Home Theater. Loud music, quiet voices.

[casino187]

I'm sorry if this is in the wrong forum.

Does anyone else have the problem while watching a movie? During the music/action scenes the speakers will be real loud, but when people are talking I always have to turn it up to hear them. I've also noticed this on other people's setup.

I'm not sure if it is the DVD, DVD player, speakers, or it's normal.

[whoaru99]

Have you calibrated the speaker levels?

Do you have the DVD player set to bitstream output and not PCM output?

Do you have a center channel speaker or a phantom center channel?

[mikecazzx]

Originally Posted by casino187

I'm sorry if this is in the wrong forum.

Does anyone else have the problem while watching a movie? During the music/action scenes the speakers will be real loud, but when people are talking I always have to turn it up to hear them. I've also noticed this on other people's setup.

I'm not sure if it is the DVD, DVD player, speakers, or it's normal.

Sounds like your software or receiver are not sending out 5.1 correctly.

Something is off - try new software as well as settings on the receiver.

[casino187]

Originally Posted by whoaru99

Have you calibrated the speaker levels?

Do you have the DVD player set to bitstream output and not PCM output?

Do you have a center channel speaker or a phantom center channel?

I have a center channel speaker. I guess, if all the vocals were coming out of the center channel, I could turn it up some. I'm not at home to see about the pcm or bitstream.

[whoaru99]

On your way home you should pick up a Radio Shack sound level meter...

[g_bartman]

See if your receiver has a "dynamic range compression" mode of some sort. I have also see it refered to as "midnight theater." It decreases the sound effects and increases the dialogue. A lot of movies have wide dynamic range, too much sometimes.

[cneely8]

>On your way home you should pick up a Radio Shack sound level meter...

I second this. I held off for a long time, thinking it would be overkill, but when I did my Denon auto set-up, then tweaked the channel levels a little "by ear" (because I must know best) I had occasional difficulty in action packed scenes that included dialogue. A great test scene is the opening of Saving Private Ryan, because there is some dialogue about 5 minutes into it that can be very hard to hear if your system isn't set-up right.

I got the meter, set everything to 75 db at volume=0, and realized to my shame and surprise that I was VERY close to the original Denon-chosen sound levels. Not exact, and I think it souonds better than what the Denon chose, but it's way closer to what the Denon chose than to what I changed it to in my "all-knowing" adjustments. Now the dialogue is completely clear, yet the surround noises are still dizzying, explosive, loud, and hectic in the scene.

Get the SPL meter. GREAT tool.

[whphel]

Originally Posted by cneely8

>On your way home you should pick up a Radio Shack sound level meter...

I second this. I held off for a long time, thinking it would be overkill, but when I did my Denon auto set-up, then tweaked the channel levels a little "by ear" (because I must know best) I had occasional difficulty in action packed scenes that included dialogue. A great test scene is the opening of Saving Private Ryan, because there is some dialogue about 5 minutes into it that can be very hard to hear if your system isn't set-up right.

I got the meter, set everything to 75 db at volume=0, and realized to my shame and surprise that I was VERY close to the original Denon-chosen sound levels. Not exact, and I think it souonds better than what the Denon chose, but it's way closer to what the Denon chose than to what I changed it to in my "all-knowing" adjustments. Now the dialogue is completely clear, yet the surround noises are still dizzying, explosive, loud, and hectic in the scene.

Get the SPL meter. GREAT tool.

There are also some movies out there where the dialog is not recorded worth a sh*t so now when you have the problem in the future it will more than likely be the dvd in error.

[casino187]

I think it may be the DVD. I'm about to watch The Grizzly Man, so we'll see if it happens. Although, this is a documentary so it may be all vocals.

Thanks for all of your replies.

[Napoleon D]

Casino187 ->

I am 95% positive that the "Dynamic Range Compresion" feature will solve your problem. I don't think this is an issue of calibrating your speakers. Simply speaking, all sound meters aside, they should all be at equal volume levels.

I had the exact same issue as you did. It seemed i had to always be at guard with the audio remote - turning up with dialogue, but having to turn down explosions and such. This is obviously not the way to relax and enjoy a movie.

Your receiver should have a "D. Range Compression" setting. As someone mentioned above. It may also be referred to as "night watching" etc. If the receiver doesn't have this setting, your dvd player might. My receiver's "D. Range Comp." settings are Medium and High. Medium setting was perfectly sufficient.

Beware - I have yet to see a piece of equipment I've owned that can compress DTS, so far it ONLY works for Dolby Digital. While I think DTS is better sounding - my speakers, my room, and my ears cannot handle the overpowering range of its volume/sound. Dolby Digital can be controlled nicely from this end.

[Glennt]

Originally Posted by Napoleon D

Casino187 ->

I am 95% positive that the "Dynamic Range Compresion" feature will solve your problem. I don't think this is an issue of calibrating your speakers. Simply speaking, all sound meters aside, they should all be at equal volume levels.

I agree that this is at least part of the issue. During casual listening, especially with guests over, the volume is often turned down in our home, and dialog can be difficult to hear. My in-laws were over just days after our son was born and stayed with us and they are used to high TV volumes but not overwhelming HT effects. While watching LOTR, I was often asked to turn it down during action sequences, but when Gandalf was whispering, it had to go back up.

Without an SPL meter, maybe try erroring on the side of having the center marginally louder than the rest, and see if that helps. It helped a bit until my inlaws left. (Well, I turned down the sub a tad bit as well)

[Latin-Man]

some DVD players have a "voice attenuation" or enhancer feature you can try using. or crank up your center speaker and make sure they are all set to either small or large. Make sure you got Dolby Digital 5.1 and not Pro-Logic sound going through.

[bpape]

It's your room. The uncontrolled bass is muddying up the dialog to the point of unintelligibility. This is a very common problem and a very normal symptom.

You should not have to put compression into the equation unless you are listening at low levels late at night and you need to keep it down. Otherwise, you're robbing yourself of what your system is capable of and what the movie has recorded.

[NCDave]

Originally Posted by Latin-Man

some DVD players have a "voice attenuation" or enhancer feature you can try using. or crank up your center speaker and make sure they are all set to either small or large. Make sure you got Dolby Digital 5.1 and not Pro-Logic sound going through.

Yep, I have an el-cheapo Panasonic DVD player which has a "Dialog Enhancer" button right on the front panel. It works great, though I have not found a need to use it now that all the speakers are set to the right level. In fact, when I turn it on now, the voices seem too loud.

[blackroses]

Hi. I'm new here yet have a question about the whole 'quiet voices' thing.

I've got Windows Media Centre and my dvd player is pretty much a dvd drive.
Logitech speakers and surround sound.
So, when the volume's at full blast, it's IMPOSSIBLE to hear the voices of those on dvds. I have the centre volume on full and the surround and sub really low but they still speak quieter than a whisper.
I tried pressing multiple combinations of buttons on the remote. Direct, Optical, Coax.. I'm really no expert on this.
And it's SOOOO annoying!

Help pleeease !

[mderka]

I agree with bpape. I had a similar thing in my room untill I added several acoustic panels and a couple of bass traps. After recalibration, DVD's that I had trouble hearing soft voices on prviously were now clear and easy to hear.

Sure you can probably mask this by jacking up the center channel level, but if you have the means to improve the acoustics, its the first step in the right direction.

[nina73078]

hi guys, what exactly does a sound level meter do? i read the question about controlling volume so it doesnt jump up in action scenes...this is exactly what ive been looking for. so i went to radio shack and asked about the meter, the guy said it only MEASURES the sound? so i guess to actually set a level i would have to do it on my audio reciever? i dont think my reciever can do that i was so excited, i thought i finally found what i needed. but i was also disappointed because i thought i invented it, i was just getting ready to call that patent service you see on tv all the time.
thanks for your help, nina.

[hometheaterguy]

Everyone here has some great suggestions, I just wanted to add that "home theater", (and even commercial theater) has quiet passages of dialog, soft sound effects, then sudden transient bursts of sound effects. Surround comes and goes, bass comes and goes, this is processing. But, in his case it may be about calibration and, or settings and even room acoustic help.

[mderka]

nina, you may want to start a new thread to get more responses, but generally yes, you need to set speaker levels through your receiver. the SPL meter only registers how loud something is playing. Post what type of receiver you are using and someone should know if you can adjust individual speaker levels.

[happyhomaker]

I have had this problem for the past couple of weeks with my laptop. It has driven me CRAZY!! But I finally figured it out tonight after reading several posts on this and several forums.
The problem was with the 3D depth volume. I went into Control Panel, chose Sounds & Audio Devices, under the Volume tab, in the Volume section I clicked on the Advanced button and moved the sliders till I came to the 3D Depth, As soon as I lowered the volume here the voices came up to a normal level. After adjusting some of the adjoining sliders I had the music level and the voiced at normal levels and was ecstatic!!!
Hope this helps lower some blood pressures.

[Napoleon D]

I'm guessing that these dvd sound mixes are ideally supposed to be played in larger/theater rooms - which is a far cry from a living room. My apeakers/sub are calibrated as exact as possible with each other and it still is impossible playing full-range while keeping at 1 volume setting.

I have an older JVC receiver that has few special features for room adjustment (I still think it sounds better than many newer receivers), and I find it impossible to play a full-range soundtrack without riding the remote-volume. There are some movies that come close to being acceptible at one volume, but there's always that one peak that puts it over-the-edge.

Is anyone able to pull of a full-range soundtrack at one volume in a living room - per the whole discussion above concerning dialogue/effects? I like to have reasonably loud dialogue that has greater sensory impact, but also audible at all times.

I know the room causes peaks, but not eveyone has the means to treat every corner. Is it even possible to play full range at one volume in an average (yet moderately treated) living room? My only guess to a solution is to have a receiver that records the room response - and if it knows there are peaks at certain volumes, the receiver would then attenuate it.

DRC is a tradeoff in every sense. While it solves the problem of peaks and nulls perfectly for me, the audio is very fatiguing. I read the "loudness wars" articles and they confirmed what I had been experiencing - that DRC audio is a brighter-sounding track that indeed can tire the ears out faster.

My goal is to be able to play full-range in a medium/large sized living room at one volume.

[ralfwolf]

Originally Posted by casino187

I'm sorry if this is in the wrong forum.

Does anyone else have the problem while watching a movie? During the music/action scenes the speakers will be real loud, but when people are talking I always have to turn it up to hear them. I've also noticed this on other people's setup.

I'm not sure if it is the DVD, DVD player, speakers, or it's normal.

What you are experiencing is the feature of digital audio which extended the dynamic range? Basically, movies are mixed to be played at a reference level which is probably too loud for most people at home especially if you have kids in bed. Dynamic range on most DVD's (and players) nowadays is greater than 90-100dB (ratio of the loudest sound to the quietest sound). At reference levels, the dialog is understandable and the special effects are impressive. If you are trying to watch a movie in a quiet environment, such as after the kids go to bed, you'll turn the volume down. Since human hearing is not linear, the affect will be the dialog will be almost impossible to hear while the special affects is still quite loud.

Enter Dynamic Range Compression (DRC, night mode, midnight mode, etc.).. As many have mentioned, this feature actually compresses the whole audible range so that the loudest sound will be much closer in volume than the quietest sound. Basically, you are loosing what DD/DTS have worked so hard to give you. Although, I once detested the idea of DRC, I've come to appreciate it now that I have kids. It is one of the easiest ways to resolve the issues related to low volume movie watching. I don't think there is an easy way around it. I've got a "night mode" set for each of my inputs that turns on drc and adjusts various speaker levels to make the center louder than the rest. The DRC is not technically a separate soundtrack but a calculated alteration of the existing soundtrack. It should not sound brighter as a rule but one of the typical things that a "midnight mode" does beyond simple drc is that it attenuates the bass. It may also use a treble boost to enhance typical voice frequencies. Neither of these are part of the basic DRC. BTW, if you can't find DRC on your receiver, it can sometimes be found on DVD players as well.

No matter what, you have to face that this is not your ideal listening environment and live with it. I don't think an SPL meter will help you in this regard but having one is always good for adjusting your speakers in general.

[Bing]

the audio is very fatiguing.

Sometimes you can blame the mix. Most times, it's a combo of your speakers and the room. Trust me, it is possible to drive a system at reference without having it drive you outta the room. You just need a dedicated room and some money.

[Napoleon D]

Sometimes you can blame the mix. Most times, it's a combo of your speakers and the room. Trust me, it is possible to drive a system at reference without having it drive you outta the room. You just need a dedicated room and some money.

Right, but most of us do not have dedicated rooms. I still wonder how anyone is able to play a full range soundtrack in a living room. That is, a soundtrack where the center isn't boosted a few db's up. Even still, a lot of effects come from center-channel, which means you're not solving the balancing nulls/peaks completely with this solution either.

Again, DRC is perfect with the null/peak balance. But there is something about the DRC soundtrack that is overly bright on ALL mixes - meaning it creates that pressure & ringing in the ears, even at lower volumes. The digital sound especially does this, but switching to analog DD (despite that optical cable is used) is more bearable.

[scrapser]

I posted about this issue in a separate thread but what is described here is exactly what I'm trying to solve. I have a Panasonic BD-30 Blu-Ray player hooked up to a Bose V20 5.1 system. The player has the Dynamic Range Compression available in the settings menu so I will be trying it out tonight after work. It also has an audio adjustment menu for changing the volume level of each audio channel output. I will be tweaking that as well if the DRC isn't satisfactory.

I was watching "Master and Commander - The Far Side of the World" and when the ships start firing their cannons at each other the whole room started shaking. All this while the voices sounded normal. I live in an apartment so I need to manage this to avoid problems with the neighbors.

[ralfwolf]

Originally Posted by scrapser

I posted about this issue in a separate thread but what is described here is exactly what I'm trying to solve. I have a Panasonic BD-30 Blu-Ray player hooked up to a Bose V20 5.1 system. The player has the Dynamic Range Compression available in the settings menu so I will be trying it out tonight after work. It also has an audio adjustment menu for changing the volume level of each audio channel output. I will be tweaking that as well if the DRC isn't satisfactory.

I was watching "Master and Commander - The Far Side of the World" and when the ships start firing their cannons at each other the whole room started shaking. All this while the voices sounded normal. I live in an apartment so I need to manage this to avoid problems with the neighbors.

DRC will help but if your problem is LFE output, then that's much easier to fix. Just turn down your sub channel or the volume on the back of the sub itself. Solution 2: invite your neighbors over to watch.

[Will d s]

This problem is frequently caused by speaker placement, lots of center channels have poor positioning such as a shelf under your tv. Try to place the center so that it is aimed towards the primary listening position.

[DaBuzzard]

Originally Posted by scrapser

I was watching "Master and Commander - The Far Side of the World" and when the ships start firing their cannons at each other the whole room started shaking. All this while the voices sounded normal. I live in an apartment so I need to manage this to avoid problems with the neighbors.

Hmmmm, I thought that was why I spent a couple years of mortgage payments on gear....to get the DYNAMIC RANGE the director intended.

If the noise bothers the neighbors.....night mode / drc / whatever to reduce the range but it kind of defeats the whole concept.