Why do radio commercials have to be so freaking loud?

[garybeck]

I am so sick of this. Whenever they go into a commercial, the volume goes way up. I have to go turn down my radio. Then when the show comes back on I have to turn it back up. It's like that whether I listen online, or on the radio. Mike Malloy, AAR, Rush Limbaugh, Fox News Radio, it's all the same..

I think it's an insult to our intelligence. I guess they think we're more prone to being brainwashed by the commercials if they are louder, and the advertisers like it.

I say it sucks. If they want to play their commercials, that's fine. I understand, it makes the programming free for me. But I should not have to hear the commercials at a louder volume, and wake up my family everytime they go to a commercial.

Anyone who doubts this, just look at the db meter on your amp or receiver...

I wish there was something we could do about it.

[RagingInMiami]

1. They know you're either going to the fridge for a beer

Or to the bathroom for a piss.

It's like when you're talking to someone and they walk out the room, you raise your voice.

[DanCa]

2. I also hate it when tv commericials are louder than the programs.

Garybeck you and I are in complete agreement.

[LuCifer]

3. THANK YOU to the inventor of...

THE MUTE BUTTON!!!!!!!!!

"COME TO CRAPVILLE CARS R US!!!! WE AM BE WILL TAKE YOUR SHIT TRADE! NO MONEY DOWN!"

Oh just SHUT THE FUCK UP WITH THAT CRAP!

Lu Cifer, I think Neds Atomic Dustbin nailed it: "KILL YOUR TELEVISION!"

[Carolab]

4. It's gotten even worse. It's positively DEAFENING!!

What do you think we can do about it?

[Journeyman]

5. I commend you to George Washington Hill. . .

Living, he gave instructions.
Dying, his instructions are remembered.
In billions and zillions he sold cigarettes.
He told the copywriters and radio gabbers:

"Irritate 'em! Irritate 'em!
They'll forget the irritation
and remember the name of your product."

Tell the stonecutters to cut these lines deep
on the tomb of George Washington Hill.

Instructions by Carl Sandburg

[rumpel]

6. TV, too. It is so you can hear in the outhouse.

:hi:

[Broken_Hero]

7. I don't doubt it

I know it to be true, but i notice it more on tv. The show i'm watching i'm like, huh? i turn it up...its just fine, than a commercial pops up and i'm like WHAT THE HELL!!! its so damn loud, i think they do it because they want to make sure you hear the commericial, and they can adjust the volume at their station/affiliate. Bevis and Butthead proved it to me, many years ago, Beavis was playing with the remote control, and he was turning the volume up and down, on the tv....and really and truly, the volume on the big screen at the dorm, went super loud, to no sound at all....

[johnaries]

8. Actually, we studied this in college. It's illegal to broadcast

commercials at a higher volume than the regular broadcast.

The loophole is the meters that are used.

The law was written when everyone was using "VU" meters, which measure the average volume - as opposed to later "Peak" meters, which are more sensitive and measure the actual volume and not just the average. The "trick" is in how the soundtrack is equalized, or "EQ'd" (which seems to be a lost art in this generation, just like true stereo and spatializaion).

In normal recordings, you balance the highs, lows, and mid tones to get a more natural sounding tone. If you watch the volume on a peak meter, it's bouncing all over the place! Going from soft to loud to somewhere in the middle, depending on the tones - how loud the lows are, how loud the highs are, and how loud the mids are. One of the jobs of a recording studio sound engineer is getting the right balance of the volumes of the highs, mids, and lows.

However, after the law came out to limit the volume of commercials based on the average volume levels, someone came up with a "limiter" that would keep any of the volume levels in any range from going above the volume level that you pick.

So, for commercials, instead of balancing the highs, lows, and mids for a more natural sound, they turn the EQ all the way up for all levels and turn on the limiter to keep any of them from going over the volume limit set by Congress.

Therefore, even though it "sounds" much louder because all levels are running at the maximum volume level allowed by law, it still falls within legal limits because the "average" volume measured by the VU meters doesn't go past the levels set by the law.

Just another example of Congress passing something that looks good on paper, but is easy to get around because Congress didn't do it's homework.

[BlueJazz]

10. Yep..I was going to say about the same thing but you nailed it!

:)

[Check12]

9. It's not really louder..

The sound in commercials is heavliy compressed, this gives the perception of loudness because the dynamic range of the audio signal has been reduced.

Only way around it is the mute button, or Tivo.

[garybeck]

11. yes it is.

db meters don't lie. i'm sure it's compressed too, but it is definitely louder.

[johnaries]

14. See my post above. They don't use peak meters, they use VU

meters which average the volume. Therefore, the "average" volume is not louder.

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

12. Yes...it's the spots, not the stations

And if the track is a combination of voice, music and sfx, the client invariably wants the voices louder than the other sounds, which invariably enrages the recording engineer. So he just mixes everything louder. LOL!

[rman]

13. agreed.

it's one of the smaller issues that'll be fixed once we take over.