Cinemas-Deafening! :(

[Orionaut]

Took a Lady friend to the pictures on Thursday (Note, Good girly movie, but exiting enough for Boys too. "A Dogs way home" it is an "Incredible journey" type movie and quite well done, but that is an aside.)

The thing was, the sound was absolutely deafening.

My friends hearing isn't as good as it used to be but even she was wincing. And its not as if it was some sort of action or war movie with lots of explosions and special effects.

It was mostly a Dog running around in the wilderness!

Now, I have read just the other day that there have been recent proposals to impose sound level limits on clubs and venues to protect peoples hearing and if the sound levels in the cinema was anything to go by then it really needs to apply there too.

The modern trend for listening to music using in-ear headphones wont help either.

Just how deaf are younger people these days?

I can only imagine that there are going to be a lot of younglings who are going to have miserable later lives.

From what I have read on the matter, many, possibly most, people who develop sensory disabilities over their lifetimes find that losing their hearing is about the most socially isolating one of all!

Once it's gone, it's gone

 

[Dis86]

I've had it a few times too. Infact it was SW Ep8 where when the theme kicked in pretty much all of the audience jumped it was that freakin loud!

 

[arknor]

last time I took a lady friend to the cinemas the seats were absolutely crap almost completely separating you from the person seated adjacent by a armrest so huge it might as-well have been a barrier.

I think it was cineworld?!?!?! in Nottingham, the sound was also crazy loud.

I wouldn't bother going again

 

[Freakbro]

Saw Overlord at an Odeon and the opening scene with the paratroopers flying over France and the AA guns was so loud it was painful, I wish I had taken my earplugs I use for gigs!

 

[Reeve]

Now, I have read just the other day that there have been recent proposals to impose sound level limits on clubs and venues to protect peoples hearing and if the sound levels in the cinema was anything to go by then it really needs to apply there too.

The modern trend for listening to music using in-ear headphones wont help either.

In-ear earphones should be better for reducing hearing damage as they do a better job of isolating background noise, which means you don't have to have the volume as high for the same effect

I've had mixed experiences at the cinema, most of the time it's what i consider to be at a suitable level but on a few occasions i have had screenings that were similar to what you described above. I think it would be a good thing to impose some limits on the volume.

If sound limits are going to be imposed on clubs and whatnot then thats long overdue. Fortunately i'm boring and i can't stand places like that but on the few occasions where I went to night clubs in my younger days I remember having a constant ringing in my ears for the next day or so.

 

[robfosters]

Strange, I never go to the cinema, but the last time I went was to see Dunkirk at the Waterloo IMAX and I distinctly remember thinking that it didn’t seem as loud as the likes of the empire and odeon at Leicester Square did when I was a kid.

Maybe my hearings not what it was, but if anything, you’d think Dunkirk on the imax would be one of the loudest of all.

 

[llamadal]

Saw Overlord at an Odeon and the opening scene with the paratroopers flying over France and the AA guns was so loud it was painful, I wish I had taken my earplugs I use for gigs!

Was it one of the isense set ups? Hate them, whacking the volume up doesn't give the most enjoyable experience

 

[Freakbro]

Was it one of the isense set ups? Hate them, whacking the volume up doesn't give the most enjoyable experience

It was a standard screen iirc, just they had it turned up to 12!

 

[Scam]

The cinema must have made some mistake. Did you complain or mention anything to them?

 

[h4rm0ny]

Had the same. At an Odeon. It's not always the case at that cinema so either the films set the volume in some way or the cinema staff vary it themselves. I didn't assume it was so loud because people are deaf these days (though that's possible - I simply hadn't considered it) but because people are so discourteous these days. Cinemas are trying to compensate for the people who now talk in cinemas and who for some reason they wont throwout. Cinemas are trying whatever they can to keep audiences coming in an age of TV, home cinemas and Netflix. They know that people talking in a cinema is one of the things that really, really puts a lot of people off and I think they try this as a solution. What they should do is have pro-active staff who will come over and silence talkers or eject them.

And if anyone is thinking the OP is just fussy, I'm in agreement. Cinemas have gotten louder and on a couple of instances it's abnormally excessive. I've had that a couple of times, now.

 

[Bassmansam]

I have recently started going to the cinema after not going for a year or so. I am finding the adverts/ film trailer preveiws way louder than the main film. Sometimes quite uncomfortable and i have to cover my ears..

 

[XeNoN89]

I don't notice this too much but my ears are not great anymore after spending many nights next to extremely loud speakers blasting tech-house for the last 11 years

 

[Adam]

I fell asleep during this film. When I woke up the dog was in bed with a lion. Quite unusual.

 

[Orionaut]

I fell asleep during this film. When I woke up the dog was in bed with a lion. Quite unusual.

Big Kitten!

 

[Mobius 1]

I think that last time I was in the cinema was to see the latest Star Trek movie. It was painfully loud, so much so I didn’t enjoy the film whatsoever. :/ I was literally wishing it would hurry up and end. Never bothering with the cinema again.

 

[Resident]

It was a standard screen iirc, just they had it turned up to 12!

In my teens I worked for UCI and the volume settings were 0-15 in 0.5 increments. There was a big thing about it never being set above 5.5 for public showings. 6.5 was 'allowed' for staff showings.

 

[ianh]

Took a Lady friend to the pictures on Thursday (Note, Good girly movie, but exiting enough for Boys too. "A Dogs way home" it is an "Incredible journey" type movie and quite well done, but that is an aside.)

The thing was, the sound was absolutely deafening.

 

[Werewolf]

Apart from the Dolby Atmos promo at the start of the film I don't tend to find most of the films deafening apart from moments when it's obviously meant to be very loud.

Talking of deafening audio promos, I'm always reminded of this

 

[terley]

I go to Vue Cinema in southport, ive noticed it not being overly loud..

Although i did have a cineworld pass when i lived in st helens and it was crazy loud

 

[Fourstar]

I have a pair of musician's earplugs I always wear in cinemas. They knock 15dB off the volume but do so in a balanced way such that speech doesn't sound muffled. Without them I find cinemas too loud.