INTERACT FORUM
More => Old Versions => JRiver Media Center 28 for Mac => Topic started by: Nikolaus on December 06, 2021, 11:43:28 am
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Hello out there!
Had a bit of spare time and thought I'd optimize the volume for my MC 27. Unfortunately this unleashed a few mysteries. But I'll try to keep it simple :-) In that document on reference volume (attached), 83 dB is referred to. Could that just happen to be -83 dB??, because I see nothing like that on my screen (I do see -83 dB). So first you calibrate using the test with pink noise. Then you enter a value for the internal volume reference level (which at present is at 100%). Another query is: if you do this, should you still activate optimize startup volume? Or is that just for Windows?? Also, I'm not sure I missed a slider somewhere. And yet another question: Is it possible that I need a decibel meter to do this? ... Best regards, Nikolaus.
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You'll need a decibel meter to measure with.
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So this is quite a professional undertaking!
If I don't go out and get a decibel meter and for the time being skip the calibration, am I by any chance in good shape if I just use "internal volume" + "optimize startup volume," with "max. volume" and "internal volume reference level" both at 100%?
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Well I've never done this but seeing this peaks my interest.
I had the thought that one might be able to make a smartphone be a dB meter and of course there are a bunch of apps to do that.
They have disclaimers that they are not calibrated like an actual meter for legal purposes but I downloaded a free one called
Niosh Sound level meter
and it seems to work well.
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Yeah, use your phone. It will be pretty close. Good idea.
I have a meter I've used to setup MC a few times, but there might be no reason any longer.
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But for the time being, without the calibration are those settings good??
Best regards,
Nick
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Could someone please let me know if with the settings I mentioned ("internal volume" + "optimize startup volume," with "max. volume" and "internal volume reference level" both at 100%) I 'm at least not doing everything wrong??
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Could someone please let me know if with the settings I mentioned ("internal volume" + "optimize startup volume," with "max. volume" and "internal volume reference level" both at 100%) I 'm at least not doing everything wrong??
That seems right to me. It's what I use.
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The idea of calibrating your home theater to a reference standard is appealing.
I did it a very long time ago with a rather expensive Preamp/Processor and an SPL meter. Once I was done, I was told that setting the volume control on the preamp to 0dB would then make the movie have the volume level, at my chair, that the director intended.
What I got was wildly inconsistent. On some content 0dB was loud, but tolerable. On others it was so loud that I never made it to 0dB. I stopped at -9 or so where it was already uncomfortably loud.
Perhaps more modern transfers to BluRay have more consistent volume levels with regard to reference level. But I suspect they really don't.
In my opinion, getting your speakers positioned correctly, then getting the crossover values for each speaker, and the relative levels set correctly, is far more important than reference level calibration.
...and as long as we are on the subject, I'll tell you what I think is the greatest untold secret in modern home theater: Uncompressed (non-lossy) audio on BluRay. PCM of course falls into this category. But also DTS-MA HD and Dolby TrueHD. All three of these formats are a revelation.
When I got my new home theater receiver a few years ago, I wasn't expecting a lot. I thought I'd have good sound, and was looking forward to hearing some BluRay Movie Sound to see what it was like. But I honestly didn't expect a jump in audio quality.
I was SHOCKED at the difference in audio quality. Even older movies, like Raiders Of The Lost Ark blew my socks off with the immediacy and "real quality" of the sound. I thought maybe it was just my new system, so I tried some good movies that had only Dolby Digital or (old style compressed) DTS soundtracks. Drumline is a good example. That movie has some really good audio. But with a compressed soundtrack, it was just not very good compared to an uncompressed soundtrack.
This is way off topic I know. I just wanted to share a little.
Brian.
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That's great news! Thanks very much, Bob.
Best regards,
Nick