We all know the modern complaint: movie sound sucks now unless you have a high-end sound system. Frantically turning down the volume after turning it up to hear the dialogue only to need to turn it up again can be frustrating. Now, this doesn’t solve the underlying problem, but why not have a “Volume A” and “Volume B” you can easily set and toggle between with the simple press of a button?
Does a high end sound system actually solve the problem? Or does having a high end sound system just mean you no longer give a shit about annoying other people. Like the people who rev their engine so all their neighbours know how much they spend on their car.
I have a 7.2 stereo plugged into my computer. Sound levels are entirely dependent on what service the sound is coming from and what format(mono/stereo/surround). Netflix tends to be quieter than the others. I should say netflix dialog tends to be too quiet and explosions and other loud noises are too fucking loud.
There is a hardware device, called a compressor that would solve the problem. Basically it reduces the loudest parts of audio on a gradual curve, which allows you turn up the overall volume.
Affordable ones range $100-$250, which should get the job done. Personally, I wouldn’t go either direction out of that range, more expensive ones will be overkill and cheap ones could sound bad or lack the controls to set it up right)
If you can get analog audio out of the TV in to a speaker/sound bar, it’s easy to setup.
So with a cheaper sound bar and a compressor, you could accomplish this for about $250-$400 depending on how much money you can to throw at the problem,
(Edit, some else pointed out if you use a PC for all your content, you can have software compressor on the PC instead of extra hardware)
I run a software compressor on my sff PC that I use as a media player. No expensive sound system required.
other than the compressor the other comment mentioned, having a proper AV with multiple channels can also help with a lot of media, at least stuff that was mastered properly. Usually the center speaker carries mostly the dialogue and not much else, so I boost it like 7-8dB, this works pretty well for most things on Netflix and co, but Stereo (no center channel to boost) and shitty mastering (too much noise in center channel) still have the same issues
Would work for commercials, too
I have Easy Effects with Advanced Auto Gain from https://github.com/JackHack96/EasyEffects-Presets running on my laptop. It’s been great in that regard.
This would be possible to DIY if ‘smart’ TVs weren’t DRM’d pieces of shit.
You could actually do this with some of them. I know Vizio TVs can’t, but iirc LG and Samsung can be controlled via Home Assistant. Google TV as well, and anything with Apple Homekit.
There’s also the option of sticking an IR or RF transmitter on an esp32 and using that without connecting the TV to the Internet. There are some off the shelf devices that can do it and can also be flashed with Tasmota or ESPHOME.
Building my own smart devices is a hobby of mine. I’m even working on a HAL9000 system for my home (with 15% less mental illness).
Eh, it’d be tricky in case of misses. Usually there’s a vol+ and a vol- not really any vol(int) api to set it to a number. You could spam vol+/vol- to get to the right number, but it’d occationally miss one and start drifting.
You’d have to zero the volume each time for sure.
True, would take a few seconds to switch each time.
Why do these high tech devices not have a single set volume output? instead we get 8K and “smart” bullshit.
There is absolutely a standard volume max. Unfortunately loudness isn’t that simple.
You can have something that peaks in decibels that you can barely hear and sounds that are the same decibels as taking, but skins ear-piercingly loud.
Your TV can only set and perceive level, or “decibels” of the input signal. Sometimes they can have smarter tools like compression, but these are rare and when they are there, usually poorly implemented.
They’d probably implement it very poorly, like the AI “image enhancement” that makes things look worse
At least allow a range where you can set the min/max dB the TV can output. A single set volume would be… A little weird sounding, but something that says “No you cannot set off a bomb half an inch from the microphone in the middle of a whispering scene” would be great
Decibels can’t really be directly related to volume like that. It’s a logarithmic scale that’s highly dependent on distance from the sound.
They do?
It’s called “mute” and it toggles between 0 and whatever you had it set to last. 😌
I’ve had a few tv/stereos in the past that had a half mute as well. Press mute the first time and it cuts the volume in half, second press mutes completely, then third press restores full volume.
The old kenwood car cd players had an “att” button that instantly dropped the volume to background noise. It was fucking awesome and I used it all the time. I want that button on everything that makes noise.
“turn down the music, I can’t see we might be lost”
I came in here to comment this! Back in the day it was perfect for when I was bumping my subs hard and had to turn into a neighborhood, or if a cop pulled up to a light you were bumping at.
It was a lifesaver for sure!
I just build this function for myself with home assistant. Thanks for the inspiration.
I have this for Kodi as a shortcut for iOS. You can connect via ssh if you allow ssh in settings.
My command is:
curl -u login:password —header “Content-Type: application/json” —request POST —data ‘{“jsonrpc”: “2.0”, “method”: “Application.SetVolume”, “params”: {“volume”: Rounded Number}, “id”: 1}’ http://localhost:8080/jsonrpcMy exact command is a bit different, it takes the current volume of my iPhone / iPad multiplies that by 100 (as iOS volume is between 0 and 1, while Kodi’s from 0 to 100) and sends that volume to the HTPC. But it’s a nice idea, and there are various options to make it. I think I’d just do two buttons.
So you can take that code and change
Rounded Numberto actual volume you need.My complaint about remotes is they should all come with a fob that you put on your keys and when you press the fob the controller beeps. That would be the best thing ever.
You can just get ones that stick on
Yes, but it should be a standard feature within the controller.
My samsung has a nice remote
Theres two horizontal “pads” you can use, for volume up/down and the other side is channel up/down
And you can also press the volume flipper down to mute, as if it was a button
I dont recall what the channel buttons do…
TV sound should be mono, or stereo, not 5.1 surround, and it should be mixed and compressed for such.
That wouldn’t push people into buying external sound systems. Do you want to see the economy crash? We got to keep it going up /s
I have an old tv where the mute button would set it to 1/2 volume first, then mute.
Here is my preferred solution that will never happen:
Divide all media audio into separate tracks for dialogue, music, sfx, etc., and let the users control the volume of each separately. To avoid having an easily ripped pure music track, perhaps premix the other tracks in at 10% or so (in a logarithmic scale) and make that the minimum volume of any track other than music.
My problem with that is how far can you go? Will artist integrity shatter? Will people mod Thomas the train on movies? Will we get those god awfull billion page settings?
I guess I’m not understanding your concerns. People with artistic skill can already do anything they want to any audio they want. (Note: that was Way before all this AI junk existed) And I don’t really see how this affects that much.
As for settings, I’m thinking three/four sliders. Much less than a graphic equalizer. It’s just volume control.
How loud specific things are in comparison to other sounds is one of the things that a director dictates to set the mood for their movie. We all agree that it’s gone a bit far with most things nowadays, but having something be piercingly loud or eerily quiet can be used really well, and if everyone from Tommy Teenager to Granny Gertrude can alter these settings with a TV remote and zero knowledge on maybe what they’re even doing (“I thought I was changing the volume and now the people don’t talk anymore!”) it would greatly diminish the director’s ability to control that.
Clearly the directors are either making bad choices or choices that only make sense in an actual theater. (In my opinion it’s that first thing)
However this is implemented, it wouldn’t be the default volume control on the remote - that would stay as-is. I’m thinking an on-screen menu with clear labels or something.
I wouldn’t give full control, maybe 3 faders that allow for a 10% reduction in dialogue, music and SFX. Will if affect artist integrity, absolutely, but so does listening on our consumer speakers and watching the content on our consumer grade displays that aren’t perfectly color balanced in a pitch black room.
My Peloton can do this, how come my TV can’t? This technology exists and would not be that difficult to implement for digital media.
Many shows broadcast in surround sound. This includes a center channel where most voices are. Unfortunately if you don’t have a system to support this, audio is “down mixed” to stereo, and the center channel gets merged into left and right. When this merge happens, you lose definition between the streams.
It would be nice if you could boost the center channel, like you would in a home theater, but before the down mix occurs.
Yep. Dialogue should be loud enough that you can comfortably follow the plot without making your ears bleed. Gunfire and music makes that a bit tricky though. Those should be toned down, but I can see why they’re so loud all the time. Most likely many directors want to make the movie feel more impactful and intense, so they just do it by cranking up the volume those other things.
Right up until you accidentally jump scare yourself by toggling to 100 or something.
There’s little reason for a user to not want immediate, mostly continuous volume control rather than jumps.
I want two very distinct volume settings. If I watch media through my Xbox (or play games through it) I need the volume around 20-ish on my receiver. But if I’m using the Apple TV, or back when I used the TV itself to watch stuff, the receiver needs to be around 30-ish. Can’t remember which category the Switch and PlayStation fall into, but I know it’s one of the two.
(This might be something I can fix on the receiver, now that I think about it.)
That’s a reason but unfortunately you’re in the minority.
This feature would need support on the TVs or receivers too. There’d need a set volume to x command instead of just up and down.
Right, I don’t think it’s a very likely feature I would just like it.
(Or I wish I could figure out why the exact same streaming content requires a different volume level depending on which device is playing it on a modern receiver with like, Dolby Atmos support and shit.)
