Compressor reduces audio level on Dolby AC3 conversions

Why does the audio level of AIFF files consistently get reduced when converting to Dolby AC3 files for DVDSP authoring? When compared side by side to the original AIFF file in DVDSP levels are considerably lower and are too low in the resulting DVD. This is annoying when the AIFF files are at proper level.

I believe you're looking at the "Dialog Normalization" setting which defaults to -27 dB.

-18 to -20 is considered half acoustic level, so -30 would almost vanish.

This is a tutorial on using A-Pack, the grandpa to Compressor. I can't find anything on Compressor itself other than a DVD for sale on Ken Stone's web site.

[www.kenstone.net]

Koz

By the way, it does that in order to leave room for gunshots and explosions *in their original volume.* Fooling with that relationship means the actor will be talking to his mom at the volume of a Peterbilt Semi at 70 MPH on the Interstate.

Of course, if her hearing isn't quite what it was.......

Koz

Yeah, there it is. Turn the compression off in Pre-Processing and select -31 for Dialog Normalization (I had the numbers backwards) and see what happens. It's the same as in APack but the dialog panels are in different places.

None of this works if your original audio was damaged.......

Koz