Another post claiming someone has had enough of modern sound engineering. This time...me.

Submitted by Elbradamontes t3_yevavl in movies

So I was trying to watch The Stranger. I couldn't hear a damned thing. High volume or low volume it didn't matter. Literally every sound that wasn't the human voice was louder than the dialogue. Car doors slamming. Feet shuffling. That weird droning string...ish tense mystery sound. Background office noise. Distant fucking traffic noise!

I'm used to the music and sound effects being too loud. We're constantly on volume control. But this was next level shit.

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scificionado t1_iu06b90 wrote

I agree. I have to turn on closed captions when I watch TV.

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mediarch t1_iu04378 wrote

A lot of Movies are designed for theater sound systems. If you're watching at home on the crappy speakers built into your tv it's going to sound bad

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To_The_Past t1_iu0c4d7 wrote

Unless you're watching stuff more than 15 years old, where almost everything sounds clear and comprehensible on regular home sound systens.

Nowadays if you sit in the wrong seat in the wrong theatre, well then it's your fault you couldn't hear half the dialogue in the latest Nolan movie.

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stumpcity t1_iu0dn6f wrote

>Unless you're watching stuff more than 15 years old, where almost everything sounds clear and comprehensible on regular home sound systens.

Because you're probably listening to the stereo mix made specifically for the film.

Whereas a lot of people at home refuse to select that mix despite the fact they have shit speakers. Or don't even have 5 speakers.

Trying to listen to something intended to be sent to five discrete speakers at decent volume with a soundbar and a sub with the tv or the soundbar doing not only its own automated downmixing, but then it's own weird "surround" processing to fake the other 3 channels it's already fucking up is a recipe for disaster.

But a ton of people keep doing it.

Nolan is an outlier - his films are notorious for being weirdly mixed because he demands that weird mixing. If you're watching a film IN the theater ON a theatrical multichannel system, that sound is going to come through well.

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Alive_Ice7937 t1_iu0eihp wrote

5.1 mixing is a lot older than 10 years old.

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stumpcity t1_iu0fl7b wrote

The quote we're talking about says "more than 15 years old" which is older than 10 years, you're correct.

the phenomenon I'm talking about (people spending money on stuff like soundbars thinking it's as good as an actual five-or-seven-speaker surround setup, and then refusing to use the stereo mix when provided because of that) is relatively new, though. And is also often why people can't hear shit.

A lot of home theater stuff/TV stuff now is less about actually knowing what stuff is supposed to look/sound like, and knowing how to USE the stuff you paid money for to get the best picture/sound for your setup. It's about getting light up logos to pop up on the TV or the soundbar so you can feel like you're getting your money's worth.

A whole bunch of folks literally refuse to use the better-sounding for their situation stereo mix for no other reason than its stereo, and they paid so they can get 5.1 surround (on a setup that can't actually DO 5.1 surround). And then they wonder why a bunch of auto-processed stuff sounds bad.

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Alive_Ice7937 t1_iu0svbl wrote

My BIL got a 5.1 setup a he just had the speakers on top of and to the side of the TV so it would be "surrounded by sound"

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Elbradamontes OP t1_iu40psv wrote

Hate to interrupt y’all’s argument but any chance you want to ask whether or not I actually know this?

I’d be pretty awkward if you guys put all that work into arguing that consumers are morons if it turned out I was a sound engineer who’s recorded and mixed live events and low budget independent films. May be extra awkward if I have a 5.1 system.

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ogcouchzombie t1_iu4ca4q wrote

How bad was tenet? Eewww. Couldn't hear a word. Every single person I know has complained about it.

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stumpcity t1_iu4hfr8 wrote

>I was a sound engineer who’s recorded and mixed live events and low budget independent films.

OK?

You being a sound engineer doesn't change any of the shit I was talking about. (It wasn't even directed AT you, I was responding to someone else). Also, you complaining about sound engineering and then conveniently leaving out for absolutely zero reason that you're a SOUND ENGINEER for "low budget independent films" in the OP where you're making it sound like it's novel that you're complaining about bad audio at home is a wild choice.

Movies older than 15 years ago still actually had people behind those boards who gave a shit about mixing for stereo at home because they knew a lot of folks would be listening that way. Now, that still happens (maybe to a lesser degree) today, and those mixes are still made available. What's happening a lot more NOW is that Consumers now have a habit of forcing 5.1 shit through terrible soundbars, shitty TV speakers, or not great speakers, or less speakers than needed, with processing they're not really aware of happening by automatic process inside their TV and their soundbar.

Again - none of this has shit to do with whether you run the board at concerts or not. It's not awkward that we didn't stop to acknowledge that our discussion didn't note you mix live concerts (which is really different than what we're talking about anyway, and what you're complaining about isn't really "sound engineering" either.)

And if you have a 5.1 system at home and you're having problems hearing dialog - or anything - try the stereo mix. Even if you don't WANT to try the stereo mix because "ewww, Stereo," and then see if you don't hear what's happening a little better.

90% of the time you do.

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Elbradamontes OP t1_iu603f5 wrote

Seriously go for a walk. I know what I’m doing. The Stranger is mixed like ass. I know what stereo mix is you ass wipe it’s what I use when I run a movie through my studio monitors. Again…

I. Have. Fucking. Mixed. Audio. For. Film. What the fuck are you on about?

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stumpcity t1_iu61b2r wrote

Physician, heal thyself

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Elbradamontes OP t1_iu6pxxm wrote

Sweet Jesus Fuck. It was my TV. Shit I feel like a moron. My TV was feeding the sound into my 5.1 via optical cable (smart TV) but it was fucking up the sound. So it didn't matter what sound type I used it was fucked from the get go.

I hate to say this....but you guys were right. Fuck me.

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stumpcity t1_iu6skya wrote

Hey, at least you figured it out! And that's good to hear, for real. It sucks when the stuff you get (and care about) doesn't work the way you want it to, or the way its SUPPOSED to. I know that frustration myself.

Congrats on finding the fix man

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arealhumannotabot t1_iu0n79r wrote

I’ve wondered if they’re not putting much time in checking stereo mixes. They might mostly mix in surround because of theatres as you mentioned, but also because surround sound at home is more and more common

But someone still has to check the stereo mix

Or I wonder if some lazy teams are saving money by compiling surround mixes into stereo without a proper mix-down, and not even checking it a check at all

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Elbradamontes OP t1_iu41bcy wrote

I’m an actual real live sound engineer. I’ve worked on low and no budget indie films. I’m mostly a band/live event guy but like I said…low budget. The only thing I can think of that would make sound this bad, even if you simply turned off 5.1 and randomly panned everything…is compressor/limiter artifacts. Like when there’s too much sound beeing pumped through individual channels to be combined so that putting them through the same channel causes the compressor to overwork. Or when you use panning as a replacement for actual mixing. AKA: bad mixing. Hence my rant.

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RandomStranger79 t1_iu049m7 wrote

Another post by someone who didn't read the top comment on any of the previous thousand posts of the same topic.

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meowskywalker t1_iu0dcfb wrote

“Does anyone else hate it when people don’t say goodbye at the end of phones calls?” was once again a top post in this subreddit yesterday. People here don’t actually care that they’ve having the same conversations over and over and over.

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RandomStranger79 t1_iu0eofi wrote

"I just want to rant at internet strangers because I'm lonely or want attention" is my last favorite genre of page clogging posts on this sub.

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