Cant always hear dialogue.

[mitzipurr]

Hi everybody

Has anybody else noticed the following.

When watching a film through satellite tv I have noticed on some films that when the actors are speaking in low voices I can barely hear them even when I turn it up quite loud. However when watching anything other than films the dialogue is crystal clear at just about any volume. I have the 1066 set on DPL2 cinema.

The center a Def Tech CLR200 is driven by a RB993 via a 1066 and is connected to the satellite reciever Sky plus via a toslink Nordost Moonglow digital cable.

[csuzor]

I have a similar problem.

The dynamic range on dolby digital in films is large, and this range is reproduced by the digital satellite output. When listening at night, with kids sleeping, I find myself constantly changing the volume (btween 20 and 40 on my Rotel) to prevent waking everybody or to hear normal dialogue (that is 20db range, thus >64x power output range!).

With a DVD, I just squeeze the dynamic range to minimum, but that is not possible with satellite (it's dolby prologic encoded, not dolby digital).

My solution is to build some soundproofing from the lounge room to the bedrooms (an extra door with acoustic reduction), and then leave the volume higher all the time.

I have also found that using Dolby PLII music mode, with a center width of 1, is better than cinema mode... the soundstage is wider, not too focused on the center channel, but dialogue is still very central.

Christophe

[Lefteris]

Hey mates!

Same problem here.
I, too have used the compression in dynamics on dolby digital sountracks, and only then can I hear all the dialogues. Actally, depending on the DVD, I have to set my center channel one or two dBs louder... I always thought that this was due to the lower sensitivity of my center speaker, but it is only 1 db/W/m lower than the rest! Then, I tried watching a movie on dts (Gladiator), and in contradiction with the dolby soundtrack on the same dvd, the center channel was now on an equal level between the two front speakers, and the dialogues were audible. Strange, isn't it? Maybe it's weak amplification, maybe it's just bad mixing, I don't know.

About the prologic setting, I have found that the prologic effect is quite weak and out-dated. I say this because depending on the signal (stereophonic, with no pro-logic encoding) it either works well, or it doesn't. I have found that mostly it doesn't since it sends most of the information to the center channel, thus the clear dialogues. It only works nice on prologic material, like the x-files episodes ans such.

Any ideas, though, on solving the dialogue problem in multi-channel reproduction would be hot, though!

Cheers oOoOoOo

[mitzipurr]

I have a similar problem.

The dynamic range on dolby digital in films is large, and this range is reproduced by the digital satellite output. When listening at night, with kids sleeping, I find myself constantly changing the volume (btween 20 and 40 on my Rotel) to prevent waking everybody or to hear normal dialogue (that is 20db range, thus >64x power output range!).

With a DVD, I just squeeze the dynamic range to minimum, but that is not possible with satellite (it's dolby prologic encoded, not dolby digital).

My solution is to build some soundproofing from the lounge room to the bedrooms (an extra door with acoustic reduction), and then leave the volume higher all the time.

I have also found that using Dolby PLII music mode, with a center width of 1, is better than cinema mode... the soundstage is wider, not too focused on the center channel, but dialogue is still very central.

Christophe

Hi Christophe

I have tried what you suggest re DLP music it does work slightly better. Could the answer be the way it is mixed in the first place by the sound engineer when the film is made. When you watch a film in the cinema the level of sound is very high in fact in some cinemas deafening! You can always hear the dialogue crystal clear even when spoken softly. However for obvious reasons you can not reach anything like this sound level in the home and the quiet scenes in the film are lost .

[TunerX]

I had this issue as well with my 1066. I have recently purchased the 1098
and it is a huge difference in dialog output.

[csuzor]

I had this issue as well with my 1066. I have recently purchased the 1098
and it is a huge difference in dialog output.

Now I wonder how to explain this observation... was it DPLII? if yes, was the 1066 using an older DPLII algorithm? Any other reasonable explanation?

I have tried what you suggest re DLP music it does work slightly better.

Yes, I do use DPLII Music mode for satellite, not DPLII Cinema, whether the satellite is emitting a DPL encoded movie or plain stereo broadcast. However, I do go back to 2CH PCM for a music broadcast, such as live classical concert, because the soundstage from DPLII is too focused on the center channel... it's only OK for broadcast with dialog.

Christophe