Mumble, mumble, mumble, what did he say?

[bl0at3r]

Not sure if it's my ears, but the sound from our LCD TV and hdmi connected sky hd box seems to have gotten worse lately.

Obviously compared to the Sony Wega trinitron CRT I had years ago, there isn't a lot of room for the speakers in the LCD - I have always understood and accepted it would be poor in comparison.

Anyway, the voices seem to be the worst part - ambient sound effects and music is fine for the small lounge we have and it is plenty loud enough - just no voice clarity. Doesn't seem to make any difference as to which sky channel or type of programme - film, documentary, drama etc.

I don't know whether it's because the audio is being muddied by the sky box or the tv? I have also fiddled with the limited sound adjustments in the tv menu. If the volume is adjusted up to try and hear the speaking, then the sound effects and music is unbearably loud.

I spend the whole time adjusting the volume up and down throughout the programme straining to hear what is being said!

I don't want a full on surround sound system as it is not fair on the neighbours (paper thin party wall in our semi), but would a sound bar enable me to adjust the equalizer for voices or at least be able to control and boost the voices in particular?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Mikesphotaes]

I take it you have tried the audio menu on your telly?

Most have lots of different modes of sound.

 

[sbowler579]

Try connecting the skybox and TV using the phono connectors instead of the hdmi lead.

 

[sbowler579]

You also maybe able to configure the HDMI lead just to deliver the video signal and then using phono leads to the TV for the sound.

 

[sbowler579]

And Yes a soundbar would improve the quality, but not sure if it will give you increased options about configuring the bass/treble ect.

 

[afasoas]

Does the TV have a Terrestrial (DVB) receiver and an aerial connection?
Try using that instead of the Skybox.

Is it possible that you have the treble or mid-range turned down?

 

[Nod]

After upgrading to a smart TV recently, I found the sound rather thin so went down the soundbar route. I've got a Yamaha YAS101 which came from Richer Sounds and even my wife thinks it was money well spent! https://www.richersounds.com/product/soundbars/yamaha/yas101/yama-yas101 It comes with an optical digital cable which does the job and is long enough to reach from TV to soundbar.

 

[Deleted member 49549]

Maybe worth resetting the sound options on the tv incase you have done something silly?

 

[srichards]

The sound on modern tvs can be atrocious. The LG one my parents have is reasonable though. Their samsung was tinny and awful.

A cheap cheat would be to use powered computer speakers if your tv has some kind of audio out. They're usually magnetically shielded and some are full surround systems but fairly low power.

Most tvs have an option to boost voices with a 'speech' mode. I'd definitely do a reset to factory settings in case something silly has been turned off or on.

 

[sbowler579]

Full 5 speaker surround with 2 150watt subwoofers and a 7 channel 170 per channel power amp would help slightly.

 

[john-oh]

I got a sound bar for just that reason (poor dialogue) it was either that or switch on the sub titles. Although for some American programs I still use the sub titles !

The Panasonic sound bar we have actually has a dialogue boost button. - I think its this one, it also has a wireless subwoofer and a bluetooth connection for other inputs.