Listening to Blu Rays and DVDs

[Dave2002]

We have a Sony surround sound Blu Ray player. Some Blu Rays and DVDs are very difficult to listen to, even worse if featuring American actors. There are at least two problems with the sound. The first is that the voices get submerged in the background and it's difficult to make out what actors are saying. The second and possibly third is that the bass, reinforced by the sub woofer, is overpowering. The dynamic range is also such that on some discs the loud bits just make the whole experience in a domestic environment a dreadul one. One solution is to give up on the surround sound altogether and use the TV audio.

There may be settings for the Blu Ray player which will make discs bearable, but I've not found them yet. Films which I've tried to watch which have been really difficult include the War of the Worlds (the recent one) and Walk the Line about Johnny Cash.

Has any one else found this to be a problem, and perhaps more helpfully stiil, has anyone found remedies? Might be a case for RTFM for the player, though I thought I'd figured out most of the options.

[mangerton]

I have no experience of Blu Ray, but I have found this on some DVDs. I'm sure the bass is emphasised for "effect", so that if you have any sort of decent sound system the sound is bottom heavy. Not so bad if you can cut the bass, but my valve amplifier has no tone controls - and of course there's no need for them when the DVDs are properly recorded to start with.

[Mr Pee]

I have a Panasonic Blu-Ray/surround system and had exactly the same problem for a while. But I eventually found a setting in the Audio Options menu which has greatly improved things, making dialogue much clearer. If I can dig out the manual I will try and give you some more info. I would imagine that Sony players have a similar option.

[Resurrection Man]

I find that the diction on a lot of US films is pretty dire. Turning up the volume doesn't help!

[Belgrove]

It seems to vary between DVD's, modern ones having a richer sound-scape coupled with inferior diction of the actors. I had a similar problem to yours Dave2002 with the movie Inception, also with a Sony system. Prompted by your enquiry, I dug out the 74 page 'rule book'.

Pressing 'sound mode' repeatedly gives various options, one of which is 'news', which favours speech programmes.

For delivery at lower volume (night mode), press 'system menu' followed by the 'up-down arrow' until 'night mode' appears on the panel. Then press 'plus' or 'right-arrow'. Then press 'up-down arrow' to select 'night off'. Press system menu to exit. Phew!

I've not tried this option. Best of luck.

[Dave2002]

I find that the diction on a lot of US films is pretty dire. Turning up the volume doesn't help!

Americans probably find the same with our films!

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I have a Panasonic Blu-Ray/surround system and had exactly the same problem for a while. But I eventually found a setting in the Audio Options menu which has greatly improved things, making dialogue much clearer. If I can dig out the manual I will try and give you some more info. I would imagine that Sony players have a similar option.

This seems to be good advice. If possible, set the sub-woofer on a low setting. You'll still get an impressive bass sound, without it sounding OTT. The default settings were probably decided upon by a Channel 4 camera crew.

[Ferretfancy]

It is a very real problem, and not confined to Blu Ray. On my surround sound system which uses five full range speakers, I have to cut the bass to minimum, and even then the sound can be overpowering if you want clean dialogue.

The effect can also be similar on some TV drama, but American movies are the worst offenders. It doesn't have to be so, a couple of nights ago we watched The Wolfman, a 2010 film starring Benicio del Tauro, and every word was crisply recorded. One of the strange historical anomalies is that American sound recordists have never been very good at location sound, as they normal only shoot dialogue knowing that it is going to be post synched at the post production stage. British sound recordists are expected to produce clear dialogue on location as British TV budgets don't usually run to additional costs of post synching.

My Panasonic Blu Ray has a setting in the set up menu to allow sound compression to allow low level listening. I've been meaning to make a comparison trial.Usually I'm reluctant to tinker with the original, but sometimes needs must.

A final point, movies are mixed to be heard in large auditoria, and that mix is what we usually get for home listening. I think there's a case for a re-dub to suit the domestic environment, but I doubt if that will happen.