Off topic

Because they insist on mixing the audio in a shitty way so unless you want to fiddle with the audio-level every 5 seconds or have your eardrums shattered by action/suspense-scenes, you can't hear dialogue and need subs to understand what the fuck is going on...
Edit: and before people start saying "5.1 in stereo is the cause!1!!1!1", no forcing stereo does absolutely nothing to alleviate this.
- It's not that it's mixed shitty, it's that they never remixed it for new releases. So it still uses the theater audio mix and range where there's 12,000+ watts of audio power available and like 12 audio channels.
  When they actually remix it to a home release format the issues almost always go away. Even remixing for 5.1 most TVs can downmix to stereo just fine.
  
  Hyperrealistic acting also doesn't help. Lots of actors insist on mumbling in a way that makes it hard to understand even if in a cinema.
  
  What about direct to streaming shows. They still have the same problem. Not saying it does not happen, but its mostly shitty mixing. Especially in American shows.
  
  That and that they intentionally make the commercials about 30% louder than the show
- having surround sound helps, but not enough
- Here's a good video about it... https://youtu.be/VYJtb2YXae8
- Edit: and before people start saying "5.1 in stereo is the cause!1!!1!1", no forcing stereo does absolutely nothing to alleviate this.
  The ‘problem’ is dynamic range. They mix movies with a large dynamic range because explosions and shit are a lot louder than spoken words. You are supposed to have your eardrums shattered during action scenes. That’s how it’s intended to be listened to.
  Could they mix it differently? Sure, but that would mean that the people who want to watch it as intended can’t. There is also no reason to because you can simply adjust this during playback. Any half-decent A/V receiver will have an option for dynamic range compression. Just because you didn’t set up your surround sound system properly doesn’t mean the movie is badly mixed.
  
  I don't have a surround system...I have 2.1 stereo, and even with dynamic range compression this is an issue. And it's not just explosions, things like suspenseful music is also loud as shit which is unnecessary.
  I don't want eardrums shattered when watching a movie, nobody wants that, it's unpleasant and 100% unnecessary for watching at home.
  
  Another solution would be to add a second audio stream (2.1) and let the viewer choose how to watch their movie.
  
  a/v receiver
  didnt setup your surround system
  I got a soundbar. Some look at this like a luxury. You are expecting a receiver?
  
  If you're playing the sound back through your TV speakers, it should compress the dynamic range by default.
- This seems like a good use case for AI so that volume automatically fluctuates when switching between dialogue and action scenes.
  
  There's no need for AI, standard look-ahead normalization would be more than enough for this if it was allowed to work properly. I've not met the content that VLC's audio normalization can't fix, for example.

We use subtitles because the sound mixing is fucking terrible in most media now. It's set up for massive theatres where dialogue sounds normal and gunfire or explosions sounds realistically loud. But I'm not trying to have realistically loud explosions in my living room on my Vizio, so the volume is set accordingly, meaning you can't make out words half the time.
- I've got a decent 5.1 system. It brings the boom boom when needed.
  Still need subtitles. I blame the lack of theatre trained actors. The Hollywood gang mumble.
  
  In the early days of television, directors really only had the choice of using theater trained actors since those were all that existed. Theater actors are trained to speak in that way so that they can be clearly understood on stage even without mics. But people don't actually speak that way, and modern directors seem to have a preference for "natural performances" so I wouldn't necessarily blame the actors. They may just be doing what they've been directed to do.
  
  A long time ago my dad bought a full blown surround sound set-up, and I got so tired of not being able to hear that I spent days fiddling with the settings to no effect. Went online to do deep dive research and people just kind of hand-waived with a generic “buy a better setup and try different settings”. Completely gave up on good audio and leaned into the subtitle life.
  Maybe if someday I could afford a bigger place I’ll try again. I did get some high quality speakers for my PC, but the years of disappointment lowered my standards so much that I didn’t even notice the left speaker was off because I didn’t slot the copper wires correctly for many months.
- In the show Andor, there is a character named "Kleaha" But until about halfway through season 2, I thought it was Princess Leaha. It was only that I saw the subtitle that wrote her name out that let me know it was a different person.
  
  Several times in the new fantastic 4 movie, sue storm called her kid, frankling. That's not a name. It's Franklin.

I'm hard of hearing and Hollywood insists on making dialogue bearly audible, so I need to use subtitles to understand wtf the character just mumbled.
Also, she doesn't suck at eating popcorn, that's the suprise popcorn you find after you've demolished the rest of the popcorn.
- oh nah, it sounds like bears talking.

For fucks sake, can we just get releases that have separate audio tracks for dialogue, music, and effects that we the viewer can decide how we want to hear it?
Video games figured this out
I don't want the explosions to be so loud that it wakes my entire house.
- Yeah! It would sure be nice if we took accessibility issues seriously.
  Like one lesson we learned as a society in the aftermath of implementing strong ADA laws (in the US) is that what's needed for the bare minimum for some of us is often really nice for the rest of us.
  For example: if you're delivering a dolly of boxes to a building, the wheelchair ramp really beats working the dolly up the stairs.
  It would be amazing if dialog were a separate channel, if only so that it can be boosted for the hard of hearing. If that meant more options for remixing for you and me - oh no?
  It would be amazing if the subtitles were available and accurate. Great if you can't hear the audio. It's useful for scrubbing if you want to remember and find a obscure movie quote.
  
  and accurate
  My pet peeve. I also watch shows in the original (foreign to me) language to train my listening comprehension and often the subtitles are not word for word accurate especially in the hard to understand parts.
- No, the directors intent is more important, and obviously you need a full Dolby speaker system to properly enjoy. /s
- I'm not sure but Dolby Atmos might be responsible for some of it. Dolby Atmos lets the engineers assign coordinate values to each "sound object" in the scene, then your receiver takes that information, along with the room calibration mic info and your speaker layout, and actually generates the channels itself based on the listeners position within the scene. As an example, if an object is moving from front to rear then the engineers no longer have to pan it between channels, just tell the coordinate system that the sound is moving "that way" and let the receiver take care of it. Maybe engineers just not putting as much work into making discrete channel audio mixes anymore when the "gold standard" no longer uses discrete channels/tracks.
  
  For people with Atmos-supporting audio equipment, this is actually an improvement. My rear surrounds aren’t in the same place as yours, and my system knows that, so I can hear the positioning the audio engineer intended.
- Turning up the center channel gives you more dialog. But that assumes you've got surround sound set up... Producers don't give as much love to stereo setups these days.
  
  It also assumes all dialog is centered. That usually works for the main characters of a scene, but not all dialog, e.g. a character off-screen trying to get the attention of the other.

I for one love having to turn it right up to hear the actors mumble important plot points at eachother right before gunshots or jarring violin stingers damage my speakers/ear drums/wake my kids up.
Dunno why you're pussying around with subtitles lol.

- Ants can't read dumbass. Subtitles don't cause ants, trans people do.
  
  And sometimes trans people become aunts. They then dote on the larva like a good ant aunt does.

Also a lot of people forget that English is the international language, and most of the non-native speaker can't really hear the pronunciation correctly. Well, i don't at least.
- most of the non-native speaker can't really hear the pronunciation correctly.
  Either that, or the audio quality is just bad.
  (I'm looking at you, Christopher Nolan)
- I turn on subtitles cue we can't hear shit when they talk
  
  It's hard to understand poor pronunciation mixed with fast dialogue. I'm a native English speaker and I often struggle with high paced scenes. I basically always use subtitles for that reason.
- I grew up in the US so my fluency is on par with those born here, I still have to use subtitles.

Audio levels are mixed horribly and go crazy loud with music but i cant fucking hear anyone talking. It feels like around 2010 or something tv shows and movies were like "lets just forget about voices and let everyone hear explosions and shitty driving music".
Its not my ears because YouTube folks who can mix their audio properly are easy to hear. Anime is mixed well usually with voices.
Its the studios doing this for whatever reason unknown to us.
I use subtitles 100% of the time now.
- For anything cinematic, the intent is usually to get more dynamic range. If you turn it up enough that the dialogue is audible, then the explosions will be as loud as an actual explosion. Fine in a movie theater, not so much in an apartment complex.
  
  They should release dual audio, high dynamic range for ppl with good systems and low dynamics for ppl listening on computer speakers, but if that's not the case I can always put a compressor on an HDR master, but can't recover lost information on stuff like anime where a phone vibrates as loud as an explosion.
- Mostly is because it's mixed for 5.1
  The center channel takes care of most of the dialog and the rest is distributed to 4 satellite (and usually smaller) speakers but when it's down sampled to stereo everything has the same level
  
  But even with a 5.1 setup, it is seldom audible.
- Anime is very poorly mixed, a phone vibrates as loud as an explosion, there's no dynamics. That's not how real sound is supposed do work.
  I agree that some shows like modern Star Trek exaggerate and while I can't hear Michael murmuring the Spore Drive almost blows my woofers away every time Discovery jumps.
  However needs needs to have dynamics so the viewer can have an emercive experience.

How bizarre. I detest subtitles for myself as I end up reading rather than watching the content - compulsively.
I've never had an issue hearing dialogue so I'm perplexed as to what audio setups are being used to make things so lousy for so many people.
- The only time I prefer to read subtitles is if the film or TV show is in a language I don't understand. I prefer to hear the natural language for more authenticity.
  
  I tried watching The Dark on Netflix with the English dub (only because it's the default), and it was so bad. I had to switch to German and uae subs.
- The problem with my audio setup is in my temporal lobe. I have autism.
- The modern TV has awful audio since the speakers are pointed either down or behind the TV. It makes everything sound muffled, just so the screen looks like it has a little black frame around it. I didn't need the subtitles when using a CRT TV because the audio was considered part of the watching experience and they pointed the speakers at the viewer.
- Less audio setups, more what they're watching. Worst one for me lately was netflix's Castlevania. I love the voice acting, but some characters are borderline whispering at all times
- How bizarre. I detest subtitles for myself as I end up reading rather than watching the content - compulsively.
  You're lucky you're (presumably) a native English speaker then, lol
  
  You say that, but I have no problem at all with subtitles if I need them for another language. I've been watching Das Boot with my newborn by my side and it's a great experience.
  I think the issue I'm trying to complain about is having two options (e.g. if I'm watching with someone that insists on subtitles) where I could have the better experience without them. My brain can't opt out of reading them.
  When I need subtitles due to language then there is no other option so the one way to watch is with them. Dubbed versions of some stuff exists, of course, but it's extra effort to track them down.
- I often need the subtitles also, but like you cannot stop reading them even if the dialog is clear and end up not seeing what is going on in the movie.
  The worst is movies like Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. It has beautiful visuals and action—and the versions on the streaming services lacked a dubbed version. Had to go blu-ray to getting dubs so I could watch instead of read.

I mean, she does suck but isn't that the norm?
I can't eat popcorn anywhere without needing to hoover up around me afterwards, and I ain't untidy by any means!
- Interesting... Cuz I am untidy and cram fistfuls of popcorn into my face hole and never have this problem. But I can't have a simple hot dog without ending up with mustard in a weird spot on my body.
  "How the fuck did it get in my arm pit?!"
  
  You probably have the bowel of popcorn underneath your mouth... when it falls it gets caught, only to be ready for hamfisting once more.
  This lady made the mistake of using her clothes for that purpose.
  Ah ounce of preparation is worth a pound of cure!
- No! And neither are subtitles!
  
  😂 we're in agreement on the subs!
- I had to scroll for a while but came just for the sucks at eating popcorn discussion.
  My husband's first job was working at a movie theatre sweeping the floors between movies. When we met like 10 years later, I learned he had a weird stereotype about white women not being able to eat popcorn without making a complete mess.
  When I asked why, he said it was just something he'd noticed when he worked at the movie theatre. He went into this rant about the most ridiculous amount of popcorn he'd ever had to sweep up being when the theatre was showing the Divine Secrets of the Yaya Sisterhood. "The entire floor was like a carpet layer of popcorn!," "It was like they had all been throwing it up in the air throughout the whole movie!," and "What were they even doing?!?" Even to this day he still brings it up when someone mentions that movie or
- I had to scroll for a while but came just for the sucks at eating popcorn discussion.
  My husband's first job was working at a movie theatre sweeping the floors between movies. When we met like 10 years later, I learned he had a weird stereotype about white women not being able to eat popcorn without making a complete mess.
  When I asked why, he said it was just something he'd noticed when he worked at the movie theatre. He went into this rant about the most ridiculous amount of popcorn he'd ever had to sweep up being when the theatre was showing the Divine Secrets of the Yaya Sisterhood. "The entire floor was like a carpet layer of popcorn!," "It was like they had all been throwing it up in the air throughout the whole movie!," and "What were they even doing?!?" Even to this day he still brings it up when someone mentions that movie or spills popcorn.

There was this complete and utter hack with a couple fluke hits under his belt named George Lucas. He noticed that some theaters might not even have functioning audio sometimes, so he hired some engineers to create THX.
Movie theater audio systems continued to go big blue baby boinking bonkers. Remember when the THX logo wasn't survivable by children under 7?
Directors, especially the self-important "my vision must be realized" scrotes, the ones who objected to a playback speed setting on Netflix, start designing their soundtracks to take full advantage of 90.1 channel 1.21 jiggawatt sound systems as found at the local umptyplex. They can make the sound of a dental drill sound like it's in your mouth.
While all of that was going on, TV technology changed significantly. We went from big boxes with CRTs and thus plenty of room for speaker cones inside, to a 2 inch thick LCD panel with down/back firing laptop speakers. Or people consume video content on laptops, tablets or phones instead of a "television."
Even with the increased popularity/necessity of external soundbars and surround sound systems, a home 5.1 system still can't keep up with Dolby THX Atmos Skibidi Brushless Guarana Turbo Surround.
Movie theaters have been closing down in droves.
Television" the art form has converged a lot with movies. Since the 90's there's been a trend of making television shows more "cinematic," wider aspect ratios, more dramatic lighting, more dynamic camera angles, longer episodes, overall plots that you need to watch in order. So television shows fall into the same engineering traps that movies do. Mix it for the theater, even though half of your audience is going to watch this on an iPhone 12.
"movies" and "tv" are now mostly consumed on devices with poor quality stereo speakers, and yet the audio was designed for million dollar cinema systems, so the dialog is completely unintelligible.
"Survey reveals most people under 40 use subtitles."

I have hearing loss, and from this thread I gather most of you have it too lol. Yeah, probably sound mixing is bad, but do yourself a favor and get checked. Your life quality can really improve if you treat this condition.
- I have a slight hearing loss. If I play a movie with a sound designed for 5.1 on stereo, I will really have a hard time understanding the dialogue. If I switch to 2.0 (if available), I can hear almost everything perfectly.
- What can they do to treat it? I thought once it's gone it's gone.
  
  Hearing aides.

I enjoy reading. I also prefer text to phone call. I enjoy subtitles.

Pretty sure genx does this too
- And I'm pretty sure gen x is actually the where the switch occurs. With the older ones being surprised, and the younger ones using subtitles more.
  For example, the guy shocked in the post is more towards the older gen x.
  
  Except gen X does it because we're losing our hearing.

*Laughs in Dolby 5.1 with high quality Remuxes that have a center channel.
Seriously though, you can't blame them. Audio production these days is engineered for theaters and surround sound. Most of Gen z is watching this content in stereo - either through phone speakers or shitty TV speakers.

It helps with the dialogue, but I also like it because I feel like it keeps my mind more active and involved in the story. It’s more like reading a book and watching a movie.

Elder millennial here, my T.V. often has subtitles on, but that's because I only speak English but frequently watch content in other languages, namely Hindi, Spanish, Tamil & Telegu, and it's still on when I do watch something in English.
That being said I turn the English off as soon as I find the remote, and one of the things I least like about visiting my brother is his wife insists on having English subtitles in large font all the time. Particularly annoying when watching something live like hockey.

reminds me of this:

Hey, you're talking about it?!

I turn on subtitles to subtley force my kid to read. He's got ADHD like me, but mine made me read at a super early age, while he struggles with it. To me, it's a way to expose him to words and the spelling as they come. My dad struggled with reading as well and basically just memorized most words and their pronunciation instead of actually learning to read. If that helps the kiddo, then I don't mind it, but I secretly turn it off by myself, and turn it back on when I'm done.

could it be that sucking at eating popcorn is correlated with having subtitles enabled? 🤔

Sound mixing is just all over the place where I can't reliably keep the sound at a single reasonable level, so I turn on subtitles and keep the volume lower so I don't wake the entire house when there's an action scene.

Auditory Neuropaphy Spectrum Disorder, it's pretty common among this age group

Hope all of you enjoy feeding the karma removed
- what are you crying about