Dynamic EQ & Dynamic Volume - Please help! I'm losing my mind!

[srinivas1015]

Guys, I could use some help with my audio system. I have an Onkyo receiver and the Polk speakers have been calibrated with Audyssey. I've turned on Dynamic EQ as without it, the dynamic range is way too much. Not to mention the LFE is virtually non-existant without EQ.
I play blu-rays at a volume of -32Db as anything above that is too loud for my taste and also cos neighbors will complain .
Audio engineers obviously mix tracks at 0Db and once the volume is turned lower than that, treble, mids and bass get unbalanced. With EQ on, it keeps the balance which is why without it, I hardly get any bass. Also, once EQ is off, the entire soundstage collapses to the front with VERY little surround activity. But with EQ on, the lesser the volume level, the louder the surrounds become (relative to the fronts). This is a problem as if I put the volume a little low during nighttime, the surrounds become way too loud. But during evenings when I listen at normal levels (-32Db), the surrounds are balanced.
With EQ on, the surround levels are inversely proportional to the volume level which is a problem as I can't keep recalibrating for every nighttime viewing!

Dynamic Volume - Audyssey says that it helps reduce volume spikes. It uses the center channel as the anchor and keeps the volume from spiking too low or high from that level. For example, if there is a 2Db spike, it reduces the 2Db from that speaker and vice versa.

I've been experimenting with Dynamic Volume these days and this is what I've found:
1)With it off, the sound (especially the music) sound much more 'open' as it's given more breathing room. But the downside is that I don't find the audio to be as enveloping. I also cannot hear most of the softer/quieter sounds like chirping in the woods, etc, no matter how high I turn up the volume.
Let's use this scene as reference for the rest of the post :
Forward to 1:30

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - Harry and Hermione help Sirus escape (HD) - YouTube

With earphones, I can hear the flute, dialogue and water flowing.
With Dynamic Volume Off, I can't hear anything other than the dialogue no matter how high I turn up the volume. It's only at 2:01 that I can hear music (when the trumpets & violins start playing).


2)Dynamic Volume set to Light- When this setting is anything other than 'off', I find the music/score to sound a bit 'muffled' with the high notes especially. This is probably cos the slight spike is cut off.
Anyway, I can hear the flute now but it's still faint that I have to actually look out for it to hear it. I still can't hear the water flowing. I noticed that the loud scenes are way too loud now while the quiet scenes remain the same volume level.THis causes the dialogue impossible to hear during an action scene. Simply increasing the center speaker volume doesn't help as the other sounds coming from it are louder than the dialogue. For example, the creature's scream at 2:20 is unbearably loud.


3)Dynamic Volume set to Medium- The loud scenes are more balanced now. The creature's scream is louder than the rest of the stuff (like how it was mixed) but it's not unbearably loud and I have no problem with the dialogue. But now I can no longer hear the flute and water no matter how high I turn it up .

4)Dynamic Volume set to Heavy- The entire audiotrack sounds overblown. I haven't played with this much.




I could really use some help. All I want is the audiotrack to sound like my earphones . I simply want to hear everything without the music getting muffled and without the loud scenes being unbearably loud. (and not having to recalibrate my surround speakers for different volume levels.) Is that too much to ask? .