Roku audio: New behavior?

[Gilgamesh_48 944]

Sometimes it takes a while for me to notice an "unusual" or "new" behavior and this is, probably, one of those "sometimes" may well have happened.

First my setup:
Server Windows beta 4.8.0.0
Roku Ultra 4640-X connected wired to my network.
Roku audio mode - Stereo
Streaming audio format - Dolby
Digital output format - stereo

What I observe happening on many/most shows is that when the show first starts the audio is about half volume and, in about 5-10 second the volume ramps up to the level I have set it at.

I do NOT want to fix this as I find it quite pleasant to use.

I hope it is something that someone has done as if it was done on purpose it will not suddenly go away. This is only observed on shows that have audio at the very start. Those with a delayed start to the audio, if it is over 5-6 secs. delayed start to the audio then it starts at full volume. I surmise that the behavior is simply timing related.

What I am wondering is if this behavior is some Roku is doing or something Emby is doing or is it possibly encoding related or have I completely burned out my brain and this is happening in my own little universe that I created from the nothingness of my imagination.

Once again I like this behavior and wish to thank whomever is responsible.

 

[Luke 37128]

HI, yea that's odd. We certainly don't have anything that is dynamically changing the volume.

[Gilgamesh_48 944]

49 minutes ago, Luke said:

HI, yea that's odd. We certainly don't have anything that is dynamically changing the volume.

Good. I was afraid that a feature I like crept into Emby without my knowledge. Since you guys did not do it I guess Roku did and I hope that it continues.

It "could" be something in the encode but I have noticed it happening on several different shows that were encoded at widely different times and at least two by different encoding software and none are really recent. It is not a behavior I want to change so I will just accept it and pretend that someone has done it on purpose. The alternative is too horrible to even consider.

On many shows the effect is very subtle but, if I really pay attention, I can detect it even when starting playback on live TV.

Note: It does NOT happen on my Fire 4K TV or my Shield. It also does happen on three different Rokus. Two are Ultras and one is a simple Roku 3.

This seems to fall under the category of pleasant but unexplained. The only problem is that things in this category tend to disappear just as randomly as the appear.

Of course in the world of computers and streaming video magic works and that also includes the downside of using magic and just about anything can, and often does, happen.

[rbjtech 4289]

It's probably some sort of volume equalization setting on the Roku's or maybe even the TV's the Roku's are plugged into ?.  The idea being if you change input's and the levels are very different, you don't get a blast of sudden loud Audio.

But as you say, a nice feature whatever it is

[Gilgamesh_48 944]

1 hour ago, rbjtech said:

It's probably some sort of volume equalization setting on the Roku's or maybe even the TV's the Roku's are plugged into ?.  The idea being if you change input's and the levels are very different, you don't get a blast of sudden loud Audio.

But as you say, a nice feature whatever it is

Well it is defiantly NOT the TV. My audio never goes into or through the TV. It is split off by an HDMI audio extractor that has no "features at all" and then sent to my receiver. While it could be the receiver it is highly unlikely as the receiver is almost 20 years old and only process audio.

I suspect it is something Roku has done in their settings that handle audio. I do have my volume mode set to "Night" and that might be the cause. It is quite pleasant to have the audio ramp up for the first 5 seconds or so. There are some shows, particularly some older ones, that start with a quite loud audio in a scene to set up the show and it can be quite jarring if it starts at full volume but this makes those shows more pleasant to watch.

I actually wish it was Emby that made this change because, if it were, then any problem with this new feature could be reported and fixed or improved. Since Roku introduced the Roku 2XS (just as a time reference) they have become nearly impossible to deal with or even talk to. I think Roku and Plex use the same people and directions for customer support. I am always amazed that Roku could have the best, IMO, video streamer and some of the worst customer relations in the world.