The VideoLAN Forums

There is information out there on settings for the Compressor feature which are confusing. The main reason to use the Compressor setting is to control loud sounds ans soft sounds to listen at the same volume. In other words the user does not have constantly fiddle up and down on volume control in the course of viewing.

Please create and test the optimum preset for this which is sometimes called "Midnight Theater" if implemented in hardware. Sliders which are available in Compressor require a lot of adjustment. Surely there is an optimal solution amidst the numerous segments of control.

Alf,

I will look up what I have found on this. The long detailed piece on how compression andnormalization works came from a discussion on Reddit.

Also on VLC here are some starters:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=91355

I will have to look up others. Also I noticed that once set, control S does not save to next session. That, or I'm having to reset it all the time (still do) because I wasn't doing it correctly.

There's a set of optimal settings but these are from a user and not VLC development. I think there should be a preset button to set for maximum normalization. Even the terms are used all over the place so it's hard to look up.

Here's the Reddit. It is long and technical and all in comments rather than an article form.

http://www.reddit.com/r/LifeProTips/com ... ue_is_too/

A lifehacker one:

http://lifehacker.com/5920290/how-to-fi ... eally-loud

There's one with images of the settings I have to find again....

This is another (uncredited that I pasted into a saved mail)

I use the VLC player for videos because I find it convenient, yet a dynamic volume plugin seems not to be available for this player. There is not such an option in VLC itself. However, you can make a few very easy adjustments to achieve almost perfect dynamic volume and avoid extreme loudness.

Go to the *Audio Preferences* of VLC (in *simple* mode) and make these adjustments:

*1*) Set the default volume to 200%, *2*) Set “replay gain mode” to None, *3*) Check the “Volume normalize” option, and *4*) Set the value at the right of Volume Normalize to “0.50?.

This configuration will work at least when you use *Wave* output.

It will not make the soft sounds louder, it will only decrease automatically the volume when it becomes too high. This way you can have the master volume (of the amplifier or the PC) loud enough in order to hear normal dialogues, and when someone in the movie shouts, or there is gunshot, etc, sound volume will automatically decrease. You will enjoy the goods of an auto gain function, without losing completely the dynamics of a movie.

If my configuration is not “exactly” what you need, just play with the Normalizer value, set it to 0.30, or to 0.80, etc., leaving the other adjustments as they are.