DVD Player

Posts: 1129
Joined: 2006-05-20

I just finished watching Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. I'm guessing it would have been a decent movie......

If I could have heard anything they said!!

This has truely begun to piss me off. Every single movie I've watched lately is mixed with the vocal range obscenely low. I can hear the bullets ping off the cars with perfect clarity, I can't hear half of the conversations.

I'm currently using the DVD player that came with my laptop, and I set it up each time to get the best mix I can to highlight the vocal range. But it's just not enough.

So.......

Are there any decent DVD player programs for Windows XP that have an equalizer included? I *really* need to be able to set my own equalization so that I can actually hear what's going on in these movies.

And... I know it's not 100% the fault of my hearing. I watched Barbershop just before Sky Captain, and I was able to understand every word. Frankly, I think the sound guy for Sky Captain needs to be shot.

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Blaze
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A warrior is judged by his enemies,
A man by his friends.

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CMack

Posts: 262
Joined: 2006-05-20

Speakers may play a role as well. While the speakers on my laptop have an impressive range, it still can't compare to the speakers hooked to the receiver of my entertainment center.

Never-the-less I sometimes find that, even with my best speakers, I can't comprehend all of the dialog. I've found that putting the subtitles on really helps with understanding what is being said - sometimes even finding that some sentences that I thought I had understood were really phrased differently.

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June 5, 2005 - 1:12am login or register to post comments

Blaze

Posts: 1129
Joined: 2006-05-20

I've got 5.1 surround-sound speakers running off my laptop. :)

I can hear the vocals fine when I play music, so I know it's not the speakers. It's the free DVD player that came with the laptop. I just need one where I can set the equalization myself.

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Blaze
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A warrior is judged by his enemies,
A man by his friends.

June 5, 2005 - 9:30am login or register to post comments

FMPhoenixHawk

Posts: 1342
Joined: 2006-05-20

WinAmp with the various DVD codec plugins. Works wonders.

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Field Marshal Phoenix Hawk
41st Corsairs Regimental Combat Team
(The Black Hawks)
Federated Suns

June 5, 2005 - 6:37pm login or register to post comments

CMack

Posts: 262
Joined: 2006-05-20

PowerDVD is also an excellent choice. Though that will cost you money for the version with the advanced sound features.

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If a website crashes on the Internet and no one is there to view it, did it really exist at all?

June 5, 2005 - 6:54pm login or register to post comments

Blaze

Posts: 1129
Joined: 2006-05-20

FMPhoenixHawk wrote:

WinAmp with the various DVD codec plugins. Works wonders.

WinAmp plays DVDs? Hmmmm.... I may have to check that out.

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Blaze
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A warrior is judged by his enemies,
A man by his friends.

June 5, 2005 - 7:36pm login or register to post comments

userd73111

Posts: 24
Joined: 2006-05-20

I dont undertand why would you use your laptop as your dvd player..unless you are on the go..

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June 5, 2005 - 10:12pm login or register to post comments

TheCaretaker

Posts: 996
Joined: 2006-05-20

Or if you haver a crappy TV, or no DVD player..

I play DVD's on my computer because it gives a much better picutre on my PC than it does on my TV.

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June 6, 2005 - 11:20am login or register to post comments

Blaze

Posts: 1129
Joined: 2006-05-20

userd73111 wrote:

I dont undertand why would you use your laptop as your dvd player..unless you are on the go..

I watch them on my laptop because given the relative distances from my eyes, the two screens are the same size, and my laptop has a 5.1 surround sound speaker rig plugged into it.

My TV is ancient, and the DVD player I was given as a gift doesn't work--never has.

I've actually looked at getting a TV card for my laptop so I don't have to have a TV at all.

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Blaze
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A warrior is judged by his enemies,
A man by his friends.

June 6, 2005 - 12:41pm login or register to post comments

FMPhoenixHawk

Posts: 1342
Joined: 2006-05-20

Blaze wrote:

FMPhoenixHawk wrote:
WinAmp with the various DVD codec plugins. Works wonders.

WinAmp plays DVDs? Hmmmm.... I may have to check that out.

Yep. Just look through their plugins section. I've got the Xvid plugin, and there were about 20 more specific to DVDs.

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Field Marshal Phoenix Hawk
41st Corsairs Regimental Combat Team
(The Black Hawks)
Federated Suns

June 6, 2005 - 5:24pm login or register to post comments

thirteentwenty

Posts: 76
Joined: 2006-05-20

i was just surfing around for something that has nothing to do with this, but found it anyways this may shed some insight on whats going on there\

http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/3/3746.html

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June 7, 2005 - 3:16pm login or register to post comments

AwPhuch

Posts: 254
Joined: 2006-05-20

Blaze wrote:

FMPhoenixHawk wrote:
WinAmp with the various DVD codec plugins. Works wonders.

WinAmp plays DVDs? Hmmmm.... I may have to check that out.

VLC media player would play it better I would bet, and do it more efficiently

Brian
AwPhuch

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June 21, 2005 - 2:41pm login or register to post comments

mishra

Posts: 2
Joined: 2006-05-20

Yeah!
VLC is the best video player also for streaming video. And it's very light! :D

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July 4, 2005 - 6:59pm login or register to post comments

snoboy

Posts: 67
Joined: 2006-05-20

My computer seems to think that it shouldn't have to play DVDs. :/

Have had 0 luck with Winamp or VLC, and even PowerDVD gives me problems...

Old hardware I guess.

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July 10, 2005 - 3:05pm login or register to post comments

sikboy

Posts: 354
Joined: 2006-05-20

I once spent a good 20 minutes footering about with a friends computer to try and get it to play DVDs, he had told me he couldnt make it work. I had a bunch of programs on a disk, tried about half of them before I spotted that he didnt have a DVD drive, it was only a CD drive...

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This Space For Rent

July 10, 2005 - 4:42pm login or register to post comments

Bon

Posts: 7
Joined: 2006-05-20

There are a couple of factors that could end up producing the problem you described.

First off, some DVD's are set up so you can change the language of the text in the movie (watch it in spanish, french, etc.) which means the audio track would be divided up... sound effects on one track, dialog on another.

Sound effects are often also separated from the dialog for positional effects... the 5.1 surround sound setups for example. So it is completely possible that the dialog audio track is just at a much lower level.

you might be able to alleviate this in the settings of the DVD software you are using, by investigating a little further and making sure you are not using a Dolby 5.1 setting. Choosing a two speaker option might even everything off nicely.

the settings on the laptop audio might also help. In WinXP, open the control panel, and look at the Sound and Audio Devices settings. On the Volume tab, the bottom has speaker settings. Click the Advanced button, and try different options (stereo headphones, laptop speakers, etc.)

Also, although I highly doubt this one, it could be that you are currently in a 5.1 or even 7.1 positional audio setup, and your speakers are projecting the rear audio... this would make some sound effects oddly louder, and others as well as the dialog much softer... but this particluar possibility would be kind of obvious... as an explosion would end up being very quiet, while someone opening a door in the background would be very loud...

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July 14, 2005 - 5:41pm login or register to post comments

Blaze

Posts: 1129
Joined: 2006-05-20

Wow. A response that actually addresses the issues I'm having. Cool!

I *am* currently set up for 5.1 (though I don't know that it's Dolby, I'd have to check) because I have a 5.1 surround sound system hooked into my laptop (via USB interface, if that matters). I'd rather not switch my settings to simple stereo, since that rather defeats the purpose of buying the surround sound speakers and software. :)

I've played with the settings on my DVD player, but it only has a limited amount of presets, and not a full equalizer. I've boosted the "vocal quality" (which really doesn't seem to do anything), and I've played with the EQ presets. "Vocal" drops out the low-end completely and makes it sound hollow. "Rock" does okay in boosting the mid-range, but must have an odd curve to the EQ, because it has weird gaps.

I'll have to look at my Windows settings....

Hmmm..... it seems like switching those settings to 5.1 may have done it. I'll have to check using a DVD other than my anime, but it sounds like it may be a lot clearer.

Thanks.

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Blaze
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A warrior is judged by his enemies,
A man by his friends.

July 14, 2005 - 6:50pm login or register to post comments

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