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Huh What? I am sorry I can't hear you

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Originally posted by: Amused
Originally posted by: Gurck
Originally posted by: Amused
It's not the theater's fault, folks. The only way the theater could resolve this is to turn on sound compression to even out the highs and lows.

The fact is, movie makers are making dialogue VERY low, and effects VERY high. It's the same on DVDs.
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I've noticed this watching DVDs on my pc, I thought it was just my speakers or something... It's really hard to find a comfortable volume; if I turn it up enough to hear dialogue, music & sfx are above my comfort threshold, and vice versa 🙁 What gives?
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What gives is Hollywood sound engineers and film directors have equated volume with impact. They think it adds something to the movie if the action scenes burst your eardrums.
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Well when I whince in pain, the only thing impact I get is seeing the movie through one eye. Maybe that is the motive, you cannot see poor effects as well with one eye.
 
Originally posted by: joinT
It's so people who feel the need to speak during the movie can be drowned out 😛
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Exactly. I'm GLAD they do this. Its so loud that people CANNOT talk during the movie. And if they tried, I couldn't hear them because its so fvcking loud. I paid 7.50$ to hear the movie, not your synopsis of it. Its the movie theatre's way of saying "STFU!"
 
Originally posted by: PingSpike
Originally posted by: joinT
It's so people who feel the need to speak during the movie can be drowned out 😛
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Exactly. I'm GLAD they do this. Its so loud that people CANNOT talk during the movie. And if they tried, I couldn't hear them because its so fvcking loud. I paid 7.50$ to hear the movie, not your synopsis of it. Its the movie theatre's way of saying "STFU!"
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The problem is that low dialogue is still very quiet. And THOSE are the parts you need to hear, and the parts idiots talking ruin.
 
Yep, it's the way the filmmakers encode the sound, and it's VERY DAMNED ANNOYING. My DVD player can work around it if I override the Dolby Digital encoding; otherwise I have to constantly play with the volume control so as to simultaneously be able to hear the dialogue without blowing my neighbors out of their apartments anytime some action happens.

Gah..

You get the Rant o' the Day award.. :thumbsup:
 
The reference volume level for most cp500/650 sound processors is 7.0. This is what Dolby and most studios tell you to keep the volume level at.

From 6 years of working in the booth most of the time this is way too loud. Trailers have always been a problem (I had it setup at 5.0 for trailers, anywhere between 6.0-7.0 for the actual movie).

Directors/sound people can also set the volume level on each individual movie soundtrack, for example the most recent James Bond film (tomorrow never dies) the volume was so loud we had to run it at 4.5. They just cranked it so bad we had speaker clipping at 5.0.

I think alot of the reason that movies vary in volume so much is because as someone is working the sound, they just get used to the volume levels in their headphones and keep raising the volume little by little as the day goes on. Of course they also want their movie to be the loudest (same with trailers).

It's a very touchy subject, seniors hate the loud volume, and everyone wants their favorite movie cranking, this is probably one of the most common problems a theatre has to deal with. Most of them just don't even bother and just leave it at 7.0, no matter what it sounds like (even if its ear splitting).
 
Originally posted by: Gurck
Originally posted by: Amused
It's not the theater's fault, folks. The only way the theater could resolve this is to turn on sound compression to even out the highs and lows.

The fact is, movie makers are making dialogue VERY low, and effects VERY high. It's the same on DVDs.
Click to expand...

I've noticed this watching DVDs on my pc, I thought it was just my speakers or something... It's really hard to find a comfortable volume; if I turn it up enough to hear dialogue, music & sfx are above my comfort threshold, and vice versa 🙁 What gives?
Click to expand...

i have noticed the same thing
 
There is another factor. If the staff that previewed the print cranked up the volume to say 8-9 and forgot to reset the volume to 6-7 it would of course be much louder.

But, yes the volumes at which effects and dialogue are recorded can now differ greatly.
 
Originally posted by: Electric Amish
The volume is usually too low at the theaters I go to.
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yea same here

ive only been 2 one that was too loud, ive been to rock concerts that went as loud as it was
 
The noise level, and the rising costs - two reasons I haven't been to a theater since Star Wars Episode 1.


The fact is, movie makers are making dialogue VERY low, and effects VERY high. It's the same on DVDs.
Click to expand...
The Matrix was the first DVD we bought in this house; it damn near converted us back to VHS permanently. You can't hear any of the talking, but then a gun goes off, and it sounds like it's right next to your head. I imagine the VHS version is no different though. I run PowerDVD in Quiet mode, which does even out the sound a good bit - too bad my standalone player can't do that.
 
Originally posted by: joshsquall
Sit closer to the center of the theater so you're as far away from the speakers as possible.
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Not always a good idea - speakers actually have an optimal range for volume, and an optimal direction too. Since most of the speakers are above head level when you're at the side of the theater, it isn't always true that being farther away makes them quieter.

Try sitting all over the theater to see where the sound is quietest (it likely will not be the same in all theaters).

But I would assume 'audience immersion' and drowning out distractions (talking, kids crying, 'moaning') would be the main reasons for the higher volume. Sometimes it's way over the top though.
 
Originally posted by: Jeff7
The noise level, and the rising costs - two reasons I haven't been to a theater since Star Wars Episode 1.


The fact is, movie makers are making dialogue VERY low, and effects VERY high. It's the same on DVDs.
Click to expand...
The Matrix was the first DVD we bought in this house; it damn near converted us back to VHS permanently. You can't hear any of the talking, but then a gun goes off, and it sounds like it's right next to your head. I imagine the VHS version is no different though. I run PowerDVD in Quiet mode, which does even out the sound a good bit - too bad my standalone player can't do that.
Click to expand...

A lot of newer dvd players AND surround sound systems (even my cheap 20" TV) have audio functions to boost dialogue. THey are somtimes labelled confusingly though - I would have a look at your player manual because you might get lucky and find there is something that will help.
 
Haha, reminds me of once I went, and there was this rather old man moving the sound-controls of the cinema just in the beginning...'Blahblehjahcommercialgetthis**Bang*'..Ah, ok, I think, that is fine, no louder, k? ..*volume up* 'Blaahblehlbalhsl*BAANG* ..K, now it is a little too loud for everyone who isn't rather deaf, right? so please turn it down...*volume up* 'BLAHBLHSHEKBAKA *KRAAASH *BBBBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNGGGGGGG* WTF is wrong with you? Turn the volume DOWN and LEAVE!.....*old man leaves*
 
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