Rant It's 2021, why don't we have Multi-Channel Audio with TV/DVD/BR/Streaming video?

[sandorski]

I generally only watch YT on a Desktop or Laptop these days. Have visitors so I turn on the TV and Netflix and all is well until Music plays that is far louder than the dialogue which combined with low quality speakers creates cringe inducing noise. Annoyed, it occurs to me that I should be able to adjust the volume of Music or Dialogue on any Audio/Video source just like I can with Games. It would certainly require more Bandwidth and Data Volume, but technically this is not only possible, it also seems like a feature that should be standard.

I suppose this thread is just me ranting, but maybe the next Bezos is the person who makes this reality...

 

[ultimatebob]

Netflix, Disney+, and Apple TV+ have had Dolby 5.1 and Dolby Atmos audio for awhile now. I think that YouTube has it available as well, no?

 

[sandorski]

Netflix, Disney+, and Apple TV+ have had Dolby 5.1 and Dolby Atmos audio for awhile now. I think that YouTube has it available as well, no?

It is primarily the ability to control Volume of Music/Dialogue/Background separately. Perhaps "Multi-Channel" was a poor choice on my part, although it would require separate Channels to allow this.

 

[sdifox]

It's your fault for using the TV's squawker...

 

[ultimatebob]

It's your fault for using the TV's squawker...

I have a Samsung 5.1.2 Dolby Atmos soundbar, but it's pretty brain dead. I can't even adjust the sound levels of the rear channel speakers.

I miss my old Yamaha 5.1 receiver, but my wife and kid could never figure out how to turn it on properly even with the help of a Harmony remote. I got sick of playing "home IT guy" on that one.

 

[dasherHampton]

I agree.

I was trying to watch a prime movie the other day (Tomorrow War, I think) and the sound levels/mixing was off the charts bad. Sound effects were so loud and voices were way too soft and unclear. It got pretty fucking annoying having to turn up the sound whenever characters were talking at normal volume.

I have a Samsung sound bar that wasn't cheap (like $700) and it performs awfully in these situations.. It does fine on normal TV but Sci Fi movies especially suffer big time.

I've messed with every setting it has to make things better but no dice.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Actually yeah multi audio streams would be cool. Way it should work is that media can present multiple streams, such as background music, dialog, noises and you can then set those as you want, kinda like a lot of video games let you do. These streams would still contain multiple channels like left/right etc. Make it standard so you can set it on your TV, and it works for every show/media that plays. Heck, games too. They'd have to come up with different categories that make sense across a wide range of media as these would basically be hard coded. Dialogue, background music, and noises (ex: machines and stuff in the show) would be a good start.

Of course this does add a lot of extra work when producing content as they would need to record all these sounds separately. In something like a reality show this would be hard to do. But at very least the background music should be easy to do since that's added on after anyway.

 

[balloonshark]

I wear headphones and I feel your pain. I have a volume control plugged into the cable and I'm constantly fiddling with the volume so I can hear voices and to lower the volume during loud scenes.

 

[MrSquished]

I use an entry level Yamaha receiver with a 3.1 Klipsch Reference Premier Front and Center channel speaker setup in my small living room. I have a cheap Yamaha subwoofer for now. I boost the dialogue/center channel a bit and pretty much everything sounds great dialogue wise. Definitely get your crossover right, you want the subwoofer handling the lower frequencies so the other speakers can take care of the sounds and the center the dialogue. The sub and center are the most important speakers from what I have recently read.

 

[Muadib]

Netflix, Disney+, and Apple TV+ have had Dolby 5.1 and Dolby Atmos audio for awhile now. I think that YouTube has it available as well, no?

Except for YouTube, I agree with you. Then again it may be me, as I use the YouTube app built into my tv. I use a Roku for the others, and was to lazy to add YouTube.

I use an entry level Yamaha receiver with a 3.1 Klipsch Reference Premier Front and Center channel speaker setup in my small living room. I have a cheap Yamaha subwoofer for now. I boost the dialogue/center channel a bit and pretty much everything sounds great dialogue wise. Definitely get your crossover right, you want the subwoofer handling the lower frequencies so the other speakers can take care of the sounds and the center the dialogue. The sub and center are the most important speakers from what I have recently read.

I did the same with my current system, and it has grown into a 6.1.4 setup. I still haven't gotten a center channel, because the one that matches my left & right fronts sits on the floor. I've gotten use to the phantom center channel, as it works really well. I have no issues hearing dialog with my current setup, but wonder if it could be better.

 

[kn51]

I agree.

I was trying to watch a prime movie the other day (Tomorrow War, I think) and the sound levels/mixing was off the charts bad. Sound effects were so loud and voices were way too soft and unclear. It got pretty fucking annoying having to turn up the sound whenever characters were talking at normal volume.

Yeah I had to crank up the center channel for that one.

 

[MrSquished]

Except for YouTube, I agree with you. Then again it may be me, as I use the YouTube app built into my tv. I use a Roku for the others, and was to lazy to add YouTube.


I did the same with my current system, and it has grown into a 6.1.4 setup. I still haven't gotten a center channel, because the one that matches my left & right fronts sits on the floor. I've gotten use to the phantom center channel, as it works really well. I have no issues hearing dialog with my current setup, but wonder if it could be better.

The guys at AVS pretty much swear that for a home theater setup, the center channel does more heavy lifting overall than the L/R channels. It's the subwoofer and center that are the keys to success for ingesting video content. It does kind of make sense - the subwoofer helps the other speakers shine at their more comfortable frequency ranges by taking the load off of them having to reproduce sounds at the lower frequency range, and the center channel is for great dialogue, plus a lot of the sound as well, and the L/R help add dimension. I hope to get a nicer subwoofer later this year and then just leave this setup be.

 

[Stiff Clamp]

In multichannel audio, is the center channel actually stereo? Or is it a mono summation of the left+right channels?
( ok, that's more of an encoding question)

Guess what I really mean is, does the center channel speaker have a stereo input jack?
i.e. Could get a regular stereo soundstage through the center speaker only, if I wanted to repurpose it . . . for a shelf stereo system?

 

[Muadib]

The guys at AVS pretty much swear that for a home theater setup, the center channel does more heavy lifting overall than the L/R channels. It's the subwoofer and center that are the keys to success for ingesting video content. It does kind of make sense - the subwoofer helps the other speakers shine at their more comfortable frequency ranges by taking the load off of them having to reproduce sounds at the lower frequency range, and the center channel is for great dialogue, plus a lot of the sound as well, and the L/R help add dimension. I hope to get a nicer subwoofer later this year and then just leave this setup be.

The center channel is 90% dialogue. I’ve experimented with other center channel speakers, but they don’t match my left and right channels. I’m on the fence when it comes to buying the center I need.

 

[sdifox]

In multichannel audio, is the center channel actually stereo? Or is it a mono summation of the left+right channels?
( ok, that's more of an encoding question)

Guess what I really mean is, does the center channel speaker have a stereo input jack?
i.e. Could get a regular stereo soundstage through the center speaker only, if I wanted to repurpose it . . . for a shelf stereo system?

All the channels are mono.

 

[Stiff Clamp]

All the channels are mono.

ok. What made me wonder is the fact that center channel speakers are 2-way with multiple midrange drivers. Seems redundant.

 

[Muadib]

ok. What made me wonder is the fact that center channel speakers are 2-way with multiple midrange drivers.

They all play the same signal though. This is the reason I'm happy with my current setup.

 

[olds]

It sucks. I turn on CC and turn the volume down but not off.

 

[Muadib]

It sucks. I turn on CC and turn the volume down but not off.

You should raise the volume on your center channel only.

 

[olds]

The guys at AVS pretty much swear that for a home theater setup, the center channel does more heavy lifting overall than the L/R channels. It's the subwoofer and center that are the keys to success for ingesting video content. It does kind of make sense - the subwoofer helps the other speakers shine at their more comfortable frequency ranges by taking the load off of them having to reproduce sounds at the lower frequency range, and the center channel is for great dialogue, plus a lot of the sound as well, and the L/R help add dimension. I hope to get a nicer subwoofer later this year and then just leave this setup be.

`My L, R and C channels all had subwoofers built in. Sold them when I sold my house.

 

[Muadib]

`My L, R and C channels all had subwoofers built in. Sold them when I sold my house.

So what do you have now?

 

[nakedfrog]

Some receivers have a "night mode" to tone down explosions and such, or have a dynamic range compression setting that you can play with.
Or, yes, you can boost center channel volume.

 

[sdifox]

ok. What made me wonder is the fact that center channel speakers are 2-way with multiple midrange drivers. Seems redundant.

View attachment 47034

Midwoofer-tweeter-midwoofer - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[sdifox]

So what do you have now?

 

[Stiff Clamp]

In a vertical stack, it's apparent they're all playing a mono-signal (all drivers). Just when laying horizontally, you tend to interpet it as stereo. Hence confusion.

I see now the center speaker housing is designed to balance around the central tweeter. Though last I checked many corner boxes don't. Must be because they are off-axis.