Equalisation. My ears, my poor ears!

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
10,273
Is it just Sky tv, although I seem to notice it a lot across a wide range of devices but primarly from my TV.
Sat listening to normal dialogue then BAMM deafingly loud. I inevitably turn it down and then I can't hear the talking properly.
One of the worst offenders in Game of Thrones, nearly have to turn that up to full volume to hear them talk.

Is there some unified sound setting I don't know about that will solve such an issue. ????
 
I suspect it's because it's broadcasting in a 5.1 mix but your speakers are stereo, in which case the only more or less guaranteed way to improve it would probably to get a 5.1 speaker set, or some sort of sound bar, otherwise you may be able to play with setting for virtual surround or which stream (if it's got a choice) the receiver uses as some things are better at downmixing from 5/1 to stereo than others..

IIRC the issue is because with surround the voices are primarily sent through the centre speaker which because it's directional can work at a lower volume than if the voices are trying to come over the same speakers as the background/effects.

It's something that annoys me a lot with DVD's and BD's, as it used to be the case you always got a stereo mix (which is done specifically to allow the speech to be heard over stereo speakers), with surround as an extra, but now you often find you only get a surround mix that does not downmix well at all to stereo.
I was very pleasantly surprised when watching La La Land, of all things to find it had a "stereo mix designed for night time viewing", right up until I realised that the people behind it were musicians/experts on sound thus both knew the importance of proper sound mixing, and had the clout to make sure it was covered.
 
Yeah this is pretty common. If watching a film I usually have to have the remote in my hand as the girlfriend overly worries about the neighbours so won't have it too loud. Stereo mixes if available do help but the real solution suggested is to get a centre speaker.
 
Prime is notorious for this. Even changing the suggested sound settings did nothing for me. Basically unusable without the appropriate sound systems :(
 
Same for me too. If I play a game through my PS4, my TV volume setting will be on around 18. If I watch a film or GoT on Sky, I have to push the volume to around 35-40 to get anywhere near the same volume.

Its very annoying!
 
I thought it was just me. Anything I watch I have to deal with jumping the volume up and down to hear dialogue then stop myself being deafened by music/guns/cars/explosions.
I have to resort to using the 'voice enhancement' option to try minimize the issue, but it is far from a real solution
 
I don't get it in any programmes, really, but I do notice than when it goes to the insanely frequent ad breaks, suddenly it becomes DEAFENINGLY LOUD, BECAUSE YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE PRODUCTS WE DEMAND YOU BUY - GIVE US ALL YOUR MONIES NOW!!
 
i find it can depend a lot on the bluray/tv program - some are worse than others.
And this is with a sound bar set on the clearvoice option.
For blurays i usually just rip them and downmix to stereo, although that isn't perfect, it seems to be better.
 
I find this with the music. You get some dialogue and then music kicks in at front row of a heavy metal concert levels. Fine in a cinema as you are there for the experience but a right pain at home when there's children asleep or neighbours the other side of a party wall.
 
I find the same - though I have a 5.1 system. On the other hand the audio attached to content accessed via my firestick is far superior to sky. I too wondered if there was a setting I was missing...
 
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