Am I going deaf or does everyone on telly mumble theses days?

[CaraBosse1]

Just watched first episode of Pretty Little Lies - God, the mumbling!

First series of House of Cards, I kept putting subtitles on because I couldn't understand Kevin Spacey.

Watching McMafia the other night, I kept saying to DH "eh, what did he say?" to which DH replied "Dunno"

Am I going mutton and jeff or does anyone else struggle to follow dramas because of the bloody mumbling?

Flat screen TVs are awful.

Many actors today are awful. Try a sound bar and watching older films.

Suddenly, your hearing will improve miraculously!

This is why I have subtitles on.

I have just tried to watch Now You See Me 2, via the Firestick. Aside from the other problems with the firestick (which neither Amazon nor BBC have even responded to my queries about), I had to stop watching it as a) the picture was so dark I could barely see anything and b) the sound was mixed in such a way that the music was loud and the speech mumbled. I suspect that's the stick more than the actors on this occasion though.

A few reasons for this problem.

TV sound has always been bad, the sound stages espically the speaker in the TV has aways been pared back to the bare mimimum and that some . A very few TV's have decent sound. Modern flat panels have alsmost no room for a speaker let alone the "cabinet" it needs.

However the sound channel is very good technically, its as good as FM Radio and CD its just that the telly dosent make the best of it. I have a very good pair speakers and amplifier alongside the TV and it makes a tremendous differnce to the sound, espcialy music:)

Modern day sound balancing?, well they don't train them like they used to enginering is the poor relative now and it shows, and can be heard. I do know a few people who used to do recording for flim and TV 'tho film is still done very well. Actors now usually have body worn microphones which don't help matters either. The decent microphone on the sound pole and those that can handle them arent around much anymore.

The BBC used to train them very well but outside houses supply a lot of the drama and their standards are often lacking:( Work experence trainees anyone!?.

Sound epole hearinhg may be a bitr lacking in the mid rage around 3 to 5 Kilohertz dosent help either.

All in not specificaly one thing at fault but a few things adding up the wrong way!.

Peaky blinders tho?, understandable after all when have any brummie folk been on the telly apart from that awfull "crossrods" motel thing back in the last century!.

We have a sound bar and we still struggle.

I've needed subtitles for years. I'm stuck with the firestick while scaffolding is blocking our dish and the patchy subtitles have been challenging!

Justaboy, thanks for that info. In your opinion, which tv manufacturer provides that best sound? Clarity is what I'm looking for. Both our tvs are a bit mumbly and muffled, but one is much worse than the other. The bad one has a pair of small external computer speakers (with a bass box) and that helps, but it's still baaad. Strangely, playing a dvd in that tv gives beautiful clear sound and much higher volume. Toshiba have denied this is possible but it nevertheless does, with every dvd. Makes no sense.

We have to have the subtitles on, especially for some of the American series. I think they whisper on purpose

"Why have a hearing test if you're getting by in everyday life?"

Because the average person waits 10 years between noticeably losing hearing and getting hearing tests and hearing aids. And during that time your brain starts to forget how to decode sound to make sense of it.

Which means a lot of people finally get hearing aids which amplify sound so they hear it back at normal levels, but can't decode the sounds into speech as they haven't used the skill for so long so the aids don't help much.

Also the effort of lipreading (which everyone does a bit naturally, but a lot more so if you are losing hearing) is incredibly tiring, and that can lead to grouchiness especially if you don't know you are doing it, and that and not hearing well can lead to isolation and in turn depression. At least if you know your hearing is going down you can get hearing aids early and take steps like always having your back to the wall in public places.

Yanbu op. I keep yelling ENUNCIATE
Local radio news has gone the same way with newsreaders mumbling and stumbling over their words with a heavy beat on the background

I've been watching the old series of Poldark, filmed in the 1970's, every word could be heard as clear as a bell including those said with strong accents, not an incoherent mumble anywhere. Also, the actors seemed to be able to address their speech towards the audience without it looking as if that is what they are doing, none of this turning away and muttering towards the corner of a dark room, or looking at the floor/their feet.

Progress, eh?

Our old TV was awful for this. We had to turn the sound up to hear the dialogue and then turn it back down when the adverts came on VERY LOUD!

Our new tv has various sound options and one is turning the background down, less base, etc so the voices are usually pretty clear. Has more of a ‘tinny’ sound to it but at least I can hear what everyone’s going on about.

It does sound like your losing some range of sounds. I have a moderate hearing loss. I can hear things with narration fine but not conversation, which sounds like your issue. Get your hearing tested.

Also, not sure if they have a specific name, but I have headphone plugged into tv that mean the sound is normal for everyone else but I can hear perfectly with headphones. Think they have to be a certain type because otherwise is cuts all sound and I assume others in your family hear fine. Also look at sound systems, like we have a sonos playbar set up for voice and it's much easier to hear.

100% agree with NOTCITRUS.

I agree that if you can comprehend well when things are perfectly enunciated with no background sound to muddy it, but can’t work out what people are saying in imperfect conditions (which is what most people on this thread are describing) then that is exactly how hearing loss presents. Yes adjust your TV set, but also do get your hearing checked if you’re frequently having trouble listening to modern TV drama (except for the very few that absolutely everyone complains about). I put the subtitles on in the kitchen, but that’s because my kettle, dishwasher and washing machine all sound like jumbo jets taking off.

Not just mumbling but when the background noise is too much I can't hear them either.

I did the test and it said my hearing was in the normal range. Either they mumble or there is something wrong with my tv but thinking about it I listen to radio 4 on the TV and don't have a problem so my vote is they mumble.

My hearing has always been dodgy. Got a hearing aid 2 years ago.

I really struggle with TV drama. I have to have the subtiles on and the sound up loud. Drives DH mad. I turn the sound right down for ads and music though.
And music on the radio, esp in the car, DH turns it up, I turn it down.
It's just the TV speech.

We have an old fashioned telly, need to get a flat screen too. Interesting to hear about the sound on those, I'll factor a sound bar into the cost.

This is me with pretty much every drama from the US - The Wire and The Walking Dead being the worst.

I went to get a hearing test and it came back perfectly normal, so I have to conclude that it's down to the bloody mumbling.

Same here, I am fed up of pausing and rewinding, me and DH had to give up the other night - after listening to (quite a vital) line three times, we gave up!

I feel a lot happier reading this, I really struggle, particularly with films that are all gloomy and moody.

It's amazing how much easier it is to work out what people are saying when you can actually see their faces, but in dark and gloomy serious films, that never happens.

There's a film with Denzel Washington in (maybe Training Day), and he's in a car with someone else and I got so cross with them both that I went to bed. Mumble fucking mumbly. Had no idea what they were on about.

We've got all sorts of settings for sound on the TV, DH spends loads of time faffing with it, which is pretty annoying, especially as it only ever seems to get louder, not clearer.

And background music should be banned background.

Actually, sometime in the 70s I remember there being a lot of fuss on something like 'Points of View' about background music being far too loud. And I remember sometime after that the background music was relegated to the background. On the BBC at any rate.

Do we have a consumer programme like that any more? They read viewers' letters out in silly voices, but it did have a little bit of clout.

DD had Friends on in the background - I could hear every word perfectly despite me concentrating on something else.

I re-watched the first episode of Big Little Lies with sub-titles and realised I'd followed it all, first time round, there are just some lines which cannot be decoded by the human ear!