Video:
My understanding regarding the video is that the pixelation, interlacing, and muddiness I encountered throughout the series, most noticeably in the original Slayers TV 26-episode set, was due to the source material used for the R1. I have heard that the source material was believed to be analog, even perhaps SVHS, so this could be the fault of Central Park Media/Software Sculptors. The video problems seem less noticeable in the last of the three series, TRY. I would grade TRY a 4.5 in video, with the rest of the series a 4.0.
My FX rip, while seemingly from the R1, looks as though FX took the R1 and made it worse. I believe this to be the case because of unplayable discs, skips, and problems mentioned in the audio section below. While unplayable discs and skips (checked on three players) could be attributed to a bad set, that wouldn't explain the audio issues. The video anomalies are known to be caused, in part or in full, by the source material. Having not seen the R1 version, I cannot say to what extent, if any, involves FX.
I may attach some screenshots of the muddy video.
Still, given the overall problems throughout the set mentioned throughout this review, I am inclined to believe FX's rip contributed to the problems.
Audio:
I found audio problems to be annoying, to the point where I returned the entire three-part set (TV, NEXT, TRY) for my money back, something I have never done with an FX set before.
FX apparently ripped the original Slayers TV version with the audio problems, not the remastered set, and ripped it in such a way that it was as though someone was standing there with the volume knob, adjusting my television set's volume up and down. The audio anomalies were not only in the opening songs, but also in the episodes themselves. The problems did not go away after the original Slayers TV series but continued into NEXT, with the cleanest being TRY. Often audio in TV and NEXT sounded echoing or tinny, and Lina's voice was actually grating on my nerves, it had so much treble in it. The extreme treble was there even when I adjusted the audio to have almost zero treble and increased the bass. The only workaround I found was to switch my Sony DVD's audio settings from "off" to "TV Standard." That at least made Lina's voice bearable, and helped reduce the echo, but did nothing about the volume increasing and decreasing.
Some random examples, and I checked these on three different DVD players, including a new Sony:
Original Slayers, Disc Two:
Chapters 5-10 have very muffled opening songs. Subpar, muffled sound throughout episodes; volume decreased.
Original Slayers TV, Disc Three: (when I refer to CH 1, I mean Chapter 1 of the relevant disc)
CH 1: Theme song echoes. Very muffled opening; continues throughout episode. Volume decreased.
CH 2: Theme song sounds better but not great. Audio too quiet.
CH 3: Audio still too quiet and volume turned down throughout episode. A muffled quality.
CH 4: Quieter than CH 3 after the opening song, in the episode. A muffled quality. Audio lacking in brightness.
CH 5: A comfortable level; a good mix, finally.
CH 6-9: The rest of the chapters on this disc sound muffled, and audio is lacking in brightness and clarity. Has a skip in it at marker 3242.
Slayers NEXT, Disc One:
CH 1 & 2: Audio too quiet and muffled. No crisp bright sounds.
CH 3: Audio very quiet.
CH 4: Audio louder, but still muffled and not bright.
CH 5: Same subpar audio.
CH 6: Audio starts way too quiet again. Muffled and indistinct. Lina's voice during chapter is a bit more distinct from background noises, but still not a good mix.
CH 7: Another bad audio of opening song. Episode itself was too quiet. Background music almost louder than voice actors.
CH 8: Audio sounded a bit better, at least the opening started a bit louder. But then it proceeded to get too loud. When ep starts, audio gets too quiet, not bright, a muffled mix.
CH 9: Same subpar audio.
SLAYERS NEXT, Disc Two:
CH 1: Audio sounds better, louder at least, but varies between loud and quieter.
CH 2: Audio once again gets too quiet.
CH 3: Audio gets louder again.
CH 4: Audio even louder than last episode.
CH 5: Audio even louder than last episode. Starting to hurt my ears.
CH 6: The loudest audio of all, yet.
etc.
The very least FX could have done would have been to rip the remastered TV series, instead of the original TV series with audio problems. There was also a remaster with problems, so in order for FX to minimize the audio problems, FX would have had to have ripped this from the third R1 set, which would be the second remastering of the TV series.
Subtitle:
I found audio problems to be annoying, to the point where I returned the entire three-part set (TV, NEXT, TRY) for my money back, something I have never done with an FX set before.
FX apparently ripped the original Slayers TV version with the audio problems, not the remastered set, and ripped it in such a way that it was as though someone was standing there with the volume knob, adjusting my television set's volume up and down. The audio anomalies were not only in the opening songs, but also in the episodes themselves. The problems did not go away after the original Slayers TV series but continued into NEXT, with the cleanest being TRY. Often audio in TV and NEXT sounded echoing or tinny, and Lina's voice was actually grating on my nerves, it had so much treble in it. The extreme treble was there even when I adjusted the audio to have almost zero treble and increased the bass. The only workaround I found was to switch my Sony DVD's audio settings from "off" to "TV Standard." That at least made Lina's voice bearable, and helped reduce the echo, but did nothing about the volume increasing and decreasing.
Some random examples, and I checked these on three different DVD players, including a new Sony:
Original Slayers, Disc Two:
Chapters 5-10 have very muffled opening songs. Subpar, muffled sound throughout episodes; volume decreased.
Original Slayers TV, Disc Three: (when I refer to CH 1, I mean Chapter 1 of the relevant disc)
CH 1: Theme song echoes. Very muffled opening; continues throughout episode. Volume decreased.
CH 2: Theme song sounds better but not great. Audio too quiet.
CH 3: Audio still too quiet and volume turned down throughout episode. A muffled quality.
CH 4: Quieter than CH 3 after the opening song, in the episode. A muffled quality. Audio lacking in brightness.
CH 5: A comfortable level; a good mix, finally.
CH 6-9: The rest of the chapters on this disc sound muffled, and audio is lacking in brightness and clarity. Has a skip in it at marker 3242.
Slayers NEXT, Disc One:
CH 1 & 2: Audio too quiet and muffled. No crisp bright sounds.
CH 3: Audio very quiet.
CH 4: Audio louder, but still muffled and not bright.
CH 5: Same subpar audio.
CH 6: Audio starts way too quiet again. Muffled and indistinct. Lina's voice during chapter is a bit more distinct from background noises, but still not a good mix.
CH 7: Another bad audio of opening song. Episode itself was too quiet. Background music almost louder than voice actors.
CH 8: Audio sounded a bit better, at least the opening started a bit louder. But then it proceeded to get too loud. When ep starts, audio gets too quiet, not bright, a muffled mix.
CH 9: Same subpar audio.
SLAYERS NEXT, Disc Two:
CH 1: Audio sounds better, louder at least, but varies between loud and quieter.
CH 2: Audio once again gets too quiet.
CH 3: Audio gets louder again.
CH 4: Audio even louder than last episode.
CH 5: Audio even louder than last episode. Starting to hurt my ears.
CH 6: The loudest audio of all, yet.
etc.
The very least FX could have done would have been to rip the remastered TV series, instead of the original TV series with audio problems. There was also a remaster with problems, so in order for FX to minimize the audio problems, FX would have had to have ripped this from the third R1 set, which would be the second remastering of the TV series.
Comment:
Disc Two of Slayers NEXT was completely unplayable on my Sony DVD player. Another two discs had skips in them.
Disc Two of Slayers NEXT did play on my iBook, but the audio was muffled in parts, as though someone had their hand over the microphone. (Note: I do not use the iBook to grade audio, as iBooks have small speakers not meant for decent sound. However, I did notice muffled audio, which was confirmed on the Sony player and one other player, both connected to quality sound systems.)
Disc One of the original Slayers TV series has a menu item called "Special Features." If you like listening to the Japanese version, there is no subtitling for this part of the disc. Your only options are to either listen to the English dub or listen to the Japanese audio with no subs.
Overall, despite the audio/video problems, this is an excellent three-part set regarding content, if you like comedy, sorcery, magic and monsters, with some dark moments. I highly recommend the content; I am hoping, however, that I can find another manufacturer who ripped the remastered version. Either that, or I just got a bad set of FX discs. The characters and plot in Slayers will keep you watching. There are a few filler eps in TRY, but just at the point I was getting annoyed, they skipped right back on track with the plot. Excellent, highly recommended collection.