cheap but worthwhile compressor? (1 Viewer)

[cramer]

Hi all,

I just got my first hdtv (Samsung 37" 1080p...nice!). On some stations the commercials are obnoxiously louder. I've googled this a bit, and people claim the ads are not any louder peak-wise, but perhaps may have stronger overall signals. Whatever the 'reasons,' it's annoying. I was thinking about putting a simple compressor between the tv and my receiver (a 10 year old but still going strong Yamaha). I found the Ross SL33 at Amazon for $65, and some other recommendations here for some in the ~$100 range, but I really only need it for the TV signal. Anyone know anything about this Ross; is it decent? Will a compressor even do what I want? I'm familiar with the term from digital audio software but not their real-world equivalents.

Thanks!

 

[JohnRice]

You don't really want a compressor. You want some sort of "normalizer", but I have no idea where to look. My guess is anything you find will cause two new problems solving the one you are having.

dbx made a lot of sound processing equipment many years ago. I've owned several of them, but I don't recall if one had what you need. One of the xBS-DS (1BX-DS, 3BX-DS) models may have had a feature you need.

 

[Lew Crippen]

Most AVRs have a setting that reduces the loud parts and increases the quiet sections. Mine can be found on the front panel and on my remote and is called, Midnight, as it is intended for watching late at night without disturbing others. Assuming your AVR has a feature such as this, give it a go—after all this is free.

Of course when you use this feature, you also lose the dynamic audio range of the shows.

As an alternative you can get a Tivo or competitive product, record your TV shows and FF through the commercials.

 

[chuckg]

A compressor is the correct piece. . .it will reduce the loud parts and increase the quiet parts. TV commercials are very compressed, and then cranked up to be as loud as possible. Other media like the shows and the news are much less compressed, meaning loud parts are loud, and quiet parts are quiet.

I spoke with a TV engineer who set the level on the commercials down by 12 dB in the cable company he works for....commercials were then reasonable. Unfortunately, his boss made a stink about it, and he had to put them back up.


The "midnight" setting on most AVRs doesn't compress enough for commercials. My AVR has a "mute" setting that lets me turn audio off, or drop it by 20 dB. I have it set to drop 20 dB, and commercials are quiet enough to talk over, but still know when they are finished without watching the screen. When the show comes back on, I just hit mute and I've missed nothing.