[geordielady]

I dont have a audio system and only use the TV speakers.

Why on two different blu ray's where the audio is identical (going by the box and what my blu ray player is telling me) one can be so much louder then the other.

I thought audio was a standard so if it says 3.1 DTS HD master then the output should be identical to another with the same specification.

Why does it vary so much, some films the audio is so low I have to turn my TV up to 3/4 volume while others only 1/4 volume.

[pocatello]

It's not low, it has a high dynamic range. The lousy speakers in your tv cannot handle subtlety. The "quiet" but wide ranging signal is what you want in high definition audio. Dynamic range compression is just not a good thing to encode into any signal that is meant to be high def. If you need to cram everything into a small range to fit a lousy radio or tv, it should be done at the device after the fact. There should be a "night mode" or such setting.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic...sic_production

[geordielady]

Dont really understand what your saying at all.

So through my TV speakers some sound is loud while others is quite, often low speaking and when the action starts it nearly blows my speakers up i.e sound not balanced.

Sons of anarchy is a good example, sound is fantastic through my tv speakers, clear voice, and all levels of sound simular throughout.
Vampire diaries, terrible sound through my speakers both identical audio on the box description.

[pocatello]

Both blurays are 5.1 audio tracks. Is the player set to downn mix everything to stereo?

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Va...Blu-ray/10897/
"The Complete First Season may only offer a standard Dolby Digital track, but I have to admit, it's a strong one. Dialogue is crisp, intelligible and smartly prioritized, LFE output is decidedly decent, rear speaker activity is restrained but effective, and the soundfield, paired with smooth pans and solid directionality, is quite involving. "

http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/2376...narchy_s1.html
"All of the dialogue comes through crisply and is balanced properly with the rest of the mix. The bluesy and hard-driving rock music makes a lasting impression (especially in 'The Revelator'). The .LFE channel rumbles with the roar of Harleys, and th"

Theres no problem with the disc. Why are you set to 3.1? Tv's don't have a center channel or subwoofer as standard.
If you really set to 3.1 for some reason of course the dialog is missing, it comes out the non existent center channel.

[chrisjr]

Quote:

Originally Posted by geordielady

Dont really understand what your saying at all.

So through my TV speakers some sound is loud while others is quite, often low speaking and when the action starts it nearly blows my speakers up i.e sound not balanced.

Sons of anarchy is a good example, sound is fantastic through my tv speakers, clear voice, and all levels of sound simular throughout.
Vampire diaries, terrible sound through my speakers both identical audio on the box description.

You are confusing the audio format used to convey the sound to your chosen replay medium with the content of the signal.

Just because two sound streams use identical methods to encode the audio it does not mean that they will sound the same.

How something sounds is entirely down to the sound engineer and the film director creating the sound track. It is therefore entirely possible for the sound engineer/director on one movie to have a completely different approach to balancing the speech and sound effects to those on another movie, even if the same two people are involved!

But one thing it has sod all to do with is whether the sound track is encoded as Dolby Digital 5.1 or mono. The only relevance the delivery format has is how your system handles it.

[geordielady]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrisjr

You are confusing the audio format used to convey the sound to your chosen replay medium with the content of the signal.

Just because two sound streams use identical methods to encode the audio it does not mean that they will sound the same.

How something sounds is entirely down to the sound engineer and the film director creating the sound track. It is therefore entirely possible for the sound engineer/director on one movie to have a completely different approach to balancing the speech and sound effects to those on another movie, even if the same two people are involved!

But one thing it has sod all to do with is whether the sound track is encoded as Dolby Digital 5.1 or mono. The only relevance the delivery format has is how your system handles it.

OK this makes more sense compared to other replies.

Sound engineers need to take some lessons from those workng on sons on anarchy in how to deliver good sound.
Vampire Diaires as a recent example is poor, sound matches the PQ as well which is also very average.

[pocatello]

Quote:

Originally Posted by geordielady

OK this makes more sense compared to other replies.

Sound engineers need to take some lessons from those workng on sons on anarchy in how to deliver good sound.
Vampire Diaires as a recent example is poor, sound matches the PQ as well which is also very average.

The reviews disagree. The problem is probably on your end.

[geordielady]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pocatello

The reviews disagree. The problem is probably on your end.

Dont have a problem at all my end, most blu rays are awsume. No settings at my end will improve PQ or improve the sound.

[pocatello]

Quote:

Originally Posted by geordielady

Dont have a problem at all my end, most blu rays are awsume. No settings at my end will improve PQ or improve the sound.

I doubt you got a custom encoded disc just made to annoy you. The fact is many reviews disagree with you, perhaps your dolby digital output settings are wrong. Not every disc uses the same encoding.



Apply Occam's razor, is it likely someone encoded a dodgy audio mix just for you while the rest of the world got a great audio? Or is it just some setting on your system?

Another snippet from a reputable site.
"Warner isn't all that keen on the concept of lossless soundtracks for their TV-on-BD sets, so The Vampire Diaries is limited to Dolby Digital 5.1 (640kbps) only. The technical specs may not look
[click on the thumbnail to enlarge]
all that jaw-dropping on paper, no, but the audio still manages to pack a wallop. The score in particular sounds massive, roaring from every speaker and bolstered by foundation-rattling bass. It probably goes without saying that the more intensely action-driven episodes sport the most impressive sound designs: sorcery being unleashed, a vampire-hunting mob on the prowl, bodies being flung across entire rooms, thunderous cracks of gunfire, lapping flames, cars violently flipping over on isolated backroads, vampires stalking their prey... Quite a bit of attention is paid to fleshing out a sense of directionality, and a number of effects smoothly and seamlessly pan from one speaker to the next. There are definitely a handful of episodes -- especially the premiere and the finale -- that are noticeably more aggressive than the rest of the lot in that way. Even though much of the season is lower-key by comparison, the surround channels are still teeming with ambiance and really convey a strong sense of place. The Vampire Diaries takes advantage of all of the different channels at its fingertips, and the experience would be a lot different in plain-jane stereo. Take the swirling sound effects that accompany Stefan's vampiric super-hearing, for instance -- that's completely dulled if you don't have any rear speakers firing up. I also feel as if I should point out how great the music scattered around each episode can be. Among the many highlights are contributions by Bat For Lashes, Metric, Phoenix, Neko Case, and Surfer Blood. Even with all of these licensed songs, the thunderous snarl of its score, and the havoc that's wreaked on-screen, The Vampire Diaries' dialogue is still balanced flawlessly in the mix. A few lines do wind up sounding a bit clipped, but that's not even a little bit unusual for a TV-on-BD release and is too infrequent to ever be a nuisance.

I still think lossless audio ought to be a standard for Blu-ray releases, and pretty much every other studio out there is doing it for their season sets. At the same time, if you skip past the icons lighting up on your receiver and just listen to the audio, it's tough to find much to gripe about. It's not as active or aggressive as a theatrical release or anything, but for a TV series, The Vampire Diaries sounds a good bit better than average.

Also offered here is a stereo Portuguese track. There are nine subtitle streams in all: English (SDH), French, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish. "
http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/45457...st-season-the/

[geordielady]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pocatello

I doubt you got a custom encoded disc just made to annoy you. The fact is many reviews disagree with you, perhaps your dolby digital output settings are wrong. Not every disc uses the same encoding.



Apply Occam's razor, is it likely someone encoded a dodgy audio mix just for you while the rest of the world got a great audio? Or is it just some setting on your system?

Another snippet from a reputable site.
"Warner isn't all that keen on the concept of lossless soundtracks for their TV-on-BD sets, so The Vampire Diaries is limited to Dolby Digital 5.1 (640kbps) only. The technical specs may not look
[click on the thumbnail to enlarge]
all that jaw-dropping on paper, no, but the audio still manages to pack a wallop. The score in particular sounds massive, roaring from every speaker and bolstered by foundation-rattling bass. It probably goes without saying that the more intensely action-driven episodes sport the most impressive sound designs: sorcery being unleashed, a vampire-hunting mob on the prowl, bodies being flung across entire rooms, thunderous cracks of gunfire, lapping flames, cars violently flipping over on isolated backroads, vampires stalking their prey... Quite a bit of attention is paid to fleshing out a sense of directionality, and a number of effects smoothly and seamlessly pan from one speaker to the next. There are definitely a handful of episodes -- especially the premiere and the finale -- that are noticeably more aggressive than the rest of the lot in that way. Even though much of the season is lower-key by comparison, the surround channels are still teeming with ambiance and really convey a strong sense of place. The Vampire Diaries takes advantage of all of the different channels at its fingertips, and the experience would be a lot different in plain-jane stereo. Take the swirling sound effects that accompany Stefan's vampiric super-hearing, for instance -- that's completely dulled if you don't have any rear speakers firing up. I also feel as if I should point out how great the music scattered around each episode can be. Among the many highlights are contributions by Bat For Lashes, Metric, Phoenix, Neko Case, and Surfer Blood. Even with all of these licensed songs, the thunderous snarl of its score, and the havoc that's wreaked on-screen, The Vampire Diaries' dialogue is still balanced flawlessly in the mix. A few lines do wind up sounding a bit clipped, but that's not even a little bit unusual for a TV-on-BD release and is too infrequent to ever be a nuisance.

I still think lossless audio ought to be a standard for Blu-ray releases, and pretty much every other studio out there is doing it for their season sets. At the same time, if you skip past the icons lighting up on your receiver and just listen to the audio, it's tough to find much to gripe about. It's not as active or aggressive as a theatrical release or anything, but for a TV series, The Vampire Diaries sounds a good bit better than average.

Also offered here is a stereo Portuguese track. There are nine subtitle streams in all: English (SDH), French, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish. "
http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/45457...st-season-the/

I can only go by what I hear coming out of my TV speakers.
I just dont understand why there is such a variation in sound volume and differences between spoken and non spoken audio on blu rays, its not like this on DVD.
Most blu rays the balance is fine but a few are just terrible.
Sent vampire diaries back to amazon as very poor PQ along with awful sound are not worth the extra money.