I am having an ongoing arguement with UCI cinemas at the moment. We used to go to the UGC but over the last 12 months the volume levels got unbearable. So me and my friends moved to going to UCI filmworks instead and again over the last 6 months it has got increasingly louder. Anyway maybe I am on my own with this one and you like your films loud but if you would like to help me labour the point please write to: Guest.Services@uci.co.uk

frankly the version of HERO we saw was on the point of painful. all four of us thought so.

ENT surgeons in London hospitals have started posting bulletin board articles about the dangers of sound levels in nightclubs and yes even CINEMAS. I never thought i would see the day where a film could prove damaging.

Obviusly some of this has to do with getting older but i know for a fact things have changed. Its a film for gods sake not the last chance to see the Doors live or something.

If you care write to them:
Guest.Services@uci.co.uk

If you dont, sorry for wasting your time

[Mr.D]

If its reference I don't have problem. If its too loud then its wrong.

[Jules]

I don't go to the cinema any more for this reason.

The last film I went see at the Cinema was Star Wars Episode I, and
it wasn't the first time I had to cover my ears like an old fart!
Unbearable!

Mind you, on the very few occasions I've gone to a nightclub (don't like them anyway), I've worn ear plugs... so maybe I'm a wuss!

There seems to be a bit of culture these days in public venues where
'louder is better', and I hate it.

It's so much more comfortable and better quality at home.

[Dave H]

Why don't you sit further back

[Miyazaki]

Sell your dvd collections and get a nice pair of slippers and a pipe!

lol regarding the noise volume, if it wasnt for the four other people who said the same film at the film i would agree that at 30 i seem to be too old. Oh and the NHS who have seen a sharp increase in noise related hearing loss. Out of interest ENTS state that any noise that is louder than human speech can cause damage after just 10 minutes.

As for my dvd collection, even with my amp up high i dont get the same problem. i suppose people wont care until they get hurt, nature of us all as humans. Cry aboutit when its too late.

[alancolledge]

I have to agree with this. Our local cinema is very loud. But loudness on it's own is not a problem. When the sound is tiresome, however, it grates.

I've had the pleasure of listening to some of the loudest cars in the country in my youf and I still could so I don't consider that I am for the pipe and slippers brigade yet

Nightclub levels of music are enjoyed best when you've had a few and if I did the same at the cinema I'd probably be thrown out!

[Bristol Pete]

I do...Cineworld is awful.

I can recall seeing that awful Bond film Die another Day and actually having to cover my ears to due to the excessive volume. The same for Charlies Angels 2......

Cinemas are generally poor now. From excessive volume to incorrect aspect ratios and disrespectful people its not really worth going anymore.

Cap

[Dean]

Haven't been to the cinema in ages, probably the last film i saw was Kill Bill 2 but never thought it was too loud... maybe it depends on the type of film, films with action sequences after another will probably seem louder than a more dialogue driven film.

Personally i don't think the films are to loud but have excessive treble. Maybe from having a badly calibrated setup? I find most soundtracks are fine to me apart from sounds that have a naturally sharp and bright sound which sometimes makes me clench my teeth with the brightness. And i too do not suffer this at home with my surround kit. But then like most people here the kit is set up properly. I must admit the crap advert soundtracks in cinemas give the speakers a nasty time with the distortion they end up giving. Oh hang on maybe i have just contradicted what i have just said. If im hearing distortion it must be to loud

[Lex]

Personally I don't think they are loud enough - bring it on baby!

I often find myself frustrated at how quiet they are, or maybe that is just my local cinemas

[seany]

What!!?

[gringottsdirect]

It needs to be loud to compete with those munching crisps, popcorn and stuff.
When we went to Shrek 2 there were only a dozen or so in the cinema, a woman with a screaming baby sat five seats away and made two calls on her mobile.
She'll never know how close she came to being quietly strangled.

If it's too loud I pop in my earplugs.

[zAndy1]

I've now got Tinnitus and avoid cinemas these days because of it, at least at home I've got control of the volume!

Andy

[akarit1]

Yep I do belive that my local multiplex volumes are quite excessive and my local Odeon multiplex is the worst cinema I've been to with overloud speakers and wrong aspect ratios (untill somebody complains at the kiosk),no sound at all sometimes (untill again some poor bugger goes to complain) and finally too much sound but no picture( yep you've guessed it untill some poor bugger goes to complain). That poor bugger happens to have been me on many occasions.I have now quit going there altogether!!

[Marc]

too... loud...?

does... not... compute


i like to say; if god wanted us to listen to things quietly, he wouldn't have created the volume control

actually a independant study i found yesterday said that it was the fact the treble mix was too high that was causing people damage. these are the hair cells that get irritated and die off the quickest cause they are at the front of the chochlear. well u leanr something new everyday.

[lee789]

Too much treble makes you bald ? I've heard it all

I've never experienced a cinema that was too loud. I agree though that the sound is not always very good.

My last experience of the cinema made me think a bit, the picture was grainy and out of focus, sound loud but not that great. My own home cinema (which is budget/midrange) sounds and looks much better (although I don't have the benefit of a 40ft widescreen!).

Thats probably why I'd rather invest a tenner buying a DVD than going to the movies.

[BadAss]

In general I don't think cinemas are too loud, but they are very dynamic! Home Cinema sound suffers from mpeg-2 compression which softens the sound. So when you go to the cinema and hear a soundtrack at reference levels and at full dynamics you are just getting wat the Director intended.

I can remember when watching FOTR where the screech of the nascore was making me feel like I was being sliced in two, but you can't blame the cinema.

[sleepyone]

Only once have I felt the sound was too loud, had gone to the local UGC to see Shiri, great eastern pic about assisans if i remember.

Anyway, throughout the picture all voices were nice and normal, sound effects were normal, background noise just right, but as soon as someone started firing a gun, sheesh, i'm sure there was a bloke up the back with a volume control turning it up. Had to put fingers in my ears every time.

That was just pistols, there were fire fights involving up to 8 machines guns, actual pain in my head. Hearing was ringing for about 20 mins after i came out.

Similar affect to when I got caught in front of speaker at a gig at the wrong time. Oww!

[Greg]

I would rather have it too loud, than too quiet, as it masks the noise of the annoying ***** who seem to come to the cinema just to talk and play with their mobiles.

[bob1]

Originally Posted by sleepyone

Only once have I felt the sound was too loud, had gone to the local UGC to see Shiri, great eastern pic about assisans if i remember.

Anyway, throughout the picture all voices were nice and normal, sound effects were normal, background noise just right, but as soon as someone started firing a gun, sheesh, i'm sure there was a bloke up the back with a volume control turning it up. Had to put fingers in my ears every time.

That was just pistols, there were fire fights involving up to 8 machines guns, actual pain in my head. Hearing was ringing for about 20 mins after i came out.

Similar affect to when I got caught in front of speaker at a gig at the wrong time. Oww!

Have you ever heard a gun at close range ,if you had you would have had ringing in your ears without ear protection.Sounds to me like the film was mixed realistically and was too much.Looks like its the film makers fault to me, at least at home you can turn it down or at least limit the volume.The night time mode on my amp is great for taming a film down thats just ott.Its very rare i go to the pics but have never found it too loud.

[Mr Merrick]

Back in 1997 when Barry Norman reviewed 'The Lost World: Jurassic Park II' he complained that he couldn't hear a word of what anybody was saying onscreen, especially during the action sequences. He also complained that the volume was painfully loud.

A colleague of mine wrote to him and argued that it's not the fault of the movie sound engineer. The exhibitors are to blame. The projection and sound systems are below par in many cinemas and are rarely set up correctly, and to add insult to injury they push the equipment well beyond its limitations.

Sub-Standard equipment & Poor calibration + Volume knob at 11 = Distortion and busted eardrums

Top equipment & professional calibration + Volume knob at 11 = Awesome cinema experience.

We tested two home theatre systems with a sound pressure meter to prove this point. Both were measured at exactly the same volume, yet the difference was astonishing. The first system really hurt I have to say, but the second was so clear and transparent that we were inclined to turn up the volume even more, which we did ... In fact, it wasn't until my colleague (who was sitting right next to me) shouted his approval at the top of his voice (without me hearing a word of it), we realised that we may have had it a tad high

It reminded me of the Empire Leicester Square ten years ago when it was THX certified....LOUD, LOUD, LOUD with room for more!

Saw Terminator 3 in the Odeon L.Square and I could hear the midrange drivers farting their arses off. The speaker was either not equal to the task or was asking too much of the amplifier... who knows.

Contrary to the thread title, I went to see Master & Commander earlier this year at the UCI in Sutton. It was in very quiet MONO! I had a gripe at the lad in charge after the film ended and his reply was..."What's a subwoofer?" I left...

Four months later I saw the DVD of the same film WOW!

[mjn]

Originally Posted by BadAss

In general I don't think cinemas are too loud, but they are very dynamic! Home Cinema sound suffers from mpeg-2 compression which softens the sound. So when you go to the cinema and hear a soundtrack at reference levels and at full dynamics you are just getting wat the Director intended.

I can remember when watching FOTR where the screech of the nascore was making me feel like I was being sliced in two, but you can't blame the cinema.

yeah, its not the loudest that makes you deaf, but the dynamic range. If the soundtracks were very compressed, you wouldn't notice it. Just think of Motorhead in concert!!

[Mr Cinema]

Quote:

Top equipment & professional calibration + Volume knob at 11 = Awesome cinema experience
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Actually the properly calibrated fader level in a cinema is 7. Thankfully cinema processors only go to 10. Unless you are showing Spinal Tap of course.

It's not just cinemas. Music concerts are much the same.
Rather that clarity and decent processing, sound engineers these days, tend to use volume to get through crap acoustics rather than spending some time and energy with a decent setup.
Also have a look at the speakers next time you're in a cinema. Most look like they are left over from the 70s.
A quieter gig but well setup PA sounds much better than one turned up full blast with no thought to the room

[Mr Cinema]

Also have a look at the speakers next time you're in a cinema

Tricky, given that they are usually behind the screen!

Have a look at the side speakers. Baffles from the 70s

[Mr Cinema]

If they are on view in the theatre then they are most likely the surround speakers.
Most cinemas didn't go Dolby until well into the eighties and some as late as the nineties.

The old speakers you have seen are probably from the earlier A type or SR analouge systems when full range surrounds were not required as the information was simply not on the track.

Full range surrounds are only needed for Dolby Digital systems. Shame on them for not upgrading to DD!

[Stuart Wright]

Not loud enough. Never been to a cinema in the last 5 years which I thought competed in terms of preferential volume level or sound quality with my own home cinema.
On the other hand I wouldn't let my young children into a screening which was as loud as I prefer. Haven't had that problem, yet, though.
Spideman2 was about right for them, too quiet for me. The 3 year old fell asleep for an hour.