TV Commercial Volume Stabilized.

Have you noticed how they have been lowering the TV program volume so they can blast you with commercials or action scenes in a movie? I've connected a Bluetooth receiver to my home entertainment system so that I could cast the TV audio over higher quality speakers and just ended up getting blasted even louder.

This became so frustrating while watching TV at night, that I became determined to find a solution. Televisions with so called automatic volume did not do the trick however, I was surprised to find professional quality stereo compressor limiters available at decent prices. Online, I found a Behringer MDX 2600 stereo compressor limiter for $25 brand new in the box. Connecting this between the Bluetooth receiver and the audio amplifier, was the perfect solution to this problem.

I set the compressor to provide about 6 DB of compression in order to bring all of the low-level whisper conversations up to an intelligible level and then set the peak limiter to provide a hard clamp just above that compression level. Now, absolutely nothing gets past the Behringer, above the zero DB limits that it is set for. Today, the remote control sits on the coffee table without requiring constant manipulation of its volume control.

The only drawback that I've noticed with this setup is that the TV volume must be controlled at the audio amplifier since the output of the TV must be set near maximum to properly drive the compressor limiter. One nice feature with the Behringer was that it has hard bypasses so that when the unit is turned off, relays completely bypass it and I can play music through the Bluetooth without being affected by the compressor limiter. Just turn it on for TV and off for music.

Shadetree Mechanic said:

I have been trying to find a simple system / device I can hook up to a tv without having a stereo system. Something I can use with computer speakers would be great.

Click to expand...

You can use line level compressor limiters with amplified computer speakers.

Shadetree Mechanic said:

Maybe I could use a pair of guitar pedals? I wonder if the line level from the tv would be enough to drive computer speakers anyway. Might need a preamp. Not quite a simple solution, might as well buy a bookshelf stereo at that point.

View attachment 69710

Click to expand...

That's exactly what I was looking at before I found the Behringer at the same price and brand new in the box. Line level output is appropriate for driving an amplified computer speaker. You would only need a preamp if you were trying to feed it with a microphone level.

Greg T said:

I stream everything and use my Roku service the most. My TV is the latest model Samsung and I have the auto-volume enabled to try to help the situation. But that seems to be confused as well because it keeps going slowly softer then louder, then softer, etc. Effects and audience noise seems to be boosted while the normal dialog gets attenuated. Who the hell comes up with these stupid ideas?

Click to expand...

When there is significant background noise, compression just adds to the problem by boosting it even more. At that point you are better off relying on the peak limiter and using very little, if any compression to control the program volume.

Captain Kilowatt said:

Yeah.....that's not exactly what they do nor is it the reason they do it. For YEARS commercials have seemed louder than program content due too higher compression levels. Compression can have the same peak volume level but higher average levels which is what makes the commercials sound louder. TV has always seemed worse than radio in that regard for some reason. Not sure why unless it is because TV guys are more concerned with image quality than with audio. We radio denizens have only audio to be concerned with, and we ALWAYS made sure our in-house produced commercials etc were at the same audio level. Each TX had a compressor/limiter in the audio change too in order to smooth out any level differences. Today however it seems everything is geared around home theatre systems and TV audio has been made the same as movie theatres. Notice how while at the movies the dialogue is fine but then the chase scene starts and you are nearly blown out of your seat? Same thing now with home TV systems. Personally I despise it......even in theatres. If my TV uses just the built in speakers and is set to AUTO LEVEL it does a really good job in keeping audio constant however if I switch it to run on external speakers as if it were in home theatre mode levels are all over the place.........just like in a movie theatre.

Click to expand...

This goes well beyond the effects of compression, raising the average volume level today. If that were the case, it would not be leaving 6 db peak excursions, to remove when the commercials come on.

Compression doesn't leave noticeable peaks like this behind. It would appear that the transition to digital TV gave them a lot more dynamic range to play with, and they are. These characteristics are easily displayed on the Behringer's input and output level meters.

I also see similar differences between one channel and the next or, between the stations primary channel, and its subchannels. As though the reduced bandwidth may also be reducing audio quality and volume on the sub channels.

Was just watching a movie streaming on Hulu that had a conversation going on inside, when a car crashed through the building. The car crash was 20 db above the conversation level. That's 100 times louder! I hit rewind to check it twice, the output on the Behringer went up less than 3 db, when hit with the sudden +20 db car crash. It's very surprising how much dynamic range is available in digital modes today.