# 622 volume on commercials is 3x louder than program



## chelseagroup (Jan 11, 2005)

622 volume on commercials is 3x louder than program - especially Dish promo's.
CNN HD and other - volume on commecials is so loud that we must mute the sound. Contacted Dish - tech said they had no "diagnostics" to perform and would sent it to engineering.


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

Welcome to DBSTalk.. Most likely this is caused by the difference between Dolby digital 5.1 audio and standard audio. Not sure what your configuration is, if it is a TV, one think you can do is get your audio output to be PCM only and that should provide some leveling of the audio. Also, lots of T.V. have auto audio adjusting features. Look there and disable any of that stuff as it might be part of the problem.

If you are connected to a Home Theater through Optical then there is not a lot you can do.

I would also suggest doing a search on DD 5.1 and loud and I am sure you will find a few threads discussing this issue.


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## Bill R (Dec 20, 2002)

chelseagroup said:


> Contacted Dish - tech said they had no "diagnostics" to perform and would sent it to engineering.


A better way to get problem like that fixed (if it is a true volume problem) is to send an email to [email protected]

That address goes to the uplink center.


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## DustoMan (Jul 16, 2005)

My wife and I absolutely hate this. She has sensitive ears and sometimes even I have to turn it down the commercials are so loud. I wish there was some kind of volume limiter on the DISH as my home theater receiver doesn't have one.


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## jbrooks987 (Jun 5, 2004)

There was a time when it was common practice to use higher volume levels when making the commercials. I suspect that practice is still in use.


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## scooper (Apr 22, 2002)

No - it is that the advertisers compress the audio on the commercials so the AVERAGE audio level is higher than usual programming. THis is a content provider issue - not a Dish issue (unless it is Dish's commercials you're talking about - but it still isn't a H/W problem).


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## FastNOC (Sep 11, 2007)

DustoMan said:


> My wife and I absolutely hate this. She has sensitive ears and sometimes even I have to turn it down the commercials are so loud. I wish there was some kind of volume limiter on the DISH as my home theater receiver doesn't have one.


i understand that.

Depending on the network it can be really bad. sometimes I'll be listening to the tv from my office. The commercial will be so loud I end up running into the other room to get the remote. it's THAT bad.


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## SaltiDawg (Aug 30, 2004)

scooper said:


> No - it is that the advertisers compress the audio on the commercials so the AVERAGE audio level is higher than usual programming. THis is a content provider issue - not a Dish issue (unless it is Dish's commercials you're talking about - but it still isn't a H/W problem).


My background is in acoustics, and I certainly don't mean to disagree. However, I don't understand what you are saying is done to the audio of commercials.


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## kucharsk (Sep 20, 2006)

Radio stations have been doing this for years as well.

It's quite simple - a given television broadcast might have audio that ranges from -20 dB to +3 dB on peaks as seen from a VU meter.

For commercials they raise the volume floor and compress the audio so that the audio range varies from +2 dB to +3 dB.

The commercial sounds as if it's blasting you out of the room, when in reality it's no louder than the peak audio from the program - it's just that *all* the sound in the commercial is compressed into that top 1 dB range.

Any commercial featuring Billy Mays is a great example of this.


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## Kevin Brown (Sep 4, 2005)

I wish that Dish's boxes had an option to apply some sort of volume normalizing feature to get rid of this.


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## DustoMan (Jul 16, 2005)

The channels with the most difference in volume between normal programming and certain commercials seems to be the HD channels. And yes, the Dish Network commercials are guilty of this. Along with GoodSleep, Billy Mays, Shamwow, and any other commercial that has a 1-800 number along the bottom.


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

I would suggest reading the threads below.

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=98525&highlight=Dolby+Loud
http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=87558&highlight=Dolby+Loud
http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=131056&highlight=Dolby+Loud


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## Kevin Brown (Sep 4, 2005)

Ron- OK, I read through most of those, but ...

a) Dolby Digital is not more dynamic than PCM !!  The issue is how each source has been _mastered_ (and/or mixed). But I get the point: 5.1 DD sources are typically mastered lower than 2 channel PCM (allowing for more dynamic range). (Same diff for the audio levels of a DVD vs a CD on an HT system.)

b) Even knowing (a), it shouldn't affect me. I am using the two analog outs from the 722 to my TV. Somehow Dish should have an option to normalize, i) output between SD (PCM?) and HD (DD?) channels (sources), and, ii) they should have an option to normalize commercials wrt to show programming.

Yeah, Dolby Volume is coming, and I think Audyssey has something coming too, but I believe the problem should be able to be taken care of in the satellite receiver.

I did learn something I didn't know though, so thanks!! :up:


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## tnsprin (Mar 16, 2003)

Kevin Brown said:


> Ron- OK, I read through most of those, but ...
> 
> a) Dolby Digital is not more dynamic than PCM !!  The issue is how each source has been _mastered_ (and/or mixed). But I get the point: 5.1 DD sources are typically mastered lower than 2 channel PCM (allowing for more dynamic range). (Same diff for the audio levels of a DVD vs a CD on an HT system.)
> 
> ...


Actually if the receiver did this automatically (without special handling of the new Dolby or Audyssey) it would be incorrectly modifying the sound. E.g if they automatically raised the DD to match the PCM it would really be way too loud in a the loud portions of a DD program.


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## ShapeShifter (Apr 21, 2008)

I'm going to be watching this thread. My wife and I are also annoyed by how loud some commercials are, especially the Dish Network commercials! :eek2:



Ron Barry said:


> If you are connected to a Home Theater through Optical then there is not a lot you can do.


Dang! That's exactly how I have mine connected.


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## Kevin Brown (Sep 4, 2005)

tnsprin said:


> Actually if the receiver did this automatically (without special handling of the new Dolby or Audyssey) it would be incorrectly modifying the sound. E.g if they automatically raised the DD to match the PCM it would really be way too loud in a the loud portions of a DD program.


I didn't say that I want it to be automatic. I want the option to change it.  Just like a lot of DVD players and AVR/SSPs have the option to have different levels of compression applied to a movie soundtrack.


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

Would be a nice feature.. Just not sure if it is technically feasible. I do know that some people that are directly connected to the TV have reduced the issue by setting the output to PCM only. I believe that is what I have done with my bedroom configuration (RCA out only) and I don't have the sound difference described. I do get it with the HT downstairs.


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## bill-e (Apr 14, 2006)

I have the new Audyssey volume limiter (forget what it's called) on my new Denon and I can tell you that despite reports on AVForums that it works, it does not work with my 622 which sends audio to the Denon via HDMI.


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## steelhorse (Apr 27, 2004)

I don't know what, but something has changed. The volume between shows and commercials didn't used to be the huge difference it is now.
I wish they could put some type of volume equalizer on the 622.


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