When watching movies I have a tough time hearing the dialogue. Ill turn up the sound and when some action hits the sound is extremely loud. Can this be fixed by just turning up the center channel volume or will this mess up the surround sound. I get sick of turning the volume up and down. Any suggestions?

Chad, besides using captioning, I'd recommend boosting the center as you mentioned, or use a dynamic-range compressor, like the 'night-time' mode some players and processors have, or an outboard unit, such as:

[Link: simacorp.com]

I also believe the SVS-4 auto A/V switcher does the same thing.

Larry
www.fineelectricco.com

you should get a SPL meter and tweak your level from your system to all equal loudness. maybe boost your center level a couple more DB than normal.

YOu can get one at radio shack for about 30 bucks or so. If the Dynamic range is still too 'loud' then a compressor is where it's at. Your receiver may have a 'night' mode.

Unless they reinstated the catalogue item, Radio Shack stopped carrying the analog version of their sound meter; now you can only get the more expensive and less-responsive digital version. Try another electronics store.

That being said, Chad: is your system 5.1 surround or not? And what kind is it? Also, what's the rated power per channel? Have you used a disc like the AVIA DVD to set your levels.... I always have my center channel just a tad louder than my front speakers, although there are some DVDs that are really so-well recorded that I have to turn it back down. A powerful centre channel speaker can make a big difference, too. I used to think any old speaker would do, until I decided to upgrade a little bit. Of course, there are a couple of pros on this site who don't even use a centre speaker... . I also have my rears turned up a lot higher when watching TV than I do with a true 5.1 track. There just isn't enough oomph otherwise. ... Mike

Chad

I agree with Larry and Matt (as always)... Try boosting your center channel a bit, but also check if you have a "night time" setting available. This compresses the amount of difference between the volume levels of the various scenes. That way, the loud effects won't be so much louder, and the quiet dialogs won't be quite so soft.

Hope this helps! -Bruce

This message was edited by Bruce Burson on 02/26/02 05:55.58.

I have not used the Vstab, but from the picture the switcher does more. The switcher has dial that ranges from 10:1 to 1:2. i.e. it can stabilize the sound or expand it (booms become louder and whispers fainter) while from the Vstab's picture it only has two settings 10:1, and 2:1

To elaborate:

Anything greater than 1:1 is expansion, and any device that does both compression and expansion is known as a compander.

The dbx company has been around for years, and has had, among other things, companders for use both for expansion of low-dynamic-range music and compression of overly-large-dynamic-range sounds and music.

They also have provided their circuitry for its noise-reduction capability when used in tape recording. During recording, the dynamic range is compressed at a straight 2:1 ratio, which means that the difference in loudness between the loudest and softest levels is halved.

The quietest passages are boosted to stay above the residual noise level (noise floor, or tape hiss), yet the loudest passages are reduced in level, so there is no chance of tape saturation, so the distortion that results from overload is eliminated.

During playback, the signal is subjected to a 1:2 straight expansion, which restores the original dynamic range to the audio. As a plus, along with the low-level audio signal, the accompanying tape hiss is reduced in level, so there is no audible background hiss left.

Dolby noise reduction is basically a frequency-selective version of the same thing; certain higher-frequency bands are boosted in level during recording, and reduced during playback, taking the noise down with it.

Playback of Dolby-'encoded' audio without Dolby engaged merely sounds a bit brighter, because the higher frequencies are not reduced in level, but dbx-encoded audio sounds very flat and lifeless, because the dynamic range is half of the intended level.

Larry
www.fineelectricco.com

I had this problem when my front and center speakers were not 'matched'.
I had Acoustic Research mains, and a Pioneer (really cheap, left over from a home-theater-in-a box set) center speaker.
I tried everything to get the dialog to be more intelligeable, including equalization and compression.
Getting a center that matched my mains fixed the problem.

Chad,
You don't mention what brand receiver you have, but in addition to the previous suggestions about using a "night time" soundfield setting, some receivers (like my Sony DE825) have a separate compression feature in addition to a soundfield selection that does some compression. You definately need some kind of compressor to reduce the dynamic range.

But then I ask, what is home theater without the dyanmic range...Broadcast television BLECH...

One note... many DVDs simply have a weak dialogue track that is overwhelmed by music and sound effects. Many other DVDs are very nicely mixed, where the dialogue is always audible above any other sounds.

What?

Larry: LOL!

Chad-
I had the same problem for awhile. When I bought a new receiver, I was disappointed because the center suddenly seemed weaker.

Turned out my center channel had a blown tweeter, so check your speaker carefully to make sure it is still functioning properly.