DVD subwoofer levels - Hot and Cold mixes

Hot and Cold

Commercial subwoofers have volume limiting circuitry to protect the driver from overzealous mixing by some DVD producers, and from ham-fisted users.

In the DIY world, most of us are limited to plate amplifiers which don't have limiters, so we have to be a bit careful.

This page details which DVDs are mixed hot, and which are mixed cold, and covers a 16dB range.

It might just save you some grief.

When I first play a new DVD, I set the sub boost at around the middle of the range, say +6dB. When a loud section is encountered, I fine tune the setting. By the end of the movie, I've settled on a value for the highest safe boost. This is then written on a sticker for next time I play the movie.

These are all standard definition Region4 (Australia) releases, played back using the Dolby digital soundtrack, with all speakers set to small (ie Bass from mains redirected to sub in addition to LFE signal)

Safe boost	Movie
-4dB	Shottas	Those Jamaican's must like their sun, because this one is mixed WAY TOO HOT
-3	Harsh Times
-2
-1
0	Catch A Fire Ronin Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones Con Air Flight of the Phoenix
1
2	I, Robot Running Scared LOTR: The Two Towers - Extended Edition Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest The Wrong Man
3	Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines The World's Fastest Indian Jarhead Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World The Assassin Finding Nemo
4	Donnie Darko War of the Worlds Pearl Harbor Kokoda The Incredibles The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Batman Begins LOTR: The Return of the King - Extended Edition The Long Kiss Goodnight
5	The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada Crank Backdraft
6	Casualties of War Mystic River Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace Hellboy Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith Children of Men Hoffa World Trade Centre Cars Underworld The Astronaut's Wife
7	Black Hawk Down Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow The Deer Hunter
8	Close Encounters of the Third Kind Earthquake Die Another Day Constantine
9	Open Range
10	Mad Max LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring - Extended Edition Steamboy Taugukgi (Brotherhood of War) The Abyss
11
12	Das Boot	Appropriately for a submarine movie, this is mixed WAY TOO COLD

Wouldn't it be nice if DVDs had a sticker like this

You would know that you could set your sub 4dB higher than normal without running into trouble. In my library this sticker is on the "Pearl Harbour" DVD, with "Star WarsII" as the reference getting zero

Any takers for starting a "Subwoofer Safe" campaign?

Want to see what the signals look like? - Check out the Waterfall plots or if you prefer, in Spectrograph format

If you would like to see charts for more movies, several of the forums have threads:

AVSForum (Spectrographs)

Home Theater Forum (Spectrographs)

SVS Site (Waterfall plots)

The Bass Archives (Spectrographs for DVDs and Music tracks)

Offsite links open in a new window

Whilst we're talking about DVD's, check out AmateurHomeTheater where you'll find lots of movie related info

Last update to this page 1st February 2008

Minimising Hum