Sound editing

[Rivercard]

OK, time for a rant..... this kind of drives me nuts...... does anyone else experience this?.......

Wifey and I are watching a movie, two people are talking onscreen and we can barely hear them, so I turn up the volume. Then they're done talking and onto the next scene where music is playing. The music is so loud our neighbors three doors down probably want to call the cops, so down comes the volume. Cut to the next scene of the characters talking again and we can't hear them well, so up goes the volume. Then comes the screeching car chase at 200 decimals, Rinse, lather, repeat....

I swear I'm not that grumpy old man who needs a hearing aid, but seriously, can't we watch anything without having to muck w/ the volume every 2 minutes? Do Sound Editors just suck or what? Do they not master the audio to even out the sound levels like a record producer would? Maybe Cheese can shed some light.

 

[Chaplin]

OK, time for a rant..... this kind of drives me nuts...... does anyone else experience this?.......

Wifey and I are watching a movie, two people are talking onscreen and we can barely hear them, so I turn up the volume. Then they're done talking and onto the next scene where music is playing. The music is so loud our neighbors three doors down probably want to call the cops, so down comes the volume. Cut to the next scene of the characters talking again and we can't hear them well, so up goes the volume. Then comes the screeching car chase at 200 decimals, Rinse, lather, repeat....

I swear I'm not that grumpy old man who needs a hearing aid, but seriously, can't we watch anything without having to muck w/ the volume every 2 minutes? Do Sound Editors just suck or what? Do they not master the audio to even out the sound levels like a record producer would? Maybe Cheese can shed some light.

It's your receiver. There are some instances where something might not be mixed correctly, but that is rare and you wouldn't see it on everything. There are also times when a tv signal might have some imbalances, but there are strict laws for that, so you shouldn't see it as much. DVDs/Blu-Rays will also vary depending on what kind of sound tracks they have and how your player is interpreting them.

The most likely issue is the way that you're sound is set up on your tv or your receiver.

 

[elindholm]

OK, time for a rant..... this kind of drives me nuts...... does anyone else experience this?.......

Wifey and I are watching a movie, two people are talking onscreen and we can barely hear them, so I turn up the volume. Then they're done talking and onto the next scene where music is playing. The music is so loud our neighbors three doors down probably want to call the cops, so down comes the volume. Cut to the next scene of the characters talking again and we can't hear them well, so up goes the volume. Then comes the screeching car chase at 200 decimals, Rinse, lather, repeat....

I swear I'm not that grumpy old man who needs a hearing aid, but seriously, can't we watch anything without having to muck w/ the volume every 2 minutes? Do Sound Editors just suck or what? Do they not master the audio to even out the sound levels like a record producer would? Maybe Cheese can shed some light.

I've always been perplexed by this too. I think it's the general trap of thinking that music or sound effects are more exciting if they are louder. I can't remember the last time I went to any event with amplified music, outside of the classical world, where the amplification was not obviously excessive. It's using higher decibel levels to substitute for quality, like cooking a crappy meal and then overloading it with salt to "improve the flavor."

British shows are the worst, because evidently it's part of British culture to mumble unintelligibly 90% of the time. I guess it's supposed to show restraint and propriety. But there's a lot of programming that I've simply given up watching. And, even though I'm in my mid-50s, I'm confident that my hearing is better than an average person's -- I use it for a living, after all, and so far my ears are still getting the job done.

 

[puckhead]

OK, time for a rant..... this kind of drives me nuts...... does anyone else experience this?.......

Wifey and I are watching a movie, two people are talking onscreen and we can barely hear them, so I turn up the volume. Then they're done talking and onto the next scene where music is playing. The music is so loud our neighbors three doors down probably want to call the cops, so down comes the volume. Cut to the next scene of the characters talking again and we can't hear them well, so up goes the volume. Then comes the screeching car chase at 200 decimals, Rinse, lather, repeat....

I swear I'm not that grumpy old man who needs a hearing aid, but seriously, can't we watch anything without having to muck w/ the volume every 2 minutes? Do Sound Editors just suck or what? Do they not master the audio to even out the sound levels like a record producer would? Maybe Cheese can shed some light.

What kind of system are you listening on? TV speakers, soundbar, or 5.1, etc?

You could try turning up the center channel speaker if you have one of those. The majority of dialogue is located there.

The main issue it boils down to is dynamics. Movies are mixed for theater reference levels which is prohibitive to recreate in the average home. A small percentage of us have the time, money, and knowledge to dedicate rooms for our home theaters so we make compromises in our living rooms. Compromises add up and sometimes the dialogue can get lost in all the other sounds mixed in.

@dreamcastrocks is working on his home theater and might have some advice for you.

 

[Rivercard]

What kind of system are you listening on?

I have this 50 inch rectangle thingy that when I press the button shows images and makes noise. I also have two handheld plastic gizmos that I point at it to change stuff around.

I'll tinker with the sound options though, good call, thanks!!

 

[dreamcastrocks]

I have this 50 inch rectangle thingy that when I press the button shows images and makes noise. I also have two handheld plastic gizmos that I point at it to change stuff around.

I'll tinker with the sound options though, good call, thanks!!

Yep, switch to a 2 channel audio and you will have much better luck. Most likely what is happening is that whatever device you are using to output audio is set to a home theater or surround sound setting, which expects a center channel. Like puckhead said, dialog comes from the center channel. Without one some games/movies will have almost muted dialog. I have had to adjust this setting in the past.

 

[puckhead]

Yep, switch to a 2 channel audio and you will have much better luck. Most likely what is happening is that whatever device you are using to output audio is set to a home theater or surround sound setting, which expects a center channel. Like puckhead said, dialog comes from the center channel. Without one some games/movies will have almost muted dialog. I have had to adjust this setting in the past.

We may need to stage an intervention at some point, DCR.

#friendsdontletfriendslistentomovieswithonlythetvspeakers

 

[Devilmaycare]

We may need to stage an intervention at some point, DCR.

#friendsdontletfriendslistentomovieswithonlythetvspeakers

I'll like to add sound bars too to that hash tag....

 

[dscher]

I always knew of the audio leveling functions and what not for the actual TV set. So while I was struggling with something similar with all my settings where they needed to be... what I didn't think of was what the actual provider is doing...or the medium you are casting/streaming from. YouTube TV had a function of sound leveling by hitting the stupid asterisk button while in the app. Accidentally hit the button one day. Issue fixed. Lol.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

I have this 50 inch rectangle thingy that when I press the button shows images and makes noise. I also have two handheld plastic gizmos that I point at it to change stuff around.

I'll tinker with the sound options though, good call, thanks!!

Lol. This reflects my technological knowledge to a T!

 

[BigRedRage]

OK, time for a rant..... this kind of drives me nuts...... does anyone else experience this?.......

Wifey and I are watching a movie, two people are talking onscreen and we can barely hear them, so I turn up the volume. Then they're done talking and onto the next scene where music is playing. The music is so loud our neighbors three doors down probably want to call the cops, so down comes the volume. Cut to the next scene of the characters talking again and we can't hear them well, so up goes the volume. Then comes the screeching car chase at 200 decimals, Rinse, lather, repeat....

I swear I'm not that grumpy old man who needs a hearing aid, but seriously, can't we watch anything without having to muck w/ the volume every 2 minutes? Do Sound Editors just suck or what? Do they not master the audio to even out the sound levels like a record producer would? Maybe Cheese can shed some light.

I've always had that issue and is a big reason why I started just using subtitles.