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surfinbox · 2011-07-05, 20:43

Does xbmc have a dependency on ffmpeg? I think the Myth team had some patches on volume that went bad and had to be repatched
http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/my...ers/462305

Sorry if I'm restating on a known issue.

jwdv22 · 2011-07-05, 22:11

Thanks for the info, I have always just dealt with it and it is increasingly annoying.

Since I don't have all Win7 Machines, I was hoping someone might be able to suggest any luck they have had with encoding. I am thinking I am going to re-encode all my files with the AT2 setting in HandBrake. If anyone has any luck with HB and they had the low center channel issue please let me know.

Jayhovah · 2011-08-14, 03:26

I am having the same issue running XBMC Live on my Acer Revo 1600.

TheUriah · 2011-08-14, 08:55

Turn up the center channel. That's where voices are in a 5.1 mix, and make sure its actually downmixing and you have the boost option on. If voices are still too low in the mix, that's the fault of the original mixdown of the movie.

Nadu · 2011-08-14, 09:41

TheUriah Wrote:Turn up the center channel. That's where voices are in a 5.1 mix, and make sure its actually downmixing and you have the boost option on. If voices are still too low in the mix, that's the fault of the original mixdown of the movie.

Where should I turn up the center channel in a 2.1 speaker setup, connected by an analog connection directly with the pc (no separate amplifier)? AFAIK XBMC doesn't offer this functionality.

vinistois · 2011-08-14, 10:06

agreed this is an awful issue.

I have a decent 2 channel amp, with some nice bookshelf speakers, and a small sub.

The kid's bedroom is right above the setup. We always struggle to watch movies because you constantly have to adjust the volume for each scene. Music is the worst, anytime music comes on, the volume is 10 times louder. Hearing voices is nearly impossible.

For voices I have to crank the receiver to 29, for music and action scenes its down to 12. That's a ridiculous variance.

It has been this way through 3 different revisions of HTPC hardware, with 3 different OS's, and hundreds of xbmc builds.

In windows, in the audio output settings, you can turn on a 'vocal filter' of some sort. Also my receiver has 'midnight mode'. Both these settings are essentially dynamic range compressors, but even with both of them on, the problem is unbearable.

Has anyone tried to use a hardware compressor? It may be the only worthwhile option atm.

Chriscc · 2011-08-21, 01:16

I have the same problem with my XBMC running on fedora.
i used to have it run on windows machine before and by using the dsplayer i was able to use the filter in FFdshow to increase the central line on my 2.1 system.

but now i got no idea how to fix it and it's very unpleasant to keep manually up and down the volume through an all movie.

i found out that the low voice is particulary present on DTS video, AC3 are less impacted.

thanks for your help.
Chriscc

krusade · 2011-09-11, 23:31

I have the same problem using XBMC on Ubuntu with a 2 speaker setup. I too am waiting for a solution to this problem. This is a wonderful piece of software and it's a shame for its awesomeness to be diminished by such a bug. From what I understand reading this forum it's been like this forever and there's yet to be at least an aknowledgement this bug exists.
XBMC developers, we are grateful for your efforts and we thank you! Please look into this bug because it affects the otherwise great XBMC experience in a major way. Some have even gave up on using it because of this. Kind of a shame for a media player to be awesome except for the media playing part.

battz · 2011-09-12, 18:27

I was having this same problem, the voices were really low and I could barely hear them. Updating my Nvidia drivers to 265 (I think) fixed the problem perfectly. I had found a thread that had the exact commands for linux, but I can't seem to find it now.

steve1977 · 2011-09-17, 17:25

Same issue here. I am solving it by using sub-titles as I cannot hear the voices unless I am waking the neigbors during action scenes. Not an issue using VLC or other players. Anyone found any solution or just wait until Eden is out?

steve1977 · 2011-09-19, 02:49

vinistois Wrote:agreed this is an awful issue.

I have a decent 2 channel amp, with some nice bookshelf speakers, and a small sub.

The kid's bedroom is right above the setup. We always struggle to watch movies because you constantly have to adjust the volume for each scene. Music is the worst, anytime music comes on, the volume is 10 times louder. Hearing voices is nearly impossible.

For voices I have to crank the receiver to 29, for music and action scenes its down to 12. That's a ridiculous variance.

It has been this way through 3 different revisions of HTPC hardware, with 3 different OS's, and hundreds of xbmc builds.

In windows, in the audio output settings, you can turn on a 'vocal filter' of some sort. Also my receiver has 'midnight mode'. Both these settings are essentially dynamic range compressors, but even with both of them on, the problem is unbearable.

Has anyone tried to use a hardware compressor? It may be the only worthwhile option atm.

This is exactly the same issue I am having. I have tested 2 different set-ups, both with the same problem. This is only happening in XBMC, not with VLC or other players.

* Mac-Mini (2007) connected to 2-channel amplifier and book shelf speakers
* Mac Mini (2009) connected to 5+1 amplifier with surround speakers

I am willing to change my setting in about any way you can think of to get this work. Currently, I can basically not watch any action movies as I need to continuously increase/decrease volume throughout the movie.

Can anyone confirm whether there exist setups that don't have these issues? Is it related to the Mini? Will the new 2011-Mini fix it? Shall I put Linux or Windows on my Mini? Or even buy a new HTPC?

Or just wait for XBMC Eden?

PhilYHC · 2011-09-19, 03:06

you could solve this by raising the midrange eq somehow...typically tv and films have "voice" around the mids.

steve1977 · 2011-09-19, 03:24

PhilYHC Wrote:you could solve this by raising the midrange eq somehow...typically tv and films have "voice" around the mids.

Unfortunately, my 2-CH amplifier doesn't even have an option to increase midrange (only bass, which doesn't make any difference). Also, the difference between voice and non-voice audio is so huge for action movies that I am not confident that this manual adjustment would be sufficient.

Given that it works with VLC, is there anything else I can explore?

ajayrockrock · 2011-09-20, 00:58

In Linux "normalizing" the audio is talked about in this thread and a solution is provided via pulseaudio/alsa.

http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=72667

Disclaimer: I tried this and it didn't work for me and I know my way around a linux command line, just don't know much about how the linux audio subsystem works. :/

krusade · 2011-09-20, 15:34

Thanks for the link and the answer, ajayrockrock. However, I believe messing around with your system drivers, especially on linux, is not the right solution for a problem that is specific to a piece of software. From what I understand, "normalizing" applies a procedure over an entire range of audio frequencies. That is not only an unelegant solution (a desperate one, maybe), but it's not very effective either. What we need is for the volume of specific channels to be properly adjusted before downmixing. This I believe is the only real solution and it lyes with the developers of XBMC. We can only hope they will aknowledge this rather serious issue and come up with a solution. Individual volume slider for each channel would pe perfect, I think.