[dkarp]

Downmixes audio on movies from surround sound to stereo balanced for night watching (prevents audio being too quiet) so that they can direct stream on my devices

  ffmpeg -hide_banner -loglevel error -nostdin -y -i "$f" -map 0:0 -c:v copy -map 0:a:0? -c:a:0 aac -b:a:0 160k -filter:a:0 "pan=stereo|FL=1.414*FC+0.707*FL+0.5*FLC+0.5*BL+0.5*SL+0.5*LFE|FR=1.414*FC+0.707*FR+0.5*FRC+0.5*BR+0.5*SR+0.5*LFE,acompressor=ratio=4" -metadata:s:a:0 title="NightMixed" -metadata:s:a:0 language=eng -disposition:a:0 default -map 0:a:0? -c:a:1 copy -disposition:a:1 none -map 0:a:1? -c:a:2 copy -disposition:a:2 none -map 0:a:2? -c:a:3 copy -disposition:a:3 none -map 0:a:3? -c:a:4 copy -disposition:a:4 none -map 0:a:4? -c:a:5 copy -disposition:a:5 none -map 0:a:5? -c:a:6 copy -disposition:a:6 none -map 0:a:6? -c:a:7 copy -disposition:a:7 none -map 0:a:7? -c:a:8 copy -disposition:a:8 none -map 0:a:8? -c:a:9 copy -disposition:a:9 none -map 0:s:0? -c:s:0 copy -map 0:s:1? -c:s:1 copy -map 0:s:2? -c:s:2 copy -map 0:s:3? -c:s:3 copy -map 0:s:4? -c:s:4 copy -map 0:s:5? -c:s:5 copy -map 0:s:6? -c:s:6 copy -map 0:s:7? -c:s:7 copy -map 0:s:8? -c:s:8 copy -map 0:s:9? -c:s:9 copy "/home/pi/media/remixed_in_progress/$f"

[lloeki]

Goddammit I can't believe how downmixing x.y to 2.0 isn't a solved problem by now and is so broken through and through.

I mean, it's never ever done in a way that doesn't produce quiet dialog that makes you raise volume and loud sounds that makes your eardrums bleed. Like, even basic audio normalisation would produce half-decent results, but no we get crazy contrast by default and constant volume switching.

[dkarp]

The interesting part is that most media is being consumed with stereo audio down-mixing. Everyone streaming content on their laptops, with their television's speakers or with a sound bar. Yet all the audio is recorded and mastered for surround sound systems, even though they could include mastered stereo audio without the down-mixing issues like quiet audio.