Denon 1910, Vocal Volume On Films...

[daveyyoung]

Hey Guys,

Another week another query hehe! You guys bring it on yourselves I tell ya with all your good answers!

I've got the Denon AVR-1910. I watch my SkyHD and x264 feeds on my PS3 via PLII Cinema or Dolby Digital depending on the source and I'm happy with the sound I get. But while I had friends round at the weekend we put 'The Dark Night' Blu-Ray on in the PS3 (yeah I need a dedicated player for TrueHD) for something in the background while having a friendly game of poker.

We all found that the dialog was very quiet (probably cause there was 6 of us in the room talking), but when I turned it up, the surround music was rediculously loud. So I had a play with the amp, the first thing I tried was....

MENU>Parameter>Audyssey Settings>Dynamic Vol>On>Evening/Midnight

But I found this kinda killed the sound too much, it just didn't feel right, as if it was being muted incorrectly at times. I also tried...

MENU>Manual Setup>Speaker Setup>Channel Level>Test Tone Start

And I increased the value for the Center speaker on the theory that it handles the dialog. Sure enough it was the best solution I came up with, but it does mean changing it back every film.

So then I thought, worth asking the question. Any ideas on the best solution? If you need more info let me know...

Thanks as always,

Dave

 

[professorhat]

daveyyoung:But while I had friends round at the weekend we put 'The Dark Night' Blu-Ray on in the PS3 (yeah I need a dedicated player for TrueHD)

Not true - set your PS3 to Linear PCM within the Video Settings > BD / DVD Audio Output Format (HDMI) menu and the PS3 will decode the TrueHD soundtrack onboard and send to your amp via Linear PCM. You're then getting the full benefits of the HD soundtrack. You can check it's decoding by pressing the Select button as the film is playing - the top left hand corner will show the soundtrack currently being played. On the Dark Knight, you do need to actually select to use the TrueHD soundtrack each time you play it as it defaults to Dolby Digital.

As to the issues with dialogue being quiet, might be a good idea to invest in a sound pressure meter so you can measure accurately that all your speakers are at the right level. This should sort these issues out.

 

[Anonymous]

The Denon amps are complex beasts and I still dont think I get the most out of mine.

That said, I would set up one of your quick select buttons with your ideal PS3 with bluray settings. Then whenever you watch a bluray that needs extra ommph from the centre speaker use the "CH level" button on the remote to scroll through the speakers and increase the volume.

When you next watch a bluray - select the quick select button again to restore your ideal settings.

You'll probably getting more technical / sophisticated suggestions but this works for me.

 

[Tom Moreno]

Some films have the dialogue mixed quite low in relation to the SFX and MX stems. This tends to be done out of choice to deliver greatest dynamic impact when played at reference level in a cinema. Sometimes this doesn't translate well to the living room. I find that with some of these types of films the Audyssey Dynamic Volume Day mode does a real good job of lifting the dialogue and balancing extreme changes in level without sounding too compromised.

 

[Liam19]

daveyyoung:Hey Guys,

Another week another query hehe! You guys bring it on yourselves I tell ya with all your good answers!

I've got the Denon AVR-1910. I watch my SkyHD and x264 feeds on my PS3 via PLII Cinema or Dolby Digital depending on the source and I'm happy with the sound I get. But while I had friends round at the weekend we put 'The Dark Night' Blu-Ray on in the PS3 (yeah I need a dedicated player for TrueHD) for something in the background while having a friendly game of poker.

We all found that the dialog was very quiet (probably cause there was 6 of us in the room talking), but when I turned it up, the surround music was rediculously loud. So I had a play with the amp, the first thing I tried was....

MENU>Parameter>Audyssey Settings>Dynamic Vol>On>Evening/Midnight

But I found this kinda killed the sound too much, it just didn't feel right, as if it was being muted incorrectly at times. I also tried...

MENU>Manual Setup>Speaker Setup>Channel Level>Test Tone Start

And I increased the value for the Center speaker on the theory that it handles the dialog. Sure enough it was the best solution I came up with, but it does mean changing it back every film.

So then I thought, worth asking the question. Any ideas on the best solution? If you need more info let me know...

Thanks as always,

Dave

I find my 1910 performs at its best with all surround processing modes (Audyssey, MultiEQ etc.) turned off. These can often dynamically squash or alter the sound in an undesirable, unnatural way, so I prefer to just get the sound as it is on the disc. Then make sure the amp displays the correct sound mode for the source you're using (Dolby TrueHD, DTS etc.) and adjust your speaker levels manually. If you find dialogue to be too quiet then just tweak up the centre a little.

 

[daveyyoung]

Guys cheers for the responses...

professorhat - I have made the changes on the PS3, nice shout. while the PS3 now shows TrueHD the amp still reads PLII C. Is this a case that the only PS3 doesn't have the chip to output with the correct signal? I've read the new slimline can illuminate the TrueHD LED on the amps...

heystak - glad to hear I'm not the only one! Great idea about the quick select and thanks for the CH level button!

Tom - I've stuck on the day mode, will give it a go now. I found when playing Call Of Duty it quietened some of the distant voices too much but that was on evening and midnight mode, so well worth a try!

Thanks again guys!

Dave

 

[professorhat]

daveyyoung:professorhat - I have made the changes on the PS3, nice shout. while the PS3 now shows TrueHD the amp still reads PLII C. Is this a case that the only PS3 doesn't have the chip to output with the correct signal? I've read the new slimline can illuminate the TrueHD LED on the amps..

Hmm, I would expect it to show Multich or Multichannel or something akin to this to show it's receiving the Linear PCM signal (can anyone with a PS3 and a Denon confirm what it actually displays?). You may need to set the amp to Automatic mode so that it just receives the incoming signal and doesn't apply any processing to it.

The old "fat" PS3 can definitely decode the HD formats assuming your firmware is up to date - latest version is 3.15 (to check what version you have, go to Settings > System Settings > System Information).

The new "slim" PS3 can bitstream the HD audio formats which means it sends the audio data natively to the amp for it to decode them. When this happens, the Dolby TrueHD or DTS HD Master Audio light will light up as the amp is decoding it so knows what it is. So the only difference is, with the old "fat" PS3, this decoding is being done onboard by the PS3 rather than within the amp.

 

[Anonymous]

I have a question related to this, don't mean to hijack the thread as this is related, can I just ask a quick question to those in the know.

Firstly thanks to Heystack for the CH button, can the Denon 1910 remember the CH settings for each quick select or does it change the channel levels on a global basis.

I have a similar problem to the OP, where I have two seating positions and I would like the Denon to remember two different channel level settings, can this be done?

 

[Anonymous]

If The Settings are correct the Denon, Show either "MULTI CH IN" or "DRCT MULTI IN", that is the screen that Indicates an LPCM Multi Channel Input, ie: the decoded DTS HD, or Dolby HD Signal.

 

[professorhat]

xon501:If The Settings are correct the Denon, Show either "MULTI CH IN" or "DRCT MULTI IN", that is the screen that Indicates an LPCM Multi Channel Input, ie: the decoded DTS HD, or Dolby HD Signal.

Thanks for this.

 

[daveyyoung]

Hi Xon501,

Where should I see "MULTI CH IN" or "DRCT MULTI IN"? Just want to make sure I've got it all right.

Cheers,

D

 

[Anonymous]

Could someone just confirm that you cannot save the channel level settings on the quick select 1,2,3.

Thanks

Stu