7 ms·

Just want to share a completely different cause of the same symptom, I'm curious if anyone else has experienced: I watch movies at home with Netflix on a PS4 Sl

by gkop 5y ago

Just want to share a completely different cause of the same symptom, I'm curious if anyone else has experienced: I watch movies at home with Netflix on a PS4 Slim plugged into an TX-NR636 receiver running in bi-amp stereo mode. Netflix defaults the audio to 5.1, and this causes muffled dialog and extremely loud music and explosions. When I manually choose stereo in Netflix, the sound comes out perfect. My searching online suggests my receiver is not doing its job properly, since it should losslessly mux the 5.1 to stereo (it officially supports the four speakers in bi-amp stereo mode configuration), but I've gone through all its settings and gave up trying to fix it. I notice this issue because I'm compulsive, but other people that still have stereo speakers but receive 5.1 signals are just presumably "living with it", and suffering muddled dialogue...

rrrrrrrrrrrryan 5y ago
> it should losslessly mux the 5.1 to stereo Downmixing 5.1 to stereo is almost always trash. I've never come across a solution that does it well out-of-the-box. Most people imagine 5.1 as stereo, just subdivided into front and back, with an added center channel for funsies. In reality, it's basically mono. The center channel is the main thing, which delivers most of the dialogue, and there are 4 auxiliary speakers sprinkled around you for sound effects. When downmixing 5.1 to stereo, you should turn up the volume of the center channel a ton before splitting it up to the left and right speakers. This is rarely done in reality, so you end up with a weird mix where the sound effects and off-screen noises are way too loud, and the would-be-center-channel dialogue is way too quiet.
- gkop 5y ago
  Thank you! Who do I blame in my setup then? Any idea why Netflix doesn't allow configuring a default to stereo? Or why my PS4 doesn't have a choice for stereo for HDMI Audio Output (it just allows choosing between 5.1 and 7.1)? Is it just a conspiracy to sell speakers?? More to the point: in a world where Netflix and PS4 default to 5.1 output, should we not expect everyone with just two speakers to be getting crappy sound?
  - rrrrrrrrrrrryan 5y ago
    I think Netflix does default to stereo for 720p streams. If you're streaming video in higher quality than some threshold, only then does it default to surround sound. Basically, your TV may be better than your sound system. Stereo is the standard way to mix music (because headphones), but a dedicated center channel has been pretty much required for any home theater for a good long while. Most non-Netflix streaming services just straight-up assume you've got a setup that can properly handle surround sound if you're streaming any 4K content.
    - gkop 5y ago
      Ok then! Thanks. I hereby posit that an entire category of viewers are streaming HD (1080 in my case) with only stereo speakers, and suffering crappy sound for that reason. It’s sad to me because there’s no technical reason for this situation. After all, when I torrent HD movies and play them off my laptop through the same speakers, I have no problem. Somehow Sony and Netflix’s incentives are aligned against those of us with stereo speakers…
      - brokenmachine 5y ago
        The technical reason is because you don't have enough speakers... :-) Do the HD movies you torrent have 5.1 or stereo audio?
        gkop 5y ago
        But Netflix offers stereo- I just have to manually select it each time I press play. My apartment is small and surround sound isn’t worth the clutter of several more speakers. Is there a product for people with high end stereos that just does the minimum to bridge the gap to allow “decent” movie sound via surround sound “simulation”? I can’t be the only one with a nice stereo that also wants to use it to watch movies… and I still don’t understand why Netflix doesn’t support us out of the box with a “default to stereo” option. I often download torrents with surround sound tracks. For some reason I don’t have the issue with the muddled sound though (with VLC).

by gkop 5y ago

rrrrrrrrrrrryan 5y ago

> it should losslessly mux the 5.1 to stereo Downmixing 5.1 to stereo is almost always trash. I've never come across a solution that does it well out-of-the-box. Most people imagine 5.1 as stereo, just subdivided into front and back, with an added center channel for funsies. In reality, it's basically mono. The center channel is the main thing, which delivers most of the dialogue, and there are 4 auxiliary speakers sprinkled around you for sound effects. When downmixing 5.1 to stereo, you should turn up the volume of the center channel a ton before splitting it up to the left and right speakers. This is rarely done in reality, so you end up with a weird mix where the sound effects and off-screen noises are way too loud, and the would-be-center-channel dialogue is way too quiet.

gkop 5y ago
Thank you! Who do I blame in my setup then? Any idea why Netflix doesn't allow configuring a default to stereo? Or why my PS4 doesn't have a choice for stereo for HDMI Audio Output (it just allows choosing between 5.1 and 7.1)? Is it just a conspiracy to sell speakers?? More to the point: in a world where Netflix and PS4 default to 5.1 output, should we not expect everyone with just two speakers to be getting crappy sound?
- rrrrrrrrrrrryan 5y ago
  I think Netflix does default to stereo for 720p streams. If you're streaming video in higher quality than some threshold, only then does it default to surround sound. Basically, your TV may be better than your sound system. Stereo is the standard way to mix music (because headphones), but a dedicated center channel has been pretty much required for any home theater for a good long while. Most non-Netflix streaming services just straight-up assume you've got a setup that can properly handle surround sound if you're streaming any 4K content.
  - gkop 5y ago
    Ok then! Thanks. I hereby posit that an entire category of viewers are streaming HD (1080 in my case) with only stereo speakers, and suffering crappy sound for that reason. It’s sad to me because there’s no technical reason for this situation. After all, when I torrent HD movies and play them off my laptop through the same speakers, I have no problem. Somehow Sony and Netflix’s incentives are aligned against those of us with stereo speakers…
    - brokenmachine 5y ago
      The technical reason is because you don't have enough speakers... :-) Do the HD movies you torrent have 5.1 or stereo audio?
      - gkop 5y ago
        But Netflix offers stereo- I just have to manually select it each time I press play. My apartment is small and surround sound isn’t worth the clutter of several more speakers. Is there a product for people with high end stereos that just does the minimum to bridge the gap to allow “decent” movie sound via surround sound “simulation”? I can’t be the only one with a nice stereo that also wants to use it to watch movies… and I still don’t understand why Netflix doesn’t support us out of the box with a “default to stereo” option. I often download torrents with surround sound tracks. For some reason I don’t have the issue with the muddled sound though (with VLC).