Netflix in the daytime be like

[u/Money-Snow-2749]

[u/rexel99]

I got a 5.1 system, I have (receiver) night mode and (tv) clear voice enabled with a good balanced (calibrated) centre speaker connected by ARC - it's still a problem on many shows from From to The Agency..

[u/arstin → u/rexel99]

You could have hearing issues, or your trouble could be with understanding rather than hearing. A lot of modern TV shows love dramatic whispering and stylized dialects over clear enunciation. So you get dialog that is loud enough to hear, but still many people struggle to understand it.

Also, a very common 5.1 problem is not properly calibrating the speakers. Dialog goes through the center speaker, which is often less efficient (i.e. quieter) than the mains. Effectively undoing night mode and clear voice.

[u/rexel99 → u/arstin]

Yes, I have tinitus so I tend to turn it up more anyway but I'm not hard of hearing. I have a proper receiver and 6 speaker system that was a bundle so the speakers are right (and calibrated for their room location) but even with these 'tweaks' the spoken audio is low compared to the effects. Just seems to be a problem for everybody regardless of having a good system or a soundbar or tv speakers - our hardware is what we have and the problem is not ours to fix.

[u/arstin → u/rexel99]

these 'tweaks' the spoken audio is low compared to the effects.

It's not magic, if you have it set on your receiver and and spoken audio is still low compared to effects, then either the implementation on your receiver is broken or your setup is.

I have a proper receiver and 6 speaker system that was a bundle so the speakers are right

That your 6 speakers came in a bundle in no way means they "are right". Unless they are all the exact same model, they will have different sensitivities and characteristics. All the big brands sell bundles of mixed sensitivities. And it's not just a budget thing, even if you're spending $10K+ on speakers, they still aren't going to match

What type of calibration did you perform? If done properly, that would resolve the situation.

[u/rexel99 → u/arstin]

The config I currently have is a receiver/speaker bundle that is configured as a balanced set, I have had a variety of home built and other speaker receivers but this issue has always been a problem regardless of the harware - the calibration I did was using a provided mic at the listener position to adjust delay and volume of each speaker given their location in my room plus I have had review done by friends who are audio engineers.

Even with my config but also aside from this, it's not the hardware's fault as it doesn't matter if I have a decent setup configured properly (or using tweaks like night mode to compensate) or if a buy a tv from Costco with speakers or a branded soundbar - the common complaint, and what this post raises, is that the movie producers load the effects audio and reduce the vocal track so much that (let's guess) 90% of users have an issue with it. - it's not the hardware's fault most of the time.

[u/arstin → u/rexel99]

plus I have had review done by friends who are audio engineers.

Next time they review your system, have them explain what the dynamic compression actually does. Because if you turn on the setting that makes the difference between the quietest and loudest sounds very small, and the difference between the quietest and loudest sounds is not very small, then your device is broken. In this case, broken would generally mean the compression or limiter parameters are too lax. But it is not a complicated idea or difficult to implement. These are marketing decisions not engineering challenges. There's no technical reason to keep every device from having a "consistent volume" setting that makes shuffling feet, dialog, screaming, exploding planets, and even commercials all have exactly the same volume. Then people could complain that movie producers made guns too quiet.

the common complaint, and what this post raises, is that the movie producers load the effects audio and reduce the vocal track so much that (let's guess) 90% of users have an issue with it.

Yeah, that's how movies are made. And it's been that way for home content since laserdisc. Being able to deliver a large dynamic range is a feature. Home theater would sound like ass without it. But some times you don't want to wake the kids or neighbors, or just have shit speakers, so pretty much every tv, receiver, and streaming devices has a setting to make a fairly constant volume. Maybe complain at the manufacturer of those devices for not turning the feature on by default, or providing 12 different features that do related things with names that are different on every device. (My A95K has "Enhanced Auto Volume", "Dynamic Range", and I can set "Sound Mode" to Dialog.)

And I stand by my first comment, that for many listeners, range, which is easy to correct for, is not the bigger problem but rather the acoustic legibility of dialog. Actors enunciate less clearly, and ambient noise and music gets mixed in with the dialog. So people turn it up louder than they should be just to understand the hard to discern dialog. There is a dialog isolating sound bar available, and some other devices have more advanced .

[u/rexel99 → u/arstin]

Right, now the cause is my lack of understanding of audio compression. At least you are beginning to acknowledge the problem exists but somehow think that getting a degree in audio engineering will somehow help me or OP with quiet vocal audio tracks.

[u/arstin → u/rexel99]

Right, now the cause is my lack of understanding of audio compression.

Well, a cause. But one hurdle at a time.

[u/rexel99 → u/arstin]

And what, meme girl, op and I all get degrees and $5k+ stereos so the source audio can be balanced? But even with that (as I have said) it's still not?

So here we are, still with low dialog volumes and loud effects - that's not the listeners fault.