http://dixiecarpetbagger.com/2009/10/16/already-been-done/ Tue, 01 Nov 2011 20:35:25 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 http://dixiecarpetbagger.com/2009/10/16/already-been-done/#comment-409 Dixie Sat, 17 Oct 2009 21:59:07 +0000 http://dixiecarpetbagger.com/?p=925#comment-409 You had to go and justify, didn't you, Yak? (Okay, it's cool. I just hit "skip" and jump the commercial.) You had to go and justify, didn’t you, Yak? (Okay, it’s cool. I just hit “skip” and jump the commercial.)

]]> http://dixiecarpetbagger.com/2009/10/16/already-been-done/#comment-405 Another Raving MainyYak Sat, 17 Oct 2009 01:23:12 +0000 http://dixiecarpetbagger.com/?p=925#comment-405 One thing to keep in mind, the existing rules were written when television was generally single channel audio. The only metric being regulated was peak levels. Sound engineers learned to get around that by compressing the sound to maximize the sound energy while clipping the top end to stay within the limit. Result, looks and is legal on the meter, but "sounds" louder to the ear. Now we have Dolby 5.1 sound, further complicating the issue. The proposed regs will do a better job of accounting for the total sound energy, and take into account another trick of the trade - that of reducing the program audio levels leading into a commercial break, making the ads appear much louder. More importantly, the regulations will result in standards the equipment and software developers can use to build equipment that does a better job of normalizing audio. One thing to keep in mind, the existing rules were written when television was generally single channel audio. The only metric being regulated was peak levels.
Sound engineers learned to get around that by compressing the sound to maximize the sound energy while clipping the top end to stay within the limit. Result, looks and is legal on the meter, but “sounds” louder to the ear.
Now we have Dolby 5.1 sound, further complicating the issue.
The proposed regs will do a better job of accounting for the total sound energy, and take into account another trick of the trade – that of reducing the program audio levels leading into a commercial break, making the ads appear much louder. More importantly, the regulations will result in standards the equipment and software developers can use to build equipment that does a better job of normalizing audio.

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