Volume Low on Red Button 601

[Black Hole]

I'm watching the seniors snooker tournament on Red Button, but the sound level has been very low both days. It's not like that when 601 provides the "other table" for the main tournament.

 

[RobH1]

I've found that recently that sound levels have been low on many stations, particularly Quest. ( No, it isn't age related!)

 

[prpr]

601 has always been low level, going back years. I fail to understand why. It was no different today to normal, from the little bit I saw.

 

[gomezz]

I have never noticed 601 to be at a lower level than any other channel,

 

[EEPhil]

I remember a snooker tournament being on red button a few years ago. When there was no play the snooker theme tune was played on a continuous loop. The volume was that low that you could probably measure the noise to signal level rather the other way if you had the volume at a listenable level. Can’t remember whether the actual matches were low volume as well.
You’d expect someone to balance the sound. Clearly not!

 

[Black Hole]

It was no different today to normal, from the little bit I saw.

This does not accord with my experience of watching snooker.

I have send the BBC a "comment" on their feedback form.

 

[prpr]

When there was no play the snooker theme tune was played on a continuous loop. The volume was that low that you could probably measure the noise to signal level

Er, that's deliberate, like the level on the 'red' loops on BBC1 HD during SD regional news. If it's at full level it just pisses everyone right off. It's annoying enough as it is at low level.

 

[EEPhil]

Er, that's deliberate,

If that was the case wouldn’t the sound be lowered on the “This is red button” slate? Anyway that doesn’t explain the background noise.

 

[gomezz]

Just a thought: Is the snooker audio fully discrete digital? That is usually lower to accomodate the wider dynamic range that is possible. One check is to switch to the analogue audio feed and see if that makes a difference.

 

[Black Hole]

Is the snooker audio fully discrete digital?

How can it be anything else?

There used to be a volume difference between HiDef and StDef services, but that got fixed in a firmware update. Perhaps I should compare the performance of the HDR-FOX with the TV's built-in tuner, but I say again I do not normally notice this as a problem – it is only the Seniors Snooker which seems to be an issue.

 

[Black Hole]

The sound level is all over the place. One minute Rob Walker is conducting a live interview and it's hardly audible, then it cuts to a recorded interview with proper volume. And then another live interview is proper volume.

I've grabbed some recordings, will extract a volume profile at some later date.

 

[tonybonner]

Last night I watched Formula E recorded on 601 on Saturday. Volume level was absolutely fine throughout.

 

[Black Hole]

I concur – I grabbed a sample of that too.