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Any experience with "Clear Voice" sound bars or tv settings?
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Jan 29, 2023 12:38:39   #
Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington
 
Has anyone found a solution for separating the voices of play-by-play and analysis from stadium background noise (loud music or loud crowds)? I'm interested in live sporting events on television only.

Thanks!

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Jan 29, 2023 21:44:21   #
TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC
 
Can’t speak for all sports, but I have found that using a receiver with 3 front speakers (L, R and center) with Dolby X Pro decoding generally puts the voices in the center channel (which I place directly under the TV) and the effects on the L and R speakers which can be adjusted to a lower level and gives a very natural sound - not going to be a choice with a sound bar unless your TV or receiver driving it has a Dolby X Pro decoder.

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Jan 30, 2023 07:33:22   #
Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington
 
Thank you Chris.
TriX wrote:
Can’t speak for all sports, but I have found that using a receiver with 3 front speakers (L, R and center) with Dolby X Pro decoding generally puts the voices in the center channel (which I place directly under the TV) and the effects on the L and R speakers which can be adjusted to a lower level and gives a very natural sound - not going to be a choice with a sound bar unless your TV or receiver driving it has a Dolby X Pro decoder.

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Jan 30, 2023 10:25:16   #
twowindsbear
 
Turn the TV volume down completely and listen to the play by play on the radio.

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Jan 30, 2023 10:28:19   #
sgt hop Loc: baltimore md,now in salisbury md
 
i just mute the sound...the talking heads are a joke to me....i watch mostly college and high school football.baseball and lacrosse....i can tell what's happening and don't need the announcers to tell me....nice and quiet....

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Jan 30, 2023 10:32:23   #
47greyfox Loc: on the edge of the Colorado front range
 
Other than muting the sound, maybe an equalizer? Otherwise, a means of sound separation might be needed?

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Jan 30, 2023 11:02:29   #
sippyjug104 Loc: Missouri
 
I have a similar issue with programs and movies that play music over the people on the screen who are talking. It's almost as though there is competition between music and the voice editors as to who will be heard the loudest. I don't hear as well as I did once upon a time and I've been told that hearing aids would be of no help for my loss.

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Jan 30, 2023 11:18:13   #
TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC
 
sippyjug104 wrote:
I have a similar issue with programs and movies that play music over the people on the screen who are talking. It's almost as though there is competition between music and the voice editors as to who will be heard the loudest. I don't hear as well as I did once upon a time and I've been told that hearing aids would be of no help for my loss.


Most TVs have lousy speakers. Using a 5 channel receiver (you don’t really need the back channels unless you like sound effects) with a Dolby Pro decoder mode (which almost all have) really fixes this issue by placing the voices on the center channel/speaker and the rest of the sound on the “outer” left and right speakers, and you can turn those down in level. More complication and $ than just the TV, but it provides MUCH better sound and fixes the issue you describe.

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Jan 30, 2023 12:45:29   #
Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington
 
twowindsbear wrote:
Turn the TV volume down completely and listen to the play by play on the radio.
I once tried listening that way, but the broadcasts weren't being aired in exactly the same moment. Can't recall if the tv was on cable or OTA (the "radio" was streaming on my computer).

The worst time was when a friend watched an MLB game over the air in same room as I watched via internet, maybe with Roku. There was at least 10 seconds' difference in our two feeds! She'd go, "Oh my gosh, what a catch!" while I'd still be seeing the batter in the box

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Jan 30, 2023 12:49:33   #
Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington
 
47greyfox wrote:
Other than muting the sound, maybe an equalizer? Otherwise, a means of sound separation might be needed?
Thanks. On my 24" Vizio (built circa 2017), I found an equalizer in the audio options. Researched a little to see which frequencies should be higher and which lower. Haven't had a chance to compare to "automatic" yet within the same broadcast.

My five sliders:
100 hz
300 hz
1 khz
3 khz
10 khz

Fox is usually the worst in all sports, though yesterday's NFL game was fine.

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Jan 30, 2023 12:51:56   #
Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington
 
sippyjug104 wrote:
I have a similar issue with programs and movies that play music over the people on the screen who are talking. It's almost as though there is competition between music and the voice editors as to who will be heard the loudest. I don't hear as well as I did once upon a time and I've been told that hearing aids would be of no help for my loss.
Yep, same here and the same for many folks I know. A few of the people I've met recently said hearing aids actually amplify the surrounding noises.

Ten years ago is when I first noticed difficulty hearing the person sitting right across from me in a restaurant if it was very noisy. My newest issue is I can't concentrate on a single conversation; instead my brain jumps among those I can hear around me, so I end up knowing nothing about anything

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Jan 30, 2023 14:50:11   #
burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC
 
Linda From Maine wrote:
Has anyone found a solution for separating the voices of play-by-play and analysis from stadium background noise (loud music or loud crowds)? I'm interested in live sporting events on television only.

Thanks!


Broadcast audio has had its dynamic range heavily compressed. Audio compression makes loud sounds quieter and quiet sounds louder, so everything stays within a narrow range of volume levels. Unfortunately, the sound we hear is far more compressed than what the TV sound engineer hears as (s)he is mixing announcer narratives with crowd noises and action "oofs". The signal gets squashed at least three times on its way to your set! Local TV stations tend to use the most obnoxious compression, to be sure commercials are heard.

There is an audio device known as an expander that can help somewhat. It attempts to make loud sounds louder and quiet sounds quieter, but it almost never sounds natural. But combined with an equalizer that you can tune for the loudest parts of the voices you want, it can help you hear the dialog.

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Jan 30, 2023 14:59:40   #
TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC
 
Linda From Maine wrote:
Thanks. On my 24" Vizio (built circa 2017), I found an equalizer in the audio options. Researched a little to see which frequencies should be higher and which lower. Haven't had a chance to compare to "automatic" yet within the same broadcast.

My five sliders:
100 hz
300 hz
1 khz
3 khz
10 khz

Fox is usually the worst in all sports, though yesterday's NFL game was fine.


You can try turning up the 1 KHz and maybe the 3KHz sliders a bit less to emphasize the voice frequencies…

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Jan 30, 2023 15:01:04   #
burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC
 
Linda From Maine wrote:
Yep, same here and the same for many folks I know. A few of the people I've met recently said hearing aids actually amplify the surrounding noises.

Ten years ago is when I first noticed difficulty hearing the person sitting right across from me in a restaurant if it was very noisy. My newest issue is I can't concentrate on a single conversation; instead my brain jumps among those I can hear around me, so I end up knowing nothing about anything
Yep, same here and the same for many folks I know.... (show quote)


I've had the same problem since I was a teen. I can attend to and process about one sound at a time. With all the silly yakking in homeroom, I'd just meditate on my schedule and tune everything else out. My wife calls that my "unfortunate skill." Yet my hearing tests mostly normal. (At 67, most of my top octave is gone... beyond around 12 KHz.)

It probably doesn't help that I like LOUD music (Classical, Blues, Rock, Jazz, Fusion...).

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Jan 30, 2023 15:31:30   #
TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC
 
burkphoto wrote:
I've had the same problem since I was a teen. I can attend to and process about one sound at a time. With all the silly yakking in homeroom, I'd just meditate on my schedule and tune everything else out. My wife calls that my "unfortunate skill." Yet my hearing tests mostly normal. (At 67, most of my top octave is gone... beyond around 12 KHz.)

It probably doesn't help that I like LOUD music (Classical, Blues, Rock, Jazz, Fusion...).


Not only do you lose high frequency response, but you lose some of the ability to isolate the one thing you’re interested in from many other sounds - a degradation in figure-ground discrimination. Something I’m more and more aware of as I age,

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