/ Register

  1. Win a Broadcaster or one of 3 Teles! The annual Supporting Member Giveaway is on. To enter Click Here. To see all the prizes and full details Click Here. To view the thread about the giveaway Click Here.

NetFlix - Or Maybe TV - Gripe

Discussion in 'Bad Dog Cafe' started by unixfish, Feb 28, 2021.

  1. Feb 28, 2021 #1
    unixfish

    unixfish Doctor of Teleocity Silver Supporter

    Posts:
    12,725
    Joined:
    Apr 20, 2013
    Location:
    Northeast Ohio, USA
    My wife and I enjoy watching an episode of something to wind down at night.

    For regular TV, I have the volume at 10 - wife at 15. We can hear (almost) everything.

    With NetFlix, we have to turn the volume up to 28, 30, 35. A lot higher. Even at those elevated volumes, dialogue is hard to make out. We want to turn up the TV, but then we come to the end of an episode, or some kind of background music, and get blasted into the next room.

    We often will turn on the stereo; even at the same volume in the room, it is much easier to hear and understand dialogue. Unfortunately, my daughter's room is above the family room, and the bass just travels into her room and her patients can hear it. No stereo until after 21:00 many nights, by which time my wife is asleep. Even with the stereo, we still have the same problem - dialogue is a normal volume, but then music or theme song or whatever blow us into the next room

    Yeah, it's probably the crap speakers on our garbage Samsung TV adding to the problem.

    But why is NetFlix so bad about dialogue volumes compared to other sound? Why does NetFlix need so much boost compared to other services?

    Yeah yeah yeah third world problems and all that.
     
    nojazzhere likes this.
  2. Feb 28, 2021 #2
    kbold

    kbold Friend of Leo's

    Posts:
    2,189
    Joined:
    Jul 21, 2015
    Location:
    Australia
    They want that action part to explode visually and audibly. Bigger and better and louder than the last years movies.
    Normal is no longer an option ..... more is better.

    Welcome to the real world. I keep the remote handy ... for action scenes, and for TV advertising breaks. (Mute button is shiny.)
     
    unixfish and nojazzhere like this.
  3. Feb 28, 2021 #3
    schmee

    schmee Doctor of Teleocity

    Posts:
    14,605
    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2003
    Location:
    northwest
    I agree. Not just Netflix, but yeah it is bad. I find myself turning volume up and down constantly. Then add the Aussie or Brit accents on some shows and I have no idea what's going on!
    I don't know the answer, the soundbar didn't really help much. I bought wireless headphones once but that's a problem, they have time latency issues, so you cant have the TV volume on also for your partner or every thing sounds like time delay echo!

    I think sound engineering has the most pathetic people in any industry. The volume jumps are HUGE. Then you cant hear the talk. I understand you need some dynamics but not that much!
    Don't even get me started on sound engineering at high dollar TV awards or concerts!
     
    unixfish and nojazzhere like this.
  4. Feb 28, 2021 #4
    thunderbyrd

    thunderbyrd Poster Extraordinaire Silver Supporter

    Age:
    62
    Posts:
    7,772
    Joined:
    Dec 21, 2004
    Location:
    central ky
    i cannot understand most tv or netflix or prime without subtitles.

    a friend of mine insists it's a digital vs analog problem. i don't know.
     
    unixfish likes this.
  5. Feb 28, 2021 #5
    kmaster

    kmaster Tele-Meister

    Posts:
    218
    Joined:
    May 25, 2008
    Location:
    USA
    unixfish likes this.
  6. Feb 28, 2021 #6
    nojazzhere

    nojazzhere Doctor of Teleocity

    Age:
    69
    Posts:
    14,178
    Joined:
    Feb 3, 2017
    Location:
    Foat Wuth, Texas
    Are most of the shows you watch on Netflx imported from the UK? I've noticed their audio is much "noisier" and murky than the US. I suspect that many US shows have their dialog soundtracks "looped".....meaning re-recorded later for a cleaner sound. I love BBC shows, but most of them have so much ambient background noise that I can't understand any dialog. I've tried soundbars, better speakers, and even equalizers to select out certain frequencies.....all to no avail. And hearing aids just amplify the noise!
     
    unixfish likes this.
  7. Feb 28, 2021 #7
    Old Plank

    Old Plank Tele-Afflicted Gold Supporter

    Posts:
    1,704
    Joined:
    Feb 16, 2017
    Location:
    Maine USA
    Ditto on using the subtitles setting ON .... for Netflix, the CC button (Closed Captions) and for Spectrum On Demand (same volume issue) I hit Cable -> Menu -> Settings for the language choices. Much better than blasting volume to no avail!
     
    unixfish likes this.
  8. Feb 28, 2021 #8
    beanluc

    beanluc Tele-Holic

    Age:
    51
    Posts:
    756
    Joined:
    Aug 27, 2020
    Location:
    California Bay Area
    Speakers aren't digital, so, it's an analog problem.
     
    unixfish likes this.
  9. Feb 28, 2021 #9
    Togman

    Togman Tele-Afflicted Silver Supporter

    Age:
    61
    Posts:
    1,611
    Joined:
    Apr 28, 2004
    Location:
    Cambridgeshire, UK
    You need to get one of those old valve (Tube) TV's. You get a much warmer sound with those.:)
     
    beanluc and unixfish like this.
  10. Feb 28, 2021 #10
    unixfish

    unixfish Doctor of Teleocity Silver Supporter

    Posts:
    12,725
    Joined:
    Apr 20, 2013
    Location:
    Northeast Ohio, USA
    Actually, yes.

    We do have the subtitles turned on for everything. That helps me, but my wife likes to surf while she watches TV, soooooo...
     
    nojazzhere likes this.
  11. Feb 28, 2021 #11
    unixfish

    unixfish Doctor of Teleocity Silver Supporter

    Posts:
    12,725
    Joined:
    Apr 20, 2013
    Location:
    Northeast Ohio, USA
    :lol::lol::lol:
     
  12. Feb 28, 2021 #12
    BerkshireDuncan

    BerkshireDuncan Tele-Meister

    Age:
    58
    Posts:
    271
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2020
    Location:
    Oxford, UK
    Maybe, but to these Brit ears so much two-handed dialog(ue) on imported US shows is just unnecessarily mumbled for effect- even when the characters aren't speaking discretely or privately (shakes fist at cloud)
     
    nojazzhere and unixfish like this.
  13. Feb 28, 2021 #13
    nojazzhere

    nojazzhere Doctor of Teleocity

    Age:
    69
    Posts:
    14,178
    Joined:
    Feb 3, 2017
    Location:
    Foat Wuth, Texas
    Just me, I guess, but I find subtitles (including CC) too distracting. I like to focus on the visuals of a film or show, and if I have to keep shifting my eyes to read, it ruins the enjoyment.
    I have a good solution......since there are MANY shows that we CAN understand, let's just demand film producers "clean up" their audio.....I know it can be done.
     
    unixfish and Old Plank like this.
IMPORTANT: Treat everyone here with respect, no matter how difficult!
No sex, drug, political, religion or hate discussion permitted here.