why is dvd sound so soft

chocobocorey

Distinguished
Jan 8, 2006
327
0
18,780
whenever i play DVDs on my computer the sound is always very soft, especially if i compare a music video dvd with the normal mp3 songs on my computer. the mp3 sounds much clearer and louder, and the dvd sound sounds muted and such. i have an audigy 2 with latest drivers
 

sturm

Splendid
Have you checked all the volume levels to make sure they were set at the same level. My onboard sound has volume settings for center, front, rear, and sub.
MP3s play back thru the wav volume control. The dvd may be playing back thru the cd volume control or another one.
Check the levels and see what they are set at.
 

chocobocorey

Distinguished
Jan 8, 2006
327
0
18,780
yeah i checked all volumes like wave, cd audio, etc all at max. its not even just the sound, its like the quality of the sound is just significantly worse. i use powerDVD. none of you guys have noticed if you just play a DVD of music, compared to with the mp3 you have, a difference?
 

astrallite

Distinguished
Sep 18, 2005
1,464
0
19,360
Two reasons:

Your mp3s and avi sources are "compressed." In other words, by limiting the frequencies a file has a play, the other frequencies can get louder.

A DVD outputs very high quality audio, usually 1-48KHz, maybe higher. A 128kbps mp3 might play from 20-16KHz and a brick wall filter outside of that range.

Another reason is, DVDs aren't wave sources, whereas computer sound cards boost wave sources by +12db.

Essentially this is why there are home theater speakers, with multiple drivers, and large, firm speaker cones and tweeters that can play a wide range of frequencies accurately, and with a lot of power and gusto, with low distortion, to tackle the issue of accurate reproduction of a higher quality, more accurate source.

While 20-20KHz may be enough at low listening levels, part of the home theater experience is "feeling" the sound, which is why the range extends to a minimum of 48KHz (as well as other reasons). Our perception of the loudness of sounds increases as the volume increases (what I mean here is, our hearing range expands as the volume of those frequencies expand). A 60db 20hz signal is perceived as loud as a 20db 3,000hz signal in our heads. But as the volume goes up, our ear's ability to "nullify" frequencies decrease. When you get up to 100+db, our perception of a 20hz signal is the same loudness as a 3,000hz signal. So more resolving speakers, and a higher quality source is needed for HT, which operates at very high volume levels.
 

chocobocorey

Distinguished
Jan 8, 2006
327
0
18,780
(bows head to you) thanks, ive been trying to find an answer for that for at least a couple years now. so its just something ill have to live with then, dvds will always sound softer than mp3s on a computer. so then if i was to rip my music DVDs onto my computer as divx files, would they sound louder then?
 

dvdpiddy

Splendid
Feb 3, 2006
4,764
0
22,780
power dvd dump it it sucks more than a gay vampire"""""""""(I want to suck your c**k lol)""""""""""""" but seriuosly power dvd is sh!t compared to quicktime and real player!

wtf!!!! 8O 8O 8O 8O 8O 8O :? 8O 8O :wink: what don't you have a sense of humor chuck hissle?
 
G

Guest

Guest
I have the same problem. So except for going to the shop and buying a home entertainment system for my computer, there is nothing we can do to solve the "soft playback" problem? Crap!!
 

astrallite

Distinguished
Sep 18, 2005
1,464
0
19,360
I have the same problem. So except for going to the shop and buying a home entertainment system for my computer, there is nothing we can do to solve the "soft playback" problem? Crap!!

It's not a problem, it's a physical limitation. Yes, your bike won't cruise at 40mpg, and you really do need to buy a car to fix the "problem."