Just returned from movie theater...think my hearing is damaged...

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by ukrules, Nov 23, 2016.

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  1. ukrules

    ukrules Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Kentucky
    Just returned from seeing "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them". Nice movie, but the volume was WAY TOO LOUD. The previews probably damaged my hearing. The movie was a bit better but not much. I recall seeing the latest Star Wars movie this time last year, and it was even worse. I need to start taking my musicians earplugs that I use in standby concerts.

    Anyone else feel this way or am I a grumpy geezer?
     
  2. Myke

    Myke Trying Not To Spook The Horse

    My ears have gotten more sensitive since buying all the best recordings, as suggested here over the last 6 years. That, and turning 58 have me wincing much more than I used to.
     
  3. Opeth

    Opeth Forum Resident

    Location:
    NH
    What brand of movie theatre was it ? most of the ones I have been to lately you can hear the movies on either side of you bleeding through the walls... I always want it louder :shrug:
     
    Chip Z likes this.
  4. ukrules

    ukrules Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Kentucky
    Rave in Florence, KY...last year was Regal Opry Mills, Nashville TN
     
  5. JerolW

    JerolW Senior Member

    When it's too loud and the theatre isn't packed, we go mid week and afternoon, I ask them to turn it down.
    BTW, I'm old.

    jerol
     
  6. EdgardV

    EdgardV ®

    Location:
    USA
    I guess I was old when I was a teenager. I have never cared for audio to be so loud. Whether it's a party or a bar, restaurant, concert, or theater, everything has always seemed too loud.

    I do have very good hearing, perhaps this has something to do with it.
     
    Jackson and Plan9 like this.
  7. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    that and the audience rudeness keeps me away, and of course the price of admission for 2! I'll wait for the home video version. Movie going ain't what it used to be! IMO of course.
     
  8. alexpop

    alexpop Power pop + other bad habits....

    Way too loud especially Imax.
    But, visually my plasma can't beat the theatre screen. Those pesky iPhones can be burden.
     
  9. Malina

    Malina Forum Resident

    Location:
    NYC
     
    eddiel likes this.
  10. neo123

    neo123 Senior Member

    Location:
    Northern Kentucky
    Rave/Cinemark in Florence is the theatre I go see all my first run movies and there have been a couple times where I thought the sound was up too loud. Though, most of the time, they seem okay.
     
  11. Ghostworld

    Ghostworld Senior Member

    Location:
    US
    I still wear my earplugs on occasion. If you don't have earplugs, get a napkin, WET pieces and use it as plugs.
     
    MikaelaArsenault and Vidiot like this.
  12. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    They're supposed to play most of these films at "Dolby Level 7" in the room (representing a reference level of 85dB), but some theaters edge it up a little bit too loud. For about the past 6-7 years, I've been taking foam earplugs to theaters just in case they go past the threshold of pain for me.

    I went to an Imax screening at Universal of Man of Steel a couple of years ago, and I measured sustained peaks at over 110dB, which is very, very loud.

    We solve that by trying to go to the last show of the evening, and usually the 11:00PM-11:30PM audiences are quieter and not as roudy. I totally agree that public rudeness is out of hand these days, particularly people who take phone calls and start texting in the middle of a movie theater.
     
  13. Chris DeVoe

    Chris DeVoe RIP Vickie Mapes Williams (aka Equipoise)

    I go to more than a hundred movies in the theater a year, and rarely encounter any of the issues you all are talking about. Mostly I go to the AMC chain, and they tend to have excellent projection and sound. I avoid the phone people by seeing the popular films during the week, and only see art films on weekends.
     
  14. John B Good

    John B Good Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    NS, Canada
    I went to a theater for the first time in 17 years last night. The Sting was playing, which I'd never seen.

    The previews made my blood boil, they were so stupid loud. The movie volume was ok though, and I wondered whether that had something to do with it being an old movie?

    I'm afraid I believe that there is an epidemic of deafness occurring, and the type of loudness at concerts and sports events and movies is both cause and effect.

    I'll try a new movie next, and report back :)
     
    Suncola and MikaelaArsenault like this.
  15. driverdrummer

    driverdrummer Forum Resident

    Location:
    Irmo, SC
    I went and saw Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:Out of the Shadows at the theater and it was very loud. I recommend sitting in the back of the theater.
     
  16. Plan9

    Plan9 Mastering Engineer

    Location:
    Toulouse, France
    When I lived in NY, the volume in all the theaters and concerts I went to was way, way too loud. Before that, I had encountered nothing of the sort in Europe/France, except on rare occasions (IMAX...)

    Nowadays I find that most blockbusters are projected too loud, so I always bring earplugs, which severely diminish the interest of Dolby Atmos...

    BTW, I'm 32 years old.
     
    showtaper likes this.
  17. EdogawaRampo

    EdogawaRampo Senior Member

    I feel EXACTLY the same way. Over the top volume, especially with the action movies.
     
  18. ubiknik

    ubiknik Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago, IL USA
    Stupid loud is a common theme these days it seems. I went to a hockey game last winter in Phoenix and we were up high in the stadium and there was a 'DJ' blasting ridiculously loud bursts of heavy metal mayhem over the system, pretty much every chance they could get. Why they do that I can't imagine, I know somebody thinks the game seems more exciting or whatever with that, but with the waaay overbuilt sound/pa system and the subwoofers and other ballistic audio doodads up in the rafters and higher areas, it just makes for an earbleeding mess for most in the higher seats.
    In movie theaters I think they treat previews like broadcast TV used to do with commercials, meaning the volume is too loud. My hearing is more sensitive now at 56 but still quite good, 20 years ago friends and I would leave bars that played music too loud, a lot of bars do that of course and I guess the idea of people actually having conversation is a foreign concept to those that do that. I have seen some large bar/eatery venues where they really went to town with the building of the place, and it gets filled with chatty customers and is very popular, but they didn't think about any acoustic damping and everything in the place is mostly reflective.
    What I have noticed happens with places like that is that only 20 somethings end up going there because they are conditioned to obnoxiously loud environments and just want to be cool I guess, I'm thinking of a popular brew pup here, I know a few that are fantastic, not loud and excellent fun. Bell's brew pup in Kalamazoo is a good example, they play music, serve great food & beer, and they actually paid attention to the sound set up in the old firehouse they turned into a venue. Revolution brewery in Chicago on the other hand is set up to handle more people but they obviously just went the dumb bar route when it came to sound system design, super reflective floors, walls and ceilings just help create a cacophony of sound even when the music is at a moderate level, because it mixes with all the chatter and restaurant bar sounds.
    So yea, obviously I have mostly stopped going to theaters and mostly have the bar/restaurant observations handy, -I'll never go to a hockey game again, that's for sure.
    Cigarette filters can make earplugs in a pinch, a very 20th century solution but somewhat effective.
     
  19. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    There is a specific MPAA rule that says that "approved" trailers have to have a certain maximum volume level when played in theaters. I would say the problem could lie with the fact that The Sting is a 1973 mono analogue film, and most likely the trailers you saw were contemporary digital surround films. Getting the volume constant between these takes time and attention, and I suspect few modern theaters are willing to do either.
     
    driverdrummer likes this.
  20. Jackson

    Jackson Senior Member

    Location:
    MA, USA
    I'm in the same boat, when i hear someone say ''crank it up'' i think bad hearing.....or/and probably bad music.
     
    EdgardV likes this.
  21. John B Good

    John B Good Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    NS, Canada
    Yes, recent productions as previews. I'm sure you're right, and probably if they took the time to "remaster' The Sting, it might have been stupid loud too :(
     
  22. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    Sadly, my only solution is to bring along a cheap pair of earplugs as protection. I'd say about 60% of the time, I don't use them and the show is fine... maybe just on the threshold of being too loud, but not quite. But at least 40% of the time, I'm glad I brought them along.
     
  23. jon9091

    jon9091 Master Of Reality

    Location:
    Midwest
    I saw the same movie with my daughter (age 10) a few days ago. The theatre was an AMC Dolby Cinema. They had speakers all along the side walls, and even the previews rumbled the seats. It was just too frickn' loud. I know they're trying to make it impressive with the subwoofers absolutely cranked up...but I'll never go back to that theatre. What's the point if my daughter doesn't have fun, and has to watch the movie with her hands over her ears. Plus...it costs about $5 more a ticket. Never again.
     
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  24. Borgia

    Borgia Do not speak wisely of this night

    Location:
    Arkansas
    A few years back I took my daughter, who was 5 or 6 at the time, to see the cartoon about the little penguin. Happy Feet?
    It was so loud I winced through much of it & the kid was uncomfortable too. A freakin' cartoon.
     
  25. John B Good

    John B Good Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    NS, Canada
    Obviously we few with good hearing are a minority among movie fans, because the madness shows no sign of abating.

    I'll continue to prefer watching at home when the movie appears on TV or on disk.
     
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