Speech Volume in MKV Files is Too Low

[blash]

I installed VLC and the Combined Community Codec pack (full install)- when playing most files in MKV and a few AVI files, the volume of people in the movie speaking is very low to non-existent. This is in sharp contrast to the background soundtrack which is very loud - I can hear the music and background noise very well. Installing and reinstalling did not solve my problem. The files are not the problem - I experience the problem in XP Pro SP3 RC1 (and SP2 before) but playing the file back in VLC in Vista Ultimate x64 was problem-free.

My soundcard is - Creative X-Fi Fatality (original 96Kb version) - changing the audio mode in the Creative console does not solve the problem.

So yeah can someone help me solve the problem? Rebooting into Vista every time I want to watch a movie is annoying....

[Arite]

Additional codec packs are not necessary since VLC uses it's own codecs.

As for the sound problem - have you tried raising the Volume level of your sound card? If you double-click the Volume control icon you will get the full Volume Control (not just the main master volume). Try raising "Wave" to the top if it isn't already at the level.

If that doesn't help, do you have the same problem playing other files (e.g. an *.mp3) in VLC? If so, what about other players?

Arite.

[blash]

The volume level is at 100% as is the wave level - again, the background music (orchestra, cars on the street, waterfalls, etc) is at full volume but I can't hear people talk. I have the same problem in Goom Player and Media Player Classic. I have no trouble playing music files.

[johnoppa]

I have the same problem.. sounds like I'm only hearing the surround sound portion of the audio and not the full sound.. I can't really hear the voices but the background sounds are super loud.... I have a 2.1 speaker setup and trying to listen to a file with 5.1 surround sound..

[hugo87]

I realize this thread is rather old, but I'm having the exact same issue.

I've tracked it down to the fact that the audio is 7.1, and my speakers are 2.1, so I'm only listening to two of seven channels.

If I [mis]configure pulseaudio, and set it to "7.1 output", I'll hear to some two different channels (voices loud, music very faint).

Have you managed to get around this issue? Can anyone else give any suggestions for this sort of thing? I guess I'd need to merge the different channels for this, because I only have two.

[Rémi Denis-Courmont]

You can configure VLC or PulseAudio to downmix. In fact, PulseAudio should do it by default, precisely because most 5.1/7.1-capable sound cards have only stereo speakers.

[leelee]

i had problem were actors voices could not be heard, yet background sound was very loud. managed to fix it so thought i would share!

i went to the properties of my speakers, then enhancements. checked enhancement box. which then gives you list of options one of them being "vocal". checked the vocal box ok'd that.

opened vlc player and i can now hear actors voices perfectly. took me a while to figure this out as i like many others was following advice that was either tosh or unnessecary downloads, tweeks and so on. hope this helps someone finaly enjoy that film!!! :

[ercu]

I have 2.1.3 same problem
on the menu go to sound and double channel and pick right or left instead of dolby surround

[shrenikchhajer]

hey guys i have the same problem but not able to solve it . i have windows 8.1. IN mkv files music is coming perfectly but dialouges some times clear sometimes silent sometimes dull. please help me to fix it. AS on the date i have the latest version of the VLC.