Volume

[Skii]

Right - this is a MAJOR bug bear with me

Yesterday I watched Das Boot - the Directors Commentary. The volume on the DVD was so low that I literally had to turn the volume up to maximum to get anything near a decent audio level.

So after the film ends I switch back to TV - its so loud that I wouldn't be suprised If I've damaged the bl00dy speakers. And it isn't just this film. its getting to be quite a few now.

bl00dy adverts too, why do they have to be twice the volume of the tv programme ?

[5lab]

adverts are louder to make people take more notice of them.

can you not turn the volume up on the dvd player? i have the same problem with my speaker system to be honest, you just learn to turn it down

[nichomach]

Yes...crank up the volume for the ad breaks to "ear-bleedingly loud"...after all, it's not as though any of us know what the little button with a picture of a speaker with a line through it does, now, is it? Honestly, ad companies are smacktards...

[Skii]

Originally Posted by 5lab

adverts are louder to make people take more notice of them.

can you not turn the volume up on the dvd player? i have the same problem with my speaker system to be honest, you just learn to turn it down

Not sure actually mate

If this is the case then I'll happily accept todays Silly bugger award.

[schmunk]

Originally Posted by Skii

bl00dy adverts too, why do they have to be twice the volume of the tv programme ?

The ads have vast amounts of compression to give that studio-slick sound, making them sound louder and more exciting. The same thing happens with pop songs (inc pop-rock, pop-punk, pop-metal).

Unfortunately, when overused, compression makes things sound very loud but 'flat', and this is (one reason) why audiophiles don't like pop.

[Lowe]

Yup - and by compression we're not talking about making things smaller or mp3.

Sound compression in the recording sense, is the removal of the audios dynamics, or the changes in volume. Think about a classical piece of music - it has quiet and loud sections. If it was highly compressed, you'd have it all at one volume with no variation, usually at full wack.

As stated, pop music is compressed to hell. In fact it's actually used as a "sound" in itself. Listen to Eric Pridz "Call on Me" and you can hear the compression unit being overloaded as the bass drum kicks - this gives it a rather unsettling (at first) sensation of the sound coming "in and out" in time with the music.

Think of your drama on TV as classical music and your adverts as pop...

[Zak33]

and to hear it at its worst....


listen to Radio 3 or 4....and then swap to Radio 1

if thatdon't blow your speakers, nowt will

its irritating huh Skii?

I find our Set Top Box is quiet and the normall telly LOUD!!!!!

[5lab]

interestingly, the sound for pop music etc is also compressed dynamically - that is to say the high and low end sounds ranges are taken out to make the music louder on a normal cheapy stereo.. if you put it thru a proper stereo with proper low-end subs, those subs stay quiet!

[Skii]

Originally Posted by Lowe

Listen to Eric Pridz "Call on Me"

There's music to it ?

[Twigman]

haha i love the effect on that tune...it rules

[Lowe]

Originally Posted by 5lab

interestingly, the sound for pop music etc is also compressed dynamically - that is to say the high and low end sounds ranges are taken out to make the music louder on a normal cheapy stereo.. if you put it thru a proper stereo with proper low-end subs, those subs stay quiet!

That's just basic EQ, not compression.

[schmunk]

Dynamic compression is compression as described above by Lowe/me, i.e. flattening out the peaks and troughs in the volume of the sound.

[unrealrocks]

I've allways been lead to belive adverts are broadcast at 3db higher than normal TV programs (ie double). But yeah, I'm sure they will have quite a hard knee compression on them as well to maximise the last 6db of the range.

[KBeee]

Originally Posted by unrealrocks

I've allways been lead to belive adverts are broadcast at 3db higher than normal TV programs (ie double). But yeah, I'm sure they will have quite a hard knee compression on them as well to maximise the last 6db of the range.

IIRC UK adverts are prohibited from being broadcast louder than the TV programs.
But if you compress the dynamic range of the advert, then broadcast it at the same level as the peak level of the TV program, you end up with a "louder" sounding advert.

[Timmy!!!]

Clever way to get round that law then really.

Yea adverts are annoyingly high, and DVDs are annoyingly low in volume. Ah well keeps us on our toes