Is my system working properly?

[DarthBondXF]

I just watched Underworld Evolution on blu-ray with PCM 5.1 and then i watched the first movie on DVD with DD 5.1. For some reason the DVD sound was twice as loud and the voices were more audible than that of the PCM track. I know that the PCM should be lossless but why is DD louder and more distinct when it comes to voices. I have a BDP-S550 bluray player hooked to an Onkyo HTS-6100 system that is set to Direct for the audio from my bluray player. I have the bluray player settings set to bit stream output to the receiver for decoding, it shows on the receiver when I have PCM, DTrue or DTS MA but the DD is still louder. I have to set volume at 30 for DD but 45 for True or MA?

[aramis109]

It may be louder (though I'd be surprised). Volume matching isn't something that pertains to quality. As far as the mix, it's very dynamic, and it's possible that you didn't have it loud enough due to the effects themselves being louder. Make sure you don't have any kind of DRC on.

That said, as a whole I'm unimpressed with the Underworld movies- especially the first one. The mixes on them seem to put priority on everything, rather than what should be focused on - dialog here, action and effects there, music there. Instead it's ALL equal, and thus it all doesn't sound good to me.

[DarthBondXF]

Unfortunately, it seems to me that even though the quality of sound from the new codecs is superior when it comes to sound FX I just can't hear the verbage worth a damn. I've tried to increase the center channel in level and distance but I still have a tough time hearing the words and if its up to the point where I can the sound FX practically blow me away. There's got to be a happy medium.

[liquidice]

knowing your speakers would help. I see it's a system, I'm assuming the speakers are small? If you've got tiny satellite style speakers that are widely found in HTIB systems, that could explain alot. I ungraded from one of those within that last year, and with the smaller speakers, I always had a problem with dialog. Now with better speakers, thicker wires, and a new receiver, the difference was night and day.

[DarthBondXF]

Here is what I have.
Samsung HL-T5676S 56" DLP 1080p
Motorola HD Dual Tuner DVR
XBOX 360 Elite
PS2
Sony 5-disc DVD Changer
Sony BDP-S550 Blu-Ray
Onkyo HT-S6100----with the HT-R667 receiver which is a "rare" one because it has the power of the 806 model the functions of the 606 in the chassis of the 506 from Onkyo's line of receivers. It is a 7.1 system with 130 watts per channel. The front three are 2x 3 1/8" and tweeter and the rear four are 1x 3 1/8" and tweeter with a 285 watt down firing 10".

[crackinhedz]

Originally Posted by DarthBondXF

I just watched Underworld Evolution on blu-ray with PCM 5.1 and then i watched the first movie on DVD with DD 5.1.

just to understand you correctly, you are watching both the Bluray and standard DVD version?

Not only are you trying to compare two different audio formats, but you are trying to compare two completely different disc formats. The audio levels on the two formats will inherently be different. Almost like trying to ask why a CD sounds lower than a SACD. It just is sometimes.

You will find most any format has some variance in volume level.

As for why you think the dialogue sounds more 'distinct' with dolby digital? Could be the sound mode youre listening with? ...many other factors could also play a role too.