Well, my analog cable is certainly not aligned then. DVD's are much softer than over-air or VHS 
tapes.

CD audio and SACD audio is louder than DVD's, which is nice and annoying since I have to reset 5 
levels to play surround SACD's vs. watching a movie. Especially annoying if the SACD has been 
super-compressed to be extra-loud.

With the tiny remote buttons and all the useless "features" on DVD players, there should be a 
level-normalize setting, particularly when listening 2ch thru the TV speaker.

-- Tom Fine

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Richard L. Hess" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, July 06, 2006 1:24 AM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] DVD audio level


> At 12:41 AM 7/6/2006, Thomas Stern wrote:
>>I find that it is the rare exception that the level on the DVD is
>>at the same level as the tv channels - usually have to increase volume to get
>>reasonable level when playing dvd's.
>
> When you get a properly aligned digital cable system and/or over-the-air DTV all properly using 
> DialNorm, everything will have migrated to a lower Dialnorm level. Normal Dialnorm for a movie is 
> about -31 dB. OTA TV is about -13 dB, so in a properly aligned DTV environment, the OTA channel 
> would send a Dialnorm of -13 and be attenuated 18 dB.
>
> This move is so there is a reallocation of the dynamic range so there is room for loud effects.
>
> If you buy into the system (and it is part of te ATSC OTA DTV system), the DVDs are probably 
> correct.
>
>
> Richard L. Hess                   email: [log in to unmask]
> Aurora, Ontario, Canada       (905) 713 6733     1-877-TAPE-FIX
> Detailed contact information: http://www.richardhess.com/tape/contact.htm
> Quality tape transfers -- even from hard-to-play tapes.