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Author Topic: Star Trek: Check your volume, I guess Louis Bornwasser Film God Posts: 4441 From: prospect ky usa Registered: Mar 2005 posted 05-19-2009 06:44 PM                        "7" is a reference. There are 2 factors: If your equipment is set up "by the numbers" and is exceptional, then 7 is a POSSIBILITY. The audience must be trained to accept 7. If you run very low, that will become the "NORM" for your audience. If anything is "wrong," then 7 won't work. If all is exceptional, then 7 CAN work. Many of our customers are able to use 7, some are as low as 6 because they cater to the over 60 crowd, who demand low sound. Great way to eliminate your core audience over time. Louis  |  IP: Logged Tony Ratcliff Expert Film Handler Posts: 216 From: Madison, IN, USA Registered: Mar 2002 posted 05-19-2009 07:24 PM                     And I thought it was just me that played each movie at a different volume level. I am still analog. And the analog sound tracks have gotten horribly worse in the last few years. One film will sound awesome - clear and loud. The next film will be horrible - muffled and low. Here I was hoping that some day I'd be able to upgrade to digital and be done with all that.  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 05-19-2009 08:04 PM                        quote: Tony Ratcliff One film will sound awesome - clear and loud. The next film will be horrible - muffled and low. The "Up" trailer sounds better than the Hannah Montana movie. I think that could just be her voice though.  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 05-19-2009 10:57 PM                        quote: Louis Bornwasser the over 60 crowd, who demand low sound. I do not understand this. Their hearing has been damaged by their extremely advanced and incomprehensibly amassed age, yet they demand softer sound? Why? If anything, I'd think they demand it to be louder. They always crank the hell out of their TVs.  |  IP: Logged Chris Slycord Film God Posts: 2986 From: 청주시, 경북도, South Korea Registered: Mar 2007 posted 05-19-2009 11:34 PM                     Joe, It's because hearing aids make pretty much all sounds significantly amplified, not just the ranges that they have trouble hearing. So if you scream next to a person who's using a hearing aid, you could easily see them wincing from it.  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 05-19-2009 11:47 PM                        I think it would be easier to turn the hearing aid down or remove it than to get up (which takes them 20 minutes), wander out and complain (walking down the hall takes another 20-30 minutes), wandering back into the auditorium, finding their seat and then sitting back down (possibly 45 minutes).  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 05-20-2009 12:00 AM                     Yeah, but then they wouldn't have a reason to bitch at you. "I wasted half the movie looking for somebody to turn down the darned volume!" This way they get a free rain check and, if they bitch loud and long enough, they might get free popcorn. Most of them are retired. They have the time to spare. Old people are a lot smarter than you give them credit for!  |  IP: Logged Chris Slycord Film God Posts: 2986 From: 청주시, 경북도, South Korea Registered: Mar 2007 posted 05-20-2009 12:29 AM                     A lot of times the hearing aids can't be adjusted easily, though some people just go ahead and take them out if they're gonna be in a situation that's loud anyway, especially since amplifying something that's already loud will make their problems worse.  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 05-20-2009 12:50 AM                     Siemens makes hearing aids that come with a little wireless remote control. You just take the little clicker, hold it up near your ear and press the button for the setting you want. You can program in several different presets, one for home, office, theater or what-have-you. One of our regular customers has a set. They are pretty cool!  |  IP: Logged Mike Blakesley Film God Posts: 12767 From: Forsyth, Montana Registered: Jun 99 posted 05-20-2009 10:17 AM                        Old people dislike the surround racket more than anything. It "covers up" the dialogue.  |  IP: Logged Rod Cornelison Film Handler Posts: 13 From: Jonesboro,AR./ Craighead ,USA Registered: Mar 2009 posted 05-20-2009 10:30 AM                     years ago i turned mine to 11 and ripped the knob off!!  |  IP: Logged Martin McCaffery Film God Posts: 2481 From: Montgomery, AL Registered: Jun 99 posted 05-20-2009 10:35 AM                        I agree with Mike. Dialogue is the most important part for the little ol broad crowd. They do not come to movies for explosions or jets or gunfire. They would be quite happy with good, clean mono sound. Little ol broad, btw, is not age or gender specific  |  IP: Logged Martin Brooks Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 900 From: Forest Hills, NY, USA Registered: May 2002 posted 06-20-2009 12:04 PM                        Hearing loss isn't just about those people with hearing aids. An ever-increasing percentage of population has hearing loss, including people as young as high-school students. Hearing loss doesn't mean you hear everything lower - it means that the threshold at which you can hear low level sounds increases and/or that the frequency response of your hearing no longer follows a normal curve. Also, you don't lose hearing consistently across the band - it can be frequency limited. In my case, for example, I have hearing loss in the mid-high frequencies, but remarkably, it's normal at higher frequencies. In addition, hearing loss frequently results in being more sensitive to loud sounds. Most hearing tests only test up to about 5-7KHz, so you have to request special tests to have your hearing tested fully. A recent study showed that at least 20% of high-school students have already experienced hearing loss, due to in-ear MP3 headphones, rock concerts, etc. Levels at concerts (even Broadway shows) and clubs are now at absurd levels (IMO). One evening at such a venue can result in permanent hearing damage. One day, I predict there's going to be a class action lawsuit against such a venue, either by patrons or by employees. I create websites for musicians and virtually every musician I know has hearing loss and tinnitus. I experienced tinnitus for a year after attending a concert with a slight cold, even though I wore hearing protection. As reported in EQ Magazine (September 2002), OSHA put together a chart of maximum exposure times to various sound levels. Exposure beyond that time can result in hearing loss. It's based on an A-Weighted SPL level. The basis is 85db (equivalent to loud street traffic from five feet away) for which maximum recommended exposure is 8 hours. Loud classical music at 95db has a maximum exposure time of some 47 minutes. A subway passing (103db) has max exposure time of 7 1/2 minutes. Loud rock on stage (115db) has a max exposure time of only 28 seconds. Threshold of pain is considered to be 130db and above, but I've had pain at many rock concerts (but maybe that was caused by the quality of the performance.) It seems evident that a greater proportion of the population, especially urban residents, is going to have hearing loss at ever-increasing rates and at ever-decreasing age levels. What does this mean for the theatrical industry? It means that mixers are going to have to mix for the highest level of dialog intelligibility - something which Dolby, THX and others have been pushing for 30 years. Especially in an acoustic environment which is subject to reverberation or "boominess", turning up the level can actually make things worse. I used to frequently observe ridiculously loud sound levels in movie theaters, but that is a rare occurrence these days. It sometimes still happens with trailers, but even that happens far less than it used to. I think you have to take complaints about the levels with a "grain of salt". When someone says, "it's too loud" or "it's too soft", there's certainly a possibility that it is, especially in effects movies where the director's weak ego forces the mixer to mix it loud, but I would propose more often than not what they really mean is that, "I can't understand the dialog."  |  IP: Logged Jack Ondracek Film God Posts: 2348 From: Port Orchard, WA, USA Registered: Oct 2002 posted 06-20-2009 01:23 PM                        OK, then here's a question. The latest "setting request" comes from Technicolor. They describe situations in "The Proposal", where audience laughter (!) is drowning out subsequent dialog. Calling it a "sound problem", they're asking you to fix the issue by adjusting your setting to "7.5". They say this will "translate to 88 dbc (slow)". What does that mean? Is it wise to ask the theatre to turn the volume UP? How does audience reaction result in a "sound problem"? Is this monumental waste of paper justifiably "green", given the likely result of all these notices? It's interesting enough that we're told by the studios how to (generically) set our sound systems. Next, we'll be getting emails, describing how to confirm the proper number of perfs in our loops. Oh, wait... Brad and Joe have already done that!  |  IP: Logged Kenneth Wuepper Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1026 From: Saginaw, MI, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 06-20-2009 04:08 PM                     Jack, The problem they are addressing with volume change is a common one in comedy. It is called "pacing". That is where the comic gives the audience time to breathe and to laugh before delivering the next line. Turning up the volume will not fix bad pacing but it will readily train the audience not to laugh. If only we had learned something from VAUDEVILLE! KEN  |  IP: Logged

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