Dish sound is muddy

[wormil]

I've tried everything, different receiver, different speakers, tv speakers, but even the kids watch everything with subtitles. We have no trouble with Prime, Netflix, Acorn, YouTube, or HBO. I have old recordings on my external drive where the sound quality is far superior and the file size is larger than the same movies recorded recently. So the problem must be Dish and it seems to be getting worse. The sound is just way over compressed.

 

[HipKat]

I've tried everything, different receiver, different speakers, tv speakers, but even the kids watch everything with subtitles. We have no trouble with Prime, Netflix, Acorn, YouTube, or HBO. I have old recordings on my external drive where the sound quality is far superior and the file size is larger than the same movies recorded recently. So the problem must be Dish and it seems to be getting worse. The sound is just way over compressed.

Is this on TV Speakers or an Audio System?

 

[wormil]

Is this on TV Speakers or an Audio System?

Yes. If it wasn't clear, different speakers and receivers refers to audio equipment.

 

[Jim5506]

Must assume you have a Hopper.

So, are you putting your hdmi output through a surround sound system that captures the audio for Dolby5.1 or similar?

Is your audio out set to Dolby Digital?

 

[wormil]

Is your audio out set to Dolby Digital?

Well this is embarrassing but it was not set to Dolby digital although I could have sworn I set it up that way when I got it. I'll see if that improves things over the next few days. Although what I said about older recordings is still true and I still believe the audio is being over compressed.

 

[SandFarmer]

But it is a good 10-15dB lower than Netflix, Youtube, VOD and all the other Apps and Players I have. It's always been that way. When switching over to Netflix and forgetting to turn down the sound when the big N zooms in, it's deafening and a huge shock and things tend to move.

 

[HipKat]

But it is a good 10-15dB lower than Netflix, Youtube, VOD and all the other Apps and Players I have. It's always been that way. When switching over to Netflix and forgetting to turn down the sound when the big N zooms in, it's deafening and a huge shock and things tend to move.

If you go into the Audio Output settings on the Hopper, if you haven't already, turn off Volume Leveling and toggle the Range from Narrow to Wide

 

[wormil]

Must assume you have a Hopper.

So, are you putting your hdmi output through a surround sound system that captures the audio for Dolby5.1 or similar?

Is your audio out set to Dolby Digital?

Dolby makes it worse. This morning I remember why I switched it. With Dolby enabled the background and dialogue are the same volume, dialogue actually maybe lower in volume.

 

[wormil]

But it is a good 10-15dB lower than Netflix, Youtube, VOD and all the other Apps and Players I have. It's always been that way. When switching over to Netflix and forgetting to turn down the sound when the big N zooms in, it's deafening and a huge shock and things tend to move.

Yeah but that's not what I'm talking about, I'm talking about the sound being compressed and losing dynamic range. Voices are muddy instead of crisp and clear.

 

[Bobby]

If you go into the Audio Output settings on the Hopper, if you haven't already, turn off Volume Leveling and toggle the Range from Narrow to Wide

Dolby makes it worse. This morning I remember why I switched it. With Dolby enabled the background and dialogue are the same volume, dialogue actually maybe lower in volume.

Have you tried what HipKat suggested? The fact that you have background and dialog being the same volume tells me that you have Volume Leveling turned on. Not a good thing. Turn it off

 

[wormil]

Have you tried what HipKat suggested? The fact that you have background and dialog being the same volume tells me that you have Volume Leveling turned on. Not a good thing. Turn it off

Volume leveling is off. Dolby is off because it makes the sound muddier. Set to narrow because wide makes the background louder than the voices (confirmed by the ? icon). And that still wouldn't explain why old recordings sound better.

 

[TheKrell]

I'm talking about the sound being compressed and losing dynamic range. Voices are muddy instead of crisp and clear.

And that still wouldn't explain why old recordings sound better.

I am mystified about what could be causing that. Did you say you took your receiver out of the loop too and just connected the HDMI cable directly into your TV and it still sounds muddy?

 

[wormil]

I am mystified about what could be causing that. Did you say you took your receiver out of the loop too and just connected the HDMI cable directly into your TV and it still sounds muddy?

Yes. I'm left with bad sound from Dish. What other explanation is there? Are you guys telling me your sound quality is not muddy? That it's just as good as other sources? Because I find that hard to believe.

 

[joegr]

I've had "muddy" sound before and also the background sound being as loud as the foreground sound. This was only on channels with Dolby. Channels with just stereo were find. The problem was that my center channel speaker had stopped working. I corrected the faulty connection, and everything was back to good.
Is that possible here? Are you sure your center channel speaker is working correctly?

 

[olds403]

I have a HWS connected to my Pioneer audio receiver by HDMI, then HDMI out of the Pioneer to the TV. I do not use the TV speakers on my Panasonic Plasma, I only use my external 3.1 speakers (no surround speakers mounted yet), and no issues with the sound quality from the HWS. I did have to use the calibration microphone to calibrate Pioneer audio. Audio set to Dolby Digital and leveling off.

The upstairs wireless Joey is connected to the TV via HDMI, I have the optical out from the TV going into an LG soundbar rather than the TV speakers, and the sound is good there as well.

 

[TheKrell]

Are you guys telling me your sound quality is not muddy?

Why yes, yes we are.

That it's just as good as other sources?

I hear no noticeable difference on my crappy TV speakers. This is why I asked if you had put the HDMI directly into your TV. If you do this and it's still muddy, then your receivers are blameless.

Because I find that hard to believe.

So do we! Please hook the H3 up to your TV directly and report back.

 

[olds403]

If you are using an audio receiver with external speakers, did you use the calibration microphone (placed in the listening position at ear level) to run the calibration program on the reciever? (this calibrates the speaker levels, speaker distance from listening position, and EQ)

 

[HipKat]

Yes. I'm left with bad sound from Dish. What other explanation is there? Are you guys telling me your sound quality is not muddy? That it's just as good as other sources? Because I find that hard to believe.

Hate to say it, but I think my sound on both TV's is pretty nice, but I'm no audiophile

 

[olds403]

When I moved, I used the TV speakers in my Panasonic plasma before I set up the home theater equipment and I had no issues with the sound from my HWS going directly through the TV either, Dolby Digital on, leveling off.

 

[wormil]

Tried with and without center speaker, with and without Dolby, with 2 different HT receivers, 3 sets of (audio) speakers, with and without the tv speakers, calibrated with the receiver setup microphone.

As said by someone else, channels with stereo are more clear. Old recordings have better sound. Turning Dolby off helped a lot. When it first happened I thought it was just me but then my kids and wife started using subtitles. Then my daughter had friends over and they kept saying they couldn't understand dialog. I mean it's not that complicated. I'm going to try switching to powered speakers instead of using a receiver.