this post was submitted on 13 Jan 2026
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cross-posted from: https://piefed.social/c/nonpolitical_comics/p/1657114/mr-lovenstein-volume


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[–] Fmstrat@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Might want to put your link in fedi format: !nonpolitical_comics@piefed.social

The way it is now people have to search their instance in their app to subscribe.

[–] Sine_Fine_Belli@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

Ok, I’ll try to keep this in mind

[–] Nangijala@feddit.dk 3 points 1 day ago

Subtitles can save you a lot of headaches.

Our TV has a shit sound distribution so it is literally like in the meme and our solution became to always have subtitles on even now that we live in a place with soundproof walls and no longer have to mind neighbors.

[–] Honytawk@feddit.nl 3 points 1 day ago

By default I enable Loudness Equalization, which makes soft sounds louder and loud sounds softer.

I don't care about the dynamic range if you can't understand what they are saying.

[–] fennesz12@feddit.dk 18 points 2 days ago (5 children)

This wasn't a thing a couple of decades ago. To this day I can still watch movies from the eighties just fine, but need subtitles for anything made within the last 10 years.

[–] LwL@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

Old movies feel much worse for me, voices barely audible but sfx blow my ears out. But I also have sound from headphones, maybe that just works better with the newer mixes.

[–] Jyek@sh.itjust.works 5 points 2 days ago (2 children)

I'm sorry but, the 80s were more than a couple of decades ago. 1986 was 40 years ago.

Also 20 years ago this was still an issue. Plasma screen TVs were becoming accessible to consumers and surround sound was taking off in the home video space. TV was mixed for surround cinematic but not everyone had a surround setup yet. They had to write laws that said the tv commercials couldn't be louder than the main content of the channel (though these laws were largely unenforced).

[–] nickiwest@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago

Please stop reminding me how old I am.

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[–] SoloCritical@lemmy.world 9 points 2 days ago

And this is why I, a genius, watch my content with subtitles. So I can keep the volume at a perpetually low level whilst still understanding what is being said even when it isn’t in a language I speak.

[–] AntiBullyRanger@ani.social 101 points 3 days ago (4 children)

Blame the sound designer. You can emulate whispering without altering the volume.

Very few media players have autobalancers.

[–] otacon239@lemmy.world 52 points 3 days ago (10 children)

Part of it could either be that they’re not spending the time for a home release audio mix, don’t want to for purity’s sake or I’ve seen issues with trying to condense surround soundscapes down to stereo.

It all comes down to dynamic range and they should be using all of it for theatrical release and then remastering for home release.

TV shows do not get a pass. Cinephile audio engineers that think the vast majority of their listeners will have home theater setups are just plain delusional.

[–] turdas@suppo.fi 32 points 3 days ago (3 children)

The way they do dynamic range in movie theaters sucks too. I have to wear earplugs because it's so loud.

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[–] azertyfun@sh.itjust.works 36 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (4 children)

No, blame the streaming companies. Dynamic range is a known standard. All they need is:

  • a "louder dialogue" toggle switch to amplify the center channel in the downmixing settings (Kodi, many TVs, and all dedicated receivers can already do this FYI for this exact reason)
  • a "night mode" toggle switch that turns on an audio compressor (my 20 year-old receiver has that feature -- it's hardly rocket science; I believe YouTube calls it "stabilized audio").

Upsides:

  • preserves high dynamic range mix for audiophiles
  • works with already released movies (!!!!)
  • improves the life of people with tinny speakers, strict loudness requirements, or hearing impairments

Downsides:

  • Can't feel superior to audio engineers who are doing their jobs, I guess?
  • Streaming companies need to reinvest a few thousand dollars out of the billions they are making to add those two buttons
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[–] Fmstrat@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

Only of it was made for TV. This is often a problem with theatrical releases because the audio is not retuned for home viewing.

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[–] Strider@lemmy.world 13 points 2 days ago (2 children)

FYI this is one of the main differences between the Hollywood and German soundtracks.

Here it's mixed far better to listen in stereo while in surround cinematic you need to turn the front speaker up, if you have that system. And it doesn't translate well to stereo.

[–] rumba@lemmy.zip 10 points 2 days ago (3 children)

Hollywood mixes are just awful, have been for decades now. You can go to the theater and have quiet voices and blown-out eardrums from a race scene.

I have a middle-to-upper-end 5.1 setup and have to fiddle with it like hell to keep the voices audible without ruining the action scenes.

[–] tetris11@feddit.uk 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

And just forget about watching a Christopher Nolan film

[–] Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Tenet was unwatchable without subtitles.

[–] rumba@lemmy.zip 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I haven't watched it yet. Kinda want to, I have a low bar for video enjoyment. Maybe I'll throw it on my phone and wait for a no-network time, but i'll make sure i have subs for it :)

Watch Memento first. Its his better, non linear, film.

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[–] Taleya@aussie.zone 2 points 2 days ago

They mix shit for 7.1 and to hell with everyone else

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[–] Chais@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 day ago

Wouldn't that be a question of studio sound versus scene sound? The original sound is usually recorded with a boom mic, resulting in a wider dynamic range, whereas the German voiceover can be recorded in a studio, without interference and the speakers much closer to the mic.
The alternative would be to give each actor a lapel mic which would then have to be edited out of the video and would also be infeasible in some situations.

[–] Eternal192@anarchist.nexus 49 points 3 days ago (2 children)

One of the main reasons i watch everything with subtitles, people used to be amused when i would watch an english movie with english subtitles, then they got apartments with poor sound proofed walls and floors, they weren't so amused anymore.

[–] boonhet@sopuli.xyz 8 points 2 days ago (3 children)
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[–] ameancow@lemmy.world 33 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (32 children)

This is so common and so irritating that it literally makes me not look forward to watching movies, particularly at home in a shared living space. I don't even watch many movies anymore because it's annoying watching with subtitles all the time.

This is what getting old looks like people, take note.

That thing that mildly annoys you right now? It won't go away, it will get worse, then your intolerance of thing will lead to avoiding the thing. Next thing you know, someone is asking you "Did you see the new Sooperfoob and Jerry movie? it's amazing! Best one of the franchise!" and you're going to be like... 😶

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[–] Sam_Bass@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago

Good ol dolby

[–] neidu3@sh.itjust.works 14 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Nolan has entered the chat

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[–] diegantobass@lemmy.world 19 points 3 days ago (2 children)

I suspect it is all a trick to teach people how to use a compressor

[–] snooggums@piefed.world 29 points 3 days ago (4 children)

Older movies tended to have audio mixes where the dialogue was clear even when loud things were happening, people shouldn't need to use a compressor.

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[–] Treczoks@lemmy.world 6 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

I had such a situation years ago. I was listening to Mike Oldfields "Tubular Bells II" on headphones. For the first time. There is a sequence where the music stops, and a child is telling something. I turned up the volume to hear it, and got the last words "and nothing was ever heard of him again, except for the sound of tu-bu-lar bells", and then came BANG the promised bell...

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