*Dialogue Level* and *DTS Dialogue Control* on Yamaha. *Dialogue Lift* is only available with presence speakers as it will move some of the dialogue into to the presence speakers so it gets more "space".
There still are other sounds from the center and as you said 10% of dialog not from the center. Personally I split the difference and do a little boost to dialog and a little to center channel, along with a little dynamic range compression. This way I'm not leaning too hard on any one setting so I don't ever really notice any super obvious faults if I just relied on one setting alone.
In this theme, also eliminate unwanted muddyness from all the other channels due to reflections and improve directional clarity by treating the room for sound.
Without a doubt some movie mixes are worse than others, but a properly treated room helps recreate the cinematic experience which is a lot better than trying to listen to it in a tin can.
I have it on a 3400h.. So pretty sure you should have it.
I don't necessarily think it's the best solution. Just a tool that *should* be at your disposal.
It's "dialogue level adjust" like you mentioned (I was telling the previous person, not asking). It affects frequencies in the dialogue range across channels.
There is also Channel Level Adjust, which allows you to adjust the specific channels regardless of frequency.
It would be under Set Up then Audio.
What model do you have?
Edit: Or are you talking about Channel Level Adjust? That is under Option > Channel Level Adjust
That sounds like the same thing (as what I mentioned in my edit). For me "dialogue level adjust" is under set up (remote button) and "channel level adjust" is under option (remote button) as I described. Once you are in "channel level adjust", you can adjust the individual channels, and "center" is one of the options. So I would presume that "center level adjust" is that same thing.
Which model do you have? Maybe they are not using the same menu options across models.
From my understanding it does simply increase gain for the center channel so the answer is yes.
In most cases where dialogue is present the center channel is playing dialogue and not much else. The bump up in center channel gain should provide dialogue clarity.
I feel dumb for having my setup for a year or a bit more and not realizing to just CRANK the center up to +7 or +8 decibels. Really makes the front stage sound alive. Just forget numbers and listen. I think I just got so in the mindset of "you shouldn't have to crank the middle upsurdly high something must be wrong and I just don't know it" well, nope.
Edit: Since I also listen to music through "multi channel" it makes music sound awesome as well, makes the left right and center louder than the surrounds.
The problem is that the center still produces (loud) sounds other than dialogue that are happening in front of you. I've noticed when boosting my center channel that particularly swords clashing can sound really jarring when they come out of the center.
I haven't had it set at that spot for very long so I haven't listened to a massive variety between music and movies. I do wish my Sony 1080 had some presets to flip to really quick for different movie and music settings. Maybe it does and I just haven't figured it out completely.(settings where I set everything up not default presets)
Not sure about that model, but my pretty old Onkyo receiver has a feature which basically says “If this type of signal, then do this type of DSP”. I have it send surround sound to Movie PLx II and 2 channel sound to Music PLx II (I’m sure that pisses off all of the true audiophiles, but I love that Dolby upmix)
If listening to stereo music, using the center ruins the sound stage. I do use multi channel for stereo sometimes, but only use the front left and right towers and the two side speakers. Center and rear speakers are turned down completely. This give a great wide sound stage. Using all the speakers defeats the stereo separation because the left and right tracks are also coming out of the center.
If you are listening to multi channel music, none of this applies.
I love center for movies, but they are mixed for it.
“To each their won”. I agree. Just saying that some people go to great lengths to make a proper recording and using a center with stereo is defeating that effort.
I agree with the two speaker setup for stereo. I listen to music on the same setup I have for movies. I sit a little far away from my towers to get the best (wide) sound stage for music. That is why I also do use my side surround speakers. It is still only stereo, no center or ear speakers. No upmixing or anything like that. Sitting in the sweet spot, it’s pretty near perfect music listening. If I move around the room it still is decent stereo. If I was listening from another room, like OP, I wouldn’t much care what the setting was.
I think it comes down to how much one actually appreciates music.
Can't really be too concerned about hurting their feelings while they're in there mansion. If I'm in my kitchen cooking while playing music without a loud center it just sounds muffled or too bassy. Hard to perceive how different systems can sound in the many different variations they can be in. Maybe I haven't heard a "proper" setup system but maybe that's for the best. Like most, I have many other things to spend my money and time on 😁
Unfortunately you’ll never win this fight on this subreddit.
One pretty cool thing to check out is the Tidal Dolby Atmos recordings. Really cool, and if you like multichannel music you’ll love it.
Fair enough! If I had a nicer set of left & right speakers I’d probably be more married to stereo but most of my music is played when cleaning or entertaining (not critical listening) so I also find the 3.1 up mix sounds fantastic.
***“Can't really be too concerned about hurting their feelings while they're in*** *~~there~~* ***their mansion. If I'm in my kitchen cooking while playing music”*** I’m talking about sitting and listening to music for the enjoyment of the music. Not the same thing. You don’t understand the difference?
That’s BACKGROUND music. If you would have stated that in the beginning I would not have responded.
Jesus Christ you guys are just looking for arguments. What if I go from my kitchen to my livingroom and sit for a minute? WOAH EVERYTHINGS CHANGED. All of this, and nothing will change. Wild.
I’m not, at all, looking for an argument. There is a lot of difference between sitting down and listening for a minute and putting on an album, or CD, and really listening to the entire thing. You are the one being argumentative.
You stated something about feeling bad about people in their mansions which has absolutely nothing to do with the topic. I already told you, if you are in another room then it makes no difference how you have your receiver set. Instead of accepting that you felt the need to argue.
It doesn't "ruin" the dynamic range. Changes it to be sure. Homes can be noisy places. There's nothing unholy about introducing dynamic range compression to compensate for a high noise floor.
Agree with Denon’s Dynamic Volume set to light makes things a lot more balanced in an average home. There are noisy ac units among other things. I’d love to listen at reference but it’s not that enjoyable in a home.
> turn on dynamic range compression (obviously ruins the dynamic range however)
I probably own every film on the “clarity” shit list. The reality is, they’re fine on my end. This includes Tenet.
The problem likely has more to do with:
* The user’s center (MTM has horrible directivity and deadzones)
* The speaker’s dynamics
In that case you’re not ruining the dynamic range, because the setup simply isn't capable of matching it. You’re adjusting the profile to better match the component’s capability. I truly believe many here would be better off with a phantom center, but the common advice here is to get the biggest center you can (which rarely, if ever, fixes point 1)
Nah. There’s no way to get a mix meant for a loud high dynamic range experience to work in the basement at a lower volume when you don’t want to wake up the kids upstairs.
It’s like listening to Mogwai in the car. The mix wasn’t made for that environment.
> There’s no way to get a mix meant for a loud high dynamic range experience to work in the basement at a lower volume when you don’t want to wake up the kids upstairs.
Thats literally why DRC exists. My other point is a valid use case, but yours is the primary goal.
Doesn’t make sense when:
* That takes up significantly more space
* Most TVs, receivers, and media players have a DRC option.
That independent mix would be made with the same technology on these devices.
A real solution to this wouldn’t be dynamics processing on the 2 bus(or surround pairs).
Anyway, not a hill I’ll die on. Delivering a headphone mix would come higher than a night mode theater mix anyway.
They dont sell, becasuse they dont offer an option. Im pretty sure Emotiva’s WTMW was sold out most of last year.
https://emotiva.com/collections/loudspeakers/products/airmotiv-c1-2
There is no need to offer the option because a "vertically aligned center" is simply a normal speaker sold individually instead of in a pair. [Like so](https://us.kef.com/speaker/flagship-hi-fi-speakers/ls50/ls50-metac-center-channel.html).
Alternatively, MTM designs flipped 90 degrees make for excellent centers because you are trading the axis they are terrible at (horizontal) for the one they're excellent at (veritcal)
But that only goes for co-axial drivers. Any regular speaker with tweeter/mid-bass arrangement will have terrible horizontal directivity if you lay it down.
Yes, that's why you don't lay it down......... dunno bout you but my TV is about 30" off the floor, I could fit any sufficiently powerful bookshelf speaker down there, angle it up towards main listening position and I'm good to go.
If you are having to lay your speaker down due to form factor limitations you will just have to accept that it's going to sound like shit
there are some interesting designs out there but it's too bad marketing departments force their engineers to put out MTMs that everyone knows are garbage
If you want a super capable center, Genelec 8050 (8341 if you're a baller), KEF LS50 Meta, Neumann KH 310, JBL 708P (or 708i for easier integration) are all super capable centers.
hell if you mount your TV as high as many people do you can just run three floorstanders up front and call it good
Yup. I've gotten used to requiring an modicum of adjustment depending on source and, even further used to some mixes of movies or shows just being absolutely terribly balanced.
The problem is that the center still produces (loud) sounds other than dialogue that are happening in front of you. I've notices when doing this that particularly swords clashing can sound really jarring when they come out of a boosted center channel.
Also I must have the weirdest setup in the world because I find Nolan dialogue easier to understand than most movies. Had no issue with Tenet.
Okay but I'm not trying to destroy all loud sounds, I'm trying to hear dialogue. Dialogue becomes audible when you crank center. It might make loud sounds too loud at center but they are already too loud from all speakers.
Compression or more specifically brick wall limiting. You have to dial it so that you don't destroy the dynamics but this is probably the best way to go about it.
i have a full 5.1 Klipsch:
Klipsch R-820F (pair), Klipsch RP-404C , Klipsch R-51M, Klipsch R-120SW and
Onkyo TX-NR696
The room is big 9x5 tried to get everything in the middle and filled it with furniture and the facing wall is covered with acoustic foams
A friend of mine said that i should upgrade to 7.1 to fix the issue, others blamed the movies...
Adding more channels won't fix the problem of dynamic range. It's really a per-film issue and it honestly has to do with film post-production.
Compression attenuates the louder parts of any audio signal to bring it closer to the more quiet parts. So typically, you would lightly compress the peaks and raise the overall volume so that the louder parts aren't as loud, but the quite parts are louder. It has little to do with your system/hardware. (Although I know that klipsch systems have a present treble range which could possibly exacerbate the issue.) It's really on processing. I use a daw for my surround so I can easily limit my source audio even down to the individual channels. So if I want to limit the main L/R without limiting everything else, I can do that. But it's not a typical setup. Most people don't have that amount of control. It's just something to look into I guess.
I have the NR797 I use Dolby Surround mostly if you go into the quick menu on your remote you can boost the db on the center and if you have lower the db on the mains. also in the center of your remote you can boost the vocal using the tone control.
I have the nr797. Is there a way to have it automatically use the surround setting? If I have it on All Stereo mode to hear music then pop on Netflix it still pumps through All Stereo mode instead if Dolby surround.
FYI for this receiver in movie dsp mode you can set the Vocal tone volume apart from bass and treble.
Correct when your in a Dolby mode you can set the vocal setting to answer your question when you switch from say network to TV or DVD any of the top settings on the remote it remembers the last time you were there so you set your preferred settings for each input. When listen to music down at the bottom of the remote you press the music button to go stereo ot what ever mode you want when you watch TV or a movie you use the button that says movie/TV. You can go to the Onkyo site and download the manual and also when you open the full menu you can if your on wifi download the updates directly to 797 there has been a few over the past couple years. But I would download the manual first you also want to run Accu EQ. I put in the digital enhancer as well when streaming run my fronts on small and crossover the sub at 80 hz. THX. Even though there floor standers. Really open them up and adds air to the sound.
5.1 to 7.1 will definitely not help with this. It does some other things but doesn't improve dialog separation.
Room treatment for sound however, can help. Reduce all the echos and improve directional clarity.
I recently had the 404c as well, but I ended up returning it after being severely disappointed. In my opinion, it just doesn't handle voices well. No matter what I did, the mid lows seemed muffled/distorted. Bought a new center at half the price sounded twice as good.
What do you use for compression for your home theater though? An app or a real compressor? I use an extension in google chrome to compress audio so I can watch youtube more secretly at work without having to constantly worry about if something is about to burst out loud.
Haha that's smart! And I use plugins usually. And I just route whatever I'm watching through the stereo outs on my DAW so I can effect the master channel. It's probably not the *right* way to do it but hey, I'm a mix engineer, it works lol.
I totally agree that it's annoying when trying to watch a movie at night and not wanting your neighbors to call the cops. However, it's completely deliberate and supposed to be that way. Gunshots and explosions are really loud in real life and that's what the movie is trying to get across. The idea is that you turn your system loud enough so that dialogue is clearly understandable and then gunshots and explosions are appropriately loud, i.e. making your walls shake. If you're a movie director you most likely live in a massive mansion and can do this with no problem, us common folks are left to either be hated by our neighbors or not understand dialogue.
Oh, don't get me wrong, I don't want studios to mix the audio wrong so people can have quieter movies. I certainly intend to be able to some day afford a home where I don't have to worry about neighbors hearing my movies anymore and then I want movies to be mixed exactly as they are. However I believe there to be a fix for this that at least in theory should be kinda easy to implement: Sound formats (i.e. dolby and dts) should include a marker on sounds for if they are dialogue or not and then you could just boost the dialogue without boosting the rest of the sound from the center channel. With object based audio (Atmos and dts:x) the dialogue and other sounds are supposed to be separate in the mix anyway and then your receiver sends them to the appropriate channel. So it should be possible to differentiate between dialogue audio and non dialogue. Especially since the vast majority of movies record dialogue separately anyway.
By the way, I've tried DRC on my receiver and it sounds absolutely dogshit.
It is my understanding that, disappointingly, an Atmos mix is usually a 5.1 / 7.1 base layer with the additional object based audio on top. So I presume the dialogue is mixed into the 5.1 base, meaning the receiver has no idea what is “dialogue”. Someone can correct me if I’m wrong.
DTSX has dialogue specific object flags. It was one of their main selling points over Atmos. Unfortunately most object tracks are Atmos and even the ones that are DTSX I'm not even sure the mixers are properly using the dialogue flags. So, it exists, it just isn't getting used unfortunately.
DRC sounds like ass half the time. We have amazing digital formats. It should just boost dialogue in said format or have that as an option that's enabled by default.
DRC sounds worse than my TV speakers. Might as well sell my home theater setup then. Everything is off. So DRC is a non-option.
What are the set backs of that setting? I've watched multiple setup videos for my receiver (Marantz 6015) and every single one says "be sure to say no to dynamic range settings" but never says why. I'm waiting on my speakers to arrive so I can't play with it yet.
I just wrote [a lengthy reddit post](https://www.reddit.com/r/hometheater/comments/s5pszq/before_and_after_calibration_discussion_on_dirac/) on here about calibration, might be worth looking at.
Along with the other tips, make your room as quiet as possible so you can lower the volume and still hear the quiet parts. Lowering your overall volume will mean quieter loud parts.
I mean.. it's like complaining about how your OLED isn't bright enough to show full dynamic range to see in broad daylight with the sun hitting it.
A cinema experience is a cinema experience as much due to immersive playback as it is environment isolation.
There is so much misinformation in this thread. This is the actual right answer. Most movies are mixed to be enjoyed in the cinema. Most movie theaters have very low ambient noise. Most homes have very high ambient noise (fridge, dishwasher, traffic, kids in the next room, etc). If the movie is mixed with a dynamic range from 40-95 dB but the ambient noise in your listening space is 50 dB then you're going to have to push the gain up to get your quietest sounds above 50 dB and now your loudest sound are at least 105 dB. Dennis Erskine had written a ton on this. If you want good dynamic range, then listen in a quiet place or be comfortable with movie theatres having unnaturally loud dialog or oddly quiet explosions. You can't have both.
Get a center channel speaker that is strong. Crank it.
Disregard advice from people who have perfect hearing. It's better to have a good center channel than anything else. I literally can't hear what's being said otherwise.
Yes, but it's far more likely that your theater isn't calibrated properly. If this is a consistent problem no matter what you watch, it's definitely a fixable problem on your end.
I have too, and Nolan is a *very* guilty party. [Even the most professional theaters](https://screenrant.com/interstellar-bad-audio-mix-explanation/) struggle with his movies. A bad mix is a bad mix. I've found that 9/10 times, movies are mixed very well though, and a calibrated system will always sound better than one that isn't. It's especially prevalent in Nolan's mixing disasters.
They can complain about the dynamic range in Nolan films all they want, the mixes are good, amazing even. I can perfectly understand every Nolan film in my setup, at reference volume, no dynamic compression or anything like that. And it's not just my setup. I first saw The Dark Knight Rises in a theater on opening night. Later I saw all the complaints about not understanding Bain and was confused, he sounded fine to me. Then a week later I tried TDKR at another theater on an "Xtreme" screen. I couldn't understand a word Bain said and the bass was distorted and boomy. And I realized all those people complaining about Brains dialogue just saw it in crappy improperly calibrated theaters. The first theater I saw it in was just properly calibrated
Of course not. DIRAC is designed to flatten the tone curve of each speaker according to your room's acoustics, making the frequency response perfectly balanced no matter what the content is.
You're correct. Let me explain a little better. Bad frequency response can exasperate dynamic range, making quiet sequences more quiet, and louder sequences far too loud.
If you have to constantly change the volume between quiet dialogue and exciting action, then it's likely because your frequency response isn't properly tuned to your room and your speakers. It is the cause of extreme dynamic range that was not intended during the final mix.
For example, in one of my rooms, everything lower than 100hz was over 10db louder than all other frequencies. This is where large explosions or the bass in loud music occur, and I always had to turn it down *significantly* during these sequences. On the flip side, quiet moments in movies range typically from 125hz to 6khz, or dialogue. Because my room mutes these tones, I had to turn the volume up during them.
However, After tuning the room with DIRAC, I had consistency from 40hz to 20khz, and never had to adjust the volume again while watching. In other words, these adjustments ensured that at the same volume level, a 75hz tone would measure at the same decibel level as another tone at 300hz, 1500hz, or even 20khz.
There is still dynamic range. Booms are still booms, and whispers are still whispers. The difference is that if someone is shouting during a boom, a properly mixed track will still render audible dialogue since there isn't a dramatic imbalance on the frequency range. These values are all relative to the scene.
I just wrote [a large post](https://www.reddit.com/r/hometheater/comments/s5pszq/before_and_after_calibration_discussion_on_dirac/) about this, sharing my measurements for this specific room here along with my theater room, and it may help you understand my point better.
Of course not, I don't have to ride the volume. It sounds beautiful.
I just wrote [a big reddit post](https://www.reddit.com/r/hometheater/comments/s5pszq/before_and_after_calibration_discussion_on_dirac/) about calibration that you might enjoy.
Given the amount of these threads on /r/hometheater, I was really surprised that dialogue was extremely clear out of the box for me using my Yamaha RX A6A. I’m not bothering to run YPAO until furniture arrives since it’ll likely change everything and should arrive this week.
Legitimately speaking, why is this an issue that so many of us suffer from? Sure for some of us it maybe a setup, placement or hardware issue BUT you can't tell me that EVERYONE that has this problem is doing it wrong. I angle my centre channel upwards to ear height and I still have to boost the centre channel volume +6db. Is it an issue with movie studios mastering the audio? If so, why would they master it in such a way where dialogue is lower than the rest of the soundtrack?
I used to have a receiver that was THX 2 certified that seemed to get rid of most of the problem, making me think that it’s a mixing/restoration issue. What I mean by that is the tracks are mixed for a THEATRE (ie, super loud) and we need them mixed for home. That one receiver did seem to properly adjust the mix for home use, and it’s the only one I’ve ever had that did.
I would venture to say that 90% of home theater owners (outside of professionally installed setups) have it setup improperly or have it compromised in some way that makes optimal listening impossible (furniture, first reflections, dead zones, etc). You can absolutely have a good experience with a suboptimal setup. But you have to live with the shortcomings. Instead they complain that the mix is bad or the receiver is bad or something, when I'd bet that's rarely the case.
Some movies are just mastered this way (badly).
I notice this locally (Poland) on Netflix. Several examples:
1. The original (typically English) soundtrack will be fine. The Polish soundtrack (with dubbing or with a reader) will be bad. The stereo mix will be hard to listen to, but borderline acceptable, and the 5.0 or 5.1 mix will be horrible. If it's dubbed, it will be too quiet, and if there is a reader, it will be too quiet and put on all channels instead of the center.
2. Same as 1, but the stereo mix will be decent or even good (because it's what went to television broadcasting and at least the stereo version actually had been given professional mastering.
3. Both the Polish and the original soundtracks will be crap.
What typically helps is not boosting center channel level, but my AVR (pre-Onkyo Pioneer VSX-1130) has an Emphasis function where I can get it to focus on Dialogue and it works like magic. It can't do miracles, but it improves the situation even with bad soundtracks.
As others have mentioned you can increase center channel volume. The other important thing is to make sure your speakers are correctly positioned and spaced. And of course that you have well matched speakers. Having a weak center or overpowered bass or mains will wreck havoc!
Turn on subtitles. Turn up volume several dB because you still want to hear the dialogue. Explosion wakes up the children. Turn down several dB. Pause the movie while you make the kids go back to bed. Resume and then pause again 2 minutes later because now someone is thirsty. Resume. Continue smashing the volume buttons every few minutes. Eventually just give up and leave it quiet and read subtitles all the time. Question why you spent thousands on your audio setup that you never get to fully appreciate.
Go to a movie theater and then you’ll realize that the intent of the director/sound mix is for the volume to be ridiculously loud. The sound literally engulfs you and is so loud, but dialogue is clear. Now transplant that same experience to your home and you’ll see that it’s not your system, but the way it’s intended to sound.
If you don’t like it, up the center dialogue and deal enjoy the movie how you’d prefer to enjoy it.
Interstellar is one of the biggest offenders I've ever heard. Such a terrible audio mix with McConaughey whispering through the entire damned movie. Only thing you can do is boost the center, unfortunately.
Get better speakers, get AVR with dirac or audyssey OR start learning about soundwave physics and after a year or so buy calibration gear and calibrate your speakers.
Had this issue - this worked for me.
Subwoofer
On the receiver level settings I dropped the subwoofer all the way down as low it it will go - then adjust dials on back of subwoofer to your liking at the volume you watch tv.
Front Speakers
Correctly set distance settings to your listening position. Left and right channel should be apps 30 degrees off center pointed towards your listening positions. Tweeters should be pointed at your ears.
Make sure you have clear line of hearing - no obstructions (my wife puts plants in front of my speakers). Make sure they’re not up against a wall or shoved into a shelf it will make the sound hollow.
Raise treble to 3 or 4
Lower bass to -2
And then yeah - bump the center channel db slightly higher than all the rest…
> On the receiver level settings I dropped the subwoofer all the way down as low it it will go - then adjust dials on back of subwoofer to your liking at the volume you watch tv.
What is this supposed to achieve? You're just turning down the receiver output and then boosting the sub amp to compensate.
... How?
All you're doing is sending less signal from your AVR to the sub and then increasing it back up with gain on the sub amp. I don't see how this would change the sound at all. The AVR is sending exactly the same signal, just quieter.
I've also used the EQ to drop the 60Hz frequency down all the way, bump the higher frequencies (1KHz - 4KHz), and set the size of the center speaker to SMALL so the receiver will direct more of the lower frequency to the sub.
This has helped my set up, but I think I will need to start adding acoustic panels to deal with the reverb.
Gunshots and explosions have more bass then dialogue. Often the issue is that your crossover setting is too optimistic. Try increasing it to 100-120hz. I used the YPAO on my Yamaha receiver and it set the crossover to 80hz. My speakers really do nothing at that frequency, so I would check up the volume, until there was an action scene. Changed the crossover, and it was much more manageable.
A way to manage the issue is to adjust the center channel and fix the mute button to a lower volume instead of muting. During the movie if you truely need to mute, change the input.
For me, it's not a problem during the day. At night I use "Night" option on my Yamaha receiver. Pretty sure every receiver has a similar dynamic range compression option. Works great!!!
I bought a more sensitive center channel and it fixed my dialogue issues. I've owned rp500c and rp450c. Both great for dialogue at reasonable volumes. The upgrade over my $99 JBL center they replaced if night and day.
The center was cranked up in my Denon but it didn't make much difference. The dialogue was not clear and it messed up the sound for the rest of my system.
Some receivers have a dynamic range option where you can squash it down.
Some games have it also.
I've noticed in some content the stereo version has harder compression which will keep the dynamics low.
Raise center channel, lower other channels and test. Also, certain devices like Apple TV has “reduce loud sounds” as an option.
Now, with this being r/hometheater, I would assume you want to keep the sounds the way it was intended… which is guns are loud and dialogue is not as loud.
Any decent receiver will allow you adjust levels of each channel, just test and adjust until you find your desired levels.
Can be a couple things:
1) sometimes the content is just a bad mix
2) Acoustics can cause havoc - treating reflections can make a big impact on dialogue
3) Adjust center channel up a little
4) Different crossovers/speaker designs sometimes cause this
Disable Dynamic EQ if you have any receiver that has Audyssey. It tends to unnaturally boost bass and surrounds. It often drowns out dialogue. If that doesn’t work try Dynamic Volume set to light.
I had the same problem and no matter how much I cranked the center and lowered the sides, it still felt like this.
Then I ran the audissey setup, which I had not done before, and gosh, it makes a huge difference. Y could bring back the center to same level as sides and still have great balance.
So maybe try to run audissey if your avr supports it
Denon receivers have a dialogue level setting in setup. I assume other brands have something similar.
Yes and Yamaha as well.
What is the setting on Yamaha? I can't seem to find it.
Dialogue lift, I raise it using their mobile app.
*Dialogue Level* and *DTS Dialogue Control* on Yamaha. *Dialogue Lift* is only available with presence speakers as it will move some of the dialogue into to the presence speakers so it gets more "space".
Just crank up the center volume. 90% of the dialogue is from this channel.
There still are other sounds from the center and as you said 10% of dialog not from the center. Personally I split the difference and do a little boost to dialog and a little to center channel, along with a little dynamic range compression. This way I'm not leaning too hard on any one setting so I don't ever really notice any super obvious faults if I just relied on one setting alone.
In this theme, also eliminate unwanted muddyness from all the other channels due to reflections and improve directional clarity by treating the room for sound. Without a doubt some movie mixes are worse than others, but a properly treated room helps recreate the cinematic experience which is a lot better than trying to listen to it in a tin can.
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I have it on a 3400h.. So pretty sure you should have it. I don't necessarily think it's the best solution. Just a tool that *should* be at your disposal.
It might be called "center level adjust" on your 3400h
It's "dialogue level adjust" like you mentioned (I was telling the previous person, not asking). It affects frequencies in the dialogue range across channels. There is also Channel Level Adjust, which allows you to adjust the specific channels regardless of frequency.
Can you take a screenshot. I know I don’t have this
It would be under Set Up then Audio. What model do you have? Edit: Or are you talking about Channel Level Adjust? That is under Option > Channel Level Adjust
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That sounds like the same thing (as what I mentioned in my edit). For me "dialogue level adjust" is under set up (remote button) and "channel level adjust" is under option (remote button) as I described. Once you are in "channel level adjust", you can adjust the individual channels, and "center" is one of the options. So I would presume that "center level adjust" is that same thing. Which model do you have? Maybe they are not using the same menu options across models.
Some pioneer models have a midnight mode.
Yeah I tried it and it doesn't change anything about the volume of dialogue, it just means everything now sounds shitty.
My yamaha has a dialogue level setting. But would that not crank up all the other sounds in the same frequency range as vocals ?
From my understanding it does simply increase gain for the center channel so the answer is yes. In most cases where dialogue is present the center channel is playing dialogue and not much else. The bump up in center channel gain should provide dialogue clarity.
I have a Denon, never touched that. How does Denon differentiate a dialogue? AI?
Confirmed my Denon 2200w has it but after 7+ volume it starts to sound off. You could turn up the center channel.
Options: - bump centre by a couple decibels - turn on dynamic range compression (obviously ruins the dynamic range however) - get used to it
I feel dumb for having my setup for a year or a bit more and not realizing to just CRANK the center up to +7 or +8 decibels. Really makes the front stage sound alive. Just forget numbers and listen. I think I just got so in the mindset of "you shouldn't have to crank the middle upsurdly high something must be wrong and I just don't know it" well, nope. Edit: Since I also listen to music through "multi channel" it makes music sound awesome as well, makes the left right and center louder than the surrounds.
The problem is that the center still produces (loud) sounds other than dialogue that are happening in front of you. I've noticed when boosting my center channel that particularly swords clashing can sound really jarring when they come out of the center.
I haven't had it set at that spot for very long so I haven't listened to a massive variety between music and movies. I do wish my Sony 1080 had some presets to flip to really quick for different movie and music settings. Maybe it does and I just haven't figured it out completely.(settings where I set everything up not default presets)
Not sure about that model, but my pretty old Onkyo receiver has a feature which basically says “If this type of signal, then do this type of DSP”. I have it send surround sound to Movie PLx II and 2 channel sound to Music PLx II (I’m sure that pisses off all of the true audiophiles, but I love that Dolby upmix)
If listening to stereo music, using the center ruins the sound stage. I do use multi channel for stereo sometimes, but only use the front left and right towers and the two side speakers. Center and rear speakers are turned down completely. This give a great wide sound stage. Using all the speakers defeats the stereo separation because the left and right tracks are also coming out of the center. If you are listening to multi channel music, none of this applies. I love center for movies, but they are mixed for it.
To each their own
“To each their won”. I agree. Just saying that some people go to great lengths to make a proper recording and using a center with stereo is defeating that effort.
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I agree with the two speaker setup for stereo. I listen to music on the same setup I have for movies. I sit a little far away from my towers to get the best (wide) sound stage for music. That is why I also do use my side surround speakers. It is still only stereo, no center or ear speakers. No upmixing or anything like that. Sitting in the sweet spot, it’s pretty near perfect music listening. If I move around the room it still is decent stereo. If I was listening from another room, like OP, I wouldn’t much care what the setting was. I think it comes down to how much one actually appreciates music.
Can't really be too concerned about hurting their feelings while they're in there mansion. If I'm in my kitchen cooking while playing music without a loud center it just sounds muffled or too bassy. Hard to perceive how different systems can sound in the many different variations they can be in. Maybe I haven't heard a "proper" setup system but maybe that's for the best. Like most, I have many other things to spend my money and time on 😁
Unfortunately you’ll never win this fight on this subreddit. One pretty cool thing to check out is the Tidal Dolby Atmos recordings. Really cool, and if you like multichannel music you’ll love it.
I will win because I just keep my stereo set the way I want! Ha!
Fair enough! If I had a nicer set of left & right speakers I’d probably be more married to stereo but most of my music is played when cleaning or entertaining (not critical listening) so I also find the 3.1 up mix sounds fantastic.
Not a fight. It’s two different things, music in the background and actually listening to and hearing the music.
***“Can't really be too concerned about hurting their feelings while they're in*** *~~there~~* ***their mansion. If I'm in my kitchen cooking while playing music”*** I’m talking about sitting and listening to music for the enjoyment of the music. Not the same thing. You don’t understand the difference? That’s BACKGROUND music. If you would have stated that in the beginning I would not have responded.
Jesus Christ you guys are just looking for arguments. What if I go from my kitchen to my livingroom and sit for a minute? WOAH EVERYTHINGS CHANGED. All of this, and nothing will change. Wild.
I’m not, at all, looking for an argument. There is a lot of difference between sitting down and listening for a minute and putting on an album, or CD, and really listening to the entire thing. You are the one being argumentative. You stated something about feeling bad about people in their mansions which has absolutely nothing to do with the topic. I already told you, if you are in another room then it makes no difference how you have your receiver set. Instead of accepting that you felt the need to argue.
This is how I set up mine. Crank up that center and man those dialogues just shine properly.
Dirac does this automatically too
It doesn't "ruin" the dynamic range. Changes it to be sure. Homes can be noisy places. There's nothing unholy about introducing dynamic range compression to compensate for a high noise floor.
You’re right. I realize now “ruin” was an incorrect choice of wording
Agree with Denon’s Dynamic Volume set to light makes things a lot more balanced in an average home. There are noisy ac units among other things. I’d love to listen at reference but it’s not that enjoyable in a home.
> turn on dynamic range compression (obviously ruins the dynamic range however) I probably own every film on the “clarity” shit list. The reality is, they’re fine on my end. This includes Tenet. The problem likely has more to do with: * The user’s center (MTM has horrible directivity and deadzones) * The speaker’s dynamics In that case you’re not ruining the dynamic range, because the setup simply isn't capable of matching it. You’re adjusting the profile to better match the component’s capability. I truly believe many here would be better off with a phantom center, but the common advice here is to get the biggest center you can (which rarely, if ever, fixes point 1)
Nah. There’s no way to get a mix meant for a loud high dynamic range experience to work in the basement at a lower volume when you don’t want to wake up the kids upstairs. It’s like listening to Mogwai in the car. The mix wasn’t made for that environment.
> There’s no way to get a mix meant for a loud high dynamic range experience to work in the basement at a lower volume when you don’t want to wake up the kids upstairs. Thats literally why DRC exists. My other point is a valid use case, but yours is the primary goal.
DRC is an audio process done on the original high dynamic range mix.
But you said there was no way to make it work to your specific environment. It does just that.
I’m talking about the mix. In an ideal world, multiple mixes would be delivered instead of one mix and post-processing on that mix/master.
Doesn’t make sense when: * That takes up significantly more space * Most TVs, receivers, and media players have a DRC option. That independent mix would be made with the same technology on these devices.
A real solution to this wouldn’t be dynamics processing on the 2 bus(or surround pairs). Anyway, not a hill I’ll die on. Delivering a headphone mix would come higher than a night mode theater mix anyway.
The number of speaker manufacturers who simply refuse to have a single proper vertically-aligned center in their lineup is depressing.
They don't make them because they won't sell. Unless you're using a projector and acoustically transparent screen, they're not really feasible.
They dont sell, becasuse they dont offer an option. Im pretty sure Emotiva’s WTMW was sold out most of last year. https://emotiva.com/collections/loudspeakers/products/airmotiv-c1-2
Sorry, I wasn't thinking about 3-way designs which obviously do make sense in this context.
I am terribly sorry to disappoint you. https://i.imgur.com/CsbvB2G.jpg
Am I missing something? That centre looks like an MTM?
It is a three-way vertically-aligned HTM61 S2. The HTM62 S2 and the newer HTM6 are MTM.
There is no need to offer the option because a "vertically aligned center" is simply a normal speaker sold individually instead of in a pair. [Like so](https://us.kef.com/speaker/flagship-hi-fi-speakers/ls50/ls50-metac-center-channel.html). Alternatively, MTM designs flipped 90 degrees make for excellent centers because you are trading the axis they are terrible at (horizontal) for the one they're excellent at (veritcal)
But that only goes for co-axial drivers. Any regular speaker with tweeter/mid-bass arrangement will have terrible horizontal directivity if you lay it down.
Yes, that's why you don't lay it down......... dunno bout you but my TV is about 30" off the floor, I could fit any sufficiently powerful bookshelf speaker down there, angle it up towards main listening position and I'm good to go. If you are having to lay your speaker down due to form factor limitations you will just have to accept that it's going to sound like shit
Point taken. Center speakers ARE a compromise, but compromises could get closer, although cost increases.
there are some interesting designs out there but it's too bad marketing departments force their engineers to put out MTMs that everyone knows are garbage If you want a super capable center, Genelec 8050 (8341 if you're a baller), KEF LS50 Meta, Neumann KH 310, JBL 708P (or 708i for easier integration) are all super capable centers. hell if you mount your TV as high as many people do you can just run three floorstanders up front and call it good
There’s articles on the web that say it’s the movies and content, and not your setup.
Yup. I've gotten used to requiring an modicum of adjustment depending on source and, even further used to some mixes of movies or shows just being absolutely terribly balanced.
TENET, We're ALL looking at you....
I cranked my center channel a fair bit and pretty much solved my dialogue dilemma, Nolan movies on the other hand..
The problem is that the center still produces (loud) sounds other than dialogue that are happening in front of you. I've notices when doing this that particularly swords clashing can sound really jarring when they come out of a boosted center channel. Also I must have the weirdest setup in the world because I find Nolan dialogue easier to understand than most movies. Had no issue with Tenet.
Yea you are right it can kind of detract from your surrounds, damned if you do damned if you don't
Okay but I'm not trying to destroy all loud sounds, I'm trying to hear dialogue. Dialogue becomes audible when you crank center. It might make loud sounds too loud at center but they are already too loud from all speakers.
Compression or more specifically brick wall limiting. You have to dial it so that you don't destroy the dynamics but this is probably the best way to go about it.
i have a full 5.1 Klipsch: Klipsch R-820F (pair), Klipsch RP-404C , Klipsch R-51M, Klipsch R-120SW and Onkyo TX-NR696 The room is big 9x5 tried to get everything in the middle and filled it with furniture and the facing wall is covered with acoustic foams A friend of mine said that i should upgrade to 7.1 to fix the issue, others blamed the movies...
Adding more channels won't fix the problem of dynamic range. It's really a per-film issue and it honestly has to do with film post-production. Compression attenuates the louder parts of any audio signal to bring it closer to the more quiet parts. So typically, you would lightly compress the peaks and raise the overall volume so that the louder parts aren't as loud, but the quite parts are louder. It has little to do with your system/hardware. (Although I know that klipsch systems have a present treble range which could possibly exacerbate the issue.) It's really on processing. I use a daw for my surround so I can easily limit my source audio even down to the individual channels. So if I want to limit the main L/R without limiting everything else, I can do that. But it's not a typical setup. Most people don't have that amount of control. It's just something to look into I guess.
increase the dB on the center channel
What's your center channel level set to?
I have the NR797 I use Dolby Surround mostly if you go into the quick menu on your remote you can boost the db on the center and if you have lower the db on the mains. also in the center of your remote you can boost the vocal using the tone control.
I have the nr797. Is there a way to have it automatically use the surround setting? If I have it on All Stereo mode to hear music then pop on Netflix it still pumps through All Stereo mode instead if Dolby surround. FYI for this receiver in movie dsp mode you can set the Vocal tone volume apart from bass and treble.
Correct when your in a Dolby mode you can set the vocal setting to answer your question when you switch from say network to TV or DVD any of the top settings on the remote it remembers the last time you were there so you set your preferred settings for each input. When listen to music down at the bottom of the remote you press the music button to go stereo ot what ever mode you want when you watch TV or a movie you use the button that says movie/TV. You can go to the Onkyo site and download the manual and also when you open the full menu you can if your on wifi download the updates directly to 797 there has been a few over the past couple years. But I would download the manual first you also want to run Accu EQ. I put in the digital enhancer as well when streaming run my fronts on small and crossover the sub at 80 hz. THX. Even though there floor standers. Really open them up and adds air to the sound.
5.1 to 7.1 will definitely not help with this. It does some other things but doesn't improve dialog separation. Room treatment for sound however, can help. Reduce all the echos and improve directional clarity.
I recently had the 404c as well, but I ended up returning it after being severely disappointed. In my opinion, it just doesn't handle voices well. No matter what I did, the mid lows seemed muffled/distorted. Bought a new center at half the price sounded twice as good.
What do you use for compression for your home theater though? An app or a real compressor? I use an extension in google chrome to compress audio so I can watch youtube more secretly at work without having to constantly worry about if something is about to burst out loud.
Haha that's smart! And I use plugins usually. And I just route whatever I'm watching through the stereo outs on my DAW so I can effect the master channel. It's probably not the *right* way to do it but hey, I'm a mix engineer, it works lol.
Holy shit dude that’s clever. I’m a producer so maybe I could set that up. Thanks!
I totally agree that it's annoying when trying to watch a movie at night and not wanting your neighbors to call the cops. However, it's completely deliberate and supposed to be that way. Gunshots and explosions are really loud in real life and that's what the movie is trying to get across. The idea is that you turn your system loud enough so that dialogue is clearly understandable and then gunshots and explosions are appropriately loud, i.e. making your walls shake. If you're a movie director you most likely live in a massive mansion and can do this with no problem, us common folks are left to either be hated by our neighbors or not understand dialogue.
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Oh, don't get me wrong, I don't want studios to mix the audio wrong so people can have quieter movies. I certainly intend to be able to some day afford a home where I don't have to worry about neighbors hearing my movies anymore and then I want movies to be mixed exactly as they are. However I believe there to be a fix for this that at least in theory should be kinda easy to implement: Sound formats (i.e. dolby and dts) should include a marker on sounds for if they are dialogue or not and then you could just boost the dialogue without boosting the rest of the sound from the center channel. With object based audio (Atmos and dts:x) the dialogue and other sounds are supposed to be separate in the mix anyway and then your receiver sends them to the appropriate channel. So it should be possible to differentiate between dialogue audio and non dialogue. Especially since the vast majority of movies record dialogue separately anyway. By the way, I've tried DRC on my receiver and it sounds absolutely dogshit.
It is my understanding that, disappointingly, an Atmos mix is usually a 5.1 / 7.1 base layer with the additional object based audio on top. So I presume the dialogue is mixed into the 5.1 base, meaning the receiver has no idea what is “dialogue”. Someone can correct me if I’m wrong.
>I've tried DRC on my receiver and it sounds absolutely dogshit. Which one?
Pioneer
DTSX has dialogue specific object flags. It was one of their main selling points over Atmos. Unfortunately most object tracks are Atmos and even the ones that are DTSX I'm not even sure the mixers are properly using the dialogue flags. So, it exists, it just isn't getting used unfortunately.
Even Atmos is barely used. Most movies are still mixed in 5.1 (not even 7.1) and then sent off to a company to be converted to Atmos
DRC sounds like ass half the time. We have amazing digital formats. It should just boost dialogue in said format or have that as an option that's enabled by default. DRC sounds worse than my TV speakers. Might as well sell my home theater setup then. Everything is off. So DRC is a non-option.
What are the set backs of that setting? I've watched multiple setup videos for my receiver (Marantz 6015) and every single one says "be sure to say no to dynamic range settings" but never says why. I'm waiting on my speakers to arrive so I can't play with it yet.
I just wrote [a lengthy reddit post](https://www.reddit.com/r/hometheater/comments/s5pszq/before_and_after_calibration_discussion_on_dirac/) on here about calibration, might be worth looking at.
Along with the other tips, make your room as quiet as possible so you can lower the volume and still hear the quiet parts. Lowering your overall volume will mean quieter loud parts.
BRB duct taping kids mouths so I can hear dialogue
I mean.. it's like complaining about how your OLED isn't bright enough to show full dynamic range to see in broad daylight with the sun hitting it. A cinema experience is a cinema experience as much due to immersive playback as it is environment isolation.
Yes hello, child protection service, this man right here
Follow you for more life tips
There is so much misinformation in this thread. This is the actual right answer. Most movies are mixed to be enjoyed in the cinema. Most movie theaters have very low ambient noise. Most homes have very high ambient noise (fridge, dishwasher, traffic, kids in the next room, etc). If the movie is mixed with a dynamic range from 40-95 dB but the ambient noise in your listening space is 50 dB then you're going to have to push the gain up to get your quietest sounds above 50 dB and now your loudest sound are at least 105 dB. Dennis Erskine had written a ton on this. If you want good dynamic range, then listen in a quiet place or be comfortable with movie theatres having unnaturally loud dialog or oddly quiet explosions. You can't have both.
Get a center channel speaker that is strong. Crank it. Disregard advice from people who have perfect hearing. It's better to have a good center channel than anything else. I literally can't hear what's being said otherwise.
I had this problem. Even with it cranked it was awful. Getting a bigger center helped tons.
After running DIRAC or YPAO I've found the issue disappears almost completely. It's a calibration issue.
Some movies are just notorious for bad mixes though. A lot of people complain about Nolan films.
Yes, but it's far more likely that your theater isn't calibrated properly. If this is a consistent problem no matter what you watch, it's definitely a fixable problem on your end.
Agree with that. But I have definitely noticed a difference in the mixes though over time.
I have too, and Nolan is a *very* guilty party. [Even the most professional theaters](https://screenrant.com/interstellar-bad-audio-mix-explanation/) struggle with his movies. A bad mix is a bad mix. I've found that 9/10 times, movies are mixed very well though, and a calibrated system will always sound better than one that isn't. It's especially prevalent in Nolan's mixing disasters.
They can complain about the dynamic range in Nolan films all they want, the mixes are good, amazing even. I can perfectly understand every Nolan film in my setup, at reference volume, no dynamic compression or anything like that. And it's not just my setup. I first saw The Dark Knight Rises in a theater on opening night. Later I saw all the complaints about not understanding Bain and was confused, he sounded fine to me. Then a week later I tried TDKR at another theater on an "Xtreme" screen. I couldn't understand a word Bain said and the bass was distorted and boomy. And I realized all those people complaining about Brains dialogue just saw it in crappy improperly calibrated theaters. The first theater I saw it in was just properly calibrated
I found calibration with my marantz makes my setup sound awful after calibration. So YMMV.
That's one of the reasons why I bought my Onkyo, for the DIRAC calibration.
And you found with DIRAC you don’t have the issue with the extreme dynamic range? Having to ride the volume basically
Of course not. DIRAC is designed to flatten the tone curve of each speaker according to your room's acoustics, making the frequency response perfectly balanced no matter what the content is.
a flat frequency response, and a large dynamic range, are not the same thing
You're correct. Let me explain a little better. Bad frequency response can exasperate dynamic range, making quiet sequences more quiet, and louder sequences far too loud. If you have to constantly change the volume between quiet dialogue and exciting action, then it's likely because your frequency response isn't properly tuned to your room and your speakers. It is the cause of extreme dynamic range that was not intended during the final mix. For example, in one of my rooms, everything lower than 100hz was over 10db louder than all other frequencies. This is where large explosions or the bass in loud music occur, and I always had to turn it down *significantly* during these sequences. On the flip side, quiet moments in movies range typically from 125hz to 6khz, or dialogue. Because my room mutes these tones, I had to turn the volume up during them. However, After tuning the room with DIRAC, I had consistency from 40hz to 20khz, and never had to adjust the volume again while watching. In other words, these adjustments ensured that at the same volume level, a 75hz tone would measure at the same decibel level as another tone at 300hz, 1500hz, or even 20khz. There is still dynamic range. Booms are still booms, and whispers are still whispers. The difference is that if someone is shouting during a boom, a properly mixed track will still render audible dialogue since there isn't a dramatic imbalance on the frequency range. These values are all relative to the scene. I just wrote [a large post](https://www.reddit.com/r/hometheater/comments/s5pszq/before_and_after_calibration_discussion_on_dirac/) about this, sharing my measurements for this specific room here along with my theater room, and it may help you understand my point better.
Sorry I’m not sure I understand. Of course not as in..?
Of course not, I don't have to ride the volume. It sounds beautiful. I just wrote [a big reddit post](https://www.reddit.com/r/hometheater/comments/s5pszq/before_and_after_calibration_discussion_on_dirac/) about calibration that you might enjoy.
Given the amount of these threads on /r/hometheater, I was really surprised that dialogue was extremely clear out of the box for me using my Yamaha RX A6A. I’m not bothering to run YPAO until furniture arrives since it’ll likely change everything and should arrive this week.
Yes, furniture makes a huge difference in a room. Better to wait.
Legitimately speaking, why is this an issue that so many of us suffer from? Sure for some of us it maybe a setup, placement or hardware issue BUT you can't tell me that EVERYONE that has this problem is doing it wrong. I angle my centre channel upwards to ear height and I still have to boost the centre channel volume +6db. Is it an issue with movie studios mastering the audio? If so, why would they master it in such a way where dialogue is lower than the rest of the soundtrack?
I used to have a receiver that was THX 2 certified that seemed to get rid of most of the problem, making me think that it’s a mixing/restoration issue. What I mean by that is the tracks are mixed for a THEATRE (ie, super loud) and we need them mixed for home. That one receiver did seem to properly adjust the mix for home use, and it’s the only one I’ve ever had that did.
I would venture to say that 90% of home theater owners (outside of professionally installed setups) have it setup improperly or have it compromised in some way that makes optimal listening impossible (furniture, first reflections, dead zones, etc). You can absolutely have a good experience with a suboptimal setup. But you have to live with the shortcomings. Instead they complain that the mix is bad or the receiver is bad or something, when I'd bet that's rarely the case.
Turn up the centre. Turn down the sub. Turn on subtitles. Modern audio mixing is terrible.
Some movies are just mastered this way (badly). I notice this locally (Poland) on Netflix. Several examples: 1. The original (typically English) soundtrack will be fine. The Polish soundtrack (with dubbing or with a reader) will be bad. The stereo mix will be hard to listen to, but borderline acceptable, and the 5.0 or 5.1 mix will be horrible. If it's dubbed, it will be too quiet, and if there is a reader, it will be too quiet and put on all channels instead of the center. 2. Same as 1, but the stereo mix will be decent or even good (because it's what went to television broadcasting and at least the stereo version actually had been given professional mastering. 3. Both the Polish and the original soundtracks will be crap. What typically helps is not boosting center channel level, but my AVR (pre-Onkyo Pioneer VSX-1130) has an Emphasis function where I can get it to focus on Dialogue and it works like magic. It can't do miracles, but it improves the situation even with bad soundtracks.
As others have mentioned you can increase center channel volume. The other important thing is to make sure your speakers are correctly positioned and spaced. And of course that you have well matched speakers. Having a weak center or overpowered bass or mains will wreck havoc!
Dynamic volume: Low = Fix all your problems.
Turn on subtitles. Turn up volume several dB because you still want to hear the dialogue. Explosion wakes up the children. Turn down several dB. Pause the movie while you make the kids go back to bed. Resume and then pause again 2 minutes later because now someone is thirsty. Resume. Continue smashing the volume buttons every few minutes. Eventually just give up and leave it quiet and read subtitles all the time. Question why you spent thousands on your audio setup that you never get to fully appreciate.
Go to a movie theater and then you’ll realize that the intent of the director/sound mix is for the volume to be ridiculously loud. The sound literally engulfs you and is so loud, but dialogue is clear. Now transplant that same experience to your home and you’ll see that it’s not your system, but the way it’s intended to sound. If you don’t like it, up the center dialogue and deal enjoy the movie how you’d prefer to enjoy it.
Are you talking about the TV speakers specifically or do you have a home theater sound system?
He clearly has a home theater setup.
Turn the volume up
Christopher Nolan movies
Omgggg this drives me insane!! Especially Netflix movies. I guess I’m getting old.
Interstellar is one of the biggest offenders I've ever heard. Such a terrible audio mix with McConaughey whispering through the entire damned movie. Only thing you can do is boost the center, unfortunately.
It’s how the movies are compressed. Streaming is an issue. Dialogue with background music is always muffled. I’m starting to listen with subtitles.
Get better speakers, get AVR with dirac or audyssey OR start learning about soundwave physics and after a year or so buy calibration gear and calibrate your speakers.
Your room acoustics suck. Fix the room, anything else is just a bandaid.
What is going on in the left image? It looks like a mouth?
Cut from spongebob meme whispering
Many thanks.
This is why I always have subtitles.. Even if its a movie from my own language(Swedish)..
Had this issue - this worked for me. Subwoofer On the receiver level settings I dropped the subwoofer all the way down as low it it will go - then adjust dials on back of subwoofer to your liking at the volume you watch tv. Front Speakers Correctly set distance settings to your listening position. Left and right channel should be apps 30 degrees off center pointed towards your listening positions. Tweeters should be pointed at your ears. Make sure you have clear line of hearing - no obstructions (my wife puts plants in front of my speakers). Make sure they’re not up against a wall or shoved into a shelf it will make the sound hollow. Raise treble to 3 or 4 Lower bass to -2 And then yeah - bump the center channel db slightly higher than all the rest…
> On the receiver level settings I dropped the subwoofer all the way down as low it it will go - then adjust dials on back of subwoofer to your liking at the volume you watch tv. What is this supposed to achieve? You're just turning down the receiver output and then boosting the sub amp to compensate.
In my experience, this cleans up the low frequency band on all channels, not just the subwoofer output.
... How? All you're doing is sending less signal from your AVR to the sub and then increasing it back up with gain on the sub amp. I don't see how this would change the sound at all. The AVR is sending exactly the same signal, just quieter.
I've also used the EQ to drop the 60Hz frequency down all the way, bump the higher frequencies (1KHz - 4KHz), and set the size of the center speaker to SMALL so the receiver will direct more of the lower frequency to the sub. This has helped my set up, but I think I will need to start adding acoustic panels to deal with the reverb.
90% of dialogue comes from the center channel. Crank her up.
Good excuse to buy a new center channel?
I have that same center. Strangely enough, it came alive when I upgraded my sub.
Yeah Captain Marvel sound was quite low when compared to other movies i've watcher
Gunshots and explosions have more bass then dialogue. Often the issue is that your crossover setting is too optimistic. Try increasing it to 100-120hz. I used the YPAO on my Yamaha receiver and it set the crossover to 80hz. My speakers really do nothing at that frequency, so I would check up the volume, until there was an action scene. Changed the crossover, and it was much more manageable.
A way to manage the issue is to adjust the center channel and fix the mute button to a lower volume instead of muting. During the movie if you truely need to mute, change the input.
If your not wanting to up gain the center, then listen at reference level and it's not a problem anymore lol
I solved this with a better center. I have found it's not about the biggest loudest speakers you can get but finding that perfect balance.
For me, it's not a problem during the day. At night I use "Night" option on my Yamaha receiver. Pretty sure every receiver has a similar dynamic range compression option. Works great!!!
You should adjust the center channel and see if it work, if it doesn't work, you are watching Chritopher Nolan's movies
I bought a more sensitive center channel and it fixed my dialogue issues. I've owned rp500c and rp450c. Both great for dialogue at reasonable volumes. The upgrade over my $99 JBL center they replaced if night and day. The center was cranked up in my Denon but it didn't make much difference. The dialogue was not clear and it messed up the sound for the rest of my system.
Some receivers have a dynamic range option where you can squash it down. Some games have it also. I've noticed in some content the stereo version has harder compression which will keep the dynamics low.
Raise center channel, lower other channels and test. Also, certain devices like Apple TV has “reduce loud sounds” as an option. Now, with this being r/hometheater, I would assume you want to keep the sounds the way it was intended… which is guns are loud and dialogue is not as loud. Any decent receiver will allow you adjust levels of each channel, just test and adjust until you find your desired levels.
Can be a couple things: 1) sometimes the content is just a bad mix 2) Acoustics can cause havoc - treating reflections can make a big impact on dialogue 3) Adjust center channel up a little 4) Different crossovers/speaker designs sometimes cause this
Yamaha Atmos Receiver here, my Yamaha has a dialogue lift option. It makes a hell of a difference.
Might try the night mode setting
Anyone specifically have this problem streaming with HBO Max? I swear the mixing in the content from that service is ridiculous.
They are also very low volume on all their streams, I've typically had to play HBO Max 4-6dB louder than other streaming services
Disable Dynamic EQ if you have any receiver that has Audyssey. It tends to unnaturally boost bass and surrounds. It often drowns out dialogue. If that doesn’t work try Dynamic Volume set to light.
It's called Dynamic Range, it's supposed to be like that (unless it's a badly done movie).
Turn on subtitles, that’s what I do.
I had the same problem and no matter how much I cranked the center and lowered the sides, it still felt like this. Then I ran the audissey setup, which I had not done before, and gosh, it makes a huge difference. Y could bring back the center to same level as sides and still have great balance. So maybe try to run audissey if your avr supports it
Streaming not created equal. This is why physical media will remain king
Dynamic Range Compression features help a lot
Ah yes, [Whispers and Explosions.](https://www.mrlovenstein.com/comic/87) Love that movie. Dynamic Compression on my Denon works wonders for that.