To Dynamic Volume or Not?

Hi Chris,

As I ask this question, I am sure the answer will be along the lines of "personal preference", but I think I need some more info before I can figure that out. :)  I keep going back and forth between having the Dynamic Volume on Light or Off - always have Dynamic EQ on. In some ways, it seems the DV helps to keep the boomier booms from distorting or sounding too harsh, but I've also noticed a bit of a "flatness" in terms of musical content. For example, was reviewing the Blu-ray of Immortal Beloved over the weekend and with just the D-EQ on it sounded like the symphony was in the living room, but even with DV on light mode it sounded flatter and almost a little pinched. This leaves me a bit stuck...do I leave it on DV to control the highest highs and lowest lows? Or turn it off for the fullest dynamic range? Or am I missing something altogether?

 

Also, a side-question...are there any ramifications in terms of settings/levels/calculations getting lost or confused when toggling the DV on or off? Since I started trying to do more quick side-by-side (so to speak) testing the whole seems to be sounding a bit worse to me, but that could easily be my ears messing with me at this point! :)

 

Thanks in advance for your help!

Eric Carlson -
Have more questions? Submit a request

1 Comments

Date Votes
  • 0
    Avatar
    Audyssey Labs

    Hi Eric,

    Dynamic Volume was designed to control the dynamic range of the content.  In most home listening situations, the background noise in the room is higher than that of the studio.  So, the low level stuff will be masked by the noise.  If you turn the volume up, then the loud still will likely be too loud.  Dynamic Volume lets you turn up the level so that the soft stuff (and the dialog) are where you want them without having to worry about running for the remote for the loud parts.

    If you have a dedicated room with very low background noise and don't mind the peaks hitting high levels then you can run with Dynamic Volume off.  In most everyday listening situations, I think you will find it useful.

    But, in the end it's a preference feature and that's why it's not on by default.  Nothing is lost when you turn it on and off.

Article is closed for comments.