volume differences!!! - Canadian TV, Computing and Home Theatre Forums

ivanhoe · 2009-05-14, 08:29 AM

hi,
can someone explain why we have different volumes on different channels? i find cbc's HD channels with lower volume than cbc's SD. i hate flipping from TSN's and other hockey channels!! can we have some standard level to deal with, or are we commercial blasted for the sake of it. i thought panasonic came out with the commercial volume depressant(or is that old technology).
enough steam released for now,
ivanhoe

GaryE · 2009-05-14, 02:47 PM

Ya I have noticed it too with my new Sharp HDTV. It doesn't have volume stablizer like my older Sony HDTV had. I sure miss it. My volume control buttons are going to be worn out before my channel changer buttons now. Was thinking about buying one of those volume regulators off ebay but not sure how well they work.

lonnie · 2009-05-15, 03:19 PM

in the professional audio business we use devices called compressors to level out the audio. check with a store that sells to the musicians. they are usually sold in the 2 channel variety for analog stereo use but if you want something for digital audio that could be much more complicated ( expensive ) one of my favorites was made by a company called LOFT. it had the ability to raise the volume of the quiet parts and lower the volume of the loud parts. most of the ones you find on the market only lower the volume of the loud stuff.

dmoes · 2009-05-17, 09:50 AM

I have written Ask Jim about it to no response. with the DSR505 there is a huge difference not just with TV but between radio stations in the 800s NPR is almost 15 - 20 db quieter than CBC or Q107. I confirmed it with my neighbors DVR530 he has the same with the radio stations my 317 in the bedroom does not have the same issue. and the TV stations seem to have better audio balance as well perhaps it just has built in compression. I believe there is a a feature in the audio menu to change the dyanmic range on most recievers this will help but if you like the dynamics in movies this will kill that a bit.

also many AVRs have some sort of "Night mode" my Yamaha htr5069 has it and it not only balances volume between channels but balances volume between the show and the commercials although not really allowed many channels use compression techniques to make adds seem loud. others I think just crank the commercial and seem to get away with it.

lonnie · 2009-05-20, 12:03 AM

it shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that sound and picture are 2 separate things, the sound being picked up by a microphone and the picture made by a camera. with the picture there are standards that the entire broadcast chain will adhere to, to make sure that the video is at the precise level it should be. sound though always seems to have been an afterthought. from poor sound in the studio to the final step where the picture and sound are mixed together with a modulator for broadcast out to your receiver there are lot's of steps in the chain for someone to turn it up too loud and let the compressor/limiter squash it down, to the golden eared audiophile behind the recording console who wanted to preserve the full dynamic range of the recording and kept his record levels low enough to avoid the limiter. when i was setting the audio levels in the modulators for a cable tv system i would set all the levels on each channel as close to each other as possible 1 day and then the next day set them all again because they had changed for each program.
add to that the problem of how loud something sounds like for each type of show, you can have 2 different programs measuring exactly the same on a sound level meter but you might say that the music channel sounds much louder than the talk show simply because there is a lot more information reaching your ears with the music video than with the talk show which has a lot of small gaps in the sound.

2009-05-14, 08:29 AM	#1
ivanhoe Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: north bay, ontario Posts: 85	volume differences!!! hi, can someone explain why we have different volumes on different channels? i find cbc's HD channels with lower volume than cbc's SD. i hate flipping from TSN's and other hockey channels!! can we have some standard level to deal with, or are we commercial blasted for the sake of it. i thought panasonic came out with the commercial volume depressant(or is that old technology). enough steam released for now, ivanhoe __________________ panny50pz750-SC505-denon2808-paradigmCC390, monitor9s, minis & atoms-SVS pb12nsd-pioneer bdp51fd.

2009-05-14, 02:47 PM	#2
GaryE Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: OTTAWA Posts: 1,422	Ya I have noticed it too with my new Sharp HDTV. It doesn't have volume stablizer like my older Sony HDTV had. I sure miss it. My volume control buttons are going to be worn out before my channel changer buttons now. Was thinking about buying one of those volume regulators off ebay but not sure how well they work. __________________ ~Gary Shaw Direct 630 HD/PVR \| WD My Book AV eHDD \| Sharp Aquos 46" 120Hz LCD TV \| Watch me LIVE!

2009-05-17, 09:50 AM	#4
dmoes Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Peterborough Ontario Posts: 298	I have written Ask Jim about it to no response. with the DSR505 there is a huge difference not just with TV but between radio stations in the 800s NPR is almost 15 - 20 db quieter than CBC or Q107. I confirmed it with my neighbors DVR530 he has the same with the radio stations my 317 in the bedroom does not have the same issue. and the TV stations seem to have better audio balance as well perhaps it just has built in compression. I believe there is a a feature in the audio menu to change the dyanmic range on most recievers this will help but if you like the dynamics in movies this will kill that a bit. also many AVRs have some sort of "Night mode" my Yamaha htr5069 has it and it not only balances volume between channels but balances volume between the show and the commercials although not really allowed many channels use compression techniques to make adds seem loud. others I think just crank the commercial and seem to get away with it. __________________ Dave VE3DVY

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2009-05-15, 03:19 PM	#3
lonnie Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Drayton Valley, Alberta Posts: 352	in the professional audio business we use devices called compressors to level out the audio. check with a store that sells to the musicians. they are usually sold in the 2 channel variety for analog stereo use but if you want something for digital audio that could be much more complicated ( expensive ) one of my favorites was made by a company called LOFT. it had the ability to raise the volume of the quiet parts and lower the volume of the loud parts. most of the ones you find on the market only lower the volume of the loud stuff.

2009-05-20, 12:03 AM	#5
lonnie Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Drayton Valley, Alberta Posts: 352	it shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that sound and picture are 2 separate things, the sound being picked up by a microphone and the picture made by a camera. with the picture there are standards that the entire broadcast chain will adhere to, to make sure that the video is at the precise level it should be. sound though always seems to have been an afterthought. from poor sound in the studio to the final step where the picture and sound are mixed together with a modulator for broadcast out to your receiver there are lot's of steps in the chain for someone to turn it up too loud and let the compressor/limiter squash it down, to the golden eared audiophile behind the recording console who wanted to preserve the full dynamic range of the recording and kept his record levels low enough to avoid the limiter. when i was setting the audio levels in the modulators for a cable tv system i would set all the levels on each channel as close to each other as possible 1 day and then the next day set them all again because they had changed for each program. add to that the problem of how loud something sounds like for each type of show, you can have 2 different programs measuring exactly the same on a sound level meter but you might say that the music channel sounds much louder than the talk show simply because there is a lot more information reaching your ears with the music video than with the talk show which has a lot of small gaps in the sound.