audio question

[leafer]

Just wondering if you have the same problem of having special effects, when watching movies, over powering the actors dialog. Even when there aren't any effects going on the dialog seems muffled when compared to the music score or effects. I tired fiddling with the equalizer but that just screwed everything up even worst. This happens when I used to watch movies from DVD player plugged to TV as well, so I don't think it's my computer. I'm just wondering if a dedicated soundcard will solve this or good speakers?

 

I'm at a lost here as the integrated sound chip is supposed to be more than adequate these days, right? I find it odd that I have no problem hearing the dialog when I put headphones on, but with speakers I strained to hear them talk. Oh, and I have an in-ear type that costs 5 dollars. WTH?

[Wolf Rider]

this is a can of worms about to be opened, but here goes...

 

 

If (and if) you have to use an equaliser, make the curve like a smile... lowest Bass 20Hz and highest Treble 1Khz frequencies should be on 0 and the middle should be set down lower (cut, not boost the frequencies).

2-way speakers are much more clearer for the mid-range (where vocals are) than one-way and 3-way, are much more clearer again. The sub-woofer needs to be on a correct crossover though. If still muffled, pull the lowest Bass fader, on the EQ, down a bit, and perhaps the one one beside it as well.

 

If possible, boost the centre speaker volume fader a bit, assuming a 5.1 system, and don't use any (sound system) effects like Hall, etc.

[leafer]

Much thank, Wolf, I'll try it when I get home. I have an SBS A300 2.1 speaker set. Having to put in the earbuds so I can hear the dialog really takes away the immersion of watching a film. Also it's unconfortable since I can't move much because of the cord.

[Total]

Welcome to the precipice of the world of "audiophile"

 

Actually - the smiley curve isn't always the proper answer. It's a general answer that sometimes works, but doesn't always give the response the person is looking for.

 

By making a smiley face, you will boost the lows and highs, but cut the mid ranges. The mid range is where the human voice is located in the audio spectrum.

 

There's a couple of major things at play here:

 

1) The mastering & mixing of the audio of the movie. If a moron did it, then the balance of the individual sounds is going to be off and there's not much you can do about that.

 

2) Every room as a different response. Some rooms are really responsive to low frequency while others the mid range. SOme rooms hit saturation well before others. The actual purpose of an EQ in an audio systems is to balance the frequency response for a selected spot. This is achieved by using a pink noise generator, an RTA microphone in that spot, and a Real Time Analyzer (RTA). You pump pink noise through your audio system and the RTA analyzes the pink noise at the spot the mic is setting. Pink noise is all frequencies from 20Hz to 20KHz all the same level (basically). The number of bands per side of your EQ will dictate how much control over your adjustments you have.

 

Now, most people do not have a Crown RTA 2 or a Goldline RTA sitting around. Not to worry. There are several free and open source RTA programs on the web. They are not as accurate as a dedicated RTA, but they get you in the general ballpark.

 

To get the frequencies as level as possible, your EQ graph will look more like a bumpy road rather than a smiley face. Just remember to have your Bass, Mid, and Treble adjustments (in your TV menu or on you receiver) set to their mid point before running the RTA.

 

Once you have your spot leveled out, then you can adjust you bass, treble, and mid settings to tweak it to your liking.

Edited January 4, 2013 by Total

[sobek]

^^^^ What he said, but you don't need to do real time analysis, you can judge the equalization from an offline analysis as well. MLS or sweeps have some major advantages over using noise as input signal.

[Total]

Yeah, I didn't wanna get into MLS or sweeps...they're easy to go awry for the novice. With a freebie RTA program like http://www.e.kth.se/~johk/jdft/ he can get a visual picture of what's actually happening to the audio response in his room before, during, and after adjusting it. He can do some research on cubic volume vs saturation and how corners can attribute to harmonics.

 

Max Length Sequences and sweeps would be the next step down the long and expensive route of audiophile-ism...followed by the search for 0.01% THD amplifiers and speakers where the falloff isn't right in the middle of the advertised range.

 

Yep - it's a long and expensive road littered with facts, theories, and opinions galore :D

Edited January 4, 2013 by Total

[leafer]

Guys, I'm using VLC Media Player and here is the pic of the EQ panel. I just made a smiley face and it did help but not very much as the voice is still muffled. Sorry for being so dense as I'm not a technical person, so, if you could tell me which slider is what in the EQ pic included it would be great.

[Wolf Rider]

Welcome to the precipice of the world of "audiophile"

 

Actually - the smiley curve isn't always the proper answer. It's a general answer that sometimes works, but doesn't always give the response the person is looking for.

 

By making a smiley face, you will boost the lows and highs, but cut the mid ranges. The mid range is where the human voice is located in the audio spectrum.

 

There's a couple of major things at play here:

 

1) The mastering & mixing of the audio of the movie. If a moron did it, then the balance of the individual sounds is going to be off and there's not much you can do about that.

 

2) Every room as a different response. Some rooms are really responsive to low frequency while others the mid range. SOme rooms hit saturation well before others. The actual purpose of an EQ in an audio systems is to balance the frequency response for a selected spot. This is achieved by using a pink noise generator, an RTA microphone in that spot, and a Real Time Analyzer (RTA). You pump pink noise through your audio system and the RTA analyzes the pink noise at the spot the mic is setting. Pink noise is all frequencies from 20Hz to 20KHz all the same level (basically). The number of bands per side of your EQ will dictate how much control over your adjustments you have.

 

 

Yes, true it is a "general" approach... but anything on or below the 0 line is not 'boosting'.

 

with the 5 - 7 -10 band EQ not much will achieved with pink noise (heavens, I grew to hate that stuff... 18 x S4's per side drowning out everything :) )

What I gave, was a general "home/ car stereo" approach and even a 32 band EQ wouldn't be of use there.

 

 

If it muffled, still, after the smiley face, your concern is in the bass (bottom end), speaker build (1 way, 2 way, etc) and or sub-woofer crossover

[Bodo]

I turned the EQ on in VLC and made everything sound worse, quieter...so I left it..Ain't played about with that for a while. When I find that the SFX are dominating the dialogue, which has happened once or twice, I normally have to play around with what source the audio is set to, I make sure it's a simple dolby/stereo setup and this often makes tings better....

 

Dunno how to explain how I do that, it's either using VLC or making sure the TV is set correctly, maybe by going through a few presets? I can' t remember what I did...:)