This has also been one of my only negative issues with Tablo; the volume is definitely lower.
We usually watch a Tablo records show last in the evening and shut everything down. In the morning when turning the TV on we have to remember to make sure the volume has been turned down or the programming blasts us as we had to increase the volume so much when viewing Tablo programming.
It would have to be in the way Tablo is changing the audio on record.
Simeon
3-6dB master output bump surely wouldnāt hurt anything and obviously a LOT of folks would be gratefulā¦
Is it primarily on Roku that you guys are finding the sound is low? Or is it across all devices?
All devices
all devices.
All my Apple junk and also noticed on Chrome running OS X hereā¦
OK - good to know.
This isnāt something we can adjust ourselves but next time we chat with our chip provider weāll see if thereās a setting within their firmware that can be tweaked.
I have a 4200 roku 3 into a newer panasonic and the sound volume is low. Probably 30-40% lower.
But I also have a 4210 roku 2 into an older sharp aquos LCD and the volume level is exactly the same as OTA direct connect.
And no Iām not going to try to figure out what any differences are between the two TVās. Besides volume levels I never fiddle with any sound settings on any device.
My TCL 40" with built-in Roku has lower volume. Maybe I can get some Roku info on it tonight.
The volume level issue is across all devices using Apple TV and Roku 3.
I tried recording a demonstration today using a Loudness meter and it definitely shows at least a 3 to 5 DB drop in volume.
It was a little confusing as Tablo is behind about 30 seconds or so but when you are in the room and switching back and forth you can hear the difference. I might go ahead and upload the video and share the link just for fun.
Best Regards,
Simeon
That dB drop mirrors my experience, using a Roku stick plugged in to my AVR, which displays the volume in dB settings, 0 being the highest setting. Before Tablo I always set the volume comfortably at -21 dB, but now I have to set it to -18 to -14 to match the previous listening level.
Here is the video of my test.
Fairly informal but gives you some idea.
Thanks,
Simeon
Appreciate the response(s) from TabloTV. I understand itās not as quick or easy as we may think. But it is a āperceivedā problem for many and I hope thereās a possibility for improvement through firmware updates?
In my profession (Live Broadway/regional theatre, concert sound and recording studios) my experience is that you can ask 10 people about sound levels and receive 10 different responses.
Unlike lighting where you may query if an area of the stage is too dark, responses are generally in pretty close agreement.
But with audio, when you have so many different people in practically unanimous agreement, itās fairly safe bet thereās something about this situation which probably warrants some technical attention.
Once again this issue has been very puzzling. We love watching The Amazing Race and there always seems to be an issue with speech intelligibility. I try and make adjustments our sound system, etc. and we always find ourselves really ramping up the volume. When they go to a commercial BAM! the volume and dynamic change.
There are various ways the broadcasters deliver their broadcast audio and I think that the way Tablo is dealing with this can be confusing sometimes and actually dare I say degrade things.
As far as I understand the history of how Dolby encoding works is that they rely on doing a lot of things with the phase of the audio channels and if that is not handled correctly then you actually will get phase cancellation of frequencies, comb filtering, artifacts, lower volume, etc. Some of this could be happening when Tablo is summing the audio channels. Same thing when you are re-encoding the audio using ffmpeg, mp3, etc.
So I think that once we can get the major firmware bugs smoothed out it would be great to re-visit the audio side of things as there is definitely some improvement that can be made. As of now the audio seems all over the place depending on the programming recorded.
I love Tablo and am actually setting my neighbor up with a two-tuner so I am fully appreciative of what they have been able to accomplish and I am confident that they can bring the audio side of things to a higher level (no pun intended) ;^)
Very best regards,
Simeon
I suggest Nexus Player instead of Roku for watching
I am using the new 4th gen Apple TV for playback.
I am going to do some looking into my physical sound setup and see what I might be able to improve in that regard (speaker placement, EQ, analog vs optical input options, etc. )
Thanks
Simeon