DVD2AVI audio settings questions

[C53248]

My SVCD's (of DVD's) seem to have something wrong with the audio. Usually, the voices are a bit too quiet relative to the other sounds in the same scene, as if I am missing the center channel of surround sound. I play my movies through a two-speaker stereo. Also, I would like to minimize how much I have to raise the volume to hear quiet scenes and then lower it when the loud action scene starts. So here seem to be the settings that might control these things:

Under DVD2AVI's Audio >> Dolby Digital submenu:

Dynamic Range Control: Off/Light/Normal/Heavy
I don't understand the use of "light and "heavy". Which setting gives the least range of quiet to loud? I.e., most constant volume level?

Dolby Surround Downmix: On/Off
Should I use this if my playback is through 2-speaker stereo?

Pre-Scale Decision: On/Off
What does this do? Why does it run?

Also, I have used Normalization to get the audio level up to a normal level when it's too quiet, and I guess you can use it to lower the level if it's too loud, but can someone tell me exactly what that number (0-100) means? Is it a percentage of something?

[pinoy2201]

here are the setting i alwayz put when i use to convert the audio with dvd2avi

TRack number:your desicion

channel format:auto select

Dolby Digital:decode and dolby surround sound downmix

Dynamic range control:Normal

Mpeg Audio: Demux

48->44.1KHz:High or Highest

Normaliztion: 75%

the numbers 1-100 means how much percentage you want to increase the sound level

[stanwebber]

dynamic range control/heavy will compress the range the most. dolby surround downmix is for dd3/2 5.1 multichannel ONLY; dd2.0 audio is already dolby surround 4channel pro-logic. pre-scale decision will perform a pass to find the maximum gain so clipping is avoided

[C53248]

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On 2001-11-05 14:27:41, stanwebber wrote:
dynamic range control/heavy will compress the range the most. dolby surround downmix is for dd3/2 5.1 multichannel ONLY; dd2.0 audio is already dolby surround 4channel pro-logic. pre-scale decision will perform a pass to find the maximum gain so clipping is avoided
</BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR></TABLE>

Thanks for the replies.

OK, this gets me closer: "Heavy" is heavy reduction of the dynamic range.

I'm still not quite sure why my sound seems weak for what would be center channel sounds. Maybe I just have to upgrade to a stereo with more speakers.

I use settings similar to pinoy2201. For the 48->44.1, I turned this off when I learned that doing so reduces the processing time from really long to very short. And it doesn't add time to TMPGEnc, and it still plays on my player. I didn't actually notice any difference. None of the settings seemed to affect my sound problem.

That's kind of what I thought Pre-Scale Decision was, but I still don't know how to use it. Do I just run it and it works, or do I look at the number it comes up with and somehow use that to set Normalization?

Is there a significantly better program for converting the sound from the DVD's DD 3/2 5.1?

[adam]

The normalization value doesnt just boost or lower the overall audio level. Normalizing is the process of taking the average sound level throughout the whole movie, and then adjusting the highest and lowest peaks so that they arent so extreme. This ensures that voices arent too quiet and music and sound effects arent too loud.

With that said I'm not sure exactly what the # value represents in dvd2avi, since I prefer not to use it for audio, but I presume it represents the % of normalization to perform.

Dvd2avi is an adequate DD downmixer but it is by no means the best. It is also known to cause sync problems. Whether or not you will notice a significant increase in quality using a better method depends on both the quality of your hardware as well as the quality of your ear. Azid is an excellent downmixer and definitely beats dvd2avi. It does normalizing in 2-passes, which just like multipass vbr for encoding, ensures the sound levels will be adjusted as appropriately as possible. Though the encoder is fast, the extra pass does take extra time.

Another method which I believe is higher quality than dvd2avi is to use graphedit and directshow filters. This method is also very fast.

In regards to converting from 48kHz->44kHz. You are taking a chance there. Your dvd player might be able to handle it but there is no guarantee that during high bitrates it won't break up or that the dvd player you buy further down the road will be able to play it. Quality really isnt a factor. There is no difference in quality between 48kHz and 44kHz unless maybe your a dog, and as long as your using a decent program, the conversion won't cause any degragation. Converting from 48 to 44 does take time but considering how long the full encoding process is it's not so bad. You should always do the downgrade to ensure compliance, however you should not use dvd2avi to do this. It is soooo slow. Use a program specifically designed for this like ssrc or do it in azid or graphedit. Both methods are pretty fast.

I strongly recommend checking out the audio guides on http://www.doom9.net as well as reading the audio forums there. I think you will find that most of the "experts" prefer to not to use dvd2avi to process their audio.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: adam on 2001-11-11 22:31:14 ]</font>

[pinoy2201]

yes i use azid and vobsub which also a good program....i never used dvd2avi since i got a sync problem with DVD2AVI the only thing i use it for is the video i suggest use ssrc,Azid,or graphedit w/ direct show filters like adam said..if your going to use graphedit u need to make a *.lst file to make this just open up notepad and type the full patch to your vobs file like this but with the correct path for your computer:
C:/My Documents/My Videos/vts_01_1.vob
C:/My Documents/My Videos/vts_02_2.vob
C:/My Documents/My Videos/vts_03_3.vob
C:/My Documents/My Videos/vts_04_4.vob

when u done that save your this "dvdstreams.lst" (must have this sign " with it okay)

but u dont have to do this if you ripped the vobs with smartripper:just go to setting and options and click :make a list file.....hope I have helped

[stanwebber]

i must be no expert because i actually prefer the dolby downmixing in the last 2 betas of dvd2avi over azid on my equipment & my friend's equipment. although i agree with you that the wavefs44 downsampling is detestable. i still go the ssrc & toolame route, but i think dvd2avi has azid beat. in answer to the previous question: all you have to do is set the desired normalization level & run pre-scale decision, the derived value is autoset

[C53248]

Thanks everyone.

Right now I'm trying out a Doom9 guide which includes using vob2audio.