Why is Matrix Reloaded DVD so Quiet

sabotg
sabotg Posts: 126
edited October 2006 in Music & Movies
I recently bought a new Pioneer Elite VSX72TXV Receiver to replace a HTIB Onkyo receiver. I'm also slowly swapping out the original 6.1 setup with POLK RTI speakers (L/R RTI-10) and I've swapped out the sub with a Velodyne DLSR-5000. The swap to the Pioneer was amazing. I can hear every little detail of sound in movies and overall the experience is way better. Here's my problem. Most of the movies I play I set the receiver to a volume level of -20 which is where I'm comfortable with most movies. For example when watching Saving Private Ryan -20 is pretty loud and I wouldn't want to push it any louder. But when I watch Matrix Reloaded it's actually pretty quiet at this volume level and it almost seems like I can't get it loud enough. Both movies are playing Dolby Digital (I play DTS whenever I can) :)
Has anyone experienced this? I realize that both films soundtracks are mixed differently but something doesn't seem right.
Post edited by sabotg on

Comments

  • bignorm
    bignorm Posts: 120
    edited October 2006
    Your Fine.........
    Eliab/Dave Abrams calibrated Panny
    Yamaha,Denon,Toshiba "in the rack"
    Polks all around
    SVS on the floor
  • petrym
    petrym Posts: 1,912
    edited October 2006
    Ummmmm, that would be spelled: You're Fine......... ;)

    I've had that with my setup too, I'm thinking it's just a matter of different sound volume "saturation" levels -- some DVDs are maxed and some are quieter.

    Were they as different with your old setup?
  • bignorm
    bignorm Posts: 120
    edited October 2006
    Very good petrym....I'm usually a fanatic about proper spelling and syntax..A MAJOR ERROR ON MY PART....but I was in a hurry...

    I noticed the same thing on my system,,,some DVD's just play louder than others.."Matrix Revolutions" is even worse...If you ever think your system sounds "too quiet" just spool up "Underworld" or "Blade II"
    Eliab/Dave Abrams calibrated Panny
    Yamaha,Denon,Toshiba "in the rack"
    Polks all around
    SVS on the floor
  • wingnut4772
    wingnut4772 Posts: 7,519
    edited October 2006
    Different movies have different volume levels sometimes. It's all good.
    Sharp Elite 70
    Anthem D2V 3D
    Parasound 5250
    Parasound HCA 1000 A
    Parasound HCA 1000
    Oppo BDP 95
    Von Schweikert VR4 Jr R/L Fronts
    Von Schweikert LCR 4 Center
    Totem Mask Surrounds X4
    Hsu ULS-15 Quad Drive Subwoofers
    Sony PS3
    Squeezebox Touch

    Polk Atrium 7s on the patio just to keep my foot in the door.
  • sabotg
    sabotg Posts: 126
    edited October 2006
    Thanks for all the responses. I didn't notice this as much with the old HTIB (onkyo S760) receiver. I'm glad that it's not something on my end and that other people have had this experience. I have blade 2 so I'll give that a whirl.:)
  • steveinaz
    steveinaz Posts: 19,521
    edited October 2006
    My Styx concert DVD has to be seriously cranked to get any volume out of it...like 1 o'clockish, almost a full 1/4 turn from normal.
    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
  • McLoki
    McLoki Posts: 5,231
    edited October 2006
    steveinaz wrote:
    My Styx concert DVD has to be seriously cranked to get any volume out of it...like 1 o'clockish, almost a full 1/4 turn from normal.
    The Fleetwood Mac - The Dance DVD is the same way. It is recorded about 5-10db lower than most other dvds that I have.

    Michael
    Mains.............Polk LSi15 (Cherry)
    Center............Polk LSiC (Crossover upgraded)
    Surrounds.......Polk LSi7 (Gloss Black - wood sides removed and crossovers upgraded)
    Subwoofers.....SVS 25-31 CS+ and PC+ (both 20hz tune)
    Pre\Pro...........NAD T163 (Modded with LM4562 opamps)
    Amplifier.........Cinepro 3k6 (6-channel, 500wpc@4ohms)
  • Holydoc
    Holydoc Posts: 1,048
    edited October 2006
    I understand that some (all?) concert DVDs would be at different sound levels according to where the mics were placed to record the show. However I was under the impression that all movies were attempted to be recorded at a certain "reference level". I thought that was one of the reasons that you can actually calibrate your system.

    I can understand that there will be those poor recordings. So is Matrix Reloaded one of those poor recordings?

    Sorry if this is a silly question.
    Holydoc (Home Theatre Lover)
    __________________________________________
    Panasonic -50PX600U 50" Plasma
    Onkyo -TX-NR901 Receiver
    Oppo -Oppo 980HD Universal DVD Player
    Outlaw -770 (7x200watt) Amplifier
    PolkAudio - RTi12 (Left and Right)
    PolkAudio - CSi5 (Center)
    PolkAudio - FXi3 (Back and Surround)
    SVS - PB-12/Plus (Subwoofer)
    Bluejean Cables - Interconnects
    Logitech Harmony 880 - Remote
  • Meeks32
    Meeks32 Posts: 330
    edited October 2006
    http://www.austin360.com/music/content/music/stories/xl/2006/09/28cover.html

    http://web.archive.org/web/20031208110318/http://www.prorec.com/prorec/articles.nsf/articles/8A133F52D0FD71AB86256C2E005DAF1C

    Reading these articles was pretty interesting & I have noticed that with alot of CD's I have. I wonder if the same goes for the movie industry & how they master movie soundtracks.
  • danger boy
    danger boy Posts: 15,722
    edited October 2006
    Holydoc check to be sure you don't have something like Midnight mode enabled on your receiver... my Outlaw pre amp doesn't have a red light to let me know it's enabled like my Marantz used to .. so it's caught me several times recently.. where I have to raise the volume to get a decent level.
    PolkFest 2012, who's going>?
    Vancouver, Canada Sept 30th, 2012 - Madonna concert :cheesygrin:
  • mutelight
    mutelight Posts: 1,054
    edited October 2006
    Holydoc wrote:
    I understand that some (all?) concert DVDs would be at different sound levels according to where the mics were placed to record the show. However I was under the impression that all movies were attempted to be recorded at a certain "reference level". I thought that was one of the reasons that you can actually calibrate your system.

    I can understand that there will be those poor recordings. So is Matrix Reloaded one of those poor recordings?

    Sorry if this is a silly question.

    It really doesn't have anything to do with the recording/design techniques it is how the film is mixed/mastered on the stage. You have to realize that a movie like the Matrix starts off with over 3,000 element tracks and is then downmixed to pre-dubs, stems, etc. When played back in AC3 the entire movie is run through a black box from Dolby Labs which determines the Dialog Normalization which is judged by the level of the dialog throughout the film. (the average level) There are different levels where there is a flag to tell the decoder how to handle the volume attenuation. It is also used all over broadcasts as well to keep the volume between the show you are watching and the commercials you watch to make sure that everything is at the same level. You will sometimes notice that some local commercials can be crazy loud and that is because there is no dialnorm flag associated with it.

    Whenever I master a 5.1 film mix I try to have the levels as high as possible while retaining the dynamic range and making sure the least amount of compression occurs. If you ever encode something to AC3 it will ask you to select the dialnorm setting and the only real way to properly calibrate it is if you run it through one of Dolby's boxes.

    You can read more about it here.
    http://www.minnetonkaaudio.com/pdfs/Dolby%20Digital%20Guidelines.pdf
    // Panasonic AE8000 // Pioneer SC-57 // Polk Audio RTi A9 // Polk Audio CSiA6 //
    // Polk Audio FXi A6 // SVS PB12-NSD Subwoofer // Logitech Harmony Ultimate // Pro-Ject Debut III //
    // Oppo BDP-103 // Microsoft Xbox One Day One Edition // Sony Playstation 4 1TB SSHD // Nintendo Wii U //
    Photo Gallery
    Movie and Game Collection