I Hate DTS-HD Master Audio

[Spottedfeather]

I'll probably invest in an SPL meter someday, but like a lot of people, things are a bit tight right now.

[timcat4843]

Originally Posted by Spottedfeather

The receiver is brand new. Well, 2 months old.

You still have a warranty.

Contact Onkyo and explain your problems with your new receiver.
They may request that you ship it back to them, for an analysis
and or maybe send you another brand new receiver.

[browndk26]

Originally Posted by Spottedfeather

I'll probably invest in an SPL meter someday, but like a lot of people, things are a bit tight right now.

You could go out and buy one. Use it and then return it.

[dineshgole]

Originally Posted by Spottedfeather

I can't compare the blu-ray's dolby digital 5.1 with the DTS-HD MA. All the blu-rays I have have either DTS-HD or TrueHD. And the sound problem is the same with all DTS-HD MA. My hearing just has a balance problem. I don't see how that has anything to do with the voices being way softer than the music and effects.

I have the same problem. For ex: While watching Olympus has Fallen in DTS HD, the center speaker volume is very low, but in Dolby 5.1 it is perfect with the same calibration.

[Spottedfeather]

Originally Posted by dineshgole

I have the same problem. For ex: While watching Olympus has Fallen in DTS HD, the center speaker volume is very low, but in Dolby 5.1 it is perfect with the same calibration.

Exactly. People keep telling me "it's not the codex used that's the problem, it's the mix of the audio"....or other such nonsense. If that was true, I'd have problems with Dolby tracks....which I never do. It's very rare that I come across a decent DTS HD or even DTS track. I've fiddled a LOT with my surround, and got the DTS to sound a tiny bit better, but it still always sound off. The voices are soft and the effects are normal, or the voices are normal and the effects are overblown.

[Solo man]

Hello Spottedfeather, how far apart are your two front speakers from each other?

[Spottedfeather]

First, you have to understand that my hearing is out of whack. I hear more on the right side than the left. On my laptop, to get the sound to be balanced, I have the left side set to 100 and the right side set to 45.

On my surround sound, the right front speaker is set right next to the tv and the left front speaker is a couple of feet to the left of the tv. This is so that the sound appears to be coming from the center, or close to it, of the tv. The rear surround speakers are off to the left and right of where I sit. The room isn't set up to allow them to be right behind me. All in all, the sound is balanced very nicely...to me, anyway. All the sounds seem to come from the proper directions. The center speaker, by the way, is set to the left of the tv about a foot and a half.

The center speaker is set to, I think, 8. The left speaker is set to 6, as is the right speaker (the right speaker is also set about 6 inches back from where the left speaker is if they were both on a straight line...if that makes sense) The left rear speaker is set to 4 and the right rear speaker is set to, I think, 2 or 3.

Like I said, the sound (to me) sounds balanced left to right. I just don't like DTS-HD audio.

[slimdude]

Originally Posted by Spottedfeather

No matter what I do, I just can't seem to get DTS-HD Master Audio setup right. The audio either has the voices right and the effects and music way too loud, or the effects and music are right and the voices are way too low. If the music and effects were confined to the front speakers instead of going through the center speaker, I could just turn the front speakers down. Right now, I have my blu-ray player setup to send HD Audio through to the receiver. The receiver has several different listening modes that it applies. Maybe that's causing the problem, I don't know. It seems to sound slightly better when I have the player send PCM. Of course, doing this, you don't get to use the settings and enhancements on the receiver.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought that the music and effects weren't supposed to go through the center speaker. I thought that the center speaker was for the dialogue.

The center channel speaker is not designated for dialogue only, it utilizes other audio information of the soundtrack as well.

[cobravenomous]

Originally Posted by browndk26

You could go out and buy one. Use it and then return it.

That is so wrong.........

[Solo man]

Originally Posted by Spottedfeather

First, you have to understand that my hearing is out of whack. I hear more on the right side than the left. On my laptop, to get the sound to be balanced, I have the left side set to 100 and the right side set to 45.

On my surround sound, the right front speaker is set right next to the tv and the left front speaker is a couple of feet to the left of the tv. This is so that the sound appears to be coming from the center, or close to it, of the tv. The rear surround speakers are off to the left and right of where I sit. The room isn't set up to allow them to be right behind me. All in all, the sound is balanced very nicely...to me, anyway. All the sounds seem to come from the proper directions. The center speaker, by the way, is set to the left of the tv about a foot and a half.

The center speaker is set to, I think, 8. The left speaker is set to 6, as is the right speaker (the right speaker is also set about 6 inches back from where the left speaker is if they were both on a straight line...if that makes sense) The left rear speaker is set to 4 and the right rear speaker is set to, I think, 2 or 3.

Like I said, the sound (to me) sounds balanced left to right. I just don't like DTS-HD audio.

How far do you sit from the speakers as well? Please tell me how far apart your front speakers are from each other. I understand about your hearing as I have read through your post.

[Spottedfeather]

I sit about 3.5 feet from the front left speaker and center speaker and
.about 4 feet from the tv. The rear speakers are both about 3 feet away, as well.

[Solo man]

Originally Posted by Spottedfeather

I sit about 3.5 feet from the front left speaker and center speaker and
.about 4 feet from the tv. The rear speakers are both about 3 feet away, as well.

How far apart are the front speakers from each other, in feet please?

[Spottedfeather]

Originally Posted by Solo man

How far apart are the front speakers from each other, in feet please?

Well, the right front speaker is right next to the tv, as in touching the side of it. The left front speaker is about 3.5 or 4 feet from the center of the tv.

[Solo man]

Originally Posted by Spottedfeather

Well, the right front speaker is right next to the tv, as in touching the side of it. The left front speaker is about 3.5 or 4 feet from the center of the tv.

I don't know how big your room is but sitting that close with the speakers that far apart may not allow channel separation. These surround formats were produced with channel separation in mind. Now if you are listening in stereo, a nearfield setup may work or perhaps listening to the Beatles in a mono experience but with surround it gets tough when speakers are all close together.

There was a fellow at my work who complained that he had a hard time hearing the dialog and effects were too loud so I went over to his house. He had his speakers right beside the tv and the center in between. The speakers were all so close together including the center that I also found it difficult to find separation in his setup.

I hope this helps and when I read your post, I wanted to see how you were setup. Sometimes and may not be in your case because I am ignorant of your listening abilities, you can fumble around with all the features in your receiver but nothing will help unless the speakers are setup up properly. That is why a lot of members here experiment with speaker placement and acoustic panels.

Good luck to you.

[Spottedfeather]

It's a small bedroom. About 10 by 12...or about that. The left front speaker is about, like I said, about 3.5 or 4 feet from the center of the tv. The center speaker is about equal distance between the tv and the left front speaker. Except for the right front speaker, the speakers seem to be in the proper places. Well, most people put the center speaker at the center of the tv, but as I said, my hearing is off balance.

I know that I should put the rear speakers to the rear of me, but the way my room is, that's not possible. But I think they work where they are. When a scene happens where a character is supposed to be behind me, they sound like they're behind me. The ending scene in back to the future for instance. A helicopter is circling around the town square and it sounds like it's flying around me in a circle. Or pretty much any scene in Jurassic Park. There are often dinosaur sound that seem to be coming from behind me. And in the beginning of Star Wars, when the Star Destroyer is coming overhead. It sounds like it's going from behind me to in front.

I don't know. Everybody's ears are different. Maybe I just have difficulty with hearing certain frequencies and sound levels and just can't tolerate most DTS mixes.

That's possible, right ?

[hidef al]

Maybe you should consider on getting a sound bar??

[Mahatma]

Maybe try another receiver if you can...

[Spottedfeather]

I think a soundbar would be worse. The sound would appear to be coming mostly from the left. I'd like to get a new receiver. Preferably one with Audyssey.

[Godzillafan54]

Skip to the last paragraph if u don't want to read all these... B.S. ig.

I use Xmedia Recode to Downmix Atmos and DTS X to 5.1 DD. When u directly Downmix, It lowers the Volume by 10.5 dB usually. When you first make an AAC track and then AC3, it does the Studio level Effect of Standard -6dB compared to Atmos and DTS X track. Remember when Dolby Atmos tracks were louder? DTS HD MA, too? When these are downmixed to 5.1, they decrease to half loudness or -6 dB. But recent Dolby Atmos is 9 dB lower and/or at the reference level, a.k.a. 0 dB. So, when you use Studios downmix them, they are not 9 dB lower than the previous DD 5.1 Tracks; they are 3 dB lower.

Now, on to the discussion... My analysis is that all recent DTS HD-Ma 7.1's DTS Core is 3 dB Low, while 5.1 DTS HD-MA (alongside their core) is 4 dB low. Is this true? Another issue is... should I respect the Dynamic range on a Bluray DTS mix and try hearing it at a little higher volume than my analysis to get the dialogue at the same level as an Atmos or DD track; and destroying my ears in the process when the highs kick in... Or are the frequent low dialogue part of the 'High Dynamic Range' factor. A little reference to understand it clearly... Downmixing the Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom DTS-X/DTS HD-MA 7.1 Mix gives a 5.1 audio track of 84.6 dB avg. loudness while the DTS core 5.1 is at 81.7 dB loudness... So when it is brought up by 3 dB, it reaches 84.7 dB which matches the numbers mentioned earlier (Disney DTS 7.1s are an exception here as their Core and HD track are 3 dB and 9 dB below old reference levels; that is, according to modern universal standards... 0 dB for HD track and the Core 3 dB lower than previous downmixed 5.1. So, Both 7.1 and Core are at equal Volumes! Previous OG DD tracks are 6 dB lower than their Atmos counterparts and the mentioned counterparts were 9 dB above modern reference levels or +9 dB above reference).

Back on Topic, when Atmos or DTS 7.1 tracks are downmixed directly to DD instead of the two-phase processing mentioned earlier, the Track is 6+4.5 dB low. The same happens if I make a fake DTS 5.1 Core by downmixing. So, the question that occurred to me: Undoubtedly, the Cores of DTS 7.1 are 3 dB Low. But are the DTS HD-MA 5.1 Tracks 4 dB low or 4.5 dB low?

[CreasyBear]

Why are you downmixing to lossless to lossy?