At first I thought it might just be me, but online and in person, I’m hearing more and more people talk or joke about how crazy loud movie theater speakers are getting. Lots of people (including myself) are resorting to wearing ear plugs just to watch a movie without getting ear pain. Meanwhile, I almost never see anyone complaining about *not* being able to hear a movie in the theater.
Is there a secret wave of people who can’t hear theater speakers that I’m just missing? Or is something else going on?
In: Technology
Went to see the 85th anniversary of The Wizard of Oz & had to request them to turn it down. Sounded like death metal.
I went to see Dune part 1 at the cinema after watching it a few times at home. I couldn’t understand half the dialogue the sound was so clipped out. Not keen on going back tbh. It was unbearably loud and I left with tinnitus.
Plus I’m a sad old guy who likes subtitles and the ability to pause and go for a piss.
OK. 1. People soak up sound. 2. Movie theaters that want to show first run movies get their rooms tuned by Dolby to a reference level. where I work that number is 7 but I’m new to this game. I don’t know what 7 is in decibel levels X-number-of-feet from the screen but our 7, in an empty theater, is too loud for me. when the theater fills up, it’s more comfortable. We don’t do exclusively first run movies and we show a lot of vintage stuff, some of which is still stereo and mono. I start every tech check at 7 and adjust from there. I move the knob based on my own comfort, the number of seats we sold, and *most importantly* customer feedback. I want you to enjoy your experience at my theater. I want you to want to come back.
If it’s too loud, tell somebody. If they shrug at you, get a manager’s email. If that doesn’t change anything, start looking for a better theater.
Exercise that almighty consumer dollar you have. We’re all fighting for it.
I wear ear plugs to movies and concerts because everything is getting super loud. I recommend that everyone tries to protect their hearing! My personal theory is that the folks most likely to do the sound checks are also the most likely to have hearing loss due to the sheer number of sound checks they conduct (amongst other things).
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