02-07-2012, 10:05 PM
DVDs are always mastered to a very low level to allow headroom for explosions, etc...
But most people aren't aware of this, because DVD players have a built-in AGC (dynamic range control), and by default, this is normally enabled. It turns up the quiet bits, and turns down the loud bits. For most people watching on a TV with small in-built loudspeakers, this is what you want.
Look for something like "dynamic range control" or "DRC", and set it to "full" or "night mode" or similar.
And I bet it will be enabled on your other DVD players, which is why you think the discs are OK.
On my setup, this is turned off, and a DVD needs to be about 20dB higher than the TV (I have a preamp calibrated in dBs). But this means that the explosions sound like explosions (apologies to the neighbours!).
Rob mentioned the 2V (should be RMS, not peak to peak) - this is a very nominal standard for what comes out of the analogue phono sockets when a sine wave is played back on a test disc. This sine wave will be recorded such that the peaks are about to touch digital full-scale, so the peak value should be 2.8V, giving 5.6V pk-pk. But as I say, this is very nominal - it comes from CD players that have always followed this standard. Who knows what comes out of the supermarket specials?
Another angle to consider - have you tried using subtitles?
But most people aren't aware of this, because DVD players have a built-in AGC (dynamic range control), and by default, this is normally enabled. It turns up the quiet bits, and turns down the loud bits. For most people watching on a TV with small in-built loudspeakers, this is what you want.
Look for something like "dynamic range control" or "DRC", and set it to "full" or "night mode" or similar.
And I bet it will be enabled on your other DVD players, which is why you think the discs are OK.
On my setup, this is turned off, and a DVD needs to be about 20dB higher than the TV (I have a preamp calibrated in dBs). But this means that the explosions sound like explosions (apologies to the neighbours!).
Rob mentioned the 2V (should be RMS, not peak to peak) - this is a very nominal standard for what comes out of the analogue phono sockets when a sine wave is played back on a test disc. This sine wave will be recorded such that the peaks are about to touch digital full-scale, so the peak value should be 2.8V, giving 5.6V pk-pk. But as I say, this is very nominal - it comes from CD players that have always followed this standard. Who knows what comes out of the supermarket specials?
Another angle to consider - have you tried using subtitles?
