Raising volume level of DVDs playing

duragezic

Lifer
Oct 11, 1999
11,234
4
81
This happened with my onboard sound and now Audigy, as well as my old speakers, my new X530s, and headphones. I only have this one DVD drive tho so that could be the problem.

Whenever I play movie DVDs (via Media Player Classic always) the sound is ridiculously quiet. I have to turn the speakers up very high to hear voices, which compared to games or music where I barely need the speakers turned up. I have every applicable volume control at 100% and still need my speakers cranked to the point that they hum. Headphones have always been super loud even at 20% volume control, but in DVDs I need it nearly maxed (but at least it is loud enough then). What's going on?? I have a SB Audigy Platinum soft-modded to a Audigy 2 ZS, which basiclaly just means I can use Audigy 2 ZS drivers and software.

My current installed Audigy apps are EAX Console, Speaker Settings, THX Console, and Speaker Calibrator. I use Media Player Classic to play DVDs and I haven't found any sound setting that made it any louder. Anything I can do to fix the volume??
 

Cerb

Elite Member
Aug 26, 2000
17,484
33
86
Even well-recorded, well-mastered music will usually be louder than a movie, because a typical movie, especially one with explosions and such, needs a lot of dynamic range.

I have a totally different setup (Philips Aurilium->Xin Supermini-3->headphones), and also have to raise the volume for most any movie, and some music, too. Not everything should be the same volume. Most newer music is (clipression = BAD!), and games are meant to be loud. The solution is this: a Platinum should have volume knobs. Use them liberally.
 

YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Moderator<br>A/V & Home Theater<br>Elite member
Aug 6, 2001
31,204
45
91
Yeah, DVDs being hard to hear in comparison to music is normal.

You might be able to eliminate the hum from your system if it's caused by interference or something. Are the unused inputs on the soundcard all muted?
 

Auric

Diamond Member
Oct 11, 1999
9,591
2
71
The solution is to reduce the dynamic range either on an external hardware decoder or else the software decoder being used.

If MPC's internal AC3 & DTS decoders are being used (see Play - Filters drop down menu during playback) then under Options - Audio Decoders, try messin' with Dynamic Range Control or Normalize/Boost.

Alternatively disable those filters and use Creative's decoders instead and set to reduced dynamic range. They are configured from AudioHQ or the Audio Console... which are curiously absent from your list. Creative's decoder is enabled by default so may take precedence over other decoders unbeknownst to the average user.

Note that the Audio Console largely eliminates the need for most of the older apps such as AudioHQ, EAX Console and Speaker Settings.
 

duragezic

Lifer
Oct 11, 1999
11,234
4
81
Ok. I was trying to watch Bad Boys 2 tonight but it was easily the worst. The music over the voices made it impossible to hear them unless it was cranked and with quick scenes switching every 5 seconds to a huge explosion or some loud boomastic music, I was scrambling for the volume control the whole time.


My Platinum doesn't have volume knobs for master volume. Only line-in and headphone adjustments.

Yes, all of my unused inputs are muted. In fact, the only non-muted sounds are Master, Wave, and Auxillary 2 (for cable TV).

And finally, I do have Dynamic Range Control enabled, as well as Normalized and Boost all the way. I don't notice a single difference between changing those settings. I'm doing it under AC3. I thought that was what DVDs used. I also have decode to 3 Front + 2 Rear but there doesn't seem to be any option to increase center speaker volume.

I got the new Audigy drivers released on the 24th and since they were with the A2 drivers, I figured a soft-mod was no longer needed. However, Audio Console doesn't have settings for reduced dynamic range or separate speaker settings. In fact, it seems very limited with its settings. It doesn't have anything like THX which had a ton of settings for adjusting gain on different speakers. That seemed to somewhat work since I put 'Voices' all the way up wherever I seen it, but it was a different movie that may've just not been that bad for voices, plus I don't have that app anymore, tho I may be able to install just that.
 

duragezic

Lifer
Oct 11, 1999
11,234
4
81
Has anyone using MPC and 5.1 speakers, as well as an Audigy/2, been able to rectify the situation with settings? As I said, none of the setting seemed to do anything for me. I suppose I could try a different player, but I've really been happy with MPC for everything.
 

Auric

Diamond Member
Oct 11, 1999
9,591
2
71
Are you sure MPC's internal decoder is being used during playback? If not then the adjustment needs to be made in the decoder that is. If it is, then try a different decoder such as Cyberlink's or the free fddshow.