What is up with DVDs these days?

[Gunslinger08]

What's happened to DVDs lately? They go from being too quiet to hear with the volume cranked all the way up to being ridiculously loud at 25% volume. Have sound engineers forgotten that we don't like keeping the remote in our hands during an entire movie?

 

[Rubycon]

Originally posted by: joshsquall
What's happened to DVDs lately? They go from being too quiet to hear with the volume cranked all the way up to being ridiculously loud at 25% volume. Have sound engineers forgotten that we don't like keeping the remote in our hands during an entire movie?

That's not normalization that's wide dynamic range. Use the night time mode on your processor/receiver.

That's the way the sound track is SUPPOSED to sound. Too bad the music side has it upside down. :|

 

[biggestmuff]

Originally posted by: Rubycon

Originally posted by: joshsquall
What's happened to DVDs lately? They go from being too quiet to hear with the volume cranked all the way up to being ridiculously loud at 25% volume. Have sound engineers forgotten that we don't like keeping the remote in our hands during an entire movie?

That's not normalization that's wide dynamic range. Use the night time mode on your processor/receiver.

That's the way the sound track is SUPPOSED to sound. Too bad the music side has it upside down. :|

You're listening to the wrong kind of music then.

And Josh, you think DVDs have a wide dynamic range, wait until you get into HD DVD or Bluray Discs!

 

[FP]

I have never understood this. Why is that the way it is "SUPPOSED" to sound?

I don't care that an explosion is 10x the SPL of a whisper. I want to hear both without touching the damn remote.

IMHO all voice audio should be boosted for convenience.

 

[jamesbond007]

Originally posted by: binister
I have never understood this. Why is that the way it is "SUPPOSED" to sound?

I don't care that an explosion is 10x the SPL of a whisper. I want to hear both without touching the damn remote.

IMHO all voice audio should be boosted for convenience.

Psh! Doesn't everyone have their own Plasma/LCD bigscreen downstairs with a matching theater-quality soundsystem to listen to it on? No one lives in apartments anymore, do they?

I agree with yours and the above comments. The next hometheater receiver I buy will have the night-time mode on it. (brings up the quiet vocals, dampens the loud explosions/climax)

 

[Pepsi90919]

Originally posted by: binister
I have never understood this. Why is that the way it is "SUPPOSED" to sound?

I don't care that an explosion is 10x the SPL of a whisper. I want to hear both without touching the damn remote.

IMHO all voice audio should be boosted for convenience.

no. i don't want it that way, and don't want to suffer for your convenience. if you do, then you can utilize the audio compression settings on your dvd player.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

I agree. I have a decent little HT system with a Hsu subwoofer, and with many movies (especially HD-DVDs), the volume is just thundering during loud bits when the volume is turned high enough to hear normal dialogue. Hmm - I wonder if my receiver allows me to boost the center channel separately . . .

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: Rubycon

Originally posted by: joshsquall
What's happened to DVDs lately? They go from being too quiet to hear with the volume cranked all the way up to being ridiculously loud at 25% volume. Have sound engineers forgotten that we don't like keeping the remote in our hands during an entire movie?

That's not normalization that's wide dynamic range.

Exactly - he's complaining about the LACK of normalization.

Use the night time mode on your processor/receiver.

That's the way the sound track is SUPPOSED to sound. Too bad the music side has it upside down. :|

Why the hell is the music SUPPOSED to be blaringly loud just so I can hear the dialog? It's annoying.

 

[Pepsi90919]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: Rubycon

Originally posted by: joshsquall
What's happened to DVDs lately? They go from being too quiet to hear with the volume cranked all the way up to being ridiculously loud at 25% volume. Have sound engineers forgotten that we don't like keeping the remote in our hands during an entire movie?

That's not normalization that's wide dynamic range.

Exactly - he's complaining about the LACK of normalization.

Use the night time mode on your processor/receiver.

That's the way the sound track is SUPPOSED to sound. Too bad the music side has it upside down. :|

Why the hell is the music SUPPOSED to be blaringly loud just so I can hear the dialog? It's annoying.

what? he means the music industry has no dynamic range and is all LOUD.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: Pepsi90919

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: Rubycon

Originally posted by: joshsquall
What's happened to DVDs lately? They go from being too quiet to hear with the volume cranked all the way up to being ridiculously loud at 25% volume. Have sound engineers forgotten that we don't like keeping the remote in our hands during an entire movie?

That's not normalization that's wide dynamic range.

Exactly - he's complaining about the LACK of normalization.

Use the night time mode on your processor/receiver.

That's the way the sound track is SUPPOSED to sound. Too bad the music side has it upside down. :|

Why the hell is the music SUPPOSED to be blaringly loud just so I can hear the dialog? It's annoying.

what? he means the music industry has no dynamic range and is all LOUD.

I'm talking about MOVIES, not the music industry, because this thread is about movies. The music is often significantly louder than the dialog.

 

[us3rnotfound]

Yeah, I used to have that problem too. Then I went into the settings on my receiver and changed the dynamic range from max to normal and it sounds even throughout.

 

[SilthDraeth]

What about us poor folk that have a $30 dollar dvd player, and a 10 year old TV? I just set my TV to max, and pray I don't go deaf.

 

[0roo0roo]

cuz boom should be louder than the guy talking.

 

[vshah]

Originally posted by: SilthDraeth
What about us poor folk that have a $30 dollar dvd player, and a 10 year old TV? I just set my TV to max, and pray I don't go deaf.

check your dvd player menu, under audio settings, there should be a "night mode" or "dynamic range" setting. turn night mode on, or set dynamic range to minimum.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Originally posted by: vshah

Originally posted by: SilthDraeth
What about us poor folk that have a $30 dollar dvd player, and a 10 year old TV? I just set my TV to max, and pray I don't go deaf.

check your dvd player menu, under audio settings, there should be a "night mode" or "dynamic range" setting. turn night mode on, or set dynamic range to minimum.

Hmmmm...that may be my problem. I always had DRC set to maximum, 'cause I assumed that meant max compression of the range. Instead it means the range is allowed to be its maximum?

 

[vshah]

Originally posted by: Gooberlx2

Originally posted by: vshah

Originally posted by: SilthDraeth
What about us poor folk that have a $30 dollar dvd player, and a 10 year old TV? I just set my TV to max, and pray I don't go deaf.

check your dvd player menu, under audio settings, there should be a "night mode" or "dynamic range" setting. turn night mode on, or set dynamic range to minimum.

Hmmmm...that may be my problem. I always had DRC set to maximum, 'cause I assumed that meant max compression of the range. Instead it means the range is allowed to be its maximum?

precisely. set it to its lowest setting.

 

[imported_Baloo]

Originally posted by: jamesbond007

Originally posted by: binister
I have never understood this. Why is that the way it is "SUPPOSED" to sound?

I don't care that an explosion is 10x the SPL of a whisper. I want to hear both without touching the damn remote.

IMHO all voice audio should be boosted for convenience.

Psh! Doesn't everyone have their own Plasma/LCD bigscreen downstairs with a matching theater-quality soundsystem to listen to it on? No one lives in apartments anymore, do they?

I agree with yours and the above comments. The next hometheater receiver I buy will have the night-time mode on it. (brings up the quiet vocals, dampens the loud explosions/climax)

Even cheapo Home theatre receivers have this feature. Try it. But to insist that they should edit the sound to suit a minority that does not care for full dynamic range is absurd.

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: binister
I have never understood this. Why is that the way it is "SUPPOSED" to sound?

I don't care that an explosion is 10x the SPL of a whisper. I want to hear both without touching the damn remote.

IMHO all voice audio should be boosted for convenience.

I'm the same way, too. If I want to hear explosions with appropriate volume, I'll buy an assault rifle. After hearing The Matrix, and its dynamic range, I was close to never buying another DVD again. I have never seen a standalone DVD player that allows and adjustment or compression of the dynamic range - software players are the only ones I've seen with such a setting.

I generally watch DVDs with subtitles enabled so I can tell what's being said without sustaining hearing damage.
And of course, I don't go to movies in the theater. Too much dynamic range.
Damn kids and their loud music, and their iPods, and their Youtubes.

 

[jdini76]

Originally posted by: Jeff7

Originally posted by: binister
I have never understood this. Why is that the way it is "SUPPOSED" to sound?

I don't care that an explosion is 10x the SPL of a whisper. I want to hear both without touching the damn remote.

IMHO all voice audio should be boosted for convenience.

I have never seen a standalone DVD player that allows and adjustment or compression of the dynamic range - software players are the only ones I've seen with such a setting.

If you can't find the sound options, then you must be buying cheap throw away DVD payers. Otherwise the audio options are under the setup on the DVD player itsself not the DVD disc.

OP It sounds like you don't have your reciever setup correctly if it is that big of an issue for you. Is your DVD sound connected to your reciever via RCA or COAX or Optical inputs?

Also, Do you have your speakers properly placed? I have seen people place all four speakers on the top of their TV. This impairs the sound of the Reciever and will cause you to turn up the volume unnecessarily.

If you still encounter an issue just connect the DVD player directly to your TV and select the dolby 2.0 option on the DVD movie setup.

Edit: Spelling and punctuation.

 

[Looney]

Originally posted by: binister
I have never understood this. Why is that the way it is "SUPPOSED" to sound?

I don't care that an explosion is 10x the SPL of a whisper. I want to hear both without touching the damn remote.

IMHO all voice audio should be boosted for convenience.

I definitely don't want it that way. There are TVs and receivers that can 'normalize' the volume for you if you need that, but there aren't TVs and receivers that can create a dynamic range.

 

[TheUnk]

I like my whispers quiet and my booms loud, I just don't like the odd movie that decides to have the whispers so quiet you have to turn up the volume more than usual, and then you get your ears blown out when there is an explosion.

 

[Raduque]

Originally posted by: joshsquall
What's happened to DVDs lately? They go from being too quiet to hear with the volume cranked all the way up to being ridiculously loud at 25% volume. Have sound engineers forgotten that we don't like keeping the remote in our hands during an entire movie?

Look, if you don't like the way the DVDs are supposed to sound, that's fine. But I don't want to hear about it. Turn on your DRC/"Night" mode on your receiver and hush.

Or, you can also +5db your center channel.

 

[torpid]

These days? Haven't they always been like that?

 

[five40]

I couldn't agree more. It's like they think we don't know what a whisper sounds like. I can tell someone is whispering even though I can hear them at a normal volume. Then during the music in the movies we get blown away. I can understand gun shots and explosions being loud but why does the music need to be so damn loud during simple things. "ZOMG....BLAST THE MUSIC...HE'S GOING TO GET A DRINK IN THE FRIDGE.....LOUDER!!!!! MAKE THE MUSIC LOUDER!!!!!"

 

[OutHouse]

i never heard of the "night time mode"

OP, i know what you are talking about, its annoying. dialog i have to turn up the volume, then queue the music/action/explosions i think my speakers are going to blow. :|