why is the sound on Blu Rays getting worse.

chris954

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specifically speech. At first I thought it was my center speaker (Kef refefence 100) that was at fault so I replaced it with a Q600c. Then I thought it might be the reciever (Yamaha RX-v1067) so replaced it with a Yamaha RX-A1060, then I thought it could be my hearing thats going but finally I started playing some of my 10-15 year old DVD's and hey presto its like night and day, every spoken word is crystal clear so whats going on, why are vocals so muted on modern Dolby Digital/ DTS/ Atmos soundtracks.
 
When I saw the thread title I was going to ask if your hearing was going. I'm not suffering this problem on my gear. It must be something to do with your set up.

Bri
 
Agree with the above have no issues hearing the center channel on my setup.
 
All good "Ear"
 
Let me guess. Disney BDs?

They have been throttling the dynamics for a while. Avengers: Age of Ultron sounded abysmal and more recently Rogue One was 'uninspiring'.
 
Let me guess. Disney BDs?

They have been throttling the dynamics for a while. Avengers: Age of Ultron sounded abysmal and more recently Rogue One was 'uninspiring'.
He's complaining specifically about the speech/centre channel though, not about the dynamics/bass etc
 
Ah, sorry. Well, turn the centre level up a bit then :)
 
i have noticed the same issue. Even with the centre channel at max. The sound effects, music and bass drown out the dialogue. This is quite a recent occurrence; I first noticed it at the cinema with The Dark Knight - could barely understand any dialogue.

I've been thinking it was my hearing since then but I have no other problems.

Older films and "uninspiring" Rogue One sound fine though. I'm guessing it's something to do certain equipment not matching well with modern mixes.
 
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When I saw the thread title I was going to ask if your hearing was going. I'm not suffering this problem on my gear. It must be something to do with your set up.

Bri
I've performed the YPAO setup countless times, tweeked the center channel volume, tried various equalisation settings and if I get it sounding ok ish, when I go back to watching TV the center channel is way too loud/ screechy. As I said earlier this is purely down to the Blu Rays, Last weekend we watched Mission Impossible Rogue nation ( Blu Ray, Dolby Atmos)and I had to have the volume so high the windows were rattling during action scenes , Out of curioriosity I put Mission Impossible ii on DVD in and as said the difference is like night and day, every spoken word is crystal clear. Same again with True Lies, Terminator 2, the list goes on. The best way I can think of describing it is that its like a blanket has been placed over the center channel. Btw this is not just happening on one blu ray, I've noticed it on quite a few.
 
Strange. I don't play them at that kind of volume but I wouldn't have thought that would make a difference. Have you checked the settings on your player or used another one to try out?

Bri
 
  1. Do you have 'Dynamic range' (ie night time mode) switched on accidentally somewhere?
  2. Have you tried changing the BD player to output PCM (or bitstream if currently set to PCM).
  3. What happens if you choose one of the lossy tracks on a BD (ie instead of playing the DTS-MA track, play the DTS track)? Does it sound louder, like the DVDs? - you'll need to go into BD player sound settings & untick TrueHD & DTS-MA so player only outputs lossy tracks.
 
Isn't it just "acting"? There are some right old mumblers these days. They seem to think speaking in a gruff whisper constitutes gravitas.
 
Isn't it just "acting"? There are some right old mumblers these days. They seem to think speaking in a gruff whisper constitutes gravitas.
Its been there a while Danny Glover, Kiefer Sutherland(I bought my parents the box set of 24 and they gave up as they could not hear what he was saying). :(And Jim Caviezel in Person of Interest.
 
  1. Do you have 'Dynamic range' (ie night time mode) switched on accidentally somewhere?
  2. Have you tried changing the BD player to output PCM (or bitstream if currently set to PCM).
  3. What happens if you choose one of the lossy tracks on a BD (ie instead of playing the DTS-MA track, play the DTS track)? Does it sound louder, like the DVDs? - you'll need to go into BD player sound settings & untick TrueHD & DTS-MA so player only outputs lossy tracks.

1 no

2 yes no different,

3 Dolby Digital soundtrack is quieter than Atmos but still soft and not dynamic like the DVD's when volume is turned up to the same level.
 
Its been there a while Danny Glover, Kiefer Sutherland(I bought my parents the box set of 24 and they gave up as they could not hear what he was saying). :(And Jim Caviezel in Person of Interest.

They all sound like Brian Blessed compared to Tom Hardy. I feel I need to go out and buy some of those ear wax candles every time I watch Warrior or Dark Knight Rises :)
 
They all sound like Brian Blessed compared to Tom Hardy. I feel I need to go out and buy some of those ear wax candles every time I watch Warrior or Dark Knight Rises :)
I find it the other way although the mask muffles Bane voice it quite loud for me, Batman worse.

 
Cinematic experience, louder background noises and lows, higher sounds are not so clear and require vast concentration, I'm also having this issue with simple basic equipment. I've heard others having the same issue, I put it down to settings. Had issues with pictures and contrast too which have been sorted out eventually after fiddling with all the settings and changing them on a daily basis until I was satisfied. Makes no sense, I call it nonsense. Hope you sort it.
 
I find it the other way although the mask muffles Bane voice it quite loud for me, Batman worse.



They all sound like this to me :

IMG_1111.JPG
 
Why not pay a visit to other forum members
See how you think the sound is on other systems
Your more than welcome to come to mine

Ideal av is having a forum day in june. I'm shure you'd be welcome there, Alan has 2 rooms, 2 different set ups
 
Why not pay a visit to other forum members
See how you think the sound is on other systems
Your more than welcome to come to mine

Ideal av is having a forum day in june. I'm shure you'd be welcome there, Alan has 2 rooms, 2 different set ups
Now that you mention it, if OP has a Richer Sounds near him, they'd be more than happy to let him try out a few discs on their demo setup if he took a couple of BDs with him.
 
Now that you mention it, if OP has a Richer Sounds near him, they'd be more than happy to let him try out a few discs on their demo setup if he took a couple of BDs with him.



thats a good idea, I've spent enough in there over the years.
 
Chris - if it's not your hearing then it must be your set up.

Centre channel information is frequently all there is on some films, especially ones that are dialogue-heavy with little music or sound fx, and if you can't hear that on Blu compared to DVD then something must be happening within the chain of disc player-amp-speakers.

Having said that, I do find, like you, that the sound is smaller but more focused on DVD, so there is clearly some remixing going on between the formats.

Let us know how you get on or whether your ears just need waxing!;)
 

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