Music too loud in TV and films

Soldato
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I did see a YouTube video on this. Apparently the sound is sometimes remixed between cinema and TV releases to make it work better on the lower powered sound systems. But often they don't do it so it sounds **** on TV.
 
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Soldato
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I had a decently reviewed mid range soundbar with surround speakers and subwoofer from Sony a couple of years ago and voice in a lot of films/TV was often drowned out by music or background sounds. Not many options to adjust but nothing really helped. Eventually changed it to a high end Samsung Q950A soundbar and the difference was night and day. I can only assume that the Sony had a really weak centre speaker or it just didn't process it properly. Won't ever buy Sony again.

Same, got a Samsung HW-Q600A which is a full 3.1.2 Dolby Atmos & DTS:X soundbar (£300-ish IIRC) and I also found a decent soundbar with a good centre speaker adjustment makes a huge difference compared to the "free" Samsung one (some £100 2.1 item) I got with my TV in a package deal a few years ago.
 
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If going for a soundbar for speech clarity I'd make sure it's a 3.0 as a minimum. The center channel really helps in that regard.

After a bit of googling as well then it looks like I'll want a 3.0. I don't want satellites, sub woofers or booming bass or any music enhancements for that matter. Music is in fact an unwanted side-effect/irritation of watching tv as far as I'm concerned. Just want clear dialogue.

Would a Sonos beam gen 1 do the job. They seem fairly cheap in the second hand market. Something like that? Any suggestions welcomed please.
 
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Soldato
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Will be checking back here to see how you get on because been having the exact same issues. To hear conversations I end up with the other sounds far too loud . It seems especially more noticeable when watching things on nowtv unless I'm imagining it
 
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Will be checking back here to see how you get on because been having the exact same issues. To hear conversations I end up with the other sounds far too loud . It seems especially more noticeable when watching things on nowtv unless I'm imagining it
Ordered myself a Sonos Beam Gen 1 soundbar (second hand).. Hope it works well. I'm looking forward to watching tv without angrily shouting "FFS!" when the music comes on and quickly reaching for the volume control. :).

I'll update with my findings
 
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The Sonos Beam Gen 1 arrived today. Only watched 1 episode of Hatton Gardens job on an ITV catch-up streaming channel. So can't really say I've given it a real chance. Early days yet.

With Night Mode (Night Mode says it increases quiet sections and lowers louder sections of the audio) and with Dialogue Mode switched on.
It does have an effect. It reduces the music levels a bit and the dialogue is a bit more up front. But far from what I was hoping for.
I still found myself using the remote to lower volume during music sections. Some of the music was still ear splitting aggravating.

Haven't played with bass and treble settings yet.

Underwhelmed, so far but like I say, early days. However I suspect the Sonos Beam may not be the Nirvana I am searching for.
Reading a good book instead just might be the answer :).
 
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I've watched another tv streaming program. The Sonos Beam does not sufficiently reduce the music content by any appreciable amount. I'm still having to adjust the volume frequently to get rid of the ghastly over-pronounced music and ridiculously loud, supposedly atmospheric, sound effects. Maybe a 5.0 with the ability to reduce all channels except the centre (vocal channel?) would be better.

Who are these people who mix sound on tv shows? Sound mixers. Are they so blooming self indulgent in their task that they feel the need to oversaturate audio with music and sound effects?

I wrote to the BBC two or three years ago with my concern about audio mixing levels. BBC replied that this is one of the commonest complaints they get from viewers. They offered no solution and no interest in resolving it.

Hangin's too good for some folk :)
 
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Another brief update:

Currently trying a Zvox AV157 soundbar. It is designed for the precise purpose of aiding dialogue clarity over the music. 12 levels of voice enhancement/music suppression. Can be had for £160 new or around half that price in the used market.
Only tried it for a couple of hours so far. Seems to be doing a half decent job for what I want. Extreme voice enhancement makes the dialogue sound a bit tinny but I'd rather have Tinny voices than exploding music. Still playing with the settings to see how good I can get it.
 
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