Very good point. Didn't even think about that. At home we use a soundbar because of that.

Lol yeah. Surprised no one made that yet.

Even if you can hear them, you'll still need captions because actors today mumble so much.

Technically speaking it's very easy to implement, it's just a compressor, oldest thing in audio after maybe the EQ.

VLC has a compressor under effects, if you're using Linux you can add effects to pulse or pipewire really easy too.

I listen to The Archers while driving sometimes. And it's annoying because some characters in it speak quietly and the others loudly so I cannot hear the quiet one over the engine

You don't hate dynamic range, you hate bad mixes, two different things, without dynamics audio sounds like shit. An explosion is supposed to be louder than talking speech.

It's just not supposed to try to mimic the absurdity of an actual explosion, to the point of discomfort.

Also, like said before in the parent comment, most consumer systems don't even even have the dynamics to reproduce it without distortion (or damage the woofers).

Imma be honest, I don't see why the explosion should be louder than speech. I can see the boom; I can tell that it's an explosion. It doesn't need to be reinforced to be through volume.

French dubs aren't dumb.

It's funny how for the mainstream things only get better and better for video, but audio gets the shaft. And I am guilty of this too. I am admittedly kind of a videophile but not an audiophile. Like I have decent headphones and I play FLAC music from my Jellyfin server, but if I am watching something on a TV that's only using TV speakers it doesn't bother me.

But the good audio setups are available, of course. So I also get that it would be a shame to master the audio to target crappy little TV and phone speakers. Maybe a range of good dynamic range compression settings needs to be standard on everything.

Yeah I can't hear the dialogue, but when those two characters kissed I could hear everything happening in their mouthes and that's what's really important.

Two characters kiss in deep space 9 and it sounds like a kiss irl. Two characters kiss in superman (2025) (or almost any modern media) and I'm listening to a 30+ second close-up of the actors trying to wetly suck the other's lips into their mouth. Why??

This is good for the source audio itself for complicated reasons, but why tf isn't stable sound more standardized?? It's just a compressor!! Just send the values for the compressor in the metadata!!

Because cinema is supposed to be immersive, it's supposed to take the audience into the action, it's supposed to make you feel like you're there. Dynamics play an important part of this.

It's not enough to acknowledge that there has been an explosion or a monster has screeched, it's important that the viewer feels in danger, like the monster can actually harm the viewer. To get that adrenaline pumping.

Ofc when your levels are ridiculously exaggerated and you stretch over to the volume control all the time, then the immersion is broken because instead of watching the film you're too busy riding the fader.

Center speaker is matched to stereo front, rear are intentionally under powered… as someone who appreciates good sound - the mixing on most every movie is fucked (and some TV - HBO looking at you). It’s not a set-up issue.

Interviews with sound mixing techs indicate this is because everything is optimized to theatres and then only slightly remixed.

For the basic consumer we would much rather have audible dialogue than ear shattering gun shots…

Hadn't it happen to me in a while and the last week we watched KPop Demon Hunters and that was annoying. Holy shit it was so bad.

That should be optional. I don't wish to be "immersed". I just wanna see the story. Sure, make the "extreme" experience a possibility for those with a taste for the subtle things in the art or whatever, but don't push it onto all of us.

Because ANYTIME there are sounds that are way louder than dialogues, of course I'm gonna reach for the remote, because holy shit.

Plus, that idea of dynamic range is what allows ads to be so damn loud compared to everything else.

My GF and I watched it last week and had the same issue.

Well, it's now cinema is supposed to be.

Ideally they could make two mixes, one for serious viewing and good systems and another for bringe watching or bad speakers. But since that would cost more money and isn't done, a good dynamic mix is preferable because you can always throw a compressor and some limiting to a dynamic mix, but you can't recover information after it's lost. And as a film and series enjoyer I don't want my experience to be nerfed.

As for ads, I have no idea? I haven't watched an ad since I got internet many years ago. Idk how you're getting your media, maybe get an adblocker or use torrents?

Huh, I don't think I remember having audio issues while watching KPOP Demon Hunters with my mom, and usually we both will complain about that kinda stuff when watching anime/YT/playing games. Sorry bout that for y'all.

No idea why anyone thinks the kissing audio needs to be so pronounced. Drives me up the wall. Watching a tender scene, only to be ripped out of the moment by kissing audio that was recorded by having toddlers eating fettuccine alfredo for the first time.

Or--and hear me out here, Mr. Nolan--maybe have the important dialogue take place once the characters are off the speedboat.

(I assume that wasn't actually important dialogue, but I'll never know.)