Audio help needed (1 Viewer)

[MikeSh]

Old age and other factors have combined to cause me to have hearing problems. So I need some advice or suggestions on ways to improve the volume of speech out of my system.

I am using a Pioneer, I think..., DD 5.1 receiver wired into a 5.1 speaker setup. When I crank up the volume loud enough to hear conversation on a lot of movies and some brodcast shows I blow the family and myself out of the room when music or action sceens hit.

The speech is coming out of the center channel but the other audio coming out of the tower speakers is overpowering. I have set the center channel to the max within the receiver control and have turned down the towers.

Any ideas on how to get louder speech w/o blasting the house when the action hits?

MikeS.

 

[Jagan Seshadri]

Hi Mike,

You need to enable dynamic compression on your receiver. It is a commonly-found feature that is applied to DD or DTS signals. It is sometimes called "Midnight Mode". It basically crams all volumes into a narrower volume band so that quiet sounds are louder and loud sounds are quieter.

Alternatively, if you have a "Loudness" button on your receiver, that can make speech more intelligible, but unlike dynamic compression, "Loudness" does not solve the loud action scene problem.

-JNS

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Alternatively, if you have a "Loudness" button on your receiver, that can make speech more intelligible, but unlike dynamic compression, "Loudness" does not solve the loud action scene problem.

The Loudness control is for use at low volume settings, and boosts the bass frequencies and to some extent the treble frequencies to compensate for the ear’s difficulty in hearing the frequency extremes at low volumes. Therefore it will do nothing for speech intelligibility, which is mostly in the mid- and upper-mid-range frequencies.

Mike, if your receiver has equalization capabilities for the center channel, try experimenting with a few dB of boost in the 1-4kHz range.

Otherwise try engaging the compression or “Midnight Listening” feature as Jagan suggested. It may not help with the speech intelligibility, but it will help with the “blast the family out” situation.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[MikeSh]

Thanks guys, I'll try the Midnight mode.

MikeS

 

[Ted Lee]

you may also want to ensure that your speakers are all balanced. if necessary, feel free to "bump up" the center channel to where it works for you.

 

[John-Miles]

I was just going to say the same thing Ted, balance the speakers and crank the center louder than the rest, its 99% speech in that channel anyway so that might solve the problem.