Gaming Peripheral company Razer acquires THX

Razer Acquires THX »

 

As a once-great brand name continues to spiral downwards. The moment they started putting THX® labels on car stereo cables, I said, "I'm out."

I can tell you that Tom Holman (essentially the "TH" of "THX") was not happy in the 1980s when they started expanding the brand to a lot of accessories. He was good with pro speakers, crossovers, surround processors, and even the THX-approved video transfers, but once it got beyond that, I think Holman was kind of repelled. He left in 1995 when things got pretty whacked over there and started his own company, TMH, which only does certification of film sound mixing and playback systems.

 

Is this why THX is back in the theater alignment program business? They announced a new theater certification partnership for Cinemark XD theaters back in May of 2017.

They're still tarnishing the brand with HDMI cable, soundbars, laptops and multimedia speakers.

 

That legendary THX swelling sound during their logo sequence before a movie starts is awesome though.

The Simpsons did a funny rif on it.

 

I've never had the chance to hear the deep note in the theater as to the best of my knowledge the Philadelphia area never had a THX certified theater. That is until the forthcoming Cinemark XD screen in south Jersey.

 

Used the DVD released by THX in early 2000's.

I doubt Razer will remaster to Blu-ray media? Oh well.

 

Not sure I ever saw the DVD, but I remember when the THX WOW demo disc was highly prized by laserdisc collectors. THX didn't sell it (IIRC, it was provided to equipment dealers), so copies were expensive when they wound up being offered by third-party sellers.

 

Yeah, I had several copies of the WOW disc back in the day, and also a DVD version. The best thing about it was the mix breakdown on that scene from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, where they strip down about 100 audio layers and show how a 1-minute scene was recorded, edited, had added sound effects, foley, music, and looped dialogue, all the way to the final mix. Wonderful sequence.

The regular WOW demo was impressive as well, and I've seen it at least a hundred times.

 

Curious about the price.

Razer acquires audiovisual icon THX as it explores growth beyond the games industry

Razer’s CEO Min-Liang Tan said in an interview that the terms of the deal are not being disclosed. But as part of the purchase, 33-year-old THX will be “spun out” and operated as a “startup,” recapitalized by Razer; run independently of it under existing management, led by Ty Ahmad-Taylor out of San Francisco; and focusing on developing new things.

Currently, THX employs 50 people, including a number of top audio and graphics engineers and scientists; the plan will be to ramp up those numbers both at the HQ and in other offices in countries like China to tap into the growing market there for films, tech and any other content that could be improved with better audiovisual quality.

THX has been through a few ownership phases since being founded in 1983, and the only one of those where a price was publicly attached to the company was when Creative Technologies, a Singaporean company, acquired a 60 percent stake from Lucasfilm reportedly for $8 million in 2002, implying a valuation of a mere $13 million.

That price was never confirmed, and when I mentioned it to Min, as Tan is known, all I got in response was: “2002 is not today,” and a laugh. (By the time of the Razer acquisition, Min said that Creative Technologies no longer was the majority owner; a PE firm was. Min declined to give specifics about the shareholders involved.)

Razer itself has disclosed at least $125 million in funding, with investors including China’s LianLuo (Beijing Digital Grid), Intel and Accel. It’s currently valued at $1.5 billion, but has never been public about its revenues or other metrics. This is Razer’s second acquisition, after it purchased gaming startup Ouya’s software, technology and development teams in an all-cash deal in 2015.

 

Does this mean that THX is making a come back to cinema rooms? I personally doubt it. THX was cool in the 90's but hasn't been for a long time. My Elite Pioneer A/V receiver is THX certified, I tested its THX Cinema mode with 4 or 5 movies which sound I know well, being Independence Day one of them, and I didn't like how it sounded. Now that specific mixes for home video are made and cinema mixes are not ported over to home media I don't think THX is necessary anymore.

 

The fact that THX made a big deal about certifying the best screens in the Cinemark chain means they’re trying.

I’ll admit that stopped using the THX modes on my 2009 Pioneer Elite SC-25 shortly after setup, but I still appreciated the THX stamp of approval for amplifier specifications and bass management/crossover settings.

Other than a few Disney features, what movies are remixed for home video?

 

I think most of today DVD/BD/UHD BD video releases have tailor-made mixes for home enviroment, if you listened to AC-3 tracks on LaserDiscs back in the 90's you'd know what I'm talking about. They were overly bright, had earth shattering bass and very high dinamic range. Without THX to tame all this and keep sound under control one had to rely on Dolby Digital's built in dinamic range control metadata, receiver's equalization and control the volume up and down once in a while.

 

You know, I have to defend Razer. They do make some quality, reasonably priced PC peripherals.

They're not the final word in gaming mice or keyboards but I've been happy with the ones I purchased and find myself using them more than my more expensive Corsair or Das Keyboards.

Plus the LED keyboard sound visualizer is actually really cool on the Chroma X Blackwidow. I feel wrong saying that but it come on I wish I could bring one back to 1994. PERFECT for my floppies full of Zeppelin MIDIs.