Soundbars

[mijj]

.............................but we are both disappointed that neither of them has ever made speech crisp and clear, especially where background music is played at the same time. ...................................

This is a huge problem for me with modern movies and tv dramas. The sound engineers just dont get the balance of speech v. music right. Added to that nearly all dialogue seems to be presented in a whisper by the actors. I think he issue is that when they are filming the scene the director can hear perfectly well what is being said as the stage operates with zero background noise, but the sound is then added in the post production phase effectively drowning out the actors whispered lines.

I often get ridiculed by my family for the amount of old 40s and 50s B&W movies I watch. They say things like "I don't know what you see in those old films" to which I reply "It's not what I see in them, its what I can ***** well hear in them!"

I am glad to hear that I am not the only one. I invariaby give uo with the TV because the music is so loud I am unable to hear what is being said. Subtext can be an answer but that can be almost impossible as some go so fast.

WTD you are correct., that model is no longer available. I do see a range of prices though and would not like to pay too much and get a lemon so to speak. Are there recomendations? Prices? What models do not work?
Jim.

[Mr Bones]

If it stops generally caused by a power cut surely the TV stops as well.

oddly yes
I actually meant the connection will stop working when the power is restored. Very annoying little niggle. On the whole though it's very good.

[Walkingthedog]

Mine turns itself off if it doesn’t receive a signal for 20 minutes.

[Walkingthedog]

I recommend the Pioneer soundbox.

[Puddles]

I have noticed that when watching a movie the adverts in between are much louder so I always mute them when they arrive. I have also noticed that the quality of sound since the broadcasters changed to digital is now all over the place and not as constant as the sound used to be.The old movies with the stereo Dolby system come across much better but the older the movie the more crackle made from the original wear on the mono optical sound track.
Puddles

[Walkingthedog]

We really need to admit that it is our age that causes the problem. My kids don’t have a problem.

[teedoubleudee]

We really need to admit that it is our age that causes the problem. My kids don’t have a problem.

You are correct of course, but why does it have to be that way? Old movies used music cleverly to add dramatic effects during pauses in spoken lines. Think of a movie like Jaws. It has a brilliant sound track throughout but you never miss a word. Turning the volume up of course doesnt help as it just winds up the damn music as well. I just hope these directors and sound engineers live long enough to experience it themselves!

Sorry to go on about this but it really is one of my major pet hates and regularly spoils my evening's entertainment. I'll be quiet now, cue music.

[Mountain Goat]

We really need to admit that it is our age that causes the problem. My kids don’t have a problem.

You are correct of course, but why does it have to be that way? Old movies used music cleverly to add dramatic effects during pauses in spoken lines. Think of a movie like Jaws. It has a brilliant sound track throughout but you never miss a word. Turning the volume up of course doesnt help as it just winds up the damn music as well. I just hope these directors and sound engineers live long enough to experience it themselves!

Sorry to go on about this but it really is one of my major pet hates and regularly spoils my evening's entertainment. I'll be quiet now, cue music.

I do not remember the correct technical term to it but this has been discussed many times over the years on one of the autism sites, as it is quite a common issue. One may also find that one may have more difficulties as one gets older as ones abilities to fine tune are not so sharp.
I have had these issues since a child where if many people are talking at once that it is hard for me to listen to just the one person, and I assumed everyone had this issue, but apparently not. Noisy school halls where there were lots of children talking, shouting and screaming.. Well. I would have my fingers in my ears and still it was too much. As the halls were used during breaks where the weather was wet, the mix of the noise heightened the claustrophobic "Hemmed in" feeling, so I used to be outside hiding somewhere in the rain trying to avoid teachers, as they would send me in the hall if they saw me... As I would rather sit through classes soaked through then face the noisy hall. Occasionally when teachers left the classrooms the enviroment was noisy again and I would sometimes be in tears with my hands over my ears as the many different noise sources at the same time was too much to cope with. Harmanizing those sounds and it is a different matter. It would not be an issus if all were singing for example, (Though if it was too loud singing my eardrums would vibrate).

But coming back to this issue where the music overplays the actors voices. Yes. I also feel it is poor sound organization.
I often hear this issue in churches where the over enthusiastic church bands seem to think their music needs to be full volume. Some pop videos are also like this and it spoils an otherwize good song.

Now it is mentioned about youngsters having no issues. Now I have noticed now I have passed my mid 40's that if I am watching the TV and my nephew who is staying with us tries to talk to me at the same time (He has a habbit of talking about what is on TV but he does not stop as he expects me to be able to hear him and the TV at the same time) that no matter how loud I turn the TV up, I have to abandon watching TV and head upstairs to my bedroom and put my head under the pillow to get some de-stress time (The trying to cope with the different people talking and prehaps noisy background music on top is too much. I could have coped with someone talking and music, but add an external person talking loudly (He naturally increases his volume if I put the TV up) then it is all too much to cope with).
I think that the situation can be highlighted due to having faceblindness when it can take concentration to keep track of who is who in a movie. It may be ok if all the bad guys look the same but if the good and the bad guys look the same one has no hope! I only get issues when people have certain types of faces, and they all seem to have been to the same on stage movie hairdresser! A classic example is the bad guys in the Matrix. Ok. They are supposed to look the same in their suits so I couldn't tell which is which, but as they are all collectively bad guys it is not an issue. I can watch the film without any problem. But take those same people who were picked out for the movie because they looked exactly alike, and put one as a good guy and try and watch it! Haha! It does not work! But change the good guys clothes to be different and even though they had the same faces, it may not be easy, but the film can be followed... But ones mind is constantly "Looking" to pick up on clues as to who is who. Add a poud external voice and one has an enviroment like I had when I was in school... Cant take any more. Need some de-stress!

[mijj]

I recommend the Pioneer soundbox.

Thanks WTD. At googling (well DDG actually) their are a few Pioneer sound boxes. Is there one in particular? I am looking at £236.00 , £350.00, and £438.00. And yes I will pay that if it works. I am that p****d of with TV transmitting companies giving in to the audio guys and letting them loose on the track. It is more noticeable where there has to be an outside broadcast or the peeps on youtube use their phones to do the recording, and it sounds as if they have very poor mics, - (which comes with a free trampoline I think. Stands cost so little .....)
Jim

[Walkingthedog]

I can only recommend the SBX-30 because that is what I have. Not sure what has replaced it.