Please wait while Ara's tweets load.Why I Need Dolby Volume
The HT Guys are excited to tell you about a another contest we are running sponsored by Dolby Laboratories.
We want you to give us your best argument why your spouse, roommate or significant other should let you upgrade to a new receiver that features Dolby Volume.
All you need is the digital version of pen and paper: your trusty keyboard and email program. Write up your argument for why you need or deserve a new receiver with Dolby Volume. Easy as that. Send it to us (HDTVPodcast@mac.com) and you’ll be officially entered in the contest.
The listener with the best argument will win just that, a new receiver with Dolby Volume. But not just any receiver, an Arcam AVR600. So you’ll have the best argument and you won’t even have to use it. But at least the rest of us will be able to give it a try to see if we can get an Arcam of our own.
Dolby® Volume delivers a consistent volume to all your entertainment. It eliminates annoying volume differences, whether between TV shows and commercials or between different pieces of home theater gear. No more up and down with the volume control, no more frustration—just a more enjoyable, more immersing experience. Dolby Volume—you'll wonder how you ever lived without it.
The Contest runs from December 17th through midnight January 14th. We will announce the winner on the January 21st Show. The winner will be chosen by the HT Guys and Dolby Staff and judged based on creativity and the incorporation of Dolby Volume into the argument.
Prize:
Arcam AVR600 (MSRP $4,995)
The contest is only open to the residents of the United States. Sorry guys, its a customs thing.
----------------------------------------- WINNING ENTRY ----------------------------------
My sweet, loving, understanding, darling wife. It’s not me, it’s my receiver.
I can’t do the volume shuffle any more. i have done everything I can to fix this, and I am at the end. You insist I can’t watch any movie or show that interests me while anyone else is in the house is awake, and I agree that Reservoir Dogs may not be appropriate for our 2 young daughters. However, any attempt I make to watch my programming results in an angry conversation about how someone was suddenly woken up by either gunfire, or some man shouting about cleaning products.
I have tried everything. I skip commercials when I can, but it isn’t always possible. Sometimes they come in so suddenly I can’t stop it. I have tried watching movies with the volume down, and subtitles on, but frankly if I wanted to read the story, I would get the book, and this doesn’t always fix the problems. Often the volume is still too loud when the action comes in. We have reached a point where something has to be done, and my darling, I do have a few options.
Option Number 1. We buy a small shed from the hardware store. The ones that look like little houses with window flower boxes, and a nice door. We put that in the back yard on the patio. We insulate it, have an electrician run power to it, and put in a small heating cooling unit so it can be comfortable, and I can watch TV there. Of course we won’t want to take the TV out of the house and away from everyone else so I will need a new TV, receiver, speakers, subwoofer. Maybe since it is outside I can have 2 subwoofers. We will also need an alarm on the shed to protect all the gear we have out there, and a control system of some kind to monitor it when we aren’t out there. We should be able to do all of this for under $30,000, and think of how this will help our resale value.
Option Number 2. We replace our existing AV receiver with one that has Dolby Volume. I know what you are thinking, this sounds drastic, and crazy, but it isn’t. Let me tell you how this works. Dolby Volume uses “magic” to make sure everything is at the same volume. See where they got the name? This isn’t like night time mode on our existing receiver. All that did was mute the sound when it got too loud, and I think we both agree that didn’t work at all. This truly evens the sound out. If you are watching a scene where the main characters are in a noisy environment, it raises the volume of the dialog so you can now hear it over the background. If you are watching something with a lot of dialog, and then sudden drastic action, it adjusts the sound to keep it from being a shock, and keeps it on a level with the rest of the movie. The best part is, it does this without making it sound like they are playing with the volume. It sounds natural and normal.
This would also fix another problem we have. What happens every Saturday morning? The girls wake up before us and turn on their TV shows. Shortly after, they get bored, and switch to the video game, and I think the neighbors know when that happens. We have tried to get them to turn the volume down first, but I think NASA had better luck teaching chimps to fly the space shuttle. Dolby volume fixes this issue as well.
Finally, Option Number 3. This option involves attorneys, money, crying, uncomfortable holidays, more money, and no one wants that.
So there you have it. I have done my part, now you need to do yours. I have laid out 3 options to fix our marriage. Well ok, 2 options to fix our marriage, and one other option. All right fine, 2 options to let me enjoy television, and one bluff. Now you just have to choose which one you want. Frankly, I am hoping for option number one, but I would be extremely happy with option number 2, and I know you would be as well.
I really mean it. Option number 3 is a bluff, not a real option. Please don’t pick option number 3.
Please
Love you!
Dennis, St. Louis, MO
