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Should I get a system with a centre speaker?

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    Should I get a system with a centre speaker?

    It’s driving me nuts.

    People speaking quietly and then CRASH BANG WALLOP!!!!

    I have a PS4 Slim hooked up to my telly via HDMI and regardless of the source it’s the same issue - quiet dialogue but loud sound effects. In fact, sometimes sound effects are quiet too if they’re dead-on.

    The PS4 is set to PCM but it happens regardless of the audio out priority setting(bitstream Dolby or bitstream DTS) but then it’s only a priority setting, not forcing the audio as such. My telly doesn’t say what the audio input format is. Older PS4s and the PS4 Pro can force stereo because they have optical out but the slim only has HDMI so it relies on whatever info the telly gives it.

    I’m considering a sound bar. Right now I have the TV connected to our hifi and it plays sound through both its speakers and be hifi. The hifi speakers are bassy but not as clear so using them in tandem sounds good.

    I was wondering if a sound bar that specifically deals with 5.1/etc would help. The ones at reasonable prices are just stereo so I’m worried I’d simply be moving the problem to another device rather than solving it.

    I feel like simply forcing stereo wouldn’t help because there would need to be some downmixing involved. Otherwise I’d only get the left and right channels. I suppose that’s not happening because I can hear sounds that would go to the rear speakers.

    If the soundbar simply downmixes the same way that either my TV, PS4 or both are downmixing, I guess it’ll sound the same. In which case, I was thinking to get a sound bar with a centre channel as well as L/R so I could turn that up a bit.

    Are films just mastered like this now? With quiet dialogue and loud sound effects?

    The Amazon Prime video app has an option to disable 5.1 and his helps a lot, but the other apps don’t. Nor do Blu-Rays(which are also set to PCM).

    I can’t seem to find any decent explanations online.

    #2
    Having a centre speaker doesn’t help me much (I have a 5.1 surround system) , I have taken to watching everything with subtitles for the very reason you describe otherwise my wife is constantly telling me to turn it down every time there is a bit of action

    I have tried adjusting the centre speaker and it barely helps, it seems a lot of movies are mastered this way now, my old AC3 laserdiscs behaved a lot better in this regard and don’t have the same problem with my PS3/PS4

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      #3
      It's how the movies are encoded.
      You could buy an amp that has a night-mode feature, or if you just have movie files on your pc you could demux, add a compression to the audio then remux them.
      Or if you watch them from PC, VLC has real time compression.
      There isn't much else you can do, as far as I know anyway.

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        #4
        Thanks for the replies, guys.

        I had a bad feeling it was just how the films are. PS4 has dynamic range control but only for BR and DVD. We’ve had too many issues with older rented BRs so now we rent from Amazon if it’s not a new film.

        I might still get a sound bar anyway. I’m eyeing up a Yamaha YAS-108 as it does Bluetooth. Not looking to get an amp but thanks for the night mode idea. I’ll check which ones have that.

        Regarding subs: we watch English films with Japanese subs so I have to concentrate to read them if I can’t hear the dialogue well.

        I had a feeling that adjusting the centre speaker would just make those sounds louder so any explosions would also be loud and we’d be back to square one

        So the bottom line is this isn’t a downmixing issue but how the audio has been mastered in the first place(for people with big speakers?)

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          #5
          Centre speaker is a game changer imo. I set my amp to +2 on centre speaker and it’s all perfect basically

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            #6
            Yeah crank up the centre channel on the amp = all set

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              #7
              Most decent amps come with mic setup now so you just override whatever it comes up with +2 on the centre, as above

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                #8
                Would a centre help if there’s no amp though? Doesn’t sound like there’s any separation between speakers running everything through the TV, just basically the same sound out of all of them.&nbsp;<br><br>I think an amp plus centre is required.&nbsp;

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                  #9
                  Ah I was talking about a full 5.1 setup. Yeah just sticking another speaker in the middle won’t help.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Without an amp, putting a cactus in the middle would be cheaper and the same level of effectiveness

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                      #11
                      Anyone got any cactus recommendations at a good price?

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                        #12
                        Sudden influx of sign-ups with suspiciously botanical orientated usernames....

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