And the sound engineer people (not sure if that’s their official title) are* suuuuper condescending about it. “Well it’s your fault for not having a professional setup mixed the same as a theater.”
Edit:
*Fixed a typo.
Thanks for the replies people, I’m learning a lot! I think another commenter referenced the same article I’m half-remembering (as you do) where some professional audio people commented on this issue. They said movies are designed for the theater and nothing else with no intention/interest in fixing it. IIRC (and I probably don’t) this is likely due to directors or studios not wanting to pay for a home version or having a specific vision they would rather not compromise. Even though the effect of not compromising is…well, the posted comic.
Former sound engineer here. Yes, that’s the correct title, but no, that’s not our doing (not mine at least). I want as many people as possible to reasonably be able to enjoy my output, regardless whether they have a 40000$ home cinema, or if they’re on a cheap TV.
I know that some directors (Christopher Nolan) tend to want to produce “best” quality at the expense of those who don’t care. See Tenet as an example.
If you can have sound separated into different channels based on what their purpose is, I don’t see why they can’t just have a software solution that allows you to raise the volume of dialogue separately from everything else.
Like in video games, you can control volume for dialogue, music, sound effects, etc all individually.
99% of the time, the cause is trying to output a 5.1 signal into a Stereo setup (Like your TV speakers). A 5.1 signal is 5 speakers and 1 subwoofer. The speakers are front left and right, rear left and right and - the important bit - the centre channel. The centre channel tends to be where all of the dialogue comes from, while everything else comes from the other speakers. But what happens if you don’t have 5 speakers? What if you only have 2? You can’t ignore that audio so you’ve got to mush it together somehow and now you’ve got dialogue and explosions coming out of the same speakers with mixed results.
It’s not about not having a professional setup mixed the same as a theatre, it’s usually about a setting somewhere that’s incorrect. If you’re only using your TV’s speakers, there’s a good chance something somewhere is trying to give it a surround sound signal and it’s trying to downmix that to stereo. Usually you can fix it by adjusting a setting somewhere, either the TV itself or whatever app/box is sending the TV the signal as most sources do actually come with a stereo mix.
However, a better way of solving it is getting yourself a soundbar. It doesn’t have to be an expensive one at all, even the cheaper soundbars will sound better than your TV ever will and they’ll at least have a 3.1 signal that’ll separate out the sound effects/music from the dialogue because usually that dialogue goes through the centre channel which you now have. You can also usually adjust the volume of that channel independently.
Note that nobody would suggest that a cheap soundbar is anything close to a “professional setup”. Most audio folk would turn their nose up at the idea of using a soundbar over a full surround system but you know what, they’re pretty “good enough” for most folk and if you care about media consumption, it’s a nice improvement.
i was once present to recording of some cheap radio advertisement, and the last step in the mixing process was that the guy burned the cd and plugged it in into 20 usd cd player to hear what it will sound like to the intended audience.
so not every professional has necessarily be an obnoxious asshole.
Re-recording mixer would be more accurate. Engineer is more a music thing I think. Regardless, designer Mark Mangini knows this is an issue for example due to theater mixes being a priority over a basic stereo mix. This is an issue in action films (I can’t imagine a drama would have this huge an issue, less dynamics) and as long as the mixers have to prioritize the Atmos theater mixes n shit and the studio doesn’t want to pay for a great home stereo mix, the dynamics issue will continue
I recall reading something on Reddit or medium about an audio engineer who demanded to talk with the manager because the sound was “wrong”. Apparently the theater had a different speaker setup than she had designed the movie for.
I can’t find the link now though. Is there a name for that? Like baader-meinhoff but in reverse?
And the sound engineer people (not sure if that’s their official title) are* suuuuper condescending about it. “Well it’s your fault for not having a professional setup mixed the same as a theater.”
Edit: *Fixed a typo.
Thanks for the replies people, I’m learning a lot! I think another commenter referenced the same article I’m half-remembering (as you do) where some professional audio people commented on this issue. They said movies are designed for the theater and nothing else with no intention/interest in fixing it. IIRC (and I probably don’t) this is likely due to directors or studios not wanting to pay for a home version or having a specific vision they would rather not compromise. Even though the effect of not compromising is…well, the posted comic.
Former sound engineer here. Yes, that’s the correct title, but no, that’s not our doing (not mine at least). I want as many people as possible to reasonably be able to enjoy my output, regardless whether they have a 40000$ home cinema, or if they’re on a cheap TV.
I know that some directors (Christopher Nolan) tend to want to produce “best” quality at the expense of those who don’t care. See Tenet as an example.
Hey at least with Nolan movies, it really doesn’t matter what they’re saying
Obligatory:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2FXfFeRtJo
Brilliant
If you can have sound separated into different channels based on what their purpose is, I don’t see why they can’t just have a software solution that allows you to raise the volume of dialogue separately from everything else.
Like in video games, you can control volume for dialogue, music, sound effects, etc all individually.
As much as I would love that, its use would be very limited without widespread adaption of software or hardware support.
My Denon home theater amp has a setting for this. It doesn’t work very well, but there’s a minor improvement when it’s set to medium.
God I freaking love Tenet. I haven’t watched it in a few months I’ll watch it tonight.
Watch it in reverse.
99% of the time, the cause is trying to output a 5.1 signal into a Stereo setup (Like your TV speakers). A 5.1 signal is 5 speakers and 1 subwoofer. The speakers are front left and right, rear left and right and - the important bit - the centre channel. The centre channel tends to be where all of the dialogue comes from, while everything else comes from the other speakers. But what happens if you don’t have 5 speakers? What if you only have 2? You can’t ignore that audio so you’ve got to mush it together somehow and now you’ve got dialogue and explosions coming out of the same speakers with mixed results.
It’s not about not having a professional setup mixed the same as a theatre, it’s usually about a setting somewhere that’s incorrect. If you’re only using your TV’s speakers, there’s a good chance something somewhere is trying to give it a surround sound signal and it’s trying to downmix that to stereo. Usually you can fix it by adjusting a setting somewhere, either the TV itself or whatever app/box is sending the TV the signal as most sources do actually come with a stereo mix.
However, a better way of solving it is getting yourself a soundbar. It doesn’t have to be an expensive one at all, even the cheaper soundbars will sound better than your TV ever will and they’ll at least have a 3.1 signal that’ll separate out the sound effects/music from the dialogue because usually that dialogue goes through the centre channel which you now have. You can also usually adjust the volume of that channel independently.
Note that nobody would suggest that a cheap soundbar is anything close to a “professional setup”. Most audio folk would turn their nose up at the idea of using a soundbar over a full surround system but you know what, they’re pretty “good enough” for most folk and if you care about media consumption, it’s a nice improvement.
I have that setup
The theater is also too imbalanced and too loud
i was once present to recording of some cheap radio advertisement, and the last step in the mixing process was that the guy burned the cd and plugged it in into 20 usd cd player to hear what it will sound like to the intended audience.
so not every professional has necessarily be an obnoxious asshole.
Screw how they do it in the theatre. Watching Dune gave me a migraine for the rest of the day thanks to the sound.
Dune gave me an erection for the rest of the day because of the sound.
Tibetan throat gurgling intensifies
I’m with you
Get out and vote, people!
Re-recording mixer would be more accurate. Engineer is more a music thing I think. Regardless, designer Mark Mangini knows this is an issue for example due to theater mixes being a priority over a basic stereo mix. This is an issue in action films (I can’t imagine a drama would have this huge an issue, less dynamics) and as long as the mixers have to prioritize the Atmos theater mixes n shit and the studio doesn’t want to pay for a great home stereo mix, the dynamics issue will continue
I recall reading something on Reddit or medium about an audio engineer who demanded to talk with the manager because the sound was “wrong”. Apparently the theater had a different speaker setup than she had designed the movie for.
I can’t find the link now though. Is there a name for that? Like baader-meinhoff but in reverse?
Meinhoff-Baader.