Music Drowns Out Dialogue In Tv and Films

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Hi folks,

I guess this has been asked many times.

I watch mainly Netflix or Amazon prime video through my LG tv with audio through its in built speakers. I'm not much bothered about quality of sound. I'm more interested in the clarity of dialogue.

As the title suggests, I'm sick and tired of music drowning out dialogue. My missus is sick and tired of me adjusting volume when that noisy, loud bl**dy music kicks in. It's nearly every single program theses days.

I've tried the tv graphic equaliser settings. Preset "clearvoice setting. Even tried a couple 2.1 of sound bars.
Result is very disappointing. Negligible.

Lots of websearched answers suggest 5.1 sound system e.t.c but none seem to promise sufficient results. Buying the equipment and trying it just to be disappointed could become quite expensive.

Perhaps if I were to build a mini pc to specifically handle sound only then maybe I could get rid of that invasive, overused blooming music. What do you think? Feasible?

Has anyone actually achieved what I'm trying to do?
 
Soldato
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Assuming sound is sent as 5.1 you could indeed boost dialogue, which is that center channel.

But if audio signal is only stereo then there's isn't much to do.
Processing can be used to try to isolate sound that's common for both channels and boost it.
But there's simply no guarantee that only dialogue has equal signal between channels.
 
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This has peed me off for ages, you get the volume right for the dialogue and then music blasts out, I have tried all sorts of settings but nothing works.
I did see something on a site once where the programme producers say the volume is at one level which is rubbish.
You also get a situation where there is someone talking and they play music which is too loud over the top of them so you have a job hearing what they are saying
 
Associate
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Without knowing exactly what features your TV has I can't say if this will work, but I'd guess it likely won't have this option. See if there is a way to adjust the volume on a per-channel basis - if so, reduce the front left/right, and the surround, and boost the centre, since dialogue would generally be on the centre channel.

Turn off any kind of bass boost feature since voices wouldn't be in that range, and if there is a bass control reduce it there too.
 
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I've given up with the tv settings. They have very little effect when trying to reduce or eliminate music in tv programs.
I'm thinking perhaps a pc with a decent sound card to filter out music might be worth a try.
 
Man of Honour
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While it does seem to be the way with the production of a lot of stuff these days probably like me most of your hearing range is fine but there is some attenuation of a frequency or frequencies in the human voice range :(

I tend to use my PC and AE-5 soundcard a lot for watching anything I can as the SB Connect software has a range of options which fix pretty much anything for me.
 
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While it does seem to be the way with the production of a lot of stuff these days probably like me most of your hearing range is fine but there is some attenuation of a frequency or frequencies in the human voice range :(

I tend to use my PC and AE-5 soundcard a lot for watching anything I can as the SB Connect software has a range of options which fix pretty much anything for me.


I had my hearing tested 12 months ago. It's good. No issues there despite being 60 years young.

The SB Connect software... Does it work well? Does it offer good options to hear speech clearly? I'd happily get myself a sound card if it could eliminate or reduce the night club effect.
 
Man of Honour
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I had my hearing tested 12 months ago. It's good. No issues there despite being 60 years young.

The SB Connect software... Does it work well? Does it offer good options to hear speech clearly? I'd happily get myself a sound card if it could eliminate or reduce the night club effect.

It isn't the best software ever to be honest but it does have a bunch of profiles for adjusting the audio presentation and options for voice clarity and dialog which personally I find work well and you have the options of just selecting a pre-made profile or tweaking by hand.
 
Soldato
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Same problem has been around for ~20 years for me. Loud dump music that’s normalised over voices.
Its been the same with a few different speakers, only certain films you can hear the voices over music.
I just though it depends how the film is produced
 
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I have an LG tv but with a sound bar. Restricting the dynamic range/dynamic compression on the sound bar helped a lot. I don’t know if the tv can do something similar.
 
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I have an LG tv but with a sound bar. Restricting the dynamic range/dynamic compression on the sound bar helped a lot. I don’t know if the tv can do something similar.

The tv is probably fairly average in terms of sound. It's ok. It has a graphic equaliser but it still doesn't reduce the music by much. I've tried 2 or 3 televisions. Same results.

I've also tried a couple of sound bars. Admittedly only 2.1.

I may have to try a 5.1 or better soundbar. I'm not interested in quality. Just clarity of voice.
 
Soldato
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The tv is probably fairly average in terms of sound. It's ok. It has a graphic equaliser but it still doesn't reduce the music by much. I've tried 2 or 3 televisions. Same results.

I've also tried a couple of sound bars. Admittedly only 2.1.

I may have to try a 5.1 or better soundbar. I'm not interested in quality. Just clarity of voice.
If the tv has something called night mode that is similar to dynamic compression.
 
Soldato
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Only workable solution for me is audio range compressor.

Films super loud gun shots and music, quiet voices, this kind of evens it out.

I feel like 5.1 is so yesterday, so many people use headphones or 2.1 sound now.
 
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Soldato
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Only workable solution for me is audio range compressor.

Films super loud gun shots and music, quite voices, this kind of evens it out.

I feel like 5.1 is so yesterday, so many people use headphones or 2.1 sound now.
5.1 was so 2000. Then I seem to remember it going to 7.1, 10.1... then back down again to 2.1, stereo and headphones. I think people realised it wasnt worth the cable mess
 
Don
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An AVR would likely give a lot more control than a TV with regards to applying Dynamic Range Compression, Crossmixing the dialogue channel across front as well as centre, boosting individual speakers levels, and upmixing stereo signals to surround.

Moving to significantly larger speakers (ideally 2 Fronts + a Centre) will also help with clarity (even if played at similar sound levels), versus the tiny speakers in most TVs and even a lot of Sound bars.
I upgraded my Fronts and Centre from a Denon "home theater in a box" setup, to some Wharfedale Diamond 12.2 and 12.C, and the difference in clarity is massive despite listening at similar levels and not really changing anything on the receiver.

As @EsaT has mentioned though - If the source doesn't offer discrete signals (e.g. Stereo only - on a lot of non-HD TV channels), then it will always be trickier to get something you are happy with.
 
Soldato
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5.1 was so 2000. Then I seem to remember it going to 7.1, 10.1... then back down again to 2.1, stereo and headphones. I think people realised it wasnt worth the cable mess

I still have the remnants of it all, cables going round back of this room to speakers I havent bothered to remove, and a massive subwoofer taking up valuable space on lower part of my desk, wanted to remove it last month until I seen price of 2.1 decent replacement speakers so delayed it, I mostly use headphones now but will still change it out as the front speakers need the subwoofer hooked up to work, and I want all the mess gone.

If anyone has any suggestion of 2.1 speakers they know are good but also not top range price I would appreciate it actually. :)
 
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