Playback Issues - Audio/Video & Power

[DoolinDalton]

"antmen" wrote:

The best thing for you to try is to see if your TV has a NONE or FLAT setting or something similar in its audio settings. Any other setting is intended to make the TV sound much better to the user, but it plays with the mixers' intended mix.
-Anthony

I believe I tried the various sound settings on my HDTV without knowing what they do or what to hear for, but I will try your suggestion when I get home tonight.

[Watchfreak]

Hi,
New to the Forum and Roku. Bought one on the $20 and free shipping deal but have only started playing with it this week.

I noticed the sound issue, low volume on my TV and my sound system both with sound effects quite loud but voice minimal and hard to understand.

After 4 days of this I discovered how to fix it.

I have a Panasonic 42 inch plasma TV (TH-42PX60U) and under the audio settings there is one called "sound equalization". Default setting is 1 but if you raise it to 4 or 5 the problem goes away. Dont have to change volume setting anymore between Roku and cable TV and voice is louder and clear. Sound effects are only affected slightly but become more realistic instead of "booming". I am guessing most newer sets may have a similar setting adjustment.

Could hardly hear or understand "Law Abiding Citizen" dialog when I first watched it and had to raise my TV volume to 20 from 12. Now its better than in a theater. I am on Comcast and changing the setting hasnt affected that much unless it has improved it. Both Roku and CC are hooked up via HDMI BTW.

Elementary info I know and maybe partially touched on before but I hope this helps someone.

Ill continue to experiment and report any other findings.

[Heyitsrick]

As mentioned by another poster, I find that my Roku outputs audio (on all channels) at a much higher gain than my other devices (cable box, blue-ray, etc.). I really have to turn the tv volume down when switching to the Roku. And no, my TV doesn't have indivudual gain adjustments on inputs.

Edit: I have a Panasonic 50U series plasma --one model older than the poster above-- and I don't have the equalization settings he does.

2nd Edit: Disregard first edit, lol. I went back in to the TV settings and found that while there is only one "master" audio section in the menu, the settings in this one section do change dynamically depending upon which source you are using. In other words, it's not like I have an audio menu for "HDMI" and another for "Component", etc. But when I switch between sources, whatever settings I had set for HDMI and Component (I have one HDMI in) change. I happened to notice that my Component settings were being boosted by 6 on its scale, a pretty hefty increase. I guess I must have had the gain boosted at some prior time with a different device attached. So much for my memory! I have the Roku on my Component in. I brought it back down to unity gain and now the audio level is consistent with my other source inputs.

[JustDaveMamm]

"RokuMarkn" wrote:

"DoolinDalton" wrote:

What if the movie that I was having this volume problem via Roku didn't have the problem when viewed on my computer? Does this encoding issue only affect movies viewed through Roku? Or should it also affect movies viewed through computer?

Netflix provides different streams to computers vs. the streams to the Roku. So playing the "same" movie on your computer is actually playing a completely different file which was probably encoded differently.

--Mark

I'll agree, Mark. My wife is constantly complaining about having to adjust the volume, scene by scene. Playing the same Netflix instant movie on a computer gives good results. We are using analog.

[lithcanine]

Doolin Dalton: I know you posted your volume problem a long time ago, but I recently bought a Roku to watch Netflix on my old regular t.v., and I am experiencing the exact same problem. I watch movies with my t.v. remote in hand so I can keep adjusting the volume. Music and background noise are deafening if the volume is high enough for me to hear the dialogue. Did you ever resolve this problem? Thanks.

[tens]

I am having the same problem when watching netflix movies through roku (HDMI) with my Phillips HDTV - low dialogue volume. I went out and bought a second speaker set for the TV because I initially thought the problem was due to my speakers. After Googling the issue, it appears that many people are also experiencing it on their computer from as long ago as 2008.

A great example would be the movie "Fear" or "Winters Bone" (or most other movies).

Basically the problem is the dialogue is low and muddy and everything else is normal or loud even. So when you turn it up to try and hear what is being said, the music, sound effects and others sounds get very loud in a jarring way. It's difficult to listen to.

An example of a video (documentary) that plays fine without this imbalanced volume issue on netflix through roku is "WW2 in HD".

I've tried adjusting settings and though it does improve a little if I remove any special surround sound and keep the sound flat eq wise, I still have to put the volume up pretty loud and it's still jarring and doesn't work when you are trying to keep the tv sound low at night.

[doctor_who42]

I'm having the same problem with my roku, I tried the same movie streaming on the wii and noticed the same problem. When I stream youtube everything is fine, it is only through netflix.

[dwlloyd810]

I'm experiencing this problem also. I suspect the cause is Dolby 5.1 and greater sound specifications in the source audio, which separates front speaker channels with dialog from back speakers and woofer channels with background and low-frequency sound effects. With a Dolby 5.1 and greater sound system (using digital audio inputs or five analog output channels) these channels have separate controls, but Roku's software blindly combines these sources, or optimizes these sources on an assumption that two-channel sound will be heard using stereo headphones or small television speakers, neither of which tend to be as loud in low-frequency ranges. It would be a simple matter for Ruku to provide a user interface for selecting the target sound system or to manually adjust output channel volumes, but there has to be a demand from users that is clearly understood by Roku engineers, who may not use their devices the way their average clients use them (with three-speaker analog Dolby 2.1 sound systems designed for computers that use stereo headphone plugs). 

Ruko, please provide an interface to select the target sound system, OR to manage the front and back balance!

[atc98092]

You are aware that you are responding to a thread almost 6 years old? More than likely your issue is something different/new. 

[atman]

I'm having this same problem as well.  I didn't experience this until recently and I've had one Roku for a couple of years.  For the record, I have two Rokus on two different TV sets.  One of them is plugged into an audio receiver, then receiver to TV.  The other is directly connected to the TV.  Both have this same issue, but only on some shows.  I experience this will all subscription services I have: Amazon and HBO NOW.  It's very annoying.  Has ROKU addressed this issue?  Is there a fix in sight?