When I play Fellowship of the Ring on DVD with everything set in dolby5.1 The voices are way too quiet.
If I try other modes the voices come to an acceptable level, but the rest of the sound is not as good. It loses it’s ‘3dness’.
Is there any way to make the voices acceptibly audible while maintaining the advantages of dolby 5.1?
Just a thought (I don’t much about computers or speakers) but did you check that the microphone (assuming you have one) is off.
If it’s on, the sound from the speakers is reduced greatly when you play a DVD or video/audio clip.
I was going to say that as well…mute the microphone, and if thats not the problem then you could upgrade your sound card…do you have Sound Blaster?
I don’t have an actual microphone. And the microphone channel is muted in the mixer. (I make sure it is whenever I am in the mixer)
The sound from the speakers is fine (incredible in fact) except for the voices, they are too quiet.
SoundBlaster Live 5.1 - bought today. And Creative Inspire 5.1 speaker system - also bought today.
P.S. Any subsequent posters bear in mind - this is in GQ, not IMHO. I do not want to see your opinions about my sound card and speaker system (although I am of no authority to tell you not to post them, I am just saying I don’t want the see them) I just want answers.
Thanks to sleeping and fauxpas so far.
your welcome…if any more assitance is need call us. 
The voices of the main dialog is directed to the center channel. You may be able to simply adjust the balance to emphasize the center channel.
This is a common problem if you cables are miswired. Since the voices are center channel, having both left and right combined tends to result in voices going away while sounds that are mainly to one side come out okay. Check that you have everything hooked up right.
I’ve always had this problem watching DVDs. The main cause is that DVD audio tracks are just EXTREMELY quiet, you can more than double the volume digitally without dynamic range compression and without clipping. The only solution I’ve found at play time is to just max the volume on my speakers. If this doesn’t cut it for you, the Creative Mixer application should have a digital amplifier function available, or your DVD playing software may also have an audio boost facility.
Moderator’s Note: General Questions is for asking or answering questions. It is not for gratuitous insults.
Besides - the insulter did not read my post. He would have seen me say all but the voices are high enough.
I have no control over the balance on my center speaker. And I am quite sure everything is wired up properly (confirmed whenever I test - “front left” “center” “front right” “rear left” rear right" all come from the correct speakers, at the same volume as eachother)
I am not at my computer right now. I will check and check and check for some kind of amplify voice track option.
Not necessarily balance, but if you can control your center speaker volume (is there a test signal you can send to each speaker, testing/tweaking volume settings?), that should fix things up. Works for most home ent. centers, anyway.
Along with the last post, my experience was with home entertainment centers, I just assumed that your PC with 5.1 sound would include the ability to adjust the volumes between the channels (tune, if you will). But I know what they say about assuming…
My center speaker is part of the ‘front’ speakers, and I can only adjust volume between front and back (balance). I cannot adjust volume for individual speakers. (not with the software I’ve got anyway)
(Banned after 7 posts. I think it’s safe not to take that to heart)
Nearly all lanes explored (I’ll explore the remaining ones when I get home) with dead ends - I have a followup question…
Does anyone know of any dvd playing software that allows me to alter the volume of the voice track on dolby5.1 (or all for that matter) dvds while leaving the other tracks at the same volume?
P.S. Thanks for all the help so far.
That is really surprising. I would expect any system supporting 5.1 sound to allow you to adjust each channel. Having only Front to Back balance (fade) just doesn’t seem adequate. Would you mind sharing the make and model of the sound card you are using to send 5.1 sound to your speakers? It would seem to me that they should provide the software that will allow you to tune the system.
Lobsang, it’s not so much a matter of boosting the voice track (I’m not even sure there is such a thing), but finding software that will allow you to control the volume of each speaker independently of the others.
Unfortunately, I can’t think of any software that does this (me having a puny 2.1 and all).
From my second post…
FWIW, I watched FOTR on a Playstation 2 today, and I was frustrated that the voices were very quiet. No surround sound, either–just a left and right channel. Have you had this problem with other movies?
I, too, just watched LOTR:FOTR on extended DVD and heard the score beautifully, but whenever speech came on, I found that I was unable to hear the dialogue adequately. I found this happened much more often with Sam and Aragorn than the other characters; could Sean Astin’s and Viggo Mortenson’s voices be at a certain timbre that eludes my speakers? Anyway, I’m playing this DVD on my TV, and I haven’t the faintest clue as to brands or cards or all this speaker talk. I do know that my blue wire is marked ‘L’ and my red wire ‘R’. My yellow wire is marked for ‘video.’ If someone could be so kind as to point me in the direction of advice termed as “Your blue wire is wrong,” or some such dumbed-down wording, I would be very appreciative. Many thanks!