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HoloDust on 31 May 2026
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Jumpin said:
curl-6 said:

I should add, the films that prompted the thread was rewatching Oppenheimer and Dune Part II, and I think it didn't help that both Villeneuve and Nolan tend to favour directing actors to speak very softly.

I didn’t have a problem with Oppenheimer, but Dune with all that whispering made me quit the film.

I think it’s specifically that film series because I don’t find Villeneuve’s 2049 has that problem.

But I’ll say this, I find the issue more prominent with Netflix productions and postings than anything else… really quiet talking, really loud music and sound effects (not universally true, but I find Netflix; particularly in the pre-Coronavirus era, had terrible audio balance for home systems; but it seems to generally be a lot better nowadays).

One thing might be that I also got a new speaker system around that time and that might have banished the problem… however, not for Dune.

I think it is generally true that in older films they make a point to make all important dialogue clear; the unclear dialogue is generally more about the character’s emotional state than what they’re saying: Braveheart, for example.

Yes, Netflix had some issues with some of their shows in the past, they had way too wide of a dynamic range. Not so much anymore, though they are not exactly fully HDTV friendly either.

As I said, theatrical mixes are made for certain level (7 on Dolby scale, which is 85dBC per front speaker with -20dB RMS, measured with band limited pink noise). If you want them translated to home environment they need to go through lot of compression. The thing is, both Netflix and Amazon opted for wider dynamic range than what HDTV standard dictates - which is good for sound if you have actual home theater environment and you listen at high levels, but not so good for people who just want to "watch TV", like they used to. 

Basically, although we're still "watching TV", delivery method and standards are mixed up and differ, although it's all under TV umbrella. You still have lot of broadcast delivering HDTV specced content, but major streamers opted for wider dynamic range that is more suited for home theater environment, which brings problems that have been talked about here.

Last edited by HoloDust - on 31 May 2026