TV Sound

[koncept]

My family has asked about the tv and there being "a lot of background and not a lot of voice". I personally do not notice it but what are some things we can try to switch those around and get more voice??

Thanks in advance

 

[mbenonis]

Hmmm...what kinds of shows do they notice this in? Also, what kind of sound system are you using with your TV?

 

[Peter]

What kind of system you are using would really help. If you are viewing shows / movies that are more then stereo, you may be having an issue with loosing the center channel (if it's not plugged in or something) and just hearing the right and left, which in movies and such are containing less and less of the vocals as more people have surround systems. At my college we have taken to doing a temporary setup of a center channel when we show films in our hall that otherwise only has stereo sound. (we are running the audio off of the film (35mm) into a real Dolby Digital 5.1 system but before our temporary setups, only L and R speakers (and a bass unit) are actually plugged in)

I really dont think most TV is being broadcast in 5.1 these days, although maybe if you have a higher end cable or something like that it is....

 

[Van]

just my two cents, It could very well be an EQ thing. since most tv's now days at least have a rudimentary " treble" and "Bass" controls you might check those. there are a lot of shows out there that are real "foley crazy" and the background noise can really overpower the dialog, I remember my Grandmother used to complain about phones ringing all the time. I thought she was losing it until I was there when she was " Watching her stories" sure enough there were a lot of phones ringing in the foley, dialed down the high end a little, problem solved.

 

[koncept]

there is no sound system being used. none of the equipment is super high end or anything (probaly average), the dvd player offer optical out or L/R. (I use L/R since its just run through the tv) they claim to notice it in movies and cable tv shows such as a sports game or tv broadcasted movies

the tv does have a L/R audio out to goto a stereo. it also has a bass and trebel control on it. the tv speaker can be adjusted to be center, on or off.

 

[SHARYNF]

If the tv has the option for center, it is probably setup to expect you to be running a surround system, are they only running the tv as the sound? if so you might look at what effect it has when you change the setting to center.

Other possibility is that your left and right is out of phase (wires reversed) and so the center which usually is equal in left and right is being dropped out. I would guess that what is happening is that the TV thinks it is in a system where there is an independent center channel, and has reversed the phase so the center is removed from the l/r

Sharyn

 

[koncept]

Ok, I tried the center option. When that is on there is no sound comming from the tv. The tv provides sound for what ever they are watching at the time.

would adding a dolby 5.1 reciever to the audio out on the tv split the signal up correctly?

 

[SHARYNF]

Sounds to me like the tv either was designed to work with an external set of speakers? or does it have an output for the sound for a 5.1 receiver?
the receiver of course would give you better sound, but I am still curious as to why the tv is behaving that way. Since it has this center channel option typically there are more connection on the tv that you need to either connect to external speakers, if it has built in amps or has the output connections for an external receiver

Sharyn

 

[koncept]

http://www.any-cell.com/BTV.pdf

That is the manual for the tv. It has connections for an external set of speakers to an amp but not a "dolby 5.1" that i can tell... I am curious why it is doing this too. the bass and treble are set at 50 but other than that everything is pretty much factory.

 

[avkid]

If the analog RCA L/R outputs are connected to a 5.1 or 7.1 surround system the system will process it into a "quasi" surround by distributing signal through frequency(sub) and direction(L/R)

 

[koncept]

by quasi, you mean it will use filters to split it up and it will not be "true" surround but it should help?

 

[avkid]

It might, it all depends on the device properties.

 

[j_blinker]

Drop out the Bass and treble until the voice stands out on regular tv shows. I often switch between an EQ following the loudness curve that sounds great for music and a more flat or mid-heavy setting that lets the emphasis be on the voice rather than than the treble and bass. More times than not too much bass (especially on small televesion speakers) is what is drowning out the voice.