Lack of Compression: Netflix

[JurgenG]

Hey fella's,

Not a big issue, but something that bothers me.

I am a big fan of Netflix, and series/films in the broader sense, as many of us.
The fact that we don't have to go to a cinema where we can't change the audio and need or want to use plugs is a blessing.

BUT, unlike television which has quite some compressed audio. Netflix doesn't compress its sound as much, that's my impression at least.

Dialogue is quite quiet, music is way too loud.
Anyone had the same experience, and solutions? I've been googling but have not found the perfect solution.

 

[Kolisar]

Dialogue is quite quiet, music is way too loud.
Anyone had the same experience, and solutions?

I have the same problem, but I have no solution. I find a lot of TV shows are doing the same thing as well. Often I have turn on captioning. I'm glad it is not just me who has noticed this problem.

 

[JurgenG]

I have the same problem, but I have no solution. I find a lot of TV shows are doing the same thing as well. Often I have turn on captioning. I'm glad it is not just me who has noticed this problem.

I've found that on Windows computers you can have some kind of compression option, might be handy if you stream Netflix via or on your pc. Don't know about anything else just yet.
Some tv's might have some kind of loudness-compression as well.

On the other side we have people advocating for less compression..
https://www.cnet.com/news/compression-is-killing-your-music/#

 

[Red]

I'm still searching for the answer myself but I think it is also dependent on your setup. We have two TVs one is 1080 and the other is 4K. I experience the exact same problems you talk about with my 4K TV. However, my 1080 TV is much easier on the ears.

Attempts to Google it hasn't brought anything up about compression but rather about down mixing. Netflix automatically has the top-of-the-line settings for both picture and sound so if you don't have surroundsound, your setup has to down mix. The website I found either says possible solutions could be proper set up or just that you need a new TV.

 

[dpdx]

Yup, dialogue is quiet and music is loud. I also don't like their movie selection either!

 

[Alue]

My TV has a clear voice setting that amplifies the voices. It seems to work fairly well. My biggest issue is commercials that are much louder than the program I'm watching. The FCC made regulations to limit commercial volume, but advertisers just ignore them. I don't know why they think yelling at people and making them mute the TV during commercial breaks is going to make more people want to buy their product, but then again I don't work in advertising.

 

[JohnnyMx]

THIS.

Yesterday I was watching Stranger Things... it is not Tinnitus friendly!, not because it is loud, but because have a lot of Tinnitus like sounds, high pitched ringing sounds.

Again, this is not something is going to damage your ears, maybe this can bother me some, but I still watch the series.

 

[Red]

Googled this some more today. Going off of what I said earlier, Netflix is automatically running your sound at 5.1 surround. Surround doesn't mean just having a sound bar but also a subwoofer and three directional speakers. To get around the quiet dialogue/loud action you have to do one of these:

1. While you are watching Netflix, pull up the options. Switch it to stereo.

2. Set up surround sound so that your TV isn't down mixing. The reason why the dialogue is so quiet is because it has to merge all the different sound channels when Netflix is intended to run at surround.

3. Tinker with your sound settings. You can try turning on "night mode" or try turning up "center volume".

 

[Alue]

THIS.

Yesterday I was watching Stranger Things... it is not Tinnitus friendly!, not because it is loud, but because have a lot of Tinnitus like sounds, high pitched ringing sounds.

Again, this is not something is going to damage your ears, maybe this can bother me some, but I still watch the series.

I hate that. I don't know if I'm just noticing it more or it's becoming more and more common in television and movies.

 

[Sen]

Change the audio setting from 5.1 to stereo, assuming you have a stereo speaker setup and not surround. That helps sometimes. Also use subtitles/closed captions so you can keep the volume lower without missing anything.

I find that most modern movies have this dynamic audio range issue, Netflix or not. Not so much TV shows.

 

[Bill Bauer]

You could be watching a movie and begin worrying that the loud sounds of gun shots may give you a temporary spike. At the same time, voices might be too quiet to hear. Here is what you can do.

The instructions below are for VLC player
http://www.instantfundas.com/2012/06/dialogues-too-quiet-action-too-loud-use.html
or
https://lifehacker.com/5920290/how-to-fix-movies-that-are-really-quiet-then-really-loud

You could follow the advice in

except you may want to keep "sound equalization" enhancement:
https://lifehacker.com/5986236/norm...pc-with-windows-loudness-equalization-setting

Someone at this forum recommended turning all of the speakers to face the wall...

Honestly the standard windows loudness equalization is kind of poor in my experience. I stay away from anything remotely loud, so with small speakers at low volume, the standard windows loudness equalization really seems to increase sibilance which can be one of the most bothersome things for someone with hyperacusis. It in combination with a de-esser is probably a good option for listening to speech though with severe H.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De-essing

 

[JohnnyMx]

I hate that. I don't know if I'm just noticing it more or it's becoming more and more common in television and movies.

I've noticed lately that alot of movies and series are using this kind of sounds... don't know why... maybe they think are cool.

 

[JurgenG]

Change the audio setting from 5.1 to stereo, assuming you have a stereo speaker setup and not surround. That helps sometimes. Also use subtitles/closed captions so you can keep the volume lower without missing anything.

I find that most modern movies have this dynamic audio range issue, Netflix or not. Not so much TV shows.

Do you know where to find those settings?

I hate screaming, it just "feels" loud even when it isn't. But that's just my crazy self.

 

[Red]

Do you know where to find those settings?

I hate screaming, it just "feels" loud even when it isn't. But that's just my crazy self.

I use ps4 so dunno how it works on roku or something similar. It is in the option area to put on subtitles.

 

[Chaz]

Hey fella's,

Not a big issue, but something that bothers me.

I am a big fan of Netflix, and series/films in the broader sense, as many of us.
The fact that we don't have to go to a cinema where we can't change the audio and need or want to use plugs is a blessing.

BUT, unlike television which has quite some compressed audio. Netflix doesn't compress its sound as much, that's my impression at least.

Dialogue is quite quiet, music is way too loud.
Anyone had the same experience, and solutions? I've been googling but have not found the perfect solution.

Are you running the sound straight through your TV or using a secondary audio source like a Soundbar or HT system?