Why is my DVD Playback so quiet?

[ndee]

Hi there,
is this normal? When I watch a DVD, the sound is extremly quiet, never as loud as when I listen to MP3s or something. Is this normal?

I connected the DVD-Drive with an analog cable to my Soundblaster Live Value.

Thanx for any comments.

 

[Oyeve]

Depends on the program. Windvd plays very low. Powerdvd plays much louder. Try playing with diferrent programs.

 

[ndee]

I just tried PowerDVD and WinDVD. To me and my friend, they are about exactly the same.....

 

[Blayze]

using my DXR3 decoder card or using PowerDVD my sound is low as well.

it is also low on my friends machine and he uses WinDVD I think.

 

[Mingon]

Even commercial dvd-players are low, it is the dvd sound level more than likely. The are recorded this way closer to the original supposedly

 

[bigbootydaddy]

ok, good im not the only one.

 

[LarryJoe]

Cinemaster rocks for me in terms of sound and overall volume. I have tried WinDVD and PowerDVD in the past and did note that the sound was not as good as Cinemaster. From memory, I think I am using the Ravient Cinemaster 2000 player with the 6.0.37 decoding engine and DVDGenie to tweak.

LJ

 

[dkozloski]

My experience is that the dynamic range of the sound loudness on DVD's is so broad that they record the mid-level at a lower level so that the sound does not saturate at the top end. The DVD movie "Thin Red Line" suggested that the sound be turned wide open to get the proper effect. This movie is very noticably recorded at a lower level.

 

[MasterHoss]

I used the Creative Encore with SB Live! and now use the GTXP with PowerDVD...loud as hell either way.

ndee....open up your surround mixer and jack up your WAV volume...that's ultimately what Windows is using...in fact, for DVDs, you don't need the audio cable at all.

 

[LocutusX]

Install DVD Genie and enable dynamic range compression for whatever soft DVD player you are using.