I can't hear dialogue in new movies

CyberGhost

I find myself constantly playing with volume when watching "new" (after ~2010) movies.

The dialogue is whisper quiet, but everything else is cranked up to the max. I am trying to understand what is being said so I turn up the volume, and then there is a bang, a rattle, or any other noise other than talking and the room shakes because the volume is too high.

What is with this trend?

Mrcaramelchoc

I'm slightly deaf and i actually thought that was me.thank God someone else noticed this trend.

Peatys

I've noticed it, but just put it down to thinking the films were meant for surround sound, and I'm watching it with stereo TV speakers

Drumpot

Yeh I notice it particularly with Nolan movies...

CyberGhost

Drumpot wrote: »

Yeh I notice it particularly with Nolan movies...

Haha, funny you mention Nolan. I created this thread because I'm trying to watch The Dark Knight Rises and I am adjusting the volume almost every 5 minutes.

donspeekinglesh

I frequently put on the subtitles.

drunkmonkey

Ahh here lads get down the doctor and have your ears washed out. I got it done and the surround sound magically started working again.

yer man!

I've noticed this too, bf is foreign so we have subtitles on everything, massively helps to understand what everyone is saying.

Sad Professor

Movies generally have music and sound effects higher in the mix than dialogue, where as television traditionally buries everything under the dialogue. This is because movies are designed for big, loud sound systems in which sound and music play a bigger role than dialogue. But film mixes will vary depending on what the director wants to emphasise.

In Nolan's case, he mixes music very loud - the sound is a big part of the experience in his films and one of the things that tends to get lost on home video. Nolan also prefers to use dialogue recorded on set rather than re-record everything in post-production, which means the dialogue is not always clear. Some directors (Altman, Mann) dislike ultra-clear sounding dialogue, it's a creative choice.

If it's a DVD or Blu-ray, try switching to the 2.0 track if there is one. It should help with most films.

igCorcaigh

I've always experienced this with films. They really should adjust the volume of dialogue.

But then again, I can't hear my friends in a busy pub. I guess it's a hearing thing. I am 45.

Conservatory

I also have this problem but a few years on a building site ruins your ears.

I also find this. I found Nolans Dunkirk particularly bad for it. And that was in the cinema, not at home!

Gonad

yer man! wrote: »

I've noticed this too, bf is foreign so we have subtitles on everything, massively helps to understand what everyone is saying.

If boyfriend is foreign are the subtitles not in his foreign language ?

Unless you can speak his language and you can also understand the foreign subtitles , but if you can speak the language maybe you could change the language to the foreign one and no subtitles would be needed and you would both be happy

Just don’t forget to increase the volume for yourselves . If still no great you can put English subtitles back on for yourself and he can maybe sit closer to the tv .

nix

Gonad wrote: »

If boyfriend is foreign are the subtitles not in his foreign language ?

My girl is foreign also and she likes to have the english subtitles on also, as some accents can be hard to understand, or if they use some words/slang she doesnt know yet, helps her learn.

r93kaey5p2izun

I had my ears tested over this! But my hearing is actually excellent. I have to watch everything with subtitles because the noise of music/background sounds seems uncomfortably loud to me at a level where I can hear the dialogue.

Franz Von Peppercorn

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I also find this. I found Nolans Dunkirk particularly bad for it. And that was in the cinema, not at home!

Interstellar for me. The music was sooo loud relative to the dialog. Thank god for subtitles.

Good movie all the same.

hatrickpatrick

A lot of modern smart TVs have a "Clear Voice" or "Clear Voice II" option in their sound settings which is specifically designed to address this problem and works incredibly well, by lowering the volume of some of the speaker tracks. I'm pretty sure all LG TVs have this, for example.

Franz Von Peppercorn

Gonad wrote: »

If boyfriend is foreign are the subtitles not in his foreign language ?

Unless you can speak his language and you can also understand the foreign subtitles , but if you can speak the language maybe you could change the language to the foreign one and no subtitles would be needed and you would both be happy

Just don’t forget to increase the volume for yourselves . If still no great you can put English subtitles back on for yourself and he can maybe sit closer to the tv .

?

The subtitles are obviously in English.

foxatron

hatrickpatrick wrote:

A lot of modern smart TVs have a "Clear Voice" or "Clear Voice II" option in their sound settings which is specifically designed to address this problem and works incredibly well, by lowering the volume of some of the speaker tracks. I'm pretty sure all LG TVs have this, for example.

Is it the smart sound option? Thats all i could see on my lg tv but ill switch it on and give it a go.

r93kaey5p2izun

hatrickpatrick wrote: »

A lot of modern smart TVs have a "Clear Voice" or "Clear Voice II" option in their sound settings which is specifically designed to address this problem and works incredibly well, by lowering the volume of some of the speaker tracks. I'm pretty sure all LG TVs have this, for example.

Thanks! Just found it on my Samsung. I'll give it a go.

Peatys

foxatron wrote: »

Is it the smart sound option? Thats all i could see on my lg tv but ill switch it on and give it a go.

Mebuntu

This applies to some modern TV series as well. For example, Broadchurch, I had to turn on the subs in both series. There were multiple complaints over this and other productions by both BBC and ITV.

I watch the Talking Pictures channel devoted to mainly old British films (most in black and white and 50+ years old) and never once had a problem with the dialogue in any one of them. It's only some of the films from the last, at least, 10 years that have poor quality dialogue sound.

RabbleRouser2k

Mebuntu wrote: »

This applies to some modern TV series as well. For example, Broadchurch, I had to turn on the subs in both series. There were multiple complaints over this and other productions by both BBC and ITV.

I watch the Talking Pictures channel devoted to mainly old British films (most in black and white and 50+ years old) and never once had a problem with the dialogue in any one of them. It's only some of the films from the last, at least, 10 years that have poor quality dialogue sound.

Some of this is down to the actors as well-there's been an awful lot of 'mumblecore' actors moving on to high profile films-and they mumble instead of enunciating and projecting properly.

Josh Harnett used to irritate the hell out of me whenever he popped up in movies.Besides being a bad actor, he just mumbled his lines.
Often had to rewatch movies he was in to just hear what he was saying. (And that made things worse).

The sound mix can be bad too-like it's not suitable for all sound systems or something. I've even found some dvds or Skymovies are deplorable in their sound mix.

Sad Professor

DVDs and Blu-rays include 2.0 stereo tracks for a reason, guys. You can't judge a 5.1 surround sound mix unless you have a proper sound system. Modern film mixes are not designed for crappy 2 speaker televisions or cheap laptops. Many old movies would have mono soundtracks which are obviously going to sound better on a two speaker television than a film designed for full surround sound. Similarly, most tv shows are designed with television speakers in mind. Even big budget show like GOT tend to bury everything under the dialogue, which wouldn't work for a theatrical movie.

Yeah, modern films are more likely to shoot on real locations and use production sound than to shoot on sound stages and ADR everything else, but that's a good thing. As is the fact that more directors prefer a more natural sounding mix. Dialogue is unrealistically loud in old movies and in television. Like people talking to each other in loud settings in which both they and the audience should be straining to hear them.

Fincher was deliberately responding to this with this scene in The Social Network:

As was Nolan with the cornfield chase sequence in Interstellar.

Relikk

Sad Professor wrote: »

DVDs and Blu-rays include 2.0 stereo tracks for a reason, guys.

They don't always have them, though. I find it's quite rare for a movie release to have a stereo track these days, especially with Blu-Ray. Just as an experiment I picked ten random, but popular Blu-Rays off my shelf and two of them had stereo tracks for the movie itself.

Franz Von Peppercorn

Who buys DVDs anymore anyway?

As to people talking normally in night clubs and crowded bars, that’s unrealistic for sure, but so what? The movie exists to tell a story using dialogue.

And there’s nothing natural about the interstellar music overwhelming the dialogue, and I have bought both separately but couldn’t really follow the movie comfortably at home with my tv speakers.

Subtitles aren’t a huge hinderence - but it’s an issue for some. Nolan should continue to do what he feels he must, and I’ll use subtitles.

Sad Professor

Relikk wrote: »

They don't always have them, though. I find it's quite rare for a movie release to have a stereo track these days, especially with Blu-Ray. Just as an experiment I picked ten random, but popular Blu-Rays off my shelf and two of them had stereo tracks for the movie itself.

No, not every film has them unfortunately, but in the past I found most blockbusters did. But perhaps you're right and they are less common these days.

Franz Von Peppercorn wrote: »

As to people talking normally in night clubs and crowded bars, that’s unrealistic for sure, but so what? The movie exists to tell a story using dialogue.

Movies tell stories using images and sound. Dialogue is just one part of the sound. If the movie is very plot-driven and there's exposition that isn't clear, then I agree that's a problem. Though in Nolan's case I've never had trouble understanding the exposition. It usually gets repeated several times throughout the film anyway, so there's no danger of not catching it.

Nolan's films are practically wall to wall dialogue. Characters never stop talking. If he reduced the music in the mix every time someone opened their mouth, the music would make no impression. I'd rather he lost half the dialogue but given the choice between a film with a mix designed for poor quality television speakers and one designed for the cinema, I'll choose the latter.

tommythecat

If you are watching a blu ray or dvd all you need to do is switch on dynamic range control on your player and it should solve all your problems. This compresses all the loud stuff to be a similar level to the dialogue. Night mode is the most aggressive setting. Voila no more adjusting volume up and down as you watch.
And this has nothing to do with a surround or stereo mix. Even if there is both available on a dvd they will be very similar in dynamics.

nix

heh, Nolan movies are bad examples to use for two speaker set ups. Interstellar is one of my favourite movies of all time, but I've only seen it multiple times in the cinema. I cant bring myself to watch it at home as i know the sound/experience will be poop in comparison

johnny_ultimate

Franz Von Peppercorn wrote: »

Who buys DVDs anymore anyway?

I do, regularly. Huge amount of films that aren’t easily available digitally (far fewer again via Netflix and the likes), and a good few companies are releasing an incredible variety of high-quality disc versions of films from throughout the medium’s history. Indeed, as companies like Arrow and Criterion find themselves delving deeper into world cinema back catalogues to keep a steady stream of releases, disc-based media has only become more essential IMO.

Not to mention it’s still the most reliable for audio and visual quality

Sad Professor

nix wrote: »

heh, Nolan movies are bad examples to use for two speaker set ups. Interstellar is one of my favourite movies of all time, but I've only seen it multiple times in the cinema. I cant bring myself to watch it at home as i know the sound/experience will be poop in comparison

Yeah, the sound really is most of the experience with Nolan's films. He's not the strongest visual director but he makes up for it with his use of music and sound.

The solution to the complaints here is for streaming services, etc to offer 2.0 stereo tracks, or to tinker with your television settings. Filmmakers certainly shouldn't be designing their films to be experienced on bad sound systems.

drunkmonkey

Kameron Wailing Sternum wrote: »

I had my ears tested over this! But my hearing is actually excellent. I have to watch everything with subtitles because the noise of music/background sounds seems uncomfortably loud to me at a level where I can hear the dialogue.

I had mine tested as well as part of a full health check, 40th birthday present to myself, my hearing was perfect. Got them cleaned the last time at the doctor anyway I've never had it done before, it was like new ears, everything became sharper straight away. I had a few colds in-between getting them cleaned so that might have caused the problem but I haven't heard this good in a long time.

r93kaey5p2izun

drunkmonkey wrote: »

I had mine tested as well as part of a full health check, 40th birthday present to myself, my hearing was perfect. Got them cleaned the last time at the doctor anyway I've never had it done before, it was like new ears, everything became sharper straight away. I had a few colds in-between getting them cleaned so that might have caused the problem but I haven't heard this good in a long time.

Yes, cleaning was part of the service. They said there was no build up though and I didn't feel it made any difference.

I have found that Clear Voice setting on my TV is making a difference though since it was mentioned here yesterday. It sounds kind of tinny but the dialogue is definitely clearer.

TerrorFirmer

This is actually a great topic as it's so incredibly irritating and I've often wondering if it's just me.

Nothing worse than watching a movie where you're straining to hear a conversation.... and then the next moment there's an explosion so loud that dogs start barking about four houses down the street.

I've noticed this as well with random films, and find it very annoying.

Always kinda thought it was just me. Glad to hear it's an actual problem and not just my ears that are causing it. Has made me turn off films as I found them too annoying to watch.

nix

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

This is actually a great topic as it's so incredibly irritating and I've often wondering if it's just me.

Nothing worse than watching a movie where you're straining to hear a conversation.... and then the next moment there's an explosion so loud that dogs start barking about four houses down the street.

Yeah its gotten to the point when watching movies/TV at night, if its not a drama, im turning subtitles on keeping the volume lowish so i dont piss people off when **** inevitably explodes, whether it be gun fire, music, monster going boo

Mike Litoris

Is it crappy rips and streams? I don't notice this with Blu Rays or live TV through a receiver/5.1 set up.

Chev_Chelios

It's weird, dialogue is often too low but other sounds are too high.

constitutionus

donspeekinglesh wrote: »

I frequently put on the subtitles.

I thought it was just me.

Relikk

Mike Litoris wrote: »

Is it crappy rips and streams? I don't notice this with Blu Rays or live TV through a receiver/5.1 set up.

You're fine because that's what the set-up is for nearly all, if not all modern movie soundtracks. You have a dedicated channel for dialogue, your centre speaker. When people don't have multichannel set-up's like yours (they usually only have a stereo set-up), the dialogue gets a bit lost when the surround tracks are combined and mixed down to stereo.

MisterAnarchy

Sad Professor wrote: »

DVDs and Blu-rays include 2.0 stereo tracks for a reason, guys. You can't judge a 5.1 surround sound mix unless you have a proper sound system. Modern film mixes are not designed for crappy 2 speaker televisions or cheap laptops.

Yeah ,I will often choose a 2.0 soundtrack for tv series especially on Netflix,the 5.1 mix is a mess.
Dialogue is much clearer in a 2.0 soundtrack.

In saying that I have a decent Pioneer 5.1 system but I dont use it alot due to the volume fluctuations.
Even with it properly calibrated ,I have to boost the center volume settings a good bit so that dialogue is loud enough and I use it in enhanced audio mode.

Different films will have different mixes and the settings may have to be altered.
Action scenes are especially problematic even when listening in 5.1

Nothing worse than watching a movie where you're straining to hear a conversation.... and then the next moment there's an explosion so loud that dogs start barking about four houses down the street.

Very true.

Tony EH

Even on some 2.0 mixes, I find that dialogue can be hard to hear sometimes.

AMKC

Slightly off topic but I have noticed that when watching a series or a movie on the TV I do have to turn up the sound and even but subtitles on sometimes so I can hear what is being said and for some accents too but as soon as the add breaks come on its either turn the volume down or mute it as they are always louder. Anyone else notice this? It's really annoying. That's when watching sometime live. If it's recorded I skip the adds.

Sad Professor

AMKC wrote: »

Slightly off topic but I have noticed that when watching a series or a movie on the TV I do have to turn up the sound and even but subtitles on sometimes so I can hear what is being said and for some accents too but as soon as the add breaks come on its either turn the volume down or mute it as they are always louder. Anyone else notice this? It's really annoying. That's when watching sometime live. If it's recorded I skip the adds.

That's normal unfortunately. TV ads are louder to grab your attention. They are compressed to hell and have far less dynamic range than a film, meaning they are just loud and distorted with no quiet parts. Radio ads and pop music are the same. If you have any old CDs you'll notice they are far quieter (and better quality) than newer ones.

Actually, people being used to this from television shows is probably part of the issue here. Films are probably one of the few forms of media left that haven't fully capitulated to the loudness war, mainly because they are still made for the cinema. However, as more films are made for tv and streaming that will probably change.

steamsey

It seems to be the way they are mixing them of late. Even with a 5.1 (+) set up, I sometimes struggle with the dialogue (centre channel). I often have the centre channel turned up +3, +4 over other channels so not just an issue with 2.0 on your TV, I think it's the way they make them.

On a 5.1 set up you can increase centre channel, and even reduce other channels so that you can turn it up more. Night mode / dynamic range as suggested baffles really loud noises so you can turn it up a bit without worrying about waking people / neighbours etc .

On a standard TV, as said anything like clear voice might help. Perhaps turn tone up, bass down a little. Also to prevent any downmixing issues, watch films with 2.0 sound track selected - so TV doesn't have to do any thinking. Select 2.0 on blu ray player or whatever your source is. If you watch with 5.1 playing on source, TV may have to do some work (to down mix to 2.0) and depending on the TV, might not be doing a good job.

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This post has been deleted.

Shred

Like many others I thought this was just me too. For me the solution is to increase the volume of the centre speaker, but anyone watching on just a TV can't do that obviously.

Franz Von Peppercorn wrote: »

Who buys DVDs anymore anyway?

I do, regularly. I had a mate around for dinner a while back and he scoffed at me "you still buying physical discs then Shred?!". He downloads everything or watches on Netflix. I gave him a demo of the opening of Pacific Rim in 4k/Dolby True HD and his jaw genuinely dropped open. Him and his wife left as converts, me =

El Duda

Watched Wind River with subtitles on despite owning a soundbar and having no volume restrictions.

Gulliver

Glad to see I'm not the only one resorting to subtitles. I've got a cheap pair of Bluetooth headphones for when everyone else is gone to bed, but then I can't hear the baby monitor, so I'm looking at it and listening to the TV.

Lantus

Movies have a 5 or 7 channel sound recording which doesn't translate well to a typical TV. Use the 2 channel sound option unless you have a flotilla of speakers to process as the director intended.

steamsey

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

Nothing worse than watching a movie where you're straining to hear a conversation.... and then the next moment there's an explosion so loud that dogs start barking about four houses down the street.

Try centre channel plus 3 or 4, front speakers minus 4 or 5. Balance your speakers to find a sweet spot