Dialog volume in movies much lower than other sounds | GTAMotorcycle.com

Dialog volume in movies much lower than other sounds

Relax

Relax

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I thought it was just me (and the wife) that needed to crank up the volume on movies to hear the dialog clearly, and still need to enable captioning/subtitles. But according to this article, it's not us. I didn't want to post this in an A/V forum for fear of getting sucked back into the HiFi rabbit hole - I just want to hear movie dialog more clearly without the explosions shaking the house. I currently have a 5.1 surround system and never felt the need for more channels, but it sounds like that might help? Any advice?

primus.ca

Why You Can’t Hear Movie Dialogue - Smart Choices

Do you find yourself turning on subtitles or reaching for headphones when you’re trying to watch your latest flick? Here’s what’s going on.
primus.ca primus.ca
 
The current style of producing movies is beyond annoying , to get dialoge to a level we hear it, the bomb blasts scare the dog and music wakes nieghbours. They do not have to make movies this way , its for the theater experince . And I really dont like it.
I've just been using a soundbar but it looks like 5.1 or 7.1 is needing to be bought so I have some control .
 
85K100 said:
Your centre speaker carries the dialogue. Turn that one up, and turn the other ones down.
Click to expand...
I'll have to spend a few hours going through the AV receiver manual again, but from what I recall, of the multitude of settings, I don't recall the ability to simply increase the volume of the center channel. I did play with dynamic audio, but didn't seem make much of a difference - it's supposed to equalize the sound level for everything from voice to explosions, but it didn't. Or I didn't adjust it right. Again, trying to to get sucked back into tweaking every little thing. This does have some microphone I can place on the middle of my sofa and let it automatically set up the surround, but I think that's all it really does.
 
I'm an old luddite with an old 5.1 receiver. If you get into the speaker menus you can probably set volumes for the different speakers.
 
Could it be this setting?

THX Loudness Plus
THX Loudness Plus is a new volume control technology
featured in THX Ultra2 Plus™ and THX Select2 Plus™
Certified receivers. With THX Loudness Plus, home
theater audiences can now experience the rich details in
a surround mix at any volume level. A consequence of
turning the volume below Reference Level is that certain
sound elements can be lost or perceived differently
by the listener. THX Loudness Plus compensates for the
tonal and spatial shifts that occur when the volume is
reduced by intelligently adjusting ambient surround
channel levels and frequency response. This enables
users experience the true impact of soundtracks regardless
of the volume setting. THX Loudness Plus is automatically
applied when listening in any THX listening
mode. The new THX Cinema, THX Music, and THX
Games modes are tailored to apply the proper THX
Loudness Plus settings for each type of content.
 
Not sure what type of system you have. But if you have a reciever with a calibration menu. Trying running that with the included mic. At least you may be able to balance the speakers with the voulme required. Just raising the center channel may not be sufficient. You are just going to have the speakers fighting each other.

With regards to sound in movies. I find anything that anything Disney has their hands on. Even the Marvel stuff is becomming muted. I have a high end system and even I find that I need to increase the volume on thier movies to get a better overall sound experience vs others for example.
 
This YT video touches on this very subject and mainly focuses on Christopher Nolan films as they're apparently most egregious for unintelligible dialogue.
 
spitRR said:
This YT video touches on this very subject and mainly focuses on Christopher Nolan films as they're apparently most egregious for unintelligible dialogue.
Click to expand...
Yes, he was specifically mentioned in my original article, and in that case, there isn't anything you can do about it. Kind of like how Andy Kaufman purposely filmed stuff partly off camera to make audiences tilt their heads trying to see better.
 
"Loudness" generally equates to a boost in bass frequencies, which are not in the dialogue spectrum.
 
I have never seen an amp with a microphone for calibration that didn't allow manual adjustments. On the off chance you have that to deal with, whe it is doing the centre channel tests, put something over the mic. A heavy blanket will make the centre channel a little louder, a pillow will make it a lot louder.
 
GreyGhost said:
I have never seen an amp with a microphone for calibration that didn't allow manual adjustments. On the off chance you have that to deal with, whe it is doing the centre channel tests, put something over the mic. A heavy blanket will make the centre channel a little louder, a pillow will make it a lot louder.
Click to expand...
Or maybe just over the center channel speaker?
 
My beef is with the text to voice narratives on YouTube. Words are mispronounced or the emphasis is on the wrong syllable. The ultimate face palm came the other night when they referred to actor Sean Penn as Sean Pennsylvania.
 
My Yamaha receiver has different “scenes”. One of them is “dialogue” and there’s a few others that might work too. I’ve noticed the same thing too.
 
I always just thought it was me going deaf-er...
Or I would complain "why are they all mumbling"
I switched to wearing headphones if it was something I really wanted to watch and enjoy.
 
Interesting. I have trouble picking out sounds, so if I'm in a crowded room, or there's a little background noise, it's very difficult for me to hear speech. The sounds are just jumbled together. But I hear everything.
My wife and I are in a constant battle. I turn the volume up to hear the dialogue, she asks me to turn it down. Then there's an explosion, or music, or a COMMERCIAL (why are THEY so loud?!), and she asks me to turn it down more. Then the sound effects are over and I have to turn it up to hear the dialogue again. Add to this that she seems to ALWAYS be running water at the Kitchen sink (open concept and the island-sink is as close to the couch as the TV), and now I have to turn the volume up more. Then she turns off the water (but only for 2 minutes...because its seems to always be running) and complains the TV is too loud. However, when she is watching TV, she turns the volume higher than I do. :unsure:
I tell you, these first-world problems are the worst.
 
WestBrantKid said:
Interesting. I have trouble picking out sounds, so if I'm in a crowded room, or there's a little background noise, it's very difficult for me to hear speech. The sounds are just jumbled together. But I hear everything.
My wife and I are in a constant battle. I turn the volume up to hear the dialogue, she asks me to turn it down. Then there's an explosion, or music, or a COMMERCIAL (why are THEY so loud?!), and she asks me to turn it down more. Then the sound effects are over and I have to turn it up to hear the dialogue again. Add to this that she seems to ALWAYS be running water at the Kitchen sink (open concept and the island-sink is as close to the couch as the TV), and now I have to turn the volume up more. Then she turns off the water (but only for 2 minutes...because its seems to always be running) and complains the TV is too loud. However, when she is watching TV, she turns the volume higher than I do. :unsure:
I tell you, these first-world problems are the worst.
Click to expand...
Try to enable night mode or DRC or ... everybody calls it something different. Reduces the dynamic range so the quiet parts and loud parts aren't as far apart. Not ideal but functionally you get louder dialog and quieter explosions which makes your situation better for both parties.
 
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