cross-posted from: https://piefed.social/c/nonpolitical_comics/p/1657114/mr-lovenstein-volume

Hey everyone! In case you haven’t noticed, this is a new community focused on NonPolitical Comics (NPCs), which essentially means no gloom and doom of the day stuff. If you like the idea, help out by upvoting, commenting, or even talking about us! Remember, click like and subscribe!

    • azertyfun@sh.itjust.works
      35·
      1 day ago

      No, blame the streaming companies. Dynamic range is a known standard. All they need is:

      • a “louder dialogue” toggle switch to amplify the center channel in the downmixing settings (Kodi, many TVs, and all dedicated receivers can already do this FYI for this exact reason)
      • a “night mode” toggle switch that turns on an audio compressor (my 20 year-old receiver has that feature – it’s hardly rocket science; I believe YouTube calls it “stabilized audio”).

      Upsides:

      • preserves high dynamic range mix for audiophiles
      • works with already released movies (!!!)
      • improves the life of people with tinny speakers, strict loudness requirements, or hearing impairments

      Downsides:

      • Can’t feel superior to audio engineers who are doing their jobs, I guess?
      • Streaming companies need to reinvest a few thousand dollars out of the billions they are making to add those two buttons
    • otacon239@lemmy.world
      50·
      2 days ago

      Part of it could either be that they’re not spending the time for a home release audio mix, don’t want to for purity’s sake or I’ve seen issues with trying to condense surround soundscapes down to stereo.

      It all comes down to dynamic range and they should be using all of it for theatrical release and then remastering for home release.

      TV shows do not get a pass. Cinephile audio engineers that think the vast majority of their listeners will have home theater setups are just plain delusional.

      • turdas@suppo.fi
        29·
        2 days ago

        The way they do dynamic range in movie theaters sucks too. I have to wear earplugs because it’s so loud.

        • pinball_wizard@lemmy.zip
          7·
          1 day ago

          Yes!

          I may get a shit sound experience at home, but at least I have an opportunity for an even worse sound experience at my local theater, first.

        • ohulancutash@feddit.ukEnglish
          1·
          1 day ago

          Turns out when they went digital and got the popcorn kid to press play instead of a skilled projectionist, sound calibration also went away. Now they deliberately turn it up beyond the sound mixer’s specs.

          • turdas@suppo.fi
            2·
            1 day ago

            Around here they do calibrate the theaters but the spec says they can still be insanely loud, as long as they’re not loud all the time. The peaks are well over 100 dB.

      • _‌_反いじめ戦隊@ani.socialEnglish
        6·
        2 days ago

        while I agree with:

        Cinephile audio engineers that think the vast majority of their listeners will have home theater setups are just plain delusional.

        I disagree:

        they’re not spending the time for a home release audio mix

        From my recollection, mixing audio for different scenarios is just a function you can let the speakers decide how it will mix. Not adding this basic accessibility function in the 21c is just callousness.

      • ryannathans@aussie.zone
        2·
        1 day ago

        Depend, people with proper high dynamic range surround sound systems shouldn’t be penalised when watching content

            • SapientLasagna@lemmy.ca
              3·
              1 day ago

              The high dynamic range 7.1 audio is already on the disc. What we’re wanting is a decent stereo mixdown. Could be 128kb mp3 for all I care. Not like I’ll be able to discern a higher bitrate on my tv speakers. That should require 86MB per 90 minutes.

            • otacon239@lemmy.world
              1·
              1 day ago

              Looking into it, there’s a range of standards for Blu-Ray in terms of video quality. I doubt there are a ton of discs that can’t afford a few of those 25-50GB. Just spitballing ways to make it approachable rather than say only one way is correct. There’s all sorts of fancy stuff going on with DTS. Maybe they could work compression into part of the standard and just include alternate mixes.

    • jimmy90@lemmy.world
      3·
      23 hours ago

      if you’re using linux slap a couple of boosting compressors on the sound using easyeffects to turn up the quiet parts

      works remarkably well