Black Hawk Down 5.1 downmix problems. (1 Viewer)

[Andy Kim]

Hey!
I just picked up this movie (couldn't wait for no SE) today.
I only have a 2 channel system (played thru the TV speakers). Has anyone else with a 2 channel setup find the downmix of the 5.1 track really difficult to listen to?
I thought the downmix really muffled the dialogue, in particular anytime Sam Sheppard spoke. I really had to strain to deciper his words...it was almost as if his dialogue was mixed out of phase as it was unclear and hard to localize.
I've noticed this problem with some other discs with only a 5.1 track (most notibly, "the Matrix" and "the World is Not Enough").
Has anyone else had the same results?
BTW, no jokes from you 5.1 home theater owners out there

 

[Malcolm R]

TV's have speakers????
(sorry, but when someone says no jokes, well . . . .)

 

[Brad M]

I let my daughter watch dvds on a Playstation 2 in my bedroom. I have never noticed any problems. I must admit that I've never watched a full movie on it myself, just parts of some. Does your tv have different sound settings? I adjust mine from time to time.

 

[Scott_MacD]

You might want to try playing with Dynamic Range Compression on your DVD player. Read the manual. DRC makes the quiet noises louder, and the *very* loud noises quieter.

Having said that, I don't own Black Hawk Down.(yet...)

 

[Rob Lutter]

Downmix? What's that?

 

[cafink]

How do you know it's a downmix problem if you haven't listened to it in 5.1?

 

[Gary Kellerman]

I have tried THE MATRIX over two channels from the analog outputs of a few dvd players. The results were ok. Does BLACKHAWK DOWN offer both a 5.1 descrete track and a 2.0 Dolby Digital(Dolby Surround) track? If so, use the 2.0 track. THE PHANTOM MENACE is a good example of this.

 

[Andy Kim]

To GARY:
Unfortunately, there is no dedicated 2.0 track.

To ROB:
5.1 downmix is when the internal decoder (not to be confused with built-in Dolby Digital decoders) downmixes the 5.1 track on the fly to 2 channels so that people with only 2 channels can still listen.
Usually, the sound mixer will tweak the 5.1 track when mixing so that it's acceptable when downmixed. When they add a dedicated 2.0 track however, they'll leave the 5.1 mix untouched. Because the decoder is downmixing on the fly, the results can vary from good to bad.

To SCOTT:
I do have the DRC set to ON and also have also added my own volume stabilizer on top of that to further reduce the loud peaks. Still the results are not that great with or without the volume stabilizer and with or without DRC on.

Oh well, I guess I'll have to make due as I don't anticipate future releases to have a dedicate 2.0 track as
either Superbit or SE will add a DTS before a 2.0 track.