As I have mentioned, my regard for
Akira is broad and long-standing. In fact, visually, I regard it as the very apex of traditional animation. (I mean, it's hard to tell the difference at the top -- but it's very, very good.) But the new BD version claims "hypersonic" audio, and that I'm not so sure about.
Read the claims for yourself.
I mean, okay, 192 kHz sampling rate will get you the ability to represent 96 kHz frequencies. That's not in question. I'll even concede that some equipment can reproduce these sounds, although it's going to be dicey. But there's no way I believe that listening to an extended frequency range -- even when that frequency range is marshalled in the service of a work of such vast proficiency as
Akira -- will result in "the fundamental brain network" being activated "causing sounds and images to be perceived in a more beautiful, sensual, and emotional manner."
I haven't read the paper, so I'll assume their methodology is sound. However, several alternative explanations for their results are possible. Just offhand -- perhaps the limiting frequency of 20 kHz on the DVD results in nearly-inaudible, yet still unpleasant compression artifacts. (Many people can perceive sound in that range.) Maybe the improved sampling rate led to a more detailed waveform. Perhaps the remastering of the hypersonic track was simply better over the audible region. Maybe the extreme high-frequency sounds interact with the propogation of other sounds through the air, as in
another meaning of hypersonic. Maybe the additional speakers used for the hypersonic output affected the signal sent to the standard-range speakers.
Science is hard. I don't really mean to make light of the towering achievements of the creators of
Akira. I'll probably buy the disc, one of these days, and I don't doubt that I'll enjoy the hypersonic audio track more. But I am quite convinced that I'll enjoy it because of wishful thinking, or confirmation bias, or possibly just because it's better -- and not because it "activates the fundamental brain network."
words from chris, 2009-04-01 02:28:45, los angeles
