There are a ton of reasons why audio mixes for movies are fraught with quality issues during home viewing, and “people have crappy equipment” is the weakest and lest-compelling of them.
This is a great article, but given your context, I chuckled when I stumbled across this line: “There is yet another important variable in this sprawling equation, and it might be the most important one of all: the home theater experience.”
It is definitely under-appreciated. A lot of people don’t care, or don’t know what they’re missing. Some people get intimidated with the technical aspects of the setup. So even people that want a better experience are shy about it. Then they see lies on the sound bar box and think that’s a great solution. Sound bars are better than TV speakers, but they’re not a replacement for a real surround sound system.
There are a ton of reasons why audio mixes for movies are fraught with quality issues during home viewing, and “people have crappy equipment” is the weakest and lest-compelling of them.
https://www.slashfilm.com/673162/heres-why-movie-dialogue-has-gotten-more-difficult-to-understand-and-three-ways-to-fix-it/
This is a great article, but given your context, I chuckled when I stumbled across this line: “There is yet another important variable in this sprawling equation, and it might be the most important one of all: the home theater experience.”
An interesting read. Yeah, it’s complicated.
I think sound has been a bit under-appreciated compared to visual effects/quality in recent years.
It is definitely under-appreciated. A lot of people don’t care, or don’t know what they’re missing. Some people get intimidated with the technical aspects of the setup. So even people that want a better experience are shy about it. Then they see lies on the sound bar box and think that’s a great solution. Sound bars are better than TV speakers, but they’re not a replacement for a real surround sound system.