MTV commercial tried to murder my system

Last night, something so strange happened for which I have no explanation. My wife and I had just finished dinner and the family room system was on, with ESPN News on the TV, and audio going through my receiver and Def Tech 5.1 satellite speakers. I had gone upstairs to continue working on a home improvement project, when suddenly I hear a massive volume increase with significant distortion! And I mean massive, as if the system was cranked to full volume. My first thought was she had grabbed the remote and the volume up button had somehow stuck and she was probably freaked out and struggling to turn it down. I dropped what I was doing and raced downstairs, and realized that no one had even been in the room! She had actually stepped outside and was coming back in wondering what was going on.

By the time I located the remote and turned the volume all the way down, the system had been screaming for a good 30 seconds, and I also realized that the volume itself had not been turned up beyond our normal TV listening level! It turned out that these highly distorted, extremely loud sounds were associated with a commercial for a show on MTV. I verified this by keeping the volume very low and rewinding the DVR. The volume was normal both before and after this super hot commercial.

I know broadcasters tend to increase the volume of commercials (annoying as heck), but this was far beyond that, so something else must have occurred in this instance. This advertisement's audio was so hot and distorted, I was genuinely concerned for my speakers. Anybody ever have a similar occurrence or know a plausible explanation?

Comments

  • polrbehr
    polrbehr Posts: 2,825
    edited July 2018
    u1k9cbjubt9p.png

    This ^^^^ was my first thought :), I can't believe a broadcast signal could crank up the volume like that. All I get is my Denon switching inputs on its own, annoying but pretty harmless!
    So, are you willing to put forth a little effort or are you happy sitting in your skeptical poo pile?


    http://audiomilitia.proboards.com/
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,926
    or perhaps the Police -- very MTV-friendly.

    oz0ehlyu5e6q.png

    Wait, what? There's still an MTV?!


  • mdaudioguy
    mdaudioguy Posts: 5,165
    It's an 80s flashback! Ghostbusters, The Police... maybe my DirecTV dish picked up a rogue Soviet signal that had been sent to disrupt a US space mission in '84, but was eventually reflected back to Earth?? :p
  • decal
    decal Posts: 3,205
    I had a Sony reciever that started increasing the volume on it's on. It wasn't worth repairing so I never knew what was wrong with it. I suspect it had something to do with the remote control circuit.
    If you can't hear a difference, don't waste your money.
  • mlistens03
    mlistens03 Posts: 2,767
    decal wrote: »
    I had a Sony reciever that started increasing the volume on it's on. It wasn't worth repairing so I never knew what was wrong with it. I suspect it had something to do with the remote control circuit.

    My receiver turns the volume down, I always thought it was annoying but now I realize that I’m glad not to have the alternative.
  • Emlyn
    Emlyn Posts: 4,346
    My guess is it was an anomaly (or ghosts). On cable channels there are two feeds for commercials, one national and one local. That's why one may see the same commercial back to back on some cable channels. It is normal for some local oriented commercials to be slightly louder than regular programming, but not by much. Sounds like they had a system control glitch when they switched between sources. Maybe there is a dynamic range control on the receiver for that input?
  • Mine too! Happened on different channels, but all the commercials appeared to be MTV shows. Thinking about filing a complaint with the FCC, since MTV won't give me any feedback. https://transition.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/backgroundnoise.pdf
  • mlistens03
    mlistens03 Posts: 2,767
    harleyjoon wrote: »
    Mine too! Happened on different channels, but all the commercials appeared to be MTV shows. Thinking about filing a complaint with the FCC, since MTV won't give me any feedback. https://transition.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/backgroundnoise.pdf

    We have another witness! Now we’ve got a case on our hands. Who/what done it? :tongue:
    Also, welcome to the forum Harleyjoon!
  • msg
    msg Posts: 9,307
    Woh, I've never heard of commercials being that much louder than programming, but yikes!

    Apparently this has been a thing with the FCC for years, and they've been trying to regulate it.

    On similar grounds, I notice that some programming seems to involve my sub more than others, and in programming that it shouldn't according to my settings. It seems like it's ignoring my crossover point (70Hz). The Weather Channel broadcasts, for example. My sub is a lot more active with speaking voices, and I can't figure out why. It's not this way with other programming, or films.
    I disabled signatures.
  • Airplay355
    Airplay355 Posts: 4,298
    I’ve noticed louder commercials only when streaming from an app as opposed to usuing cable. Even then they aren’t that significantly louder. What are you guys using as sources? I’ve got a roku ultra
  • mdaudioguy
    mdaudioguy Posts: 5,165
    To reiterate, this wasn't the receiver increasing the volume - this was a super-hot, distorted audio signal associated with only 1 commercial. Wish I would have kept the DVR recording.
  • mdaudioguy
    mdaudioguy Posts: 5,165
    harleyjoon wrote: »
    Mine too! Happened on different channels, but all the commercials appeared to be MTV shows. Thinking about filing a complaint with the FCC, since MTV won't give me any feedback. https://transition.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/backgroundnoise.pdf

    This document is about a different issue - broadcasters boosting the volume of commercials slightly (sometimes a little more than slightly). Annoying, but we're not talking ear or equipment damaging possibilities, as I experienced.
  • Clipdat
    Clipdat Posts: 12,557
    I sincerely hope that none of your gear got damaged from this.
  • polrbehr
    polrbehr Posts: 2,825
    edited July 2018
    Clipdat wrote: »
    I sincerely hope that none of your gear got damaged from this.

    Just what I was thinking, imagine the difficult time you'd have trying to prove an ad
    damaged your speakers?
    I wonder if there is a simple device that could attenuate a signal before it reaches your system? Like a filter maybe? Could be some money to be made if it worked reliably.
    So, are you willing to put forth a little effort or are you happy sitting in your skeptical poo pile?


    http://audiomilitia.proboards.com/
  • FestYboy
    FestYboy Posts: 3,861
    polrbehr wrote: »
    Clipdat wrote: »
    I sincerely hope that none of your gear got damaged from this.

    Just what I was thinking, imagine the difficult time you'd have trying to prove an ad
    damaged your speakers?
    I wonder if there is a simple device that could attenuate a signal before it reaches your system? Like a filter maybe? Could be some money to be made if it worked reliably.

    Limiters and gated compressors have been available for years. If set properly, they are seamless.
  • mdaudioguy
    mdaudioguy Posts: 5,165
    Clipdat wrote: »
    I sincerely hope that none of your gear got damaged from this.

    All seems to be well. Seriously, I thought this was potentially damaging noise. Thankfully, this didn't happen when the volume was already cranked.