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Has anyone noticed a problem with some movies the last few years?

posted 6 years ago by samoanjoes (57629)
18 replies | jump to latest

So many times when I'm watching a movie from home, I find myself getting into a grueling battle with the sound. The dialogue is quiet, but whenever music and sound effects occur, the volume is suddenly turned up to max volume. It's like this watching movies on TV, computer, and other devices. I find myself having to be beside a remote control to turn the volume down when it all of a sudden starts blaring.

I watch movies from all decades, but I seem to be having this problem with only movies from the last 7 years or so. I think it's the way they are mixing the films. Like they're trying to make it as surround sound as possible, but it only works well under certain speakers.

[–] jriley555 (8365) 6 years ago

yeah - when there are shots, they want you to hear the sound of a gun going off right beside your ear.

[–] Otter (24464) 6 years ago

I always thought that was a problem with my cheap TV, not the movies.

[–] samoanjoes (57629) 6 years ago

I've only noticed it with films that have been released the last few years. I just assumed people were mixing it differently.

[–] FredBurroughs (21877) 6 years ago

Yes, contemporary home video releases are frequently mixed to surround sound specifications, but there are ways to improve the quality of your experience. If watching on a TV/disc player, make sure to configure the player settings for stereo audio. Some releases also include a 2.0 audio track alongside the 5.1 mix, so you can choose that option if available. When watching on a computer, make sure your media player has an audio normalization option. VLC has this feature, as do others. Taking these steps will help with the issue.

[–] jriley555 (8365) 6 years ago

jesus, how do you know all this crap?

thanks

vlc : tools - preferences - audio - normalize volume to : 2.0 (??)

[–] FredBurroughs (21877) 6 years ago

Used to work in home video production.

You might have to adjust a few settings based on your setup. Here's a little tutorial:

https://www.techjunkie.com/normalize-volume-vlc/

[–] jriley555 (8365) 6 years ago

looks like the interface is different now. i've got normalization on now, will try it. danke.

[–] samoanjoes (57629) 6 years ago

Thanks. I gotta try that out. It's so frustrating when I'm trying to watch a movie without bothering the person around me too much. Hell, it will stop giving me heart attacks too when a loud random sound goes off.

[–] TexasJack (12516) 6 years ago

I've observed the same problem. Even when the dialogue volume is adequate, it is still very often unintelligible.

[–] samoanjoes (57629) 6 years ago

Yeah and then you don't want to put it louder because the sound effects will be even higher.

[–] Thrillhouse (1509) 6 years ago

Between this and shaking the camera, a person would have to be pretty lefty not to realize this isn't just capitalism satisfying consumer demand.

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

Yeah, I noticed it too.

[–] johnnm58 (545) 6 years ago

Yeah, most of them suck and have no talent and same old turn-out of same old shit.

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

I hate it when the music is so loud that you can't hear the dialogue.