Audio help needed! running sound straight out of the TV speakers (1 Viewer)

[Jim Tudor]

I just gave my old Sony S300 DVD player to my brother, who wanted a DVD player, but isn't interested in buying a reciever, speakers, and whatever else right now. So we hooked it up directly to his stereo TV, threw in "Phantom Menace", and discovered that even in 2.0 Stereo mode, the center channel (mostly dialogue) is ridiculously soft compared to the music & sound effects.
I believe I set the player's & TV's settings as properly as I could, but we just can't get it to sound right. Buying additional equipment isn't an option for him right now, so if someone knows a way to get decently balanced audio from the S300 player out of the TV, we'd much appreciate it!
JiM T

 

[Len Cheong]

Unfortunately, this problem is only solved by making those upgrades. A suggestion may be to increase the treble and lower the base - this may make the dialogue more intelligible and reduce all the base from the sound effects but this totally interferes with the enjoyment of the film. Your tv may also have different sound options - SRS, Trusurruound, etc. that make the effects sound more out of phase compared to the dialogue. Some tvs even have speaker output terminals and hooking up just 2 speakers improves the sound dramatically - I've never come across a tv where the sound is any good.

 

[Jim Tudor]

Agh!

Not the news I wanted to hear, but thanks Len. My brother's TV does have audio outputs, but they're component outputs, not traditional speaker-wire outputs.
I can't believe that all the unsuspecting DVD player buyers out there who have to deal with this haven't complained more loudly about having to buy a bunch more stuff. Oh well. I'm not looking forward to sharing this news w/ my brother, but thanks Len.
JiM T

 

[Wes]

I know this might sound silly but he could buy a inexpensive powered computer speaker set (and it will give him a sub) and hook that up to the TV and set it to variable audio out. I bought a set for my Computer that was $49. and will put out some decent sound.
Wes

 

[Len Cheong]

Wes suggested a good idea. There are many powered speaker setups mainly for the computer setup. However, a decade ago, they made powered speakers for musicians - these were produced by bose(video roommates) and acoustic research (powered partners). These can outI believe if you hunt them down in auction sites, they can be had for $75/pair. They may not be shielded, though. At least 2 feet from the tv.

 

[BradZ]

unfortunately, even the powered speaker set-up won't deal with this problem. he'll still have the 2.0 channel mix, it'll just be better than his tv speakers.
I have a Pioneer powered speaker & sub combo in my family room that really improves over the tv speakers, but with a bad mix nothing helps.
FWIW, most dvd's are very enjoyable with standard tv speakers- not as impressive as a surround system, but better than nothing. DVD gives great picture and better sound than a VCR. Phantom Menace, however, is very badly mixed for dialog in a stereo set-up. To hear the dialog you have to turn the volume up to unlistenable levels for everything else- you end up playing volume +/- the whole time instead of enjoying the movie. Tell your brother to hang in there, most movies will be so much better on DVD that he'll tolerate the ones that aren't mixed well. Try some other discs to see what I mean.
Also, when he eventually goes with surround (and he will because this is a sickness we have- upgraditus) it'll be great to re-watch all those movies the way they were meant to be heard.
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[Jim Tudor]

Brad - that playing with the volume is exactly what we were doing last night while we were trying to watch it. Glad to hear it's not that way for every title... Back in '98, this same problem with "Lethal Weapon 4" and "Mars Attacks" got me to invest in my 5.1 set-up, but even before then, I was using two external speakers. Dealing with running the sound through the TV is a new thing for me, so I guess there are a lot of J6Ps out there disappointted with it.
Thanks for the replys...
JiM T

 

[Jerome Grate]

If you can go into the audio menu of the t.v. check to see if it has a special stereo mode like expanded or wide. If it does then that may be your problem. With my Phillips 27 inch t.v. in the bedroom, setting the audio to stereo expander causes the direct stereo source from the vcr when a tape is playing to sound like it's an echoe. To solve it I turned it off and it sounded better. Check it out, if he has cable and is using the coax to get his sound, you will never know.
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