"Loudness War" affecting movies too?

steveinaz
steveinaz Posts: 19,538
edited January 2011 in Music & Movies
Even with "Dynamic range compression=ON" some movies are just incredibly LOUD. Lately I've been using this setting more and more on movies, because the dialogue is so quiet in relation to the music/sound effects. "Dispicable Me" is a prime example. To get dialogue at listenable levels---you get blown out of the room..,anyone else notice this?

Does this industry always have to be one extreme to the other? Sheesh.
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Post edited by steveinaz on
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  • Face
    Face Posts: 14,340
    edited January 2011
    You need a center channel.
    "He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche
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  • shack
    shack Posts: 11,154
    edited January 2011
    Face wrote:
    You need a center channel.

    Exactly what I was thinking. Anytime you take a movie with a MC soundtrack and compress it down into 2 channel that is going to happen. All movies today are recorded at a minimum of 5.1. Main dialog is always center channel driven. Start trying to compress it into a stereo mix and it will be overshaddowed by the rest of the tracks.

    I see it as being the same issue as music recorded in "stereo" remastered (or proccessed by an AVR) to a MC mix. It just doesn't sound right.
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  • polkfarmboy
    polkfarmboy Posts: 5,703
    edited January 2011
    This is why you need bose
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  • rhulett
    rhulett Posts: 89
    edited January 2011
    steveinaz wrote: »
    Even with "Dynamic range compression=ON" some movies are just incredibly LOUD. Lately I've been using this setting more and more on movies, because the dialogue is so quiet in relation to the music/sound effects. "Dispicable Me" is a prime example. To get dialogue at listenable levels---you get blown out of the room..,anyone else notice this?

    Does this industry always have to be one extreme to the other? Sheesh.

    By definition, what you are describing is dynamic range, ie the quiet parts are quiet and loud parts are loud. It's when it all starts to sound at the same volume is when we need to worry.
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  • steveinaz
    steveinaz Posts: 19,538
    edited January 2011
    It IS dynamic range...in excess; or more likely way higher levels of recorded sound effects and musical spots for a more dramamtic presentation. I'm saying it appears to be getting louder and louder (more of an inbalance in dialogue vs sound effects) moreso than in the past. The "loud is cool, so louder is cooler" mindset---the same mindset that is destroying music on CD's.

    Guys, I've been watching movies on DVD/BluRay since their inception---I haven't had this problem until fairly recently, with newer movies. I've never had to actually utilize the dynamic range compression feature on disk players until now. So what has changed? To get dialogue to be anything but a whisper on "Despicable Me," the musical and effects were OBNOXIOUSLY loud. And this was with Dynamic range compressed (sometimes called "night mode"). Can't even imagine the output if I would have left it in it's default setting.

    Bottom line, they are trying for more "impact" and wow factor, and in my opinion it screws up an otherwise good movie.
    Source: Bluesound Node 2i - Preamp/DAC: Benchmark DAC2 DX - Amp: Parasound Halo A21 - Speakers: MartinLogan Motion 60XTi - Shop Rig: Yamaha A-S501 Integrated - Shop Spkrs: Elac Debut 2.0 B5.2
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