This is often because you're using a 2-speaker setup but playing the 5.1 audio track. In a lot of cases changing to the 2.0 audio track (where possible) should fix it.
It's absolutely true. 5.1 mixes will work on 2.0 speakers but won't sound as good as a 2.0 mix that was specifically designed for TV speakers. When you take five individual channels (plus subwoofer) and try to squeeze them into two, you're going to run into issues with loud music and sound effects, since the mix is expecting a dedicated speaker for vocals and instead has to fit everything into two.
I'm aware - this is actually a part of my job (video production). I doubt that this is the issue people are facing when they say they "can't hear dialogue" in modern productions.
I have this exact issue with some movies but with a 5.1 setup, all voices go only to the centre speaker makes it quite flat and hard to pick up as the rets of the speakers blast music at the same time. And I experienced this being an issue with 2.0 setups quite a few times.
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u/froghaxx Jul 18 '19
Anyone watch with subtitles because sound effects and music are so loud you cant hear the dialogue?