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How do I control audio so that commercials don't blast? Onkyo TX-NR1010

C

Confusilated

New Member
Hi, I have an Onkyo TX-NR1010 with a TIVO series 4. When I record a show, the commercials are often much louder than the show volume. I have a Denon AVR-3805 hooked up to an ARRIS cable box from Spectrum in another room, and when i DVR the same program, the commercial volume is consistent with the show volume. Is there a setting on the Onkyo that levels the volume for commercials? Do I have that on the Denon and just am not aware that the setting is on? Is the setting within the cable box but not available in the TIVO? Please help. Thanks much...driving me crazy....
 
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It's simple really, call your TV, cable, whathaveyou provider and tell them to pound sand.
Send all your boxes back, quit wasting your life away sitting in front of a light machine, and do something worthwhile, and meaningful with your hours left on this planet.
 
If Congress and the FCC can't do it what do you expect. The problem is there is a maximum aver age level the broadcasters can use and they have equipment set up for the commercials when they are made to take advantages of those levels. Regular programming may only reach these levels for a high. impact scene where the rest of the time they run at much lower average levels. Now if they take a commercial break after one of these high impact scenes you wouldn't complain because the levels would be the same. Most of the time the breaks are taken with average or below average levels being the norm so you hear a big difference. There are gadgets from radio design you could add if you use a separate sound system being fed by an analog signal that you could use. But if you are using digital connections, the costs are going to ramp up quickly. Remember thats why you have a remote with a mute button. It doesn't cost you anything either. You could watch channels with out commercials.
 
I hate that sort of thing - I don't watch commercial TV hardly at all - but I do listen to some online radio stations.
Roswell UFO Radio (plays old time sci-fi shows) is terrible at this, simply awful. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they reduce the volume of shows on purpose, then crank up the commercials to max volume, it's crazy. Thank god they don't have many commercials most of the time.
 
halkaloogie said:
You could try something like this

https://www.smarthome.com/terk-vr-1-tv-volume-regulator.html

I don't have any experience them, but the reviews seem OK. It's RCA only, but if you looked around you might find others with different connections.
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I have one of these. It does make a difference. Commercials are still louder than the show, but not by nearly the degree that they are without it. I just put it in the tape-loop with my EQ.
 
The reason the commercials are so much louder is because the advertisers use compression to narrow the dynamic range, significantly raising the average volume level of the commercial. They technically stay within regulations because they don't exceed the peak level limits, but the average level is way louder than TV program material. Because there is no loudness encoding in the signal that could be algorithmically reversed (every advertiser boosts volumes differently), automatic volume controls to compensate for commercials will likely always be a compromise, but they still might be better than nothing if the commercials really annoy you.

You can file individual complaints as the FCC apparently does not monitor violations -> https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/loud-commercials-tv
 
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Thanks to everyone who responded, and I do understand the commercial volume thing. What I am asking, and that I DON'T understand, is why is this happening on one set up and not the other? The Denon is hooked to the Spectrum ARRIS cable box and the commercials play at the same volume level as the show through that setup, so there is no problem. Unfortunately in the bedroom, the Onkyo is hooked to a TIVO, and commercial volume levels vary substantially. I am trying to figure out why the difference from one setup to the other. I suspect it has something to do with a setting on the receiver for dynamic range compression, but not sure what that would be. Perhaps it is set to "on" on the Denon, but either has no setting on the Onkyo or is set to "off"? I'm still looking through the Onkyo info to try and find the setting. Again, thanks for the responses...
 
Thanks damacman...I'll try fiddling with those options. Skipper, of course they are different, but neither seems to have any audio adjustments that would affect the volume differentials. As they both share the same cable source, it would seem the difference in sound is controlled by the home theater receivers, not the boxes. I just havent been able to figure out the settings. The complexities of tweaking home theater receivers are sometimes overwhelming. Probably why I opt in the limited free time I have, to listen to music through my old school audio setup vs watching movies or TV.
 
Here's link for your perusal: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialnorm Plus read the bit about the CALM act.

Two related issues: Some of the streaming video sources may or may not be covered by the legislated 'fixes', or may not know they are.

And the CALM act details are apparently still being hammered out by the congrescritters. Film at 11.

We're 90% non-live for most viewing, so commercials get skipped. (I used to make them, and figure if they used to pay me to watch them, and now they don't, I don't have to watch them any more.) So their audio level is of little concern.

I do think our mute button gets used quite a bit. I also think there should be a 'dim' button for audio, that cuts it back 6-10 dB. We used to have that in our studios, so that you could lower the monitor volume for conversations, phone calls, etc. but return it to the previous fixed volume so you didn't lose your 'reference' during the mix session. Handy, and keeps your hearing somewhat calibrated over time. Overkill perhaps for living room TV viewing.
 
Okay, so I seem to have found a fix, although it doesn't really make sense. I went into the settings on the Onkyo for Audio, and found one that said "Loudness Plus." It was set to "On." I switched it to "Off." I figured my next option would be to then go to late night setting from damacman's link, but would try one at a time and see the effect. Switching the loudness plus to off, I noticed that the volume did not need to be turned up as high as before for me to hear at the volume level I previously had it up to. I have a hearing issue in one ear, so I am keenly aware of what the volume level settings are. I used to have to turn it up to 55 - 56 whatever, as displayed, but noticed that the comfortable volume level was substantially lower, now at like 46 - 47. When the commercials came on, none were louder than the show program, and in fact, some were at a lower volume than normal making them more difficult to hear for me, which was fine with me. End result is that I turn the volume up lower, apparently have the same loudness output as before, and no commercials boom at a higher volume than the program material. Not sure why loudness plus would have that affect, but it did. Maybe that will help others with a similar problem. Thanks again for the responses
 
Chip Chester said:
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I do think our mute button gets used quite a bit. I also think there should be a 'dim' button for audio, that cuts it back 6-10 dB. We used to have that in our studios, so that you could lower the monitor volume for conversations, phone calls, etc. but return it to the previous fixed volume so you didn't lose your 'reference' during the mix session. Handy, and keeps your hearing somewhat calibrated over time. Overkill perhaps for living room TV viewing.
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FWIW, at least some HT gear has adjustable muting level.

The Marantz AV7005 I use has setting for full mute, -40dB, or -20dB. The Anthem AVM 20 has full mute/silent, or adjustable in 5dB increments from -30dB to -5dB. Yamaha RX-V1700 has just two settings, full mute or -20dB.

I'm sure many others do too but I have direct experience with those three in recent history.
 
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the skipper said:
That's a curse that's been plaguing us since the beginning of time. The people that control the transmission are responsible for this.
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And TV audio is a big FAIL!! No level standards and no standards for commercials and programming for overall volume level by the networks and cable/satellite providers.
 
KentTeffeteller said:
And TV audio is a big FAIL!! No level standards and no standards for commercials and programming for overall volume level by the networks and cable/satellite providers.
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This ^^^^ Glad I'm not the only person that finds this highly annoying. It's not uncommon for me to hit the mute button on the remote during commercials.
 
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