best setting for movie watching

[bittihuduga]

hi
i was watching lords of the ring part 1 dvd
i had good high volume on my home theater
as the audio of speech was not clear at low volume
very often the bang/blast sound was coming too loud
so i had to reduce volume and increase volume for speech
this is so annoying

what is the best setting for a movie?

i have a tannoy efx speakers with pioneer vsx817receiver

pls guide

[captaindobie]

Look for the setting called 'dynamic range' on your receiver and set this to 'normal'/'standard' - this should solve the problem. It may still be worth adjusting your centre speaker up a notch or two as well.

Do a search on the forums to find out what 'dynamic range' does

[bittihuduga]

dynamic range was off
i set it to max now
(other options off-mid)
adjusting your centre speaker up a notch or two as well. - what do you mean by this?

[captaindobie]

Hi,

You should be able to alter the 'level' of each of the speakers via your amp.
Increasing the level of the centre speaker (where the majority of dialogue in a movie will come from) by + 2 or 3db may help to improve clarity.

OK, this is definitely not the scientific method but it's worth experimenting.
If you don't like the results you just change them back.

Again, there are lots of threads about sound calibration on the forums with contributions from people who are far cleverer than i on the subject

[bittihuduga]

looks like your trick worked..
sound is better now
but the bass is not coming good
i have kept the settings on sub to max but not much bass

[captaindobie]

OK,

This is where you may need to enter the murky waters of bass management!
Are you also able to control the 'level' of bass via your amp?
How familiar are you with setting bass cross-over?

[bittihuduga]

yes
i can change the level of bass on amp
will try to get to change the level

where can i find the descent settings for speakers n bass?

[captaindobie]

Ideally, this is where you want to use a sound meter to help configure your settings. However, this is not a road i have gone down myself.

I have only ever used set up discs such as Avia or DVE

Like you i have set my bass volume/cross over to max on the sub itself. I then use the settings on the amp (Sony) to control volume/cross over.

My sub 'level' is currently -8db and the cross over setting is at 90hz

Like before, it's probably going to be quite a bit of experimentation.

I would also set the dynamic range to medium/normal rather than max as i find that the max setting over compresses the sound range - although i can only speak for my Sony amp of course.

[bittihuduga]

i will give it a shot
i have it -10db now for sub

[bittihuduga]

does -8db bring more sound or -10db?

i am asking this because -
on my surround speaker, i have it as -5db as there was not much sound from it

while setting up automac, i kept the mic near my seat, probably thats problem
where should i keep the calibrating mic?

[dwhite]

The Mic should be at the height of your ears when your in the ideal listening position.

[captaindobie]

The way it works on my amp (and most others i presume) is that -8db will be a higher volume than -10db

I'm afraid i have no knowledge of auto-calibration methods such as automic although, to me, it would make sense to position the mic in your preferred seating position.

However, i think the mistake a lot of people will make is to place the mic on the seat. Ideally, it should be placed at head level - after all, you should be listening using your ears and not your *rse

[binbag]

Dark room, comfy chair, beverage to hand, wife and kids out.