If u have the original bluray of the movie bumblebee, you can compare them with the MKV remux version. The mkv version doesn’t have these flag in the metadata like below
The first line is loudness management which defeats this dialnorm flag. This setting will ignore the flag on the original bluray, if this is defeated, dynamic compression is also be defeated on the denon unit. With the denon, you can enable loudness management (don’t ignore dialnorm flag) but choose to ignore dynamic compression.
There is no question about testing dialnorm on the anthem, because we cannot choose to enable or disable it. It automatically accepts and decodes the signal and process the levels offset & dynamic compression automatically without users knowing. Because such a setting does not exist on the anthem vs the denon u see above
What we tested instead, was the MKV remux version that does not contain any dialnorm flag or compression flag in the file. On this particular file, when we were testing it, using Dolby audio post processing seems to be applying some type of dynamic compression. So sound from surround speakers immediately sounded louder and it was noticeable
So this is where it is different like I’ve mentioned above, one has the original compression flag in the bluray file where the users cannot do anything about it if they own an anthem. one is the processor doing the dynamic compression where the users can choose to engage it. That dolby audio post processing this is something like “Dynamic Volume” on the denon
A bit confusing here, MKV does not contain dialnorm/compression flags, but when you engage Dolby Audio Post Processing, which is somewhat equivalent to selectively (by consumer/user) enable dynamic compression, and this actually resulted in surround speakers sounded louder, not softer?
In my experience, dynamic range compression usually reduces peaks and raises average levels. Which means everything does sounds louder.
This is consistent - audyssey dynamic volume also raises average levels from past experience with it.
From the Denon menu -
Loudness Management = enable Dialnorm = MV offset. Anthem doesn’t have this so it is default ON.
Dynamic Compression = applies compression per info in the Metadata. For the new Dolby post processing, this seems to have 2 option in Anthem.
Movie = dynamic range compression + raising surround levels (remember audyssey DEQ was famous for boosting surrounds excessively)
Night = dynamic range compression.
None = dialnorm MV offset, follows Metadata by default.
That’s my understanding.
Just tested Movie and Night mode… Wow it really compresses and raises the levels significantly. To the point where some background level info that wasn’t audible, like ambient environmental sounds in the track become quite obvious… Dialogue feels unnaturally boosted though…
Just think of soundtrack excessively loud will be reduced while one with softer soundmix which resulted in softer dialogue and soundmix overall will be boosted. The issue here is when there is a big discrepancy in the dialogue vs the surround mix and bass, it may result in “unevenness” in the overall presentation.
Ya Gavin has explained it everything in an easier to understand manner
The dialnorm flag and dynamic compression flag originates from the source of the file itself. It will be triggered if it is bitstreamed . Anthem users have absolutely no control over this.
On the other hand, this dolby audio post processing is an option that the users can choose like
It is a form of audio post-processing of audio encoded in Dolby formats on AVRs, in this case Anthem & JBL has it , but the denon doesn’t . So any dolby format be it dolby digital, Dd+, Atmos or dolby trueHD will work with this feature, as long as the signal coming in is in dolby and not dts, auro 3D or imax enhanced
I just experience something puzzling with my Roku ultra 2020 playing youtube to AVM90.
For some reason, the display on the AVM90 is fixed as Dolby Atmos even though it is playing 2ch source from YouTube app.
On my phone app control, the sound mode is Fixed as Dolby Surround. I cannot change it to anything else, None etc.
The strangest thing about this, is the playback is ONLY in 2ch Stereo, despite showing Dolby Atmos on the processor and Dolby surround mode on the app.
I’m a fan of DSU and have been enjoying music from YouTube live covers in DSU for the longest time… This is quite frustrating.
No. I never encounter such an issue before but I would suggest you to take a look at Roku audio settings one more time. I used to own Roku Ultra 4K streaming device before.
I’m not aware there is a new firmware…what is the ver and when did you receive the update notice? I have been very busy to post in the forum these days.
I will update tonight when I’m back home from work. Meanwhile, everyone might want to reload the ARC file AFTER the update and see if it is able to restore the bass. Just a hunch. May not need to redo your ARC calibration imo.
Just a follow-up. Despite the possible bugs, I went ahead to update the firmware, in the name of experimentation. The firmware update went smoothly and took about 4 - 5 mins to complete. As you can see from the screenshot of the Web Info page. I have just updated a few minutes ago.
I am not experiencing any drop in bass output. What I did is to re-upload the ARC file AFTER the update (which I always did anyways). I think it is safe for those on fence to perform the update. I believe this firmware contain some bug fixes to the CEC and also fix some audio distortion anomaly from some audio input. Of course, if you are uncomfortable and your current setup is not giving you any issue, then I think you can just skip this update.
sadly I would report that I am experiencing the bass issue… I think my set auto update itself. I did not intentionally update the firmware.
This comes about as I have been visiting several showrooms in the past few weeks and was inspired to replicate what I heard.
I only noticed it after a few uploads after tweaking of the tgt curve, all of a sudden the bass slam is gone. I performed factory reset and reupload saved ARC, still no luck.
I even delete and reinstall ARC in case the app is somehow corrupted.
The only thing that worked for me is to redo the measurements and perform a fresh upload.
I noticed that if I continue to play with the tgt curve, the bass will gradually degrade after multiple uploads iterations.
What is even more strange is that if I use a fresh profile (there are 4 of them rmbr) using the same measurements, I will get back the bass… I suspect that when the new calculated profile is uploaded, it somehow merged with the existing vs overwriting it completely… whatever the case, this is an issue (at least for me). I am able to reproduce this effect, thus, it certainly is a BUG.
