Direct TV Ads Too Loud!

[GatorGazor]

I like to set the TV on timer at night and go to sleep with something like the History Channel on but the ads for Direct TV are so much louder than all of the other programming that it keeps waking me up.

Does this bug anyone else? Also, do you think it would do any good to complain about it to Direct TV?

You would think they could afford an engineer to make sure the levels are consistent.

[lowdefinition]

Same. Is there a "normalize" audio feature for each D* box?

[sptrout]

Originally Posted by lowdefinition

Same. Is there a "normalize" audio feature for each D* box?

Nope. Some of the new AVRs have a feature that will level the audio output. For the rest of us you have to keep your hands on the volume control.

Funny story, but I worked in the Master Control room of a TV station 35 years ago and I had my hand on the master transmit volume control every day. The actual levels were always within FCC limits, but people still complained about commercials being higher in level. I knew that they were not. However, the way they were recorded made them "sound" louder even though the actual level transmitted was not.

[GatorGazor]

Originally Posted by sptrout

Nope. Some of the new AVRs have a feature that will level the audio output. For the rest of us you have to keep your hands on the volume control.

Funny story, but I worked in the Master Control room of a TV station 35 years ago and I had my hand on the master transmit volume control every day. The actual levels were always within FCC limits, but people still complained about commercials being higher in level. I knew that they were not. However, the way they were recorded made them "sound" louder even though the actual level transmitted was not.

That's probably because they were heavily compressed. I have a friend who is an engineer in the local TV station and he has given me the same answer that they were in compliance with the FCC limits.

It still "sounds" too loud and it is annoying. I do a lot of sound mixing at our church and the biggest complaint I have with a lot of people who mix sounds is that they use their eyes and not their ears.

[Purple_Sunday]

I've always heard that commercials are louder to get your attention. Unfortunately, they do. But not in a good way.

[TomCat4680]

i find the mute button useful when it comes to commercials

if you need the tv on to sleep why dont you just put it on a satellite radio channel? (channels 801-879) no commercials there.

[glennb1]

Originally Posted by GatorGazor

Does this bug anyone else? Also, do you think it would do any good to complain about it to Direct TV?

No and No.

It's not DIRECTV's problem to control the sound levels if they are within legal limits so you can get to sleep with the TV on.

In the past I've heard of people complaining about TV commercial sound levels being louder but I've never heard a complaint about someone trying to fall asleep with the TV on. This is a good one.
Thanks for the chuckle.

[rickbbb]

What??????!!!!!! I can't hear you !!!!

[majordude]

Somehow D* does this themselves because I've listened to OTA channels and their levels are pretty steady but the same networks over D* pump up their ads.

[lizardhowson]

Originally Posted by rickbbb

What??????!!!!!! I can't hear you !!!!

Well, that's the first one of these I have seen...Amusing !

[Pure]

yeah i notices the loudness too.

[ksp]

Originally Posted by majordude

Somehow D* does this themselves because I've listened to OTA channels and their levels are pretty steady but the same networks over D* pump up their ads.

I have to agree with majordude, my tv levels out the volume during the commercials thru OTA, but thru D* my finger is on the mute button. Also, some tv channels are just are louder then others.

[sstv]

Hi All
An Audiovox VR1 will take care of the volume problem. Because you have to access the RED/WHITE audio lines HDMI will not work.
Component hookups only

sstv

[GatorGazor]

Originally Posted by sstv

Hi All
An Audiovox VR1 will take care of the volume problem. Because you have to access the RED/WHITE audio lines HDMI will not work.
Component hookups only

sstv

Here is a quote from the Review of the product.

"That having been said, however, keep something else in mind ... the psychological aspects of sound. A lot of the audio we hear today on the air waves is compressed audio, meaning that there is less dynamic range and more sound power within the audio "package". The result is that processed audio (audio that's been compressed) sounds much louder than audio that has its normal dynamic range. That's why some commercials sound louder than the program material that they're inserted into, and why some musical segways between the program and the commercials sound so loud. In other words, it's not just the peaks of the audio that make for a loud sounding audio material, it's also how much the audio has been processed during its production. The VR-1 (or any other volume regulator) can do very little to uncompress intentional efforts to pack more audio power into a sound channel. That would be asking a lot!"

This was kind of my grip when I first posted about this. I believe the super compression on Direct TV's ads is intentional. They could fix it if they wanted to, but they probably don't because they hold all the marbles in the game. They want their ads to stand out and they have the power to make it so.

[sstv]

Hi All
I have two Audiovox vr1's. One in the living room and the other in my room. I use headphones most of the time in my room and the constant volume changes drove me nuts. I added the Audiovox and now no jumping for the volume control or mute button, just sit back and enjoy my Directv. Is it HIFI ? no but it sure beats getting blown out of your chair.
SSTV