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Volume Output differences between DVD and CD
- Thread starter shiner
- Start date
I haven't noticed that and I listen to a lot of DVDs and CDs. Which player do you have, and which audio outputs do you use?
Have you tried to see if the "Normalize Volume Across Songs" option makes any difference? You'll find this in the web utility (NOT the installer utility), under "Preferences" tab. Mine is checked. Not sure if it makes a real difference to overall music volume level. I'm guessing its effect is pretty small, but might be worth trying. There's no other trim settings that I'm aware of.
It's possible this is caused by (and can be fixed with) your audio controller, as the controller may well be distinguishing between a movie audio stream (DTS or DD) and a CD audio stream which is probably PCM. I believe my Lexicon can let me set input levels differently for the different types of audio streams, but not positive. That's the likely place to fix this problem, not on the Kscape system in my view. Might be interesting to try a DTS audio CD and see if that one comes out at the same volume level as a DTS DVD... if so, then your problem is probably in your audio controller setup.
--josh
Have you tried to see if the "Normalize Volume Across Songs" option makes any difference? You'll find this in the web utility (NOT the installer utility), under "Preferences" tab. Mine is checked. Not sure if it makes a real difference to overall music volume level. I'm guessing its effect is pretty small, but might be worth trying. There's no other trim settings that I'm aware of.
It's possible this is caused by (and can be fixed with) your audio controller, as the controller may well be distinguishing between a movie audio stream (DTS or DD) and a CD audio stream which is probably PCM. I believe my Lexicon can let me set input levels differently for the different types of audio streams, but not positive. That's the likely place to fix this problem, not on the Kscape system in my view. Might be interesting to try a DTS audio CD and see if that one comes out at the same volume level as a DTS DVD... if so, then your problem is probably in your audio controller setup.
--josh
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Josh,
The we are using the RCA output of the Kaleidescape. That signal is fed into an autopatch matrix to send throughout the house. In the two zones that are 5.1, the receiver in the local room interprets the feed in a pro logic II type of DSP. The interesting part in this scenario, is that the DSP on the receiver is not changed when listening to Kaleidescape. The only variable is whether the source is CD or DVD content -- the input and the DSP remain the same on the receiver.
I did go ahead and check the Normalize option, so I will see if that makes a difference.
Thank you,
Chris
The we are using the RCA output of the Kaleidescape. That signal is fed into an autopatch matrix to send throughout the house. In the two zones that are 5.1, the receiver in the local room interprets the feed in a pro logic II type of DSP. The interesting part in this scenario, is that the DSP on the receiver is not changed when listening to Kaleidescape. The only variable is whether the source is CD or DVD content -- the input and the DSP remain the same on the receiver.
I did go ahead and check the Normalize option, so I will see if that makes a difference.
Thank you,
Chris
Josh,
I spoke with support this morning and they indicated that this kind of behaviour was to be expected. CD's are encoded in a PCM format vs. DVD's in a Dolby Standard. As such, CD's will generally be louder sources than DVD content, and the lack of an industry standard for PCM causes CD volumes to be all over the map from production house to production house. The Normalize feature attempts to correct the variances and will lower the playback of CD's to the lowest common denominator in the system -- not just what is currently playing. This will ensure level playback of mix albums.
In my situation, this feature could actually help. By lowering the volume floor for CD's, I can actually raise my default volume for the source. This will hopefully reduce the difference between CD and DVD volumes.
Thanks,
Chris
I spoke with support this morning and they indicated that this kind of behaviour was to be expected. CD's are encoded in a PCM format vs. DVD's in a Dolby Standard. As such, CD's will generally be louder sources than DVD content, and the lack of an industry standard for PCM causes CD volumes to be all over the map from production house to production house. The Normalize feature attempts to correct the variances and will lower the playback of CD's to the lowest common denominator in the system -- not just what is currently playing. This will ensure level playback of mix albums.
In my situation, this feature could actually help. By lowering the volume floor for CD's, I can actually raise my default volume for the source. This will hopefully reduce the difference between CD and DVD volumes.
Thanks,
Chris
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Chris,
Thanks for reporting that info. If you get the time, please post your observations using the normalize feature.
Jim
A couple of thoughts.
Its true about the standards. As I understand it most Dolby Digital tracks adhere more to standards than most DTS in terms of levels, but that aside, you will find that most movies have a very wide dynamic range in their soundtracks, whereas most pop/ rock music CDs will not. Now, if you get specialist orchestral CDs, you might even exceed the dynamic range of a movie- but not if you are talking about a modern pop/ rock recording. As a matter of fact, the quality of recordings has gotten worse from a dynamic range standpoint. Most new mixes compress the dynamic range so they sound loud all the time.
The wide dynamic range on movies often has people frustrated that they have to push the volume up loud to hear the dialogue and then when the action occurs it gets too loud. A way to tweak this would be to use a processor/ receiver that has a dynamic range compression mode.
I wonder if the K players have this as an option that I have missed and if not if this would be a good suggestion.
Its true about the standards. As I understand it most Dolby Digital tracks adhere more to standards than most DTS in terms of levels, but that aside, you will find that most movies have a very wide dynamic range in their soundtracks, whereas most pop/ rock music CDs will not. Now, if you get specialist orchestral CDs, you might even exceed the dynamic range of a movie- but not if you are talking about a modern pop/ rock recording. As a matter of fact, the quality of recordings has gotten worse from a dynamic range standpoint. Most new mixes compress the dynamic range so they sound loud all the time.
The wide dynamic range on movies often has people frustrated that they have to push the volume up loud to hear the dialogue and then when the action occurs it gets too loud. A way to tweak this would be to use a processor/ receiver that has a dynamic range compression mode.
I wonder if the K players have this as an option that I have missed and if not if this would be a good suggestion.
Chris, a few things that MIGHT help you in the normalize volume feature didn't do the trick.
1. Assuming you have the Autopatch PrescisLT switch, you can set the default volume level of each output. Lowering that a bit will require you to turn the movie volume up higher when selected, but it will also protect your system, speakers and guests ears by not turning on too loud when you select a CD.
2. I assume you have a Crestron or AMX system controlling the Kscape, Autopatch and larger system? If so, you could (or your programmer could) parse the feedback data from the Kaleidescape module and after pressing play or starting to listen/watch something you could see if it was a CD or movie that was playing. Then he could program the default volume differently depending on what was playing - effectively lowering the turn on volume for CDs.
3. Again, assuming you are using a Crestron/AMX control system, you could add a 4 zone music player and use that for listening to music and have that default volume level lower than when watching movies. This would be the easiest but also the most costly.
Let me know if more clarification would help. Good luck.
1. Assuming you have the Autopatch PrescisLT switch, you can set the default volume level of each output. Lowering that a bit will require you to turn the movie volume up higher when selected, but it will also protect your system, speakers and guests ears by not turning on too loud when you select a CD.
2. I assume you have a Crestron or AMX system controlling the Kscape, Autopatch and larger system? If so, you could (or your programmer could) parse the feedback data from the Kaleidescape module and after pressing play or starting to listen/watch something you could see if it was a CD or movie that was playing. Then he could program the default volume differently depending on what was playing - effectively lowering the turn on volume for CDs.
3. Again, assuming you are using a Crestron/AMX control system, you could add a 4 zone music player and use that for listening to music and have that default volume level lower than when watching movies. This would be the easiest but also the most costly.
Let me know if more clarification would help. Good luck.
EJ,
Thanks for the response. It is an AMX system with Modula audio matrix from autopatch (Optima on the video side). The dedicated audio player would certainly be the best solution and one we may end up with. The default turn-on volume is still an issue, but not as bad as it was.
The volumes for CDs all dropped across the board with the Normalize feature. As a result, we had to raise the turn-on volume for the source. In effect, this does help because DVD playback is uneffected by the normalize feature. So - with a higher turn on volume, we do not have to ramp us as significantly as we did without the normalize feature engaged.
Thanks,
Chris
Thanks for the response. It is an AMX system with Modula audio matrix from autopatch (Optima on the video side). The dedicated audio player would certainly be the best solution and one we may end up with. The default turn-on volume is still an issue, but not as bad as it was.
The volumes for CDs all dropped across the board with the Normalize feature. As a result, we had to raise the turn-on volume for the source. In effect, this does help because DVD playback is uneffected by the normalize feature. So - with a higher turn on volume, we do not have to ramp us as significantly as we did without the normalize feature engaged.
Thanks,
Chris
I'm confused with the normalize- is this a ripping option? If you are interested in the convenience then this would be acceptable, but if you are interested in the best possible sound quality than you should avoid it. In my case I will be interested in both- I am adding the music side to my K system today- so I will not use any normalize filters, etc.