Distorted AAC audio on LG TV

[Steve Anderson]

On 13 October 2011 11:53, Dan Ashby <dan at slickpepper.co.uk> wrote:
> Does anyone else have a problem where the audio (particularly in HD
> downloads) is at such a high level that it clips? This is particularly
> noticable on speech, where it really sounds awful.

Yes - the AAC audio is very loud. I've got an LG TV as well, and
playing downloaded files on my Blu-ray player (a Sony one) through
HDMI results in incredibly loud, distorted output. The same is true of
the iPlayer app on my Blu-ray player. I've ended up getting an AV
receiver off eBay (fortunately a local seller, because it's a heavy
brute) and running a coax digital audio cable from the Blu-ray player
into it. It's still loud but can be turned right down, and you end up
with no clipping because it's a pure digital signal (unlike when I had
speakers powered by the TV). Given iPlayer was one of the reasons for
buying the player (it certainly wasn't for Blu-ray discs!) I was a bit
narked, but the AV receiver was cheap, came with speakers thrown in
and gave me reason to overhaul my kit.

I've also tried converting a couple of downloaded MP4 files to DVD
with a simple converter, and the audio on that was also mangled beyond
hope. I think the Beeb have gone crazy with the gain on AAC streams.

TL;DR: digital audio output to an amp saves your ear drums.

-- 
Irregular Shed - http://www.twindx.co.uk