Dynamic Volume - Marantz/Denon

[TechToys2]

My understanding of Dynamic Volume is that it is intended to essentially help to reduce extreme volume fluctuations, which would effectively reduce dynamic range of source material as well as changes from, for example. a TV program and commercials. Why does turning this on (at any of the 3 levels) raise the volume of what I am watching? It seems as though I really have to turn up the volume of the AVR with this off, but if I turn it on, everything comes to life and I wind up turning the volume down. It seems like the receiver doesn't have to work as hard to get a full sound with Dynamic Volume engaged.

Do you use this and Dynamic EQ on your systems?

 

[lovinthehd]

I don't use Dynamic Volume myself, it is a dynamic range compression routine. Supposed to even out the loudest and softest sounds, seems mostly applied for late night viewing so as not to bother others. Some links for reading

To Dynamic Volume or Not?

Hi Chris, As I ask this question, I am sure the answer will be along the lines of "personal preference", but I think I need some more info before I can figure that out. :) I keep going ...

audyssey.zendesk.com

"Dynamic Volume"?

My Denon X4000 has a "Dynamic Volume" setting within the Audyssey parameters. The manual says: "Dynamic Volume solves the problem of large variations in volume level between television programs, commercials, and between the soft and loud passages of movies." It has settings for...

forums.audioholics.com

I do use Dynamic EQ in conjunction with the RLO settings for various content....

 

[Verdinut]

My understanding of Dynamic Volume is that it is intended to essentially help to reduce extreme volume fluctuations, which would effectively reduce dynamic range of source material as well as changes from, for example. a TV program and commercials. Why does turning this on (at any of the 3 levels) raise the volume of what I am watching? It seems as though I really have to turn up the volume of the AVR with this off, but if I turn it on, everything comes to life and I wind up turning the volume down. It seems like the receiver doesn't have to work as hard to get a full sound with Dynamic Volume engaged.

Do you use this and Dynamic EQ on your systems?

The reason you have a higher average sound level with Dynamic Volume on, I understand, is that this feature would compress the dynamic range of the source signal by raising the average and lower sound levels instead of lowering the peak SPL. That would explain why you have to raise the normal average volume when you turn that DV off.

 

[Hetfield]

I don't use Dynamic Volume myself, it is a dynamic range compression routine. Supposed to even out the loudest and softest sounds, seems mostly applied for late night viewing so as not to bother others. Some links for reading

To Dynamic Volume or Not?

Hi Chris, As I ask this question, I am sure the answer will be along the lines of "personal preference", but I think I need some more info before I can figure that out. :) I keep going ...

audyssey.zendesk.com

"Dynamic Volume"?

My Denon X4000 has a "Dynamic Volume" setting within the Audyssey parameters. The manual says: "Dynamic Volume solves the problem of large variations in volume level between television programs, commercials, and between the soft and loud passages of movies." It has settings for...

forums.audioholics.com

I do use Dynamic EQ in conjunction with the RLO settings for various content....

Agree with this, same for me.

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk

 

[TechToys2]

Thanks all. I'll experiment some more, but so far I like it on Light for movies due to the extra volume but prefer it off for music. I imagine I could just turn it up though. There are so many setting on this AVR compared to my last one, I think I am going to be playing around with things for some time before I settle on what I prefer.

I have a small room (9 x 11) (but it is open to a larger room) and it seems like there is not as much power as I used to have (i.e., I didn't have to turn up the volume as high to get to a comfortable listening level). This may be a dumb question, but how would I tell if I need more power. Is there a "normal" volume level or a point where there isn't enough headroom? FWIW, I don't think I listen very loud.

 

[lovinthehd]

It's just a matter of preference. Definitely play around with settings before deciding on any one (and you can set up pre-sets to do what you want when you want).

Hard to know about your volume thing. Takes a doubling of power to gain merely 3dB spl, tho, so not likely two avrs are too far apart there. If you're comparing a volume dial readout between the two avrs....were they using the same volume scale? Were they both calibrated if so? What volume scale(s) are you using and what are the readings? What was the old avr and what's the new?

 

[TechToys2]

The old receiver used a numerical scale to 90 and was a Rotel RSX-965. The new one is a Marantz SR6014 and has the same nummerical scale or a scale in decibels, and I have tried both. Typically the old one would be around 60 The new one is more around 70+ or -15db or so, which I suspect isn't much of a difference really. I don't know how to explain it exactly, but the old one just sounded more forward or dynamic. I get something of a similar feel when I engage Dynamic Volume on the Marantz.

I did just run Audyssey over the weekend (I never had room correction before -- but I set up the levels of the old receiver manually with an spl meter). I suppose I should try turning Audyssey off just to see the difference.

Which leads to another question. After I ran Audyssey, I used the spl meter to check the relative levels. All of the speakers were the same (using the test tone and raising the volume to read 75db, C weighted, slow), but the subwoofer seemed several db lower despite setting it to around 75db as instructed before running the Audyssey tests. Is this typical?

 

[lovinthehd]

The old receiver used a numerical scale to 90 and was a Rotel RSX-965. The new one is a Marantz SR6014 and has the same nummerical scale or a scale in decibels, and I have tried both. Typically the old one would be around 60 The new one is more around 70+ or -15db or so, which I suspect isn't much of a difference really. I don't know how to explain it exactly, but the old one just sounded more forward or dynamic. I get something of a similar feel when I engage Dynamic Volume on the Marantz.

I did just run Audyssey over the weekend (I never had room correction before -- but I set up the levels of the old receiver manually with an spl meter). I suppose I should try turning Audyssey off just to see the difference.

Which leads to another question. After I ran Audyssey, I used the spl meter to check the relative levels. All of the speakers were the same (using the test tone and raising the volume to read 75db, C weighted, slow), but the subwoofer seemed several db lower despite setting it to around 75db as instructed before running the Audyssey tests. Is this typical?

Well your Marantz scale isn't quite the same as the Arcam; the Marantz' absolute scale goes from 1-98 or -79.5 to +18 for the reference scale. I don't see that the numbers mean anything particular or are calibrated to a particular standard in the Rotel manual like with the Marantz. Likely not directly comparable. I'd only compare the two units overall in a direct mode with no dsp/eq being applied in any case and then I'd prefer blind and level matched .

Not my particular experience with the sub being set lower....but how did it actually measure? In any case if it's low raise the trim up....many raise sub trim level up regardless post-Audyssey just because they may prefer a bit more low end.

 

[Old Onkyo]

Yes, it is typical, most people bump trim on the subs

 

[TechToys2]

Not my particular experience with the sub being set lower....but how did it actually measure? In any case if it's low raise the trim up....many raise sub trim level up regardless post-Audyssey just because they may prefer a bit more low end.

It between 3-4 db below what the other speakers measured with the spl meter (around 71-72db rather than 75). There is an offset in the software of -8.5 db, so I can easily boost that a little. In any event, I am going to buy the Audyssey app and re-run Audyssey again this weekend. I suspect after playing around with things a little more I'll eventually get to something I am satisfied with and stop fiddling .

I was watching a show last night that was being narrated and was making a lot of use of the surrounds for background nature sounds. I had dynamic volume on "light" and I felt like every time there was a lot of surround activity the dialogue receded -- not to a point where I couldn't hear or understand it, but enough that it seemed too soft for the mix. When the surround information diminished or stopped, there was (to me) a noticeable increase in dialogue volume/power. I'll be trying things with dynamic volume off for a while.

 

[lovinthehd]

It between 3-4 db below what the other speakers measured with the spl meter (around 71-72db rather than 75). There is an offset in the software of -8.5 db, so I can easily boost that a little. In any event, I am going to buy the Audyssey app and re-run Audyssey again this weekend. I suspect after playing around with things a little more I'll eventually get to something I am satisfied with and stop fiddling .

I was watching a show last night that was being narrated and was making a lot of use of the surrounds for background nature sounds. I had dynamic volume on "light" and I felt like every time there was a lot of surround activity the dialogue receded -- not to a point where I couldn't hear or understand it, but enough that it seemed too soft for the mix. When the surround information diminished or stopped, there was (to me) a noticeable increase in dialogue volume/power. I'll be trying things with dynamic volume off for a while.

Offset in the software of -8.5? Does that mean the avr set sub trim at -8.5?

 

[TechToys2]

Offset in the software of -8.5? Does that mean the avr set sub trim at -8.5?

Yes, that's what I meant (not so artfully stated )

 

[Trell]

My understanding of Dynamic Volume is that it is intended to essentially help to reduce extreme volume fluctuations, which would effectively reduce dynamic range of source material as well as changes from, for example. a TV program and commercials. Why does turning this on (at any of the 3 levels) raise the volume of what I am watching? It seems as though I really have to turn up the volume of the AVR with this off, but if I turn it on, everything comes to life and I wind up turning the volume down. It seems like the receiver doesn't have to work as hard to get a full sound with Dynamic Volume engaged.

Do you use this and Dynamic EQ on your systems?

I use Dynamic EQ Volume in two cases:

1) Watching cable with obnoxious loud advertisements. My watching noway is mostly streaming, though.
2) Late night watching and not wanting to disturb people.

Edit: Thanks to @lovinthehd for the correction!

 

[lovinthehd]

I use Dynamic EQ in two cases:

1) Watching cable with obnoxious loud advertisements. My watching noway is mostly streaming, though.
2) Late night watching and not wanting to disturb people.

You mean Dynamic Volume?

 

[Trell]

You mean Dynamic Volume?

Yes, I did!

 

[TechToys2]

Most of the content I watch is streaming using a Roku as the input. Is there any way to set up different presets within the same input so that I could have dynamic volume on for certain types of content and off for others? And a similar question with respect to dynamic EQ. Can I set it for on and off and/or with different offsets, for example if I am using a Blu-ray player for both movies and music?
I was assuming I would have to make those adjustments manually before watching or listening to particular content.

 

[IansDad88(Don)]

For what it's worth, I also don't use this... I'm not even sure that it's worth the engineering that went into it, but it's a cool sounding feature... Dynamic Volume..!

Not certain about different HDMI, but I don't think so. Have to double check though.

BTW might not work for everyone but if I'm concerned about late night issues I use my headphones, so it's a valid point but never applied to me.

 

[lovinthehd]

Most of the content I watch is streaming using a Roku as the input. Is there any way to set up different presets within the same input so that I could have dynamic volume on for certain types of content and off for others? And a similar question with respect to dynamic EQ. Can I set it for on and off and/or with different offsets, for example if I am using a Blu-ray player for both movies and music?
I was assuming I would have to make those adjustments manually before watching or listening to particular content.

Look up scene presets/macros in your manual....

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Most of the content I watch is streaming using a Roku as the input. Is there any way to set up different presets within the same input so that I could have dynamic volume on for certain types of content and off for others? And a similar question with respect to dynamic EQ. Can I set it for on and off and/or with different offsets, for example if I am using a Blu-ray player for both movies and music?
I was assuming I would have to make those adjustments manually before watching or listening to particular content.

Iirc, however you have each input set up, it defaults to that. So BD can have Deq and DV on, but satellite or cable can be totally different. Might depend on the AVR too.

 

[TechToys2]

Iirc, however you have each input set up, it defaults to that. So BD can have Deq and DV on, but satellite or cable can be totally different. Might depend on the AVR too.

That's what I thought, but figured I would ask. I'll check the manual and see what macros may be available as lovinthehd suggested. I also have a Harmony remote, so I realized that there may be some ways to configure that to make automatic changes in the setup menu based on particular content.