Auto volume control

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Hello guys,

I have a very strange question here.

I would like to find a way to control my amplifier's volume level according decibel level or something else.

Some channels from my tv satellite provider rise the volume during advertisements at a crazy level.

I would like to be able to lower the volume automatically during ads and rise the volume to normal level after.

Is there an unexpensive way to do that?

RS-232 Vu meters?

Thanks

ericmedley

this is the age old question since TV began...

One of the big problems today is the fact that channels that broadcast in surround have issues when commercials are not in surround. The built-in process can wreak havoc trying to deal with it. Processors either go ahead and make fake surround stereo, thus making the commercial seem silly loud or go ahead and split it out, thus making the commercial too soft. Combine this with the fact that some folks TVs at home are just stereo but are pulling in the surround and mixing it back to 2.0 and you've got a real mess.

You'd probably be best served putting a good quality leveling amp in line. That still won't help you with the average volume issues, but it at least will help with the barkiness of the voice over on the loud commercials.

You're not goiong to find much use using some kind of volume sensor since all TV audio is brick-wall limited to a fraction of a db below clipping. the sensor is just going to see, 'it's real loud' all the time. There's no dynamics left in audio nowadays to create a very good sensor. It's the thing that drives us audio engineers nuts nowadays.

What I've done on a few occasions is put a 'commercial' button on the tv page that takes the volume down to a very low level and the client hits it when they want. It toggles on and off. When off it puts the volume back to previous levels.

patb

There is a technology that does exactly what you are talking about (TruVolume). I saw it in action this year at CES. Don't know of a way to make AMX do this, but go out and buy a product that has this incorporated (there are many) and you don't have to worry about it.

http://www.srslabs.com/content.aspx?id=229