Problem with Home Theater System

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Sit Ubu Sit.... Good Dog
I have the Sony - Bravia 3.1-Ch. Home Theater Soundbar Speaker System with Subwoofer, every time I watch a Blu Ray the volume is all messed up, you have to turn it up so loud to hear the voices, but then everything else is way to loud (apartment walls are very thin). DvD's are better, it still is a problem but not nearly as bad as with Blu Rays. Just wondering if anyone has any ideas about how to fix this.




I have the same problem when I watch DVDs with surround sound (I don't wanna piss the neighbours off, either). It's very annoying. Maybe there's some way to adjust the volumes on each speaker channel?

...I don't know, I'm just hoping someone else does...
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A system of cells interlinked
I've said it one, I'll say it again - stop buying cheap Home Theater in a Box systems. To get proper mixes, you need discreet amps for each channel, and cheapo systems just don't come with discreet technology. You will never get a great mix going with that system, so stop trying. Just think about all that money you saved each time you have to adjust that volume up and down, up and down, up and...you get the idea...

Buy the good stuff!

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Sit Ubu Sit.... Good Dog
I did not buy this as a home theater system, the speakers on most flat panel TV's suck and mine suck, so I just bought this to use basically as the TV's speakers not as a home theater system.



The People's Republic of Clogher
It, of course, can vary from film to film but one thing I've found about Blu Ray if you don't have a HD sound system (from scientific research consisting of not having one, then having one ) is that the inbuilt DD or DTS mixes which live in the TrueHD or DTS HD Master mixes can be sometimes pretty shocking and nowhere near as good as a dedicated DD 5.1 lossy track from a DVD.

Either go HD with your amplifier or, and I hate saying this, use the TV's native speakers which will probably be so poor (if mine are anything to go by) that they bleach out all sound variations into one amorphous lump.

EDIT - If the Blu Rays have alternative tracks, even 2.0 stereo, try them instead of the default.

Sinny - Unless you've got a really cheap system you should be able to adjust individual speakers or, at the very least, the front and rear surrounds. Some kind of sound calibration DVD wouldn't go amiss either.

I've got an Audyssey mic calibration set-up for mine and it's fantastic.
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Sinny - Unless you've got a really cheap system you should be able to adjust individual speakers or, at the very least, the front and rear surrounds. Some kind of sound calibration DVD wouldn't go amiss either.

I've got an Audyssey mic calibration set-up for mine and it's fantastic.
It's a pretty decent system (not mine, of course - my dads). I'll look into getting one of those sound calibration DVDs.

Thanks, Tatty! Long time, no type.



The People's Republic of Clogher
Indeed! Welcome back, mucker.

You'll probably be able to get some freeware files online which will help with audio calibration - the basic premise is getting each channel to sound equal in volume from where you're sitting.

A quick and dirty fix to the old 'quiet talkie bits, loud explosive bits' problem which I used with my old system was to keep the front and rear surrounds at the default levels (individual levels, not the master volume) then reduce the subwoofer by a notch or two. Finally, move the centre speaker (where the dialogue comes from) to just a couple of clicks from maximum.

EDIT - That's piqued my interest so I went on a hunt for some free sound calibration files. All I found was this.

Couldn't get the program to work at all on Windows 7 but it extracts some individual wav files which play in the front left, centre etc channels. You might be able to do something with them, if only to notice if your surround channels are way out of line with the centre one.



A system of cells interlinked
I did not buy this as a home theater system, the speakers on most flat panel TV's suck and mine suck, so I just bought this to use basically as the TV's speakers not as a home theater system.
Ok, but you are unhappy and the sound isn't good. Maybe time for the HT system?

Buy it piecemeal. No, really. Just buy the AVR and two fronts for now, then add the rest as you go along. Make sure you get a really good center channel when you buy that component and your dialogue imaging with improve tremendously.



Sit Ubu Sit.... Good Dog
Ok, but you are unhappy and the sound isn't good. Maybe time for the HT system?

Buy it piecemeal. No, really. Just buy the AVR and two fronts for now, then add the rest as you go along. Make sure you get a really good center channel when you buy that component and your dialogue imaging with improve tremendously.
Thanks, I'll look into doing that asap.



The People's Republic of Clogher
I agree 100% with Seds here. If you're after a HT system, seriously look into separates and not the all-in-one boxes. I bought a cheap-ish 5.1 set of speakers initially then upgraded a pair at a time when I could afford it.

There'll be a big increase in quality (even with speakers and receiver towards the budget end of the market) but, just as importantly, I've not seen many (if any) all-in-one HD systems which aren't thinly disguised separates from the likes of Onkyo.

If you've got a Blu Ray player (and presumably a HD TV) you may as well go for HDMI audio as well. Differences are subtle but you'll not regret it.



The People's Republic of Clogher
Hmmm, now I'm confused.

The specs say it'll output HD audio but with only 3.1 I don't see how it could do it anywhere near properly, which might be where your problems lie. I don't know how good the receiver is at matrixing the rear speaker signals into the front surrounds and it could well be that everything is lumped in together and you're effectively getting double the noise from your front left and right parts of the sound bar.

If you're, say, playing a Blu Ray straight through your TV speakers it'll usually output it as bog standard stereo because the TV can't decode the HD audio. If the receiver is decoding the streams, as it says, I dunno. Is there a display telling you what the output audio is at any given time?

I could be talking out of my arse here, it's true, because I've never used a system like that but is there any way for you to regulate the speaker levels separately? If there is, then just crank up the centre speaker because that's where the dialogue emanates from. There might be a 'Quiet' or 'Night time' mode on either the receiver or BD player which will equalise the sound (at the expense of some quality) so there's less of a difference between quiet speech and loud effects.

The PS3, for example, has a dynamic range control for BD and DVD audio which is turned on by default and the poor sound quality puzzled me until I figured out the settings menu.



Sit Ubu Sit.... Good Dog
No, there is no way to regulate the speakers separately, hmmm, guess I'll just have to save up and get a better system. Seemed like a good idea at the time cause of the horrible speakers on the TV, guess i was wrong. Thanks for all the input everyone.



I'm adding this question here:

not audio savvy

As far as a 2.0 speaker system which uses standard rca wire, how would I go about, or what is needed for the red white connections on dvd or bluray player, and also the same red and white for 'audio input' on the back of my tv?



The People's Republic of Clogher
You could probably get away with hooking the TV up to a home stereo if you've got one. Failing that, a good set of PC or iPod speakers hooked up to the TV's headphone jack. I've done both.

If you're stuck for space, one of those 2.1 sound bars will give you a decent upgrade on the TV speakers.

One thing I've noticed about these new super slim LED sets (which I've got) is that there's no room to put decent speakers. A friend has just upgraded from an ancient Sony set to a 50" Panasonic LED TV and he much prefers the sound from the old set.

The speakers on the old Sony probably aren't the size of thimbles.



Good point, my old Polaroid lcd was about half a foot thick, surely room for speakers there. This new Vizio can get very load, but the sound is flat and without any depth at all.



The People's Republic of Clogher
I find those virtual surround modes rubbish too. Best sound I can get from my TV speakers is when they're set to Standard.

Something like this would be pretty good, then I saw the price. That'd buy you a decent HD audio 5.1 receiver.

You'd still need a set of speakers, mind.



You could probably get away with hooking the TV up to a home stereo if you've got one. Failing that, a good set of PC or iPod speakers hooked up to the TV's headphone jack. I've done both.

If you're stuck for space, one of those 2.1 sound bars will give you a decent upgrade on the TV speakers.

One thing I've noticed about these new super slim LED sets (which I've got) is that there's no room to put decent speakers. A friend has just upgraded from an ancient Sony set to a 50" Panasonic LED TV and he much prefers the sound from the old set.

The speakers on the old Sony probably aren't the size of thimbles.
The Sony I've got looks just like those mini systems popular in small living room or office setups, got it because it was also dvd player, this interested me. It is so old now. After moving it sometime ago, it started screwing up but started working again soon enough. Setting up the Vizio, I had to move it yet again, and yet again it's screwing up, shuting off after only a couple minutes of being on. For the central unit atleast, it is time to go.

If you don't know the lingo/jargon, you cannot even look up the idiot's steps, without the words to enter for 'search'.



2.0 is just basic sound isn't it? I get confused by all the terminology too.

My own sound system has changed over the years since my surround packed up.

I use a little stereo for my sound now. Is your question on how to set it up with an external sound system?
You'll need two setsof RCA with these connections on the end...




With the first set of rca cables... I go from the red and white output in the back of the DVD player, straight to the red and white input in the TV...

With the second set of rca cables I go from the red and white output in the TV straight to the red and white input in the back of the stereo...

The red and white output on the stereo goes straight to the speakers (the speakers don't need the connector plugs as they just use the bare wire at the end that clamp into the outputs on the stereo), and at the moment I have two speakers hooked up to each of the stereo's outputs to give that extra bit of sound.


Hope that helps??