-sided set I purchased four years ago was counterfeit.
• The Mostly Good: The video is a touch better than on the counterfeit set, at least viewed on a 27" monitor. On a 55" TV, there's less grain and smearing, but I wouldn't call the video quality vastly better. Just glad to have the best video quality Shout! released.
• The Neither Good Nor Bad: The audio appears to be identical to the counterfeit set. I can't say for certain, but the audio specs and the size of the audio portion of the episodes look to be the same. A side plus is any adjustments I made to the audio from the counterfeit I wish to retain I should be able to use the adjusted audio.
• The Bad (Or Let's Scare The Buyer): Given I was snake-bit on the previous purchase, I loaded up each disc on my PC to ensure they were double-sided. As noted above, they were, but the disc physically labeled as S3 Disc 2 actually had an internal label of S3 Disc 3. After several minutes of panic, I confirmed the internal label was wrong.
• The Ugly: This is a carryover from the counterfeit set, and it is probably something that has been discussed elsewhere in this long thread. Most of the S4 episodes have a widescreen aspect, stretching the expected 4:3 aspect ratio out to 16:9. I was hoping this was limited to the counterfeit set. Nope. Truly a messy setup.

 

[dietcola]

So, the box set came from Shout! today, taking only four days from order to delivery. With the new set in hand, here are some observations:

• The Ugly: This is a carryover from the counterfeit set, and it is probably something that has been discussed elsewhere in this long thread. Most of the S4 episodes have a widescreen aspect, stretching the expected 4:3 aspect ratio out to 16:9. I was hoping this was limited to the counterfeit set. Nope. Truly a messy setup.

i noticed this. wanted to fix it on my restored copies, and changing the AR flag seemed to correct it for VLC, but not standalone DVD/blu players.

glad you got a genuine set!

 

[Mifr44]

i noticed this. wanted to fix it on my restored copies, and changing the AR flag seemed to correct it for VLC, but not standalone DVD/blu players.

Are you burning back to disc? I created MKV files for the stretched episodes where I am able to reset the aspect ratio to 4:3 without re-encoding. From a USB drive on our TV, these MKV files remain 4:3, and they remain 4:3 for every player on my PC (VLC, MPC-HC, WMP).

 

[DaveF]

Are you burning back to disc? I created MKV files for the stretched episodes where I am able to reset the aspect ratio to 4:3 without re-encoding. From a USB drive on our TV, these MKV files remain 4:3, and they remain 4:3 for every player on my PC (VLC, MPC-HC, WMP).

This is better suited to the HTPC forum.

Home Theater PCs

HTPC and Media Center related topics here

www.hometheaterforum.com

 

[dietcola]

(^ MKVs. probably just a simple issue with my settings. i'll take another look at it later.)

 

[84lion]

Are you burning back to disc? I created MKV files for the stretched episodes where I am able to reset the aspect ratio to 4:3 without re-encoding. From a USB drive on our TV, these MKV files remain 4:3, and they remain 4:3 for every player on my PC (VLC, MPC-HC, WMP).

If you don't mind my asking, how did you do this? (What program, etc.?) I noticed this issue on the S4 eps. 1 and 2, and was rather disappointed. As noted below, I have upscaled (1080p) MKV files that I put on my server for Plex.

I also have the WKRP set, but got it on Ebay and it's a single-layer counterfeit. I saw the set on sale at Amazon recently for about $25 and almost thought about buying it...but I've already ripped the counterfeit and taken the time to run it thru Topaz Video AI upscaling software - I really don't want to go thru the process again, and the resulting files I got look acceptable on my 70" TV. Given the apparent very minor quality improvement in post #953, I guess I don't see the point in shelling out more money for the set. Especially since the set has the same issues with the stretched eps in S4.

 

[justarandomstan]

Just got my set and was surprised at how small it was, considering what I've seen from review videos on YT.

Instead of the 4 DVD cases each holding 3 DVDs and a cardboard slipcase, I got a set that consists of 2 DVD cases with each holding 6 DVDs and a cardboard slipcase.

Emailed SHOUT just to confirm that it's their set. Maybe it's a repackage of the original (that also had a bonus DVD afaik), so It's staying in its shrink wrap until I get a reply from them. Hopefully I won't have to return it, since it was a pretty great deal at the $25 or so I bought it for.

 

[Mifr44]

Just got my set and was surprised at how small it was, considering what I've seen from review videos on YT.

Instead of the 4 DVD cases each holding 3 DVDs and a cardboard slipcase, I got a set that consists of 2 DVD cases with each holding 6 DVDs and a cardboard slipcase.

Emailed SHOUT just to confirm that it's their set. Maybe it's a repackage of the original (that also had a bonus DVD afaik), so It's staying in its shrink wrap until I get a reply from them. Hopefully I won't have to return it, since it was a pretty great deal at the $25 or so I bought it for.

What you described with the cases is how I received them. Four years ago, I purchased (for cheap) the set with four DVD cases and the bonus DVD case (counterfeit). The set I received directly from Shout last week had two DVD cases. It's possible the counterfeits have resorted to the two DVD case setup.

The only way I could tell for sure was checking the DVDs in a PC. The counterfeit DVDs were single-sided. The Shout DVDs were double-sided and the video files for each episode were larger.

One thing to consider when purchasing from Shout. Once opened, you own it. You cannot return it or exchange it unless there's a problem. I'm not sure how accommodating they are with replacements.

I bring this up because I was disappointed to find out that Season 4 still has 14 of the 22 episodes in 16:9 aspect ratio. I was hoping they had it correct and it was a counterfeit issue. It isn't.

I contacted Shout about this, but so far they've ignored me. If this were an issue for someone, I would suggest going the Amazon route. At least with them you have a shot at returning it if it truly is annoying.