Sony HDX-DAV500/i Sound Issues (1 Viewer)

[jimmyt05]

I have a Sony DAV-HDX500/i and I'm having some trouble with the sound from the DVD player and also my digital cable box. From both, the dialogue is fine, until either the action picks up or music comes on and then it's very loud. So I turn it down so that is a good sound level, but then I can barely hear the voices. It makes it very hard to watch a movie with my son sleeping upstairs. My cable box is hooked up through coaxial.

Anyways, I was just wondering if there was something either I did possibly did wrong in setup, or if there is some option that I'm missing.

 

[Lew Crippen]

Welcome to the forum James.

To begin it is likely that there is nothing wrong with your Sony receiver. Audio dynamics are to be expected in movies—particulary action movies. You probably would get even more varience in a theater than your HT can produce.

But there is hope on two different fronts. Many receivers have a setting called something like midnight or quiet. Using a setting like this compresses the sound so that the quiet passages are not so quiet and the loud passages are not so loud. In your unit I think that this is called Audio DRC (Dynamic Range Control) that can be accessed via the Custom Settings menu in your setup screen:

•Select Custom Settings
•Select Audio DRC
•Select Max (this gives full compression)

However this only works for DVDs.

A better solution would be to by a pair of headsets, plug the headsets into your receiver and turn off the speakers. Now you won’t have to worry about your son, wife or neighbors. This of course will also work with CDs and your cable TV system.

 

[JohnRice]

Also, what you describe is a classic symptom of a system which is not properly calibrated. You have to balance the output of all channels before the system operates properly. You can use the receiver's built-in calibration, or better yet, get a calibration disc and a sound pressure meter from Radio Shack (about $40) and do it more precisely. Odds are, that will solve the problem. If you still want compression, follow Lew's instructions, but only after doing the calibration.

Also, once the calibration is done, if it is still too dynamic, you can raise the center channel volume a bit.

 

[jimmyt05]

Thanks for replying. I will try these out tonight.