Rating: 
Summary: And they wonder why ....
Review: I have several options in copying many of the DVDs I rent. I rented this DVD from Netflix and it was of such a poor quality that I didn't even copy it. I'm back on Amazon looking for a good Audio CD of the soundtrack and it seems that there is none to be found. As a matter of fact, one reviewer of one of the Audio CDs was hoping that the Video DVD would offer some relief. Sorry, no help here.
Rating:
Summary: Sound issues and the original
Review: I have the original soundtrack on LP, with the NBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Richard Rogers himeself. It's my father's and needless to say, it does not get much play time for preservation sake. I also own both CDs "Victory at Sea" and "MORE Victory at Sea," (BMG Music 1992) both conducted by Robert Russel Bennett and contain slightly arraigned versions of the very familar complete soundtrack by the RCA Symphony Orchestra and is remixed in extremely good Dolby Surround. The original soundtrack is fairly clear and does sound a little tinny and was recorded in mono. (Unless it was a dual issue in both stereo and mono. I only have the mono.) While a properly mixed original soundtrack would sound great, IMHO, the Dolby version would sound even better. What I'm getting at is, it's not the soundtrack's fault this apparently sounds so bad. I really wanted to buy this, but I think I'll hold off and wait and see.
Rating:
Summary: Sound issues and the original
Review: I have the original soundtrack on LP, with the NBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Richard Rogers himeself. It's my father's and needless to say, it does not get much play time for preservation sake. I also own both CDs "Victory at Sea" and "MORE Victory at Sea," (BMG Music 1992) both conducted by Robert Russel Bennett and contain slightly arraigned versions of the very familar complete soundtrack by the RCA Symphony Orchestra and is remixed in extremely good Dolby Surround. The original soundtrack is fairly clear and does sound a little tinny and was recorded in mono. (Unless it was a dual issue in both stereo and mono. I only have the mono.) While a properly mixed original soundtrack would sound great, IMHO, the Dolby version would sound even better. What I'm getting at is, it's not the soundtrack's fault this apparently sounds so bad. I really wanted to buy this, but I think I'll hold off and wait and see.
Rating:
Summary: 5 stars for content but ZERO stars for TERRIBLE AUDIO MIX
Review: I loved the content. Other reviewers here have verbalized my feelings concerning the quality of the video. However, the sound mix is so poor that if you set the volume to an appropriate sound level for the very nice music you are completely unable to hear the voice of the narrator. Even if you have your finger on the volume control constantly you are unable to dynamically raise and lower the audio volume to both hear the hear the narrator without blasting your ear drums with the elevated music sound level. I would advise anyone buying this DVD set to consider it acceptable ONLY if you listen to it with a 5 channel speaker set up with a dedicated center channel (for speech, etc.) where you are able to individually raise and lower that channel of sound. Even then you may be astonished just how much boost the center channel is going to need compared with the other sound channels. Frankly, this DVD release needs to be redone as far as the audio is concerned! Other than that, the video is great....
Rating:
Summary: Problems!
Review: I must agree with the audio comments.It would be very costly, but this series deserves full digital video restoration with a re-recorded soundtrack. I have a complete DVD set I bought in Australia years ago: Although not digitally restored, everything, narration and music, is balanced as in the original. The original score was not recorded in the best available manner even for 1952, and is very bandwidth limited (tinny).
Rating: 
Summary: Was the sound engineer sleeping?
Review: I read the reviews and the problems with the sound variations but I chose not to believe them. "Victory at Sea" was a landmark documentary of its day. The Rogers soundtrack has been with us echoing in our minds since the 50's. I awaited with eager anticipation for its release on DVD and The History Channel dares to place its name on the box of this publication. Shame!!! I could understand variations from episode to episode in the decibels of sound (though that is not even necessary with today's technology), but the range of volume fluctuations within one episode is inexcusable. A remastered version in both video and above all in audio would not be amiss. Come on now A&E and the History Channel give us the real goods.
Rating: 
Summary: Victory at Sea DVD Is Awesome
Review: I recently purchased this DVD and was very skeptical after reading all the comments about the sound track. However, I didn't find any issues with either the sound track or the narrative for all four volumes. I have a Panasonice DVD Player with the Dolby Digital,DTS Digital Surround and MPEG, and the music score by Richard Rogers is one of the reasons for buying this DVD. It is a " Must Have" for military history buffs. If you have a PC with a DVD/CD ROM Combination, you can use it to view this DVD and adjust the sound track to blend in with the narrative.
Rating:
Summary: Victory at Sea DVD Is Awesome
Review: I recently purchased this DVD and was very skeptical after reading all the comments about the sound track. However, I didn't find any issues with either the sound track or the narrative for all four volumes. I have a Panasonice DVD Player with the Dolby Digital,DTS Digital Surround and MPEG, and the music score by Richard Rogers is one of the reasons for buying this DVD. It is a " Must Have" for military history buffs. If you have a PC with a DVD/CD ROM Combination, you can use it to view this DVD and adjust the sound track to blend in with the narrative.
Rating:
Summary: another poor sound mixed review
Review: I started to watch this with my father. I have to agree with everybody else, the sound was processed for the music, not the narration. Peter Graves opens each chapter with a short discussion. Set your audio system for the introduction, and then you must reset it for the Richard Rogers music, and then turn up the volume for narration. As everybody else writes, you can not hear the narration. N.B.C. should go into the vaults and pull the sound reels out to remaster the audio. I don't care about the idea that Roger's music could be processed in stereo. The masters most likely were recorded in mono. All they have to do is pull the music down and bring up the narration.
It is ashame that many of the WWII veterans may have hearing problems to begin with. Wouldn't it benefit them to rework the audio so they can hear the program, before it's too late.............
Rating:
Summary: Not what you'd expect from the History Channel
Review: I was greatly dissapointed in this 4 disc set from the History Channel. I have VHS versions of some episodes, and they are much superior in both picture and sound quality. What happened? The editing/compilation of the DVD's is VERY poorly done, the intro to each segment (by Peter Graves) is much louder than the following program, so you constantly have to run the volume up and down ( and not just a little +/- 100% ). The resulting sound is muddy, with severe flutter and poor dynamic range ( film not kept tight on the sound drum during transfer ). The narration of the episodes is hard to hear, while the sound effects and music come blaring out at you - drowning out everything. The overall effect is about what you might expect of a high school kid's first attempt at making a home movie - and only a C- at that. There is no capability to play the entire disc, you must select each episode from the main menu, and then select "play this episode" again from the sub-menu, repeated seven times for each disc. I was supremely dissapointed - I have many History channel DVD's, and this is far and away the worst - a prime example of "let's make a quick buck - people are too stupid to care" thinking...The History Channel ought to be ashamed of themselves !!! if I had paid the $ 60.00 list price I would have really been outraged - as it was for $ 40.00 I still felt cheated and ripped off. It is hard to imagine what the producers of the original series would think - this was one of the finest original programs ever shown on TV - and to have the DVD's be so crudely done - no attempt to clean up the picture, no effort put into making the sound anywhere close to even, some episodes are very loud ( even distorted ) and some you can hardly hear, the inconvienient playback features, and cheesy packaging all contribute to the worst transfer, poorest DVD watching experience I have ever come accross. A Golden Rasberry candidate if ever there was one.
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