I cannot understand the TV dialogue

[Chuckanut]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zinger1457 Probably true and is one of the benefits IMO of using a quality center channel speaker with your AV system, one of the main purposes of the center channel speaker is to have a dedicated speaker that will emphasize the dialogue, really makes a big difference.

Sounds good to me.

I do not have an AV system. My speakers are the speakers the TV came with. Can anybody recommend some good center channel speakers that aren't to expensive. I am not an AV enthusiast but I would like to understand the dialogue without having to tun on CC. Some descent speaker might be a good way to blow some of the dough I am not spending on my now canceled travel plans.

[springnr]

A Bluetooth speaker placed next to your listening chair does not have to be as loud as a speaker blaring across the room. This also reduces sound bouncing off different walls/objects and reaching your ears at different times.

Room correction on the cheap ; >)

https://www.amazon.com/Tribit-XSound...s%2C282&sr=8-3


Bluetooth transmitter if TV does not have built in Bluetooth.
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=bluetooth...b_sb_ss_i_10_9

[zinger1457]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chuckanut Can anybody recommend some good center channel speakers that aren't to expensive. I am not an AV enthusiast but I would like to understand the dialogue without having to tun on CC. Some descent speaker might be a good way to blow some of the dough I am not spending on my now canceled travel plans.

I can recommend Klipsch speakers, I have their model R-52C center channel speaker, paid around $200. Not much good by itself though, you'll need additional speakers and a receiver, preferably in a 5.1 or similar setup.

[swakyaby]

I had the exact same frustration with difficulty understanding the dialogue in my Netflix and Amazon Prime movies. So 4 years ago, I purchased a good quality wireless headphone from Sennheiser designed for TV. Now the voices are crystal clear, even when they whisper. Try googling Sennheiser headphones for TV.

I have a 5.1 speaker setup with a center speaker for voices, and while that helped somewhat, it really wasn’t enough. Closed caption is good, but I agree that hearing the dialogue is better than reading the dialogue. The headphones were the best solution for me.

[swakyaby]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cbo111 I did raise the treble and lower the base on my sound bar and that seemed to help. Thanks for all the tips everyone!

Early hearing loss tends to occur at the treble range. When my TV headphones were shipped to me, they were automatically pre-set to a treble boost at one level higher. But since I didn’t have that kind of hearing deficit, I could easily set it to a flat audio setting. The dialogue is so clear now. My movie enjoyment has returned.

[DRC726]

We thought it was just us! I just turned 60 and DW is 57 and we both have good hearing but we were having the same problem. Closed captioning is always on when we watch movies or other shows especially with accents. Outlander was very difficult to understand and I believe that was when we first discovered the benefits of cc. My DD and SIL sometimes use our Netflix and tease us about it. I'm waiting for them to admit we're right!

[John Galt III]

Closed captioning is great, but live news shows are annoying because often when there is a word you can't make out, the closed captioning apparently also cannot make it out, and the word comes out as a blank, or just dots.

[Chuckanut]

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Galt III Closed captioning is great, but live news shows are annoying because often when there is a word you can't make out, the closed captioning apparently also cannot make it out, and the word comes out as a blank, or just dots.

I watched an English crime show that was located in Northern England near the border with Scotland. When the detective went into the small villages to interview the locals, it sounded like "wir glooken us fibmnter en rogenshut sobranken". I finally broke down and turned on CC.

[Lsbcal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chuckanut I watched an English crime show that was located in Northern England near the border with Scotland. When the detective went into the small villages to interview the locals, it sounded like "wir glooken us fibmnter en rogenshut sobranken". I finally broke down and turned on CC.

Sounds a bit like the Vera series. There was one actor (Kenny) on Vera who had a very heavy accent. We noticed he cleaned up his act in further seasons.

[Katsmeow]

A few months ago we were going to watch a movie with our son (mid-20s, no hearing impairment) and he insisted on turned on closed captioning. We thought there was no reason for it and I thought it would be distracting. He routinely does it though. Anyway, we turned it on and it was such a revelation. It made the movie so much easier to watch. No more straining to hear something when someone didn't speak clearly or there was a lot of background noise. It wasn't distracting at all. Since then, I've been a believer for using it for all movies.

[jdmorton]

I have two different soundbar TV audio systems from a company called ZVOX. These are all-in-one systems that connect directly to your TV, usually with one connection. Recently, they have offered systems that reduce the volume of commercials and aid in highlighting voices over of the background sound.

Here's a link to their newest product that retails for about $170 and is the smallest TV device they make: https://zvox.com/collections/accuvoi...uvoice-speaker.

I own what they call their soundbase systems that our 2 TVs sit on. One of them is over 11 years old and still sounds very good. It also has a built-in subwoofer. The other one is now 4 years old and has some of the sound reducing technology in it, and it does reduce the volume of commercials.

You should note that these devices do not have HDMI, if that is needed for your TV. If you are interested, on the web page I reference above has a history of the company and their products.

There are other manufacturers of soundbars that have similar sound reducing capabilities, but I do not have any direct knowledge of them.

Hope this helps in the discussion of this issue. My older system does not have these capabilities and I am seriously considering getting one of the new ZVOX systems to replace it, even though it works perfectly fine.

[mpeirce]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Katsmeow It wasn't distracting at all. Since then, I've been a believer for using it for all movies.

We leave CC on almost all the time (not on live news, it's often comically wrong).

We watch a lot of foreign films (they seem generally better that Hollywood movies the last few years, sadly) and so we are used to it. After a few seconds, I forget about it and just naturally read and watch at the some time.

Guess it's an acquired skill.

[iloveyoga]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DRC726 We thought it was just us! I just turned 60 and DW is 57 and we both have good hearing but we were having the same problem. Closed captioning is always on when we watch movies or other shows especially with accents. Outlander was very difficult to understand and I believe that was when we first discovered the benefits of cc. My DD and SIL sometimes use our Netflix and tease us about it. I'm waiting for them to admit we're right!

Another Outlander fan! I went back and watched them all with the captions on, what a difference. I first started using cc because my DH wears hearing aids and was having a lot of trouble with TV. So we started trying the captions and found out how much we were both missing. They are not always perfect, but it does help.

[Buckeye]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lsbcal Sounds a bit like the Vera series. There was one actor (Kenny) on Vera who had a very heavy accent. We noticed he cleaned up his act in further seasons.

We have to use CC with Vera, too.

[eytonxav]

I find the voice quality in many movies to be poor. I don't know whether it's sound engineering issues or actors not annunciating well. DW and I both pass hearing tests with flying colors, but often say to each other, what did they say.

[MRSPOCK]

All wonderful options but how does one get rid of tinnitus? Have suffered with this annoying buzz for 10 years. Went to multiple doctors - answer- just live with it.

[Skitso999]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DenverGuy42 if you have a surround sound sound bar and can set the levels on the various channels, elevate the center channel volume and turn down the others - that is where voices come from. Also, simply turn down the bass and turn up the treble if you don't have a surround sound. This makes a huge difference for us. I too have the T (all my life) and my wife has hearing issues. What we did is run a 3.5mm jack from our TV to right behind our sofa. When we are in Denver - we have a vizio sound bar right behind our heads on a sofa table. When we are in our cabin, we listen to TV on a simple speaker that rests on the sofa back right between us. The bass/treble settings on the speaker are really the fix for us - kill the bass, enable the treble.

I like to take the wired center speaker of my surround sound system (about 4"x4"x6") and place it right next to me on the couch. It'd be better if it were wireless, but I'm not sure they make surround sound systems with a wireless center speaker.

[gooddog]

On some TVs under 'audio', there are various presets that can be used. Often one of those presets is 'speech'. If you have that preset, use it - the speech will be much clearer. In addition, the background score will fade out a bit.

[Vinnygret]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cbo111 Being sequestered in these covid times, we find ourselves watching a bit more tv than previously. I suffer from some hearing loss and tinnitus. DW has excellent hearing. When watching movies on Netflix (or any channel for that matter) we both find it difficult to hear dialogue. Often there is a background music or noise that seems to overwhelm the human voice, particularly voices with accents. We have an inexpensive flat screen Vizio smart tv, and a vizio sound bar. I have monkeyed with both and still have trouble hearing the dialogue. Turning up the volume is not always helpful. We are looking for an inexpensive solution ($300 range) that will improve the quality of human vocals. We don't intend it to be used to play music. Anybody out there with similar problem that have found a solution, please discuss!

Have you considered a visit to an audiologist? The newest hearing aids are a lot better than the old ones. My husband uses captioning, which I find distracting, but he refuses to investigate anything that might help his hearing. Unfortunately, my hearing is quite a bit better than his and my ears are nearly blasted off when I turn the TV on after he has watched. Audiologists are hearing professionals and can offer the best advice available on how to maximize your listening experience.

[Time2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Katsmeow A few months ago we were going to watch a movie with our son (mid-20s, no hearing impairment) and he insisted on turned on closed captioning. We thought there was no reason for it and I thought it would be distracting. He routinely does it though. Anyway, we turned it on and it was such a revelation. It made the movie so much easier to watch. No more straining to hear something when someone didn't speak clearly or there was a lot of background noise. It wasn't distracting at all. Since then, I've been a believer for using it for all movies.

My kids in their late 20s also turn on captioning, they say it is brain stimulating. I guess they don't want to be 65 and struggle to retrieve the next ______ in the sentence.
Oh, word.