We NEED a limiter!!!

[drtalk]

Ever notice when you're watching a DVD or even one you've backed up that the audio level goes from whisper silent, to blowing you outta your f*****g chair? With a strong background in DJing, producing and radio I can say that there is a simple fix...but not really. YES you can go out to your local music shop and pick up a limiter, or a compressor and put it in between your video source and your speakers or sound system. Don't think you're going to want to spend a few hundred bucks JUST for that purpose though.

I use the Sony line of editing products: Vegas & Sound Forge. Now, Vegas is a VERY powerful tool. You can use it to create HD content if you want. Or you can use it as a simple multi-track recorder and make your own tunes and mixes. I've loaded an entire 2 hour movie into Vegas for the sole purpose of normalizing, limiting the loud peaks & boosting the quite passages. Sure it works, but be prepared to let your computer to run for a whole day because after you've made your changes, you can't JUST save the file on top of the old one...you have to render it as an MPEG or what ever you prefer. The rendering process is very taxing on your processor and video card - I don't care how good yours might be, there's no way around this "waiting forever" render to complete!

Now, with that being said, it struck me that Sound Forge is an audio editing program. Maybe...just maybe I can manipulate the sound in that program and not have to re-render audio AND video. I was kinda right. The end to that story is the saving process is almost as bad as the rendering process in Vegas.

I've looked high & low...scoured the internet looking for an app that will be both practical in functionality, and inexpensive. I've found nothing worth mentioning.

It's funny...I remember when Sony TVs had a standard limiter built right into the audio menu that did EXACTLY what I'm wanting to do.

If anyone has any suggestions PLEASE let me know, this is driving me nuts!

[edDV]

From your description of the problem (some call it a feature), your wide dynamic range sound track can be instantly exported from Vegas to Sound Forge, normalized and then replaced into the Vegas timeline.

Are you complaining about the time Sound Forge takes to normalize? There is no affect on the video file if you are working with separate audio and video. If they are combined into an MPeg, then there is some processing overhead to demux and remux the new audio version.

Most Dolby Digital Decoder-Receivers have a selectable volume compression feature built in. Many DVD players offer audio volume compression as an option in setup menus. That is where the format designers assumed compression would take place, not on the DVD itself.

I agree that these features may be lacking on some computer DVD players. I think those designers assumed a S/PDIF feed to a real Dolby Digital decoder.

[guns1inger]

Why would I complain about a feature that seperates the quality audio of DVD from the crap audio of television broadcast. I would much rather have the dynamic range of DVD, given a choice. To me it is like complaining about getting less image if it isn't full screen.

[NiteLite]

Agree with guns1inger, wide dynamic range is what makes the home theater investment worth the price. Also the dynamics of SACD and DVD-Audio uncompressed high res. is what makes them a prefered choice for me.
It's more realistist. The variable dynamics of the audio in a long jam really adds life to the sound. IMO.
NL

[lordsmurf]

I value my hearing. I hate tv commercials that blow you out of the chair, and I hate DVDs that go from whispers to bombs exploding.

[edDV]

I value my hearing. I hate tv commercials that blow you out of the chair, and I hate DVDs that go from whispers to bombs exploding.

This is why all Dolby Digital decoders that I have seen include setting options for normal, "compressed" or in some cases "expanded" dynamic range.

If you demux and remux AC3 yourself or depend on other "Besweet" jockeys, then you need to take responsibility for what you/they did in their "audio sweetening studio".

A normal sweetening studio looks like this.



or this

[offline]

there's no way around this "waiting forever" render to complete

Yes there is. Demux the audio and process separately and remux after filtering with an external audio program = medium cpu overhead, and a hell of a lot faster. I would *never* attempt it the way you are doing.

[AngusMacGyver]

Hi!
My HT has a "Night mode" to avoid "sound explosion". But I only use that when I need to watch movies at low volume.

[Wile_E]

AC-3 audio on DVD's are supposed to have limited dynamic range. Read up on Dolby AC-3 specs. Vegas has settings to set up AC-3 Audio correctly(Dialog Normalization). Do not just normalize the audio with any sound editor. This is incorrect and can cause the audio to sound like it's pumping, when played back on DVD players. If you have commerical DVD's that are too loud, the audio may not have been properly mastered. -31db is the correct reference level for Dolby AC-3 on DVD.

This doom9 guide shows how to properly encode AC-3 audio.
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=56020

[edDV]

Before blaming others, research the Dolby site for proper user system setup. Also the THX site. Proper monitoring is everything. If you think a commercial disc was mastered wrong, chances are 99.7% your playback system is screwed up.

For authoring, Dolby have a wealth of pro audio editing technique plus links. Google can get you more.