LVSteve
Member
The FCC put a stop to changing the sound level, but they DIDN'T tell the advertisers not to use huge amounts of audio compression that appears to be louder.
Speech
- Thread starter Chubbo
- Start date
The FCC put a stop to changing the sound level, but they DIDN'T tell the advertisers not to use huge amounts of audio compression that appears to be louder.
Well, I don't think the problem means you are having hearing loss. If you are using one of the newer wide screen TV sets, I think the sound volume built in might not be as good as on the older sets. Seems to me that the new TV sets are designed for theater sound or sound bars. I bought a new Vizio last year and was having trouble pick8ng out voices even when the sound was loud. So, I added on a Vizio soy bar, woofer and rear speakers and it cured 90% of the problem.
I still had a couple shows where I just couldn't understand everything that was said all the time. The only way I could follow those shows was to turn on closed captioning. Problem was then solved.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
BINGO BINGO BINGO!
Not only the dramatic whisper - at the same time the high drama background music crescendos. One of my favorite TV series for decades has been Law and Order, the original version, still in reruns, and they've been doing that dramatic whisper/crescendo music right at the end of nearly every episode since the show started about 1990.
One of the best HBO miniseries I've ever seen was John Adams, and the lead, Paul Giamatti, playing Adams, again and again dropped into that hissing dramatic whisper at every opportunity. He damn near ruined the show for me, and I've since noticed he does it in everything he's in. I will try to avoid him for just that.
I think with the advent of Dolby sound, the sound production people and editors have gone nuts, telling themselves their background music and Foley effects are more important than the dialog. Baloney!
Same thing nowadays in restaurants. If I go to a nice place for food and conversation with friends, I am there for food and convivial conversation, not their #$%^%$ canned music.
If I want music, I'll go to a concert, but otherwise in other places, dialog should rule.
/rant
gman51
Member
Most of the problem is hearing loss. Many of us also have tinnitus{ringing in ears} which also makes hearing conversations harder to hear.
I have notice certain TV stations seem to use a different tone on their sound and I have to turn the volume way up and still have a problem hearing speech. I can go to another channel and I get blasted out because I didn't change the sound level.
Like the OP said the back ground music is often so darn loud it is very hard to hear the talking. I have noticed so many movies the back ground music is almost deafening drowning out the speech till it is almost like a whisper. I think sound producers in the movie business need to take a close look at how poor their music sound quality is. I don't watch a movie to hear a music concert.
I have my TV set for closed captioning because the sound editing is so horribly done.
I have noticed since losing quite a bit of hearing in my left ear that I can't hold the phone up to my left ear anymore. I will sometimes stick my finger in my right ear, while watching/listening to the TV, to notice the hearing loss I have in my left ear now. Listening with just the left ear the speech is mostly so garbled I can't understand what is being said.
I do believe if the sound editors would do a better job of realizing background music is not supposed to be the main listening point of a movie/show then I could hear speech much better.
Kids like it loud but I am not a kid anymore and I would realize there are more baby boomers watching TV than young kids now.
Have you ever noticed you can watch a game show with the TV volume low and still hear what is being said? HMMM Why the difference? There is seldom any background noise that's why!!
Have you ever noticed you have no problem hearing what they are saying in old westerns? Guess what........no stinking background noise blasting away that's why.
I really think many sound editors should do a better job or go to work for traveling band concert tours.
I have notice certain TV stations seem to use a different tone on their sound and I have to turn the volume way up and still have a problem hearing speech. I can go to another channel and I get blasted out because I didn't change the sound level.
Like the OP said the back ground music is often so darn loud it is very hard to hear the talking. I have noticed so many movies the back ground music is almost deafening drowning out the speech till it is almost like a whisper. I think sound producers in the movie business need to take a close look at how poor their music sound quality is. I don't watch a movie to hear a music concert.
I have my TV set for closed captioning because the sound editing is so horribly done.
I have noticed since losing quite a bit of hearing in my left ear that I can't hold the phone up to my left ear anymore. I will sometimes stick my finger in my right ear, while watching/listening to the TV, to notice the hearing loss I have in my left ear now. Listening with just the left ear the speech is mostly so garbled I can't understand what is being said.
I do believe if the sound editors would do a better job of realizing background music is not supposed to be the main listening point of a movie/show then I could hear speech much better.
Kids like it loud but I am not a kid anymore and I would realize there are more baby boomers watching TV than young kids now.
Have you ever noticed you can watch a game show with the TV volume low and still hear what is being said? HMMM Why the difference? There is seldom any background noise that's why!!
Have you ever noticed you have no problem hearing what they are saying in old westerns? Guess what........no stinking background noise blasting away that's why.
I really think many sound editors should do a better job or go to work for traveling band concert tours.
bearfoot
US Veteran
the background music is almost always lounder than persons talking. thank goodness for closed caption and replay.
The trouble with C C is that while you are reading the dialogue you are MISSING THE SCENE/ACTION!!
For some tme now I've been watching DVDs with the "hearing impaired" captions on. The funny thing is, I've noticed sometimes they don't match. I'm still not deaf.
I have closed caption on my TV for everything and you are right, the printing doesn't always match the dialog.
It definitely was a help watching the shows about the Amish. I can't process foreign languages fast enough and the dialect they were using seems to switch between German and English in mid-sentence.
bigwheelzip
Absent Comrade
We watch a lot of British and Australian fare, and often need captions to overcome accents.
We beat the annoyingly loud background music with a home theatre system. We turn up the center channel volume, which is where the dialog comes from, and lower the satellite speaker volume, where the annoying background sound originates.
We beat the annoyingly loud background music with a home theatre system. We turn up the center channel volume, which is where the dialog comes from, and lower the satellite speaker volume, where the annoying background sound originates.
Solution: sell the tv.
I haven't had one for years. Don't miss it a bit.
I haven't had one for years. Don't miss it a bit.
Voices on TV
I watched a favorite TV show last night, NCIS. Sadly it will be the last one that I'll watch. I tried everything that I could find to try, on our Bose sound system, that has all of the available Bose "Bells whistles, and Bows". My wife and I couldn't understand One out of ten words spoken, in the entire show. we don't use closed captioning, as we didn't spend "Big Bucks" on a Bose Sound System, to read the words, but, to hear them. The people promoting the show, NCSI, have finally taught even "Gibbs" to slur his speech. We have observed that all of the actors in the show have stopped using their lips to form words, some don't move their lips at all when speaking. the problem isn't in the volume of the sound ether. I don't understand the purpose of this revolting practice, but, It's just as plain as a "Billy goat's Butt", to me, that The producers of certain TV shows, use this revolting practice. We all know the ones that do. since I don't have any control of this matter, until it changes, we will have to give up watching our favorite TV programs, and hope that the revolting problem doesn't spread to the few TV Programs, that we still watch. Pardon the rant, I give up.
Chubbo
I watched a favorite TV show last night, NCIS. Sadly it will be the last one that I'll watch. I tried everything that I could find to try, on our Bose sound system, that has all of the available Bose "Bells whistles, and Bows". My wife and I couldn't understand One out of ten words spoken, in the entire show. we don't use closed captioning, as we didn't spend "Big Bucks" on a Bose Sound System, to read the words, but, to hear them. The people promoting the show, NCSI, have finally taught even "Gibbs" to slur his speech. We have observed that all of the actors in the show have stopped using their lips to form words, some don't move their lips at all when speaking. the problem isn't in the volume of the sound ether. I don't understand the purpose of this revolting practice, but, It's just as plain as a "Billy goat's Butt", to me, that The producers of certain TV shows, use this revolting practice. We all know the ones that do. since I don't have any control of this matter, until it changes, we will have to give up watching our favorite TV programs, and hope that the revolting problem doesn't spread to the few TV Programs, that we still watch. Pardon the rant, I give up.
Chubbo
As for the English accents, I have no problem for some reason.
...Ditto...
joeintexas
US Veteran
You're in good company here. Years ago in our youth we didn't consider hearing devices like headphones, earplugs, etc., we just shot and shot and went home with ringing ears. We bought a Samsung audio bar for the tv and it helps as you can dial in different freqencies. Netflix for us is the worst, really have trouble with it. Radio and TV deregulations didn't help either.
Same here.
Ma's been her for 64 years.Needle her a bit and the accent comes right back
My mom's accent is still as thick as treacle. Mine comes out when I need it.
LVSteve
Member
I had to go back to the UK for 3 weeks in 2003. On my return wife#1 said I was unintelligible for the first few days.
