Dynamic Volume

[Surfdude]

Hi guys,

I'm looking for some advice in setting up the dynamic volume on my Denon AVR-3313.

I live in a block of flats so I'd rather not leave the dynamics completely uncompressed for the sake of staying on my neighbors' good side. However, even on the lowest setting, the Audyssey Dynamic Volume is ridiculously unsubtle, producing distracting leaps in volume. I was watching a film the other day where the dialogue kept jumping up and down as a character opened and closed a door!

I've tried turning the feature off and using the receiver's Dialogue Level but unfortunately that just adjusts the centre speaker volume, which, contrary to popular belief, is not a dedicated dialogue channel so action scenes become far too loud and quieter scenes are just unbalanced.

I've also put the crossovers up to around 120Hz and just turned the volume on the sub down to lessen the amount of low end. It helps a bit but obviously doesn't do much to control the overall loudness.

Is there anything I can do or am I stuck with the jarring Audyssey effect?

 

[dante01]

Make sure to turn off Dynamic EQ which will have been engaged automatically after the Audyssey calibration. Dynamic EQ results in LF effects and bass in general being overblown. Also note that both Dynamic EQ and Dynamic Volume settings are specific to each individual source so if you turn either on or off in relation to one source then that setting doesn't effect the same settings relating to another source. Adjusting the crossover will have little if any effect upon the overall loudness of the audio. If wanting to reduce the LFE and bass associated with the sub then use the sub level adjustment on the receiver.

You could ultimately try turning Audyssey off altogether. This would result in cleaner and less muffled vocals which in turn may be heard better at lower master volume levels. You will lose the Audyssey EQ room correction if taking this route though.

 

[Surfdude]

OK, so I tried turning off the Dynamic Volume, Dynamic EQ and MultEQ XT. It's probably the best sounding but the dynamic range is still a little high; I'd feel uncomfortable watching a film late in the evening for example.

The best compromise I've found is to leave the Dynamic EQ off but have MultEQ set to Flat and the Dynamic Volume to light. It still produces a noticeable jump in volume but nowhere near as bad as before and hopefully won't be distracting when I'm not listening out for it.

For what it's worth, I only adjusted the crossovers to try to reduce the amount of overall low frequency (which is likely to be what makes it through the walls/floor). Turning the sub level down on the receiver is all well and good but won't help much if there's a load of <100Hz coming from the other speakers.