Solved! DVD Recorder Playback Volume

[pilzen]

Equipment:
TV: Toshiba basic 32" flat screen TV
DVD Recorder: Panasonic DMR-EZ485
Media: DVD-RW

Need some help solving a problem involving the volume of audio playing back from discs I recorded from TV programs. This is extremely annoying since everything else works as it should, including playback volume on pre-recorded discs. On any given channel, audio watching live is more than adequate. When I record a program, however, volume of the disc's playback from a given channel is considerably less. As an estimate, (to illustrate) if volume on a live channel is shown at max (100%), the 100% volume showing indicator on the playback is approximately 80% of live, even though the indicator says 100.

I've tweaked settings on both the TV and the Recorder 'till I'm blue in the face; all things being equal, is there a combination of settings on the DVD recorder by itself which should yield maximum possible playback volume with a given TV? I don't finalize the discs, since I'm using the recorder primarily for recording and playing back TV programs, even though I have reformatted both finalized and un-finalied DVD-RW discs on occasion. Using new discs doesn't do anything either, so its not a matter of using discs which have recorded to death.

This is particularly hard for my wife, who is hard of hearing, and is OK with live TV volume, but needs a little more volume on the playback end.

Any help greatly appreciated! Thanks.

 

[americanaudiophile]

You can check the record settings menu - dynamic range setting on/off. That's the only thing that would affect record volume.
It's possible that audio recording level is automatically reduced to make sure that it doesn't overload the analog to digital converter. If that's the case you will just have to turn the volume up when playing your recordings.

 

[pilzen]

You can check the record settings menu - dynamic range setting on/off. That's the only thing that would affect record volume.
It's possible that audio recording level is automatically reduced to make sure that it doesn't overload the analog to digital converter. If that's the case you will just have to turn the volume up when playing your recordings.

Thanks. I'll go in and check that setting again, and toggle it to see if it makes any difference. Is this "affliction" common, or is it something which may just be the result of a particular pairing of a TV and a Recorder?

Do you think the media might make a difference? I'm using DVD-RW discs currently, but at one time I used DVD-RAM discs until something went funky for some reason. Maybe it was the recorder's tuner starting to act up, which in the end was what doomed the recorder I just replaced.

Also, I don't want to spend a ton of money, but do you think a sound bar would do the trick as far as increasing volume on playback?

Thanks again!

 

[americanaudiophile]

It doesn't have anything to do with the TV since regular DVDs playback at a higher volume.
I doubt the media makes any difference. That just stores the recording.
If you can't get the TV loud enough by just turning the volume up I suspect that the recorder has a problem. It shouldn't be so low that you would need a soundbar or HTS to play loud enough.
Whether a soundbar would play loud enough would depend on the soundbar. Most would play at least a bit louder.