There is too much dynamic range in the audio of modern movies and TV...

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futurefields

Diamond Member
Jun 2, 2012
6,470
32
91
Can't get a decent volume level watching Walking Dead... the dialogue is super quiet, then a zombie appears and it's "RAHHH!"

Same thing with movies like Man of Steel, Inception, Dark Knight etc.... the dialogue is really quiet and the action scenes and music are incredibly pumped up.

This is suitable for theater viewing not home viewing. Netflix should incorporate a dynamic range compression feature you can turn on which compresses all the audio over a certain threshold. I feel like TV's and such should have this feature as well.
 
destrekor

destrekor

Lifer
Nov 18, 2005
28,799
359
126
Most A/V receivers have an ability to limit the range, but quality and ability can be hit and miss.

When I watch movies at times I don't feel any worry about the issue, I just sort of manage the volume manually. When I do need to worry about waking people or annoying them, I turn on said dynamic feature on my Marantz receiver but still have to manually juggle the volume, but less often and less drastically.

When I get things setup again, I might evaluate bumping up the level on the center speaker as a first-level approach, see if that throws the dynamics of the mix off too much. Some material does pretty well about managing the volume of dialogue, but quite often it's too soft unless you have the ability to let the loudness fly when it happens. In shared housing or apartments, that basically isn't possible.
 
B

BUTCH1

Lifer
Jul 15, 2000
20,433
1,769
126
True, they film a scene with a quite background and softly spoken dialog only to seagway into something that about blows your speakers out, you wind up with the remote in your hand for most of the movie so you can hear the dialog then turn it down some before your ears get blasted.
 
purbeast0

purbeast0

No Lifer
Sep 13, 2001
53,505
6,345
126
i love it. movies sound incredible on my home theater. sounds better in my basement than most movie theaters i've been to.

it does also depend on the soundtrack though. streaming and tv isn't going to give you the best audio, which is why i stick to bluray for movies. we're not even close to being able to stream bluray audio quality.
 
Kadarin

Kadarin

Lifer
Nov 23, 2001
44,296
16
81
I think it's great when I'm trying to watch a movie when nobody in the house is asleep. Otherwise, yeah, I've got the remote in my hand and it sucks balls.
 
Atomic Playboy

Atomic Playboy

Lifer
Feb 6, 2007
16,432
1
81
On the one hand, yeah, it sucks having to constantly flip the volume up and down when watching to avoid disturbing anyone else in earshot. Then again, when you're watching it in a dedicated home theater and no one is around, the increased dynamic range is awesome, so it would be a shame to lose it just to cater to people who are trying not to wake the baby or whatever. Maybe get a receiver with "night mode" to limit the dynamic range?
 
destrekor

destrekor

Lifer
Nov 18, 2005
28,799
359
126
Atomic Playboy said:
On the one hand, yeah, it sucks having to constantly flip the volume up and down when watching to avoid disturbing anyone else in earshot. Then again, when you're watching it in a dedicated home theater and no one is around, the increased dynamic range is awesome, so it would be a shame to lose it just to cater to people who are trying not to wake the baby or whatever. Maybe get a receiver with "night mode" to limit the dynamic range?
Click to expand...

Yeah, I absolutely do not want to see them hamper the overall range, because when experienced as designed, it is wonderful. Bombastic, like a movie should be, and you can hear dialogue at appropriate volume.

A bad mix is a bad mix, but with good mixes, well, the spoken word is still quiet compared to the explosive scenes.
 
William Gaatjes

William Gaatjes

Lifer
May 11, 2008
21,931
1,351
126
When your watching the movie alone or with two people, a pair of headphones will work very well for movie watching. Personally, i like the immersion from headphones more when compared to my speakers. But in all honesty, that is what i am used to because i can not crank up the volume of my speakers to the same volume level as when wearing headphones. I am living in an apartment.
 
F

futurefields

Diamond Member
Jun 2, 2012
6,470
32
91
Even when alone it bothers me, because I am usually watching a movie at night when somewhat tired and just find the changes in volume to be annoying. My solution for the past 5-7 years has been to just watch movies with subtitles on and keep the sound to where the loud parts never get too loud. You miss out on a lot of audio cues and ambient sound design doing that though, which sucks.
 
L

LikeLinus

Lifer
Jul 25, 2001
11,518
670
126
It's really only annoying if you are trying to keep your audio low at nights when kids are asleep. Then the dialog gets too low and you can't hear what is being said. For that reason I turn on Dynamic Volume and it fixes the problem. Makes everything similar levels and you don't have to fool with the volume.
 
Jeff7

Jeff7

Lifer
Jan 4, 2001
41,596
19
81
My first encounter with this was The Matrix on DVD - my first DVD.

I wanted to return it because I thought it was defective, but I eventually found out that it was supposed to be that way.


But I will say, whispers were whisper-quiet. Gunshots were trying to be as loud as gunshots.

I want to watch a movie. I don't want a firing range in my livingroom.
Yes, dynamic range can be nice. Moderation in all things goddammit.
futurefields said:
Even when alone it bothers me, because I am usually watching a movie at night when somewhat tired and just find the changes in volume to be annoying. My solution for the past 5-7 years has been to just watch movies with subtitles on and keep the sound to where the loud parts never get too loud. You miss out on a lot of audio cues and ambient sound design doing that though, which sucks.
Click to expand...
If I'm watching a movie or listening to music with headphones instead of speakers, it's sometimes astonishing just how much I never hear on speakers because I've got enough courtesy to understand that my neighbors probably don't want to hear everything that's coming out of my speakers.
 
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Kneedragger

Kneedragger

Golden Member
Feb 18, 2013
1,187
43
91
Mixolydian said:
Yes I've been annoyed by this for over 10 years.



Set-top box has compression built-in but it doesn't work very well.
Click to expand...


Haha I've been complaining about this for a while with movies. I basically need to buy a new receiver that can adjust for this.
 
Mixolydian

Mixolydian

Lifer
Nov 7, 2011
14,566
91
91
gilramirez.net
LikeLinus said:
The question is why wouldn't you??? Makes life so much easier with everything routed through the receiver.
Click to expand...

It just seems pointless. If I was watching a movie, then yes. But for watching the news/weather? Why?? Most newer TV's these days have pretty decent speakers. The only thing I'd ever use an A/V receiver for is movies, music, etc.
 
F

futurefields

Diamond Member
Jun 2, 2012
6,470
32
91
eh, i'm not really into extravagant setups. I either watch on a TV (with the built in speakers) or a laptop. Sometimes I use headphones which is a sad reminder for how much I'm missing audio-wise.
 
SphinxnihpS

SphinxnihpS

Diamond Member
Feb 17, 2005
8,368
25
91
Mixolydian said:
It just seems pointless. If I was watching a movie, then yes. But for watching the news/weather? Why?? Most newer TV's these days have pretty decent speakers. The only thing I'd ever use an A/V receiver for is movies, music, etc.
Click to expand...

Yet you're complaining about high dynamic range in movies...

And zero TVs have anything like decent speakers. FFS!
 
purbeast0

purbeast0

No Lifer
Sep 13, 2001
53,505
6,345
126
Mixolydian said:
It just seems pointless. If I was watching a movie, then yes. But for watching the news/weather? Why?? Most newer TV's these days have pretty decent speakers. The only thing I'd ever use an A/V receiver for is movies, music, etc.
Click to expand...

actually most tv speakers today are total shit compared to what they used to be because they have to be all thin since everyone is so fixated on paper thin displays.
 
Belegost

Belegost

Golden Member
Feb 20, 2001
1,807
19
81
I damn well wish some of the recording techs from movies would go do music. Then we can round up the idiots responsible for the ridiculous dynamic range compression in music and give them a cigarette and a nice wall to stand in front of.
 
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