How Do You Mark...or Do You Mark Your DVD's

[Prof.]

I was going through my regular procedure yesterday, after getting a new DVD, and wondered whether anyone else goes through the same procedure that I do, or some other procedure..or no procedure at all..

What I'm talking about is classifying each DVD that comes into your collection..Not the type of movie it is, but the actual audio and video settings..

When I get a new DVD, I first of all play it right through, setting the level as it plays through, for my preferred listening level..
I take a note whether it's DD or DTS, and what the aspect ratio is (not always the same as written on the cover)..
Also, sometimes with some DVD's you have to go into the menu and switch off Subtitles, otherwise if you just press play, the subtitles come up automatically..very annoying.."The Haunting is" one that does that..

After the movie has finished, I place a stick-on white sticker inside the case and mark it in the following manner..
I place a small RED stick on spot on the white label if it's a 2.35:1 movie...A YELLOW spot for 1.85:1..and a GREEN spot for 1.78:1..
I then write on the level that I've decided on, whether it's DD or DTS and whether I need to adjust the subtitles before pressing play..

This I find makes it very easy for having everything set right, the next time I play that particular DVD..and much quicker in setting up before playing..

Does this sound familiar to anyone, or am I just being fanatical?

If you have a procedure, please let us know...

[Sonnie]

Seems like every time I play a DVD that everything is already set... or auto sets. A couple of DVDs I have to set to DTS, but the option pops up right at the beginning as a reminder.

[Prof.]

Ah!...I don't have my receiver flagged for any type of sound...I set it manually, since I have several sources, including DD, DD-EX, DTS, DTS-ES. and 2Ch. Analog..
Maybe it would be simpler if I just flagged it for DTS (most of my library) and changed it when neccessary..

[Mark Techer]

Nope don't mark them, just load and play them I will select DTS if I know that it is on the disc, but my main concern is that A the disc is 16:9 enhanced, and B if it is 2.35:1 for CIH...

Mark

[Prof.]

Mark Techer wrote:

Nope don't mark them, just load and play them I will select DTS if I know that it is on the disc, but my main concern is that A the disc is 16:9 enhanced, and B if it is 2.35:1 for CIH...

Mark

Hmm...So no one sets a listening level?..
How do you determine what improvements have been made, after any tweaking on the audio side?
We all know that by just slightly increasing or decreasing the volume can make a big difference in the perceived dynamics of the sound..at least it does in my theatre..and certainly increasing the volume more than the last time you played a particular DVD, can make it sound more dramatic..particularly in the bass regions..

[yourgrandma]

I can't sit through a whole movie without fiddling with the volume. I have forced myself to leave the volume alone, and its tough. I usually rember if a disc is dts or not, and I often check anyway, so i dont eally need to label them.

Its all about enjoying the movies. If that helps you get more pleasure out of it, great, but please know that you are one obsessive compulsive dude!!

[Mark Techer]

Prof. wrote:

Hmm...So no one sets a listening level?..
How do you determine what improvements have been made, after any tweaking on the audio side?

I calibrate my system using a digital SPL meter that displays in 1/10th of a dB, making it as analogue as a digital could get. I also use this meter becuase it has a self calibration feature, where you work off 94dB to ensure the meter is accurate.

I then calibrate all main channels to +75dB with the meter set to C weighting and SLOW response. I set the Sub-woofer to read 4dB higher based on information in Tom Holman's (yes formally Mr.THX himself) book "Surround Sound - 5.1 Up And Running".

My AVR is THX Select, and it displays DN readings for each disc. If there is no DN reading, then it is becuase the disc is mastered at the correct level, but if it is not, the DN reading might be someing like DN+4 in which case I now turn the master volume down 4dB, so if I was to listen at 00dB reference, I would now listen at -4dB, and it would be percieved at the same level.

I found it interesting watching TV adds on one of the DTV stations where the DN reading were in the order of DN+9. No wonder we percieve them as "loud".

There are some that believe that the DN in the system automatically makes the level adjustment. Only if that were true - well mine does not anyway. I've installed many AVRs with DN readings and I don't seem to recall any automatically making that adjustment.

There was also talk about auto re-eq as well where a code in the DTV signal would activate re-eq when required. To my knowledge, that never happened either...

Mark

[Prof.]

Mark Techer wrote:

I calibrate my system using a digital SPL meter that displays in 1/10th of a dB, making it as analogue as a digital could get. I also use this meter becuase it has a self calibration feature, where you work off 94dB to ensure the meter is accurate.

I then calibrate all main channels to +75dB with the meter set to C weighting and SLOW response. I set the Sub-woofer to read 4dB higher based on information in Tom Holman's (yes formally Mr.THX himself) book "Surround Sound - 5.1 Up And Running".

Yes Mark..My system is calibrated for the same settings as yours..only I use an analog SPL meter..
But how would you determine any improvements you might make through tweaking on the audio side, if you don't have a "reference" level to begin with..?

My AVR is THX Select, and it displays DN readings for each disc. If there is no DN reading, then it is becuase the disc is mastered at the correct level, but if it is not, the DN reading might be someing like DN+4 in which case I now turn the master volume down 4dB, so if I was to listen at 00dB reference, I would now listen at -4dB, and it would be percieved at the same level.

My Yammy doesn't display DN readings..at least that I'm aware of..
WOW!!..-4dB listening level!! There's only 3 DVD's that I can listen to at that level and the're Star Wars 1,2 & 3..
But how does that DN reading relate to what is comfortable to you personally, in your theatre environment?

I found it interesting watching TV adds on one of the DTV stations where the DN reading were in the order of DN+9. No wonder we percieve them as "loud".

So true..

[Prof.]

yourgrandma wrote:

I can't sit through a whole movie without fiddling with the volume. I have forced myself to leave the volume alone, and its tough.

And it would seem that you're not on your own, when it comes to twiddling the volume control during a movie..
This is why I set my preferred listening levels , and they are different for a variety of DVD's, ranging from -4dB to -10.5dB so I always know what level a particular movie sounded best at, and I never have to change the volume after the movie starts..
Even with rentals..I'll go into a chapter first that looks like there's some dialog..set it to what sounds the right level..and then go back to the start..and don't touch the volume again..

Now that's being obsessive compulsive..
But I should add..That just seems logical to me..