Bg audio too loud and speech too quiet

[ghost]

mpv version and platform

Most recent version

Reproduction steps

Expected behavior

To play video with bg sound same volume as speech

Actual behavior

Bg sound is overwhelmingly loud compared to speech.

Log file

Sample files

Does anyone know how to normalize audio on mpv, it's really annoying having to turn down the volume everytime there are explosions and turning it up when they speak.

[Akemi]

just search the issue tracker (#3979). there are various ways with the help of ffmpeg filters. some examples that might still work.

af=drc=2
af=lavfi=[dynaudnorm=g=5:f=250:r=0.9:p=0.5]
af=lavfi=[loudnorm=I=-16:TP=-3:LRA=4]

[ghost]

The first one just disabled my audio completely, the second one works but I think third one sounds best. Thank you so much.

[bedrin]

This one causes dropped frames for me (output)

af=lavfi=[loudnorm=I=-16:TP=-3:LRA=4]

This one works great:

af=lavfi=[dynaudnorm=g=5:f=250:r=0.9:p=0.5]

[tomjaguarpaw]

None of the above worked for me, but via #6343 (comment) I found a SuperUser question which introduced the FFMpeg pan filter. Playing around, the following seems OK for me:

mpv '-af=pan="stereo|FL=0.707*FC+0.3*FL+0.1*BL+0.1*LFE|FR=0.707*FC+0.3*FR+0.1*BR+0.1*LFE"' <filename>

[flipflop133]

I think this should better fit your needs.

[tomjaguarpaw]

Thanks, but the first thing I tried was --audio-channels=stereo, with and without --ad-lavc-downmix=yes, and it didn't seem to have any effect.

[flipflop133]

What does the log says when you run mpv from the terminal? It should say something like this if it works:
AO: [pulse] 192000Hz stereo 2ch float

[tomjaguarpaw]

Yes it does say that, but the result in the audio is indistinguishable from when I omit --audio-channels=stereo (in which case the output says AO: [pulse] 48000Hz 5.1(side) 6ch float). In both cases the speech/dialogue is drowned out by the background noise/music. On the other hand, with

-af=pan="stereo|FL=0.707*FC+0.3*FL+0.1*BL+0.1*LFE|FR=0.707*FC+0.3*FR+0.1*BR+0.1*LFE"

or even, for 1980s mono recording, something as stark as

-af=pan="stereo|FL=1*FC|FR=1*FC"

the speech/dialogue comes across very clearly over the background noise/music.

[flipflop133]

Maybe you should open another issue if you think that --audio-channels=stereo isn't working.
Also, one thing you can try that really helps with inaudible voices is this setting:
af=lavfi=[loudnorm=I=-16] (equivalent to --af=lavfi="loudnorm=I=-16")

[cheater]

@flipflop133 this issue already exists, see #6343

[flipflop133]

What about this note in FFmpeg documentation about the pan filter:

Note that ffmpeg integrates a default down-mix (and up-mix) system that should be preferred (see "-ac" option) unless you have very specific needs.

Isn't the -ac option the same as --audio-channels=stereo?
EDIT: the superuser thread mentioned above seems to mention that the -ac 2 option is the same as pan=stereo|FL < 1.0*FL + 0.707*FC + 0.707*BL|FR < 1.0*FR + 0.707*FC + 0.707*BR

[cheater]

@flipflop133 this needs to work with mpv as well, not just ffmpeg.

[wolph]

Perhaps a useful addition for some, if you put the following lines in your input.conf, you can use the F1 and F2 keys to toggle the filters:

F1 af toggle "lavfi=[loudnorm=I=-16]"
F2 af toggle 'pan="stereo|FL=0.707*FC+0.3*FL+0.1*BL+0.1*LFE|FR=0.707*FC+0.3*FR+0.1*BR+0.1*LFE"'

[mzakomorny]

Perhaps a useful addition for some, if you put the following lines in your input.conf, you can use the F1 and F2 keys to toggle the filters:

F1 af toggle "lavfi=[loudnorm=I=-16]"
F2 af toggle 'pan="stereo|FL=0.707*FC+0.3*FL+0.1*BL+0.1*LFE|FR=0.707*FC+0.3*FR+0.1*BR+0.1*LFE"'

Make sure to use escape characters for the quotes on the second line, otherwise mpv says "Changing filters failed!". The following works:

F2 af toggle "pan=\"stereo|FL=0.707*FC+0.3*FL+0.1*BL+0.1*LFE|FR=0.707*FC+0.3*FR+0.1*BR+0.1*LFE\""