Loudness Differences for Voice-Over-Voice Audio in TV and Streaming

Abstract

Voice-over-Voice (VoV) is a common mixing practice observed in news reports and documentaries, where a foreground voice is mixed on top of a background voice, e.g., to translate an interview. This is achieved by ducking the background voice so that the foreground voice is more intelligible, while still allowing the listener to perceive the presence and tone of the background voice. Currently, there is little published research on ducking practices for VoV and on technical details such as the Loudness Difference (LD) between foreground and background speech. This paper investigates the ducking practices of 9 expert audio engineers and the preferred LDs of 13 non-expert listeners of ages 57 years and older. Results highlight a clear difference between the LDs used by the experts and those preferred by the non-expert listeners. Experts tended towards LDs of 11.5-17 LU, while non-expert preferred a range of 20-30 LU. Based on these results, a minimum LD of 20 LU is recommended for VoV. High inter-subject variance due to personal preference was observed. This variance makes a substantial case for the introduction of personalization in broadcast and streaming.

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“…Sedangkan Instrumen penilaian pada pelatihan ini diperlukan untuk mengukur efektivitas dari materi yang disampaikan oleh tentor dan praktek yang dilaksanakan oleh peserta pelatihan dapat diterima dengan baik. Parameter penilaian didasarkan pada beberapa variabel penilaian yaitu : 1) Konsep Storyboard [5] , 2) modelling karakter [6] , 3) Animasi [7] , 4) voice over [8] , 5) pewarnaan / Coloring [9] , dan 6) Visual Effect [3] [10] . Dalam melakukan penilaian peserta pelatihan dibagi menjadi beberapa kelompok, fungsi dari pembagian kelompok ini adalah untuk memastikan peserta pelatihan dapat mengerjakan tugas sesuai dengan kriteria penilaian yang sudah ditetapkan sebelumnya [2] .…”

A Hands-on Comparison of DNNs for Dialog Separation Using Transfer Learning from Music Source Separation

“…A common complaint about the audio mix in TV-shows or movies is the low intelligibility of the spoken dialogs as a consequence of loud background music or sound effects [1]. The right balance between dialog and background depends on many personal factors, such as hearing acuity, listening environment, and individual taste [2]. The ideal solution is when a person can adjust the volume of the dialog content individually from the background sounds according to their personal preferences and needs.…”