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Answerman - How Is A Dub Made in 5.1 When The Japanese Version Isn't?

Almost all Funimation TV series disk releases are 5.1. I assume they are upmixes (made with what??) since the alternative would be labor intensive and require raw materials that may not be available. But I don't know. Others like Sentai and Aniplex always release 2 channel.

If somebody actually knows what Funimation is doing I'd be interested to hear.

Unless my packaging is lying to me, Samurai Champloo and Ergo proxy both have JP 5.1. Though it seems to end there as both Michiko & Hatchin doesn't and Samurai Flamenco won't tell me its version.

Almost all Funimation TV series disk releases are 5.1. I assume they are upmixes (made with what??) since the alternative would be labor intensive and require raw materials that may not be available. But I don't know. Others like Sentai and Aniplex always release 2 channel.

I'm one of those snobs that hates faux-5.1. It makes the dub sound hollow and tinny through the center channel and is a huge reason I don't listen to a lot of FUNi's dubs (as well old ADV ones), save for the occasional native 5.1 mixes (which actually sound quite awesome in comparison!). The least they could do is also offer an English 2.0 option as well. Nothin' wrong with stereo.

I'm one of those snobs that hates faux-5.1. It makes the dub sound hollow and tinny through the center channel and is a huge reason I don't listen to a lot of FUNi's dubs (as well old ADV ones), save for the occasional native 5.1 mixes (which actually sound quite awesome in comparison!). The least they could do is also offer an English 2.0 option as well. Nothin' wrong with stereo.

I'm one of those snobs that hates faux-5.1. It makes the dub sound hollow and tinny through the center channel and is a huge reason I don't listen to a lot of FUNi's dubs (as well old ADV ones), save for the occasional native 5.1 mixes (which actually sound quite awesome in comparison!). The least they could do is also offer an English 2.0 option as well. Nothin' wrong with stereo.

I completely agree. They are almost always off balance. The music and effects are way too loud and drown out the dialogue. I often have to boost my center channel to hear the characters properly.

If you’re not going to do a true 5.1 mix, don’t bother. If I want fake 5.1, I can set my receiver to do that and get more balanced sound.

the early 2000's Manga Entertainment trash upmixes.

I've got a wodge load of these discs. Manga Ent UK would take the stereo audio, and upmix it to DD5.1 and DTS 5.1 for both languages, and they released quite a few two disc volumes that way, DD 5.1 on on disc, DTS on the other. Ghost in the Shell SAC was like that. But sometimes they'd stick it all on one disc. You have Otogi Zoshi volumes with five episodes, an hour of extras, English and Japanese DD 2.0, 5.1 and DTS 5.1, and the surprising thing is that the image still doesn't look like a VCD, it's still watchable. The first few Naruto discs are like that too. Stereo is the way to go on those discs, as the surround is awful.

Well I completely disagree. With proper audio setup the dialog in very loud on my 5.2.2 Atmos setup. Those that complain about not hearing voices in center need to adjust their settings correctly or get a better setup. The voices are extremely loud & very clear for me, FUNimation's balance is perfect on my setup.
They are true 5.1 mixes. There is a misunderstanding here. They aren't upmix or fake 5.1 so I don't know why I keep seeing that, were past the early 2000's Manga Entertainment trash upmixes. FUNimation makes native 5.1 mix like all multichannel mixes are created, using the separate materials(voice, music, sound effects).

You can't create true 5.1 mix if the original Japanese M&E tracks are stereo. Only your dub voice channels will be 5.1 and the vast majority of the time it will or should be positioned same as stereo anyways. The only way you can create a native 5.1/7.1 etc mix is if you have the original audio stems i.e. each sound effect on its own track, not mixed together. And they are most certainly not getting that since the originals aren't produced that way either.

cbm80 wrote:

Almost all Funimation TV series disk releases are 5.1. I assume they are upmixes (made with what??) since the alternative would be labor intensive and require raw materials that may not be available. But I don't know. Others like Sentai and Aniplex always release 2 channel. If somebody actually knows what Funimation is doing I'd be interested to hear.

Aniplex doesn't even do 5.1 when it already exists. The blu-ray re-release of Read or Die didn't have it, even though the Geneon DVDs did.

No, they can take a sound effect & move it. You don't need every sound effect isolated to make a 5.1 mix. Like Justin said, it is an art. FUNimation 5.1 are actual 5.1 mixes but the quality depends on the mixer crafting it. That's really what matters, like how they pan the sound effects is an important one.

Well I completely disagree. With proper audio setup the dialog in very loud on my 5.2.2 Atmos setup. Those that complain about not hearing voices in center need to adjust their settings correctly or get a better setup. The voices are extremely loud & very clear for me, FUNimation's balance is perfect on my setup.
They are true 5.1 mixes. There is a misunderstanding here. They aren't upmix or fake 5.1 so I don't know why I keep seeing that, were past the early 2000's Manga Entertainment trash upmixes. FUNimation makes native 5.1 mix like all multichannel mixes are created, using the separate materials(voice, music, sound effects).