J. L. WestoverSecret Panel HERE 💥 https://tapas.io/episode/3005249
Max Almonte@MrLovenstein this is just too fuckin' real with modern movies/TV series.
FediThing 
There have been actual studies done of this because it's become such a common problem!
If I recall correctly, one of the studies concluded it was to do with modern style of acting where there is less emphasis on theatrical diction and more on natural-sounding dialogue. So, characters mumble more.
Benjamin Colliot@MrLovenstein Welcome to my personal hell every time I watch a freaking movie...
hugovangalen 🤖 🕹️ 😼@MrLovenstein Enable subtitles. Problem solved.
marcthenarc@hvangalen @MrLovenstein As I watch a lot of foreign movies and TV shows with subtitles, I absolutely don't mind doing the same for the languages I know. It's second nature.
Someone 
@hvangalen I almost always do this with old movies.
tiny_m@MrLovenstein very comforting to know I am not alone in experiencing this. I have to watch everything with subtitles or it's just a constant monologue from me to my husband saying, "what did he just say?"
ScottMGSLast boost: My life with new hearing aids...
mars@MrLovenstein
VLC has a great volume normalizer you can turn on that turns things up when they're quiet, and limits them when they explode, making this problem disappear. Ruins the dynamic effect the movie is going for, but honestly, the dynamic effect they're going for ruins it for me.
VLC has a great volume normalizer you can turn on that turns things up when they're quiet, and limits them when they explode, making this problem disappear. Ruins the dynamic effect the movie is going for, but honestly, the dynamic effect they're going for ruins it for me.
Ada Hashtag@MrLovenstein my brother studied sound engineering and this seems to be how they teach those students sound is supposed to be. He turns things up so loud I find it physically painful at the high points.
To him this is peak sound design?? 🤷♀️
Sound engineers are supposed to do different audio mixes for different viewing contexts (at home, in cinema, on phone etc). Maybe some productions/platforms cheap out and just have one mix for everything?
SkjeggtrollDepending on your TV speakers and on your ears, getting a good soundbar or other external speaker setup can help. That can make the dialogue less muddled and easier to make out at lower volumes.
Mans R@MrLovenstein Meanwhile, some other characters are having a perfectly legible conversation in a nightclub.
phi1997@MrLovenstein
Reminds me of this scene in Mega Man 8 at 2:03 in this video: https://youtu.be/iqTWJ0ioRIg
Reminds me of this scene in Mega Man 8 at 2:03 in this video: https://youtu.be/iqTWJ0ioRIg
Mega Man 8 (Playstation) Duo Battle and Cutscene
hurt138@MrLovenstein I read or heard this has a lot to do with the huge multichannel sound sets they mix moves for now. When that finally gets dropped down to a home setup or *gasp* stereo sound it gets all muddled and mixed together..
Not sure how true that is but it made sense to me.
clonejo@hurt138 @MrLovenstein mpv has this lovely filter from mpv: `--af=dynaudnorm`, essentially a volume compressor
The Picard ManeuverI had this problem for so long until I got a really basic sound bar. Can’t believe how many years I put up with it.
BakedCatboyThat seems like the only solid solution. I got a budget 5.1 with rear satellites because not only did I want a dedicated center channel for dialog but I wanted to avoid the 5.1 to stereo downmixing issues (such as in Plex) where the center channel gets incorrectly divided with a volume decrease (jellyfin didn’t seem to have the issue), but this way I can just sidestep those issues by being able to directly play 5.1.
This has helped a ton but there are still some movies that don’t cooperate, like dune part 1 during the Paul and his mother breakfast scene at the beginning. Even though I have the truehd 7.1 atmos and DD 5.1 (which direct plays without conversion), the only way to make that scene audible without blowing out the speakers the rest of the movie is to crank up the voice boost EQ which ruins the balance.
Sometimes, idk if dune is one…. Shows/movies have scenes with intentionally difficult to hear dialog. It’s like, sure, they’re talking… but we want you to just watch and don’t worry you’ll get everything from visuals
Just like how they absolutely love to have extremely dark environments then switch to blinding light.
For anyone wondering why it is like that: I’ve read that movies nowadays are the same on disc and streaming service as they are in the theaters, meaning the voices are sitting on the central speaker. I’ve hat this a long time too and after I read that fact I went and bought a soundbar with center speaker and that solved this issue for me.
I have the same problem with ads being louder too.
Also weirdly music in the radio compared to the DJ…
The Hat Fox@MrLovenstein The trend for excessively wide dynamic range and the decline of quality mastering for home releases have collided to create the worst possible audio experience.
Not even a new thing; I have no idea what the plot for Mission Impossible 1 was
The most notorious example for me is Spanish cinema, it’s like they’re rapid-fire whispering, then suddenly they burst out screaming. No middle ground. And just what the hell are film sound editors and mixers in Spain smoking, to think that this is the proper way to mix a film’s audio?
lnxtx (xe/xem/xyr)Key word: compressor/limiter.
@MrLovenstein So true. Fuck you #youtube. You're at least as bad as the worst TV show for audio balance.
Petrichor Squirrel@MrLovenstein watching Oppenheimer (2023)
SotuandusoClearly you don’t appreciate the ✨art✨ of realistic dynamic range.
MistherFrenchFries@MrLovenstein I swear if anime/pretentiousness hadn’t forced me to read subtitles I’d have given up movies for books.
Get a sound bar
Piko Starsider 
@MrLovenstein In those cases I just enable a sound compressor.
Raptor 
@MrLovenstein easyeffects and clamp the volume :D It's life changing, no longer constantly turning it up or down because of terrible mixing on the remote end.
https://github.com/wwmm/easyeffects
https://github.com/Digitalone1/EasyEffects-Presets
halyk.the.redI call this Dark Knight Syndrome.
A Christopher Nolan movie, I see.
Mauri@MrLovenstein
Gotta love that sound equalizer on our TVs.
Gotta love that sound equalizer on our TVs.
Eli the Bearded@MrLovenstein
Very true
Very true
Dawn Tåke 🌙 
@MrLovenstein
Watching the Star Wars bluray releases I see.
Watching the Star Wars bluray releases I see.
naught1011. Pirate video
2. Play on VLC
3. Use the audio compressor effect to crush the high volume parts and bring up the low volume parts.
ThatWeirdGuy1001That’s the beauty of ✨️subtitles✨️
germtm.it do be like that with some of the audio mixing in games.
Sonic Adventure games come to mind as the most egregious examples of that.
Thank god for Loudness Equalization.
Since I have found that, I changed it on every device I could. It is just so dumb how badly they mix the audio.
MeDuViNoXDo they have something like that for Linux?
saggithub.com/wwmm/easyeffects for pipwire
piped.video/watch?v=typM_AQUzi4 for pulseaudio
RockyBoulderSadly this is too true
I was watching fallout and was pleasantly surprised that there where multiple dialog boosted audio tracks (medium and high boost).
Some tvs have volume leveling
FreshLightOh, wow! Is it really you?
Love your comics, they make my day better :)
Jay Rock@MrLovenstein Directed by Michael Bay.
kolja@MrLovenstein That's me! I always have subtitles on, these days.
deBaer@MrLovenstein So relatable. My center speaker is sitting at +10 dB to all the other speakers just so dialogue is understandable in movies.
I heard that the Monty Pythons got thrown out of BBC for pulling a stunt like that on the audience.