This is also a massive issue with Google TV. You can’t amend any of these audio settings, so Plex is forever quiet. Fortunately we have an amp that we can crank up, but it’s ridiculous after years this has still not been addressed.
I didn’t used to experience this issue, and actually still don’t on my own account, however all of my Home users experience it. This is absolutely ridiculous that this has gone on this long. I’ll take a fix for this issue over new features for sure.
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XyonN, it’s the main reason I won’t upgrade to Plex Pass. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love Plex , but there seem to be several long-term known issues that the devs aren’t addressing and if they care that little about their users, I’m not giving them my money.
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Yes, despite being obviously illogical, paid features don’t seem to get much priority. Certainly true for Live TV/DVR. Huge problems remain outstanding for 3 years. Forget about Live TV/DVR if you want to use it for sports. And the Android app releases have been horribly buggy for the past year.
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Bump.
Totally ridiculous.
I’m on a Roku 3 and cam barely hear AC3 transcodes to AAC without cranking the TV to ungodly levels for anything else.
Scares the whole house if someone falls asleep watching the Roku and in the morning someone turns on ESPN.
Can we please get a fix?
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Bump! This has been an issue for too long. I have tried everything I can think of when doing movie night with my projector and fire stick. Ultimately I have to use a different app, which is not the solution I want.
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Hoping you can add a db boost feature as sometimes volume is a lot lower than expected.
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I’ve been dealing with this for years on quite literally all of my devices. My girlfriend complains about it. My parents complain about it. This isn’t a specific device issue or a specific server issue, it’s a Plex issue. I can play a video file via Plex and have to crank my computer up to 90% just to hear dialog (using Plex Web) and I can watch that same video file through VLC (100% volume, not boosted) and it’ll blow my speakers out at 90%.
Here’s a list of clients I’ve had the issue with:
Plex Web, MS Edge
Plex Web, Google Chrome
Plex Web, Mozilla Firefox
Plex App, Amazon Fire Stick 4K
Plex App, Sony Android TV
Plex App, 2016 Samsung TV
Plex App, 2020 Samsung TV
Plex App, Google Pixel XL
Plex App, Google Pixel 3
Plex App, Google Pixel 3XL
Plex App, Google Pixel 5
Plex App, Apple iPhone 12
Plex App, Apple TV
Plex App, Roku 3
Plex App, Roku Stick
Plex App, OnePlus 6T
I know I’m forgetting clients, but these are the only ones I can think of off the top of my head confirmed with the issue. If all you use is Plex, you won’t notice it because your volume will always be the same. But switch between Plex and YouTube or Plex and NetFlix or Plex and literally any other video or music player (Yes, it affects music playback as well!) the audio levels are super quiet when compared to anything else someone could use.
I will happily supply logs or videos as evidence if requested. I really don’t know which logs to share and what to look for, however, as it’s just quiet audio, no matter the device, no matter the number of channels in the video, no matter the number of channels available on the device, no matter the platform.
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Actually, I think it’s worse than low audio. Plex is so designed that it deliberately drops the line out from the media you’re playing back such that when you increase the system volume, it distorts excessively.
Plus you’re also blasting the F out of everyone’s ear drums on discord watch parties.
This implementation was a poor choice in design and execution.
Also been dealing with this for years, across multiple devices, users, files etc. One thing I’m noticing is that, for example, my PC is set to stereo, when using Plex web it’s still showing that my audio channel is “Original 5.1” on the files that have this issue.
There is definitely no setting on this entire PC that has anything set to 5.1, at least not in the system or in Chrome. I don’t know if this is why it’s quiet. But like this thread is showing I think there is clearly some fundamental issue with the way Plex is delivering audio - I have had devices where I will turn volume to max just to hear dialogue.
This has been going on for so long and the issue is obvious. Sometimes, Plex is not detecting that the connected device can only play stereo audio. This may be hardware not providing the correct information to Plex or Plex not querying the hardware correctly. Doesn’t really matter. It’s happening and Plex is ignoring the issue when Plex alternatives provide a way to force stereo output.
And just to be clear, when you get almost thunderous sound effects or music combined with extremely low dialog, the most obvious explanation is that 5.1 sound is being sent to a stereo system. So it plays the left/right channels with music or sound effects and the dialog on the center channel can’t be heard. Now, I’m not saying that this is the issue for every person reporting problems in this thread. But it’s clearly obvious that it’s the issue for a lot of them, especially for people that have to risk cracked walls from the sound effects just to hear the dialog.
It’s just so sad that this thread is still going on after all this time when the fix that would allow users to work around the problem is so obvious. I encounter the same kind of ridiculously stupid issues with Live TV/DVR and the problems just keep getting reported and nothing ever changes. It’s just how things “work” with Plex.
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To everyone saying it’s a 5.1 downmix issue… can you explain why watching anything from regular OTA TV to Netflix, to Amazon Prime on my living room TV with a 5.1 surround sound receiver makes me want to set my volume to ~40-45, but Plex needs to be at 55-60 for the same “level” of audio? I can direct play these files via DLNA from Plex to my TV’s media player and they are substantially louder, matching other sources. Through the Plex Media Player? Quiet. Also confirmed 5.1 through the Plex Media Player.
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I’m sorry, I can’t explain it. I clearly said that the 5.1 explanation did not apply to everyone posting in this thread. For you, it’s manifesting as an overall volume issue and that pattern does not fit the 5.1 downmixing explanation. Obviously, something else is likely going on for you. But I’ve seen lots of reports of thunderous sound effects or music with little or no dialog over the last couple of years and this has an obvious fix that Plex just isn’t providing.
vote guys. Plex dev’s circles are all using 5.1 devices (please tell me where to buy 5.1 smartphones?) and they can’t identify the issue.
It’s time to fix the issue before it’s too late.
I’ve struggled with this for more than a year now. I’m at the point where I am testing a second home theatre platform and using VLC. Never have audio issues with the other software, so I’m confident in my case that it’s buried within Plex. I’m not ready to jump the Plex ship because I have money and time invested but I will evaluate once I upgrade my 5.1 system. I’m not sure where else to register a complaint since they appear to push folks onto the forums as a means to hear from the community.
Having same issue more than a year with sony android tv plex app. Drive me nuts. I used to have a samsung with tizen os and everything was perfect no bugs, speech voices are clear. I think plex team struggle with android os.
Same here. 4 years into Plex and I thought that I was going crazy: movies and tv shows played from Plex on any of our TV’s (primarily on various Rokus) always require cranking up the volume. If I forget to lower the volume before changing over to playing music on Plex it’s deafening. Right now we are watching The Sound of Music with the volume cranked to 95. If I switch apps on the same Roku and start watching something on Netflix of Hulu, the volume will need to be brought down somewhere in the 10-15 range.
This wasn’t solved.
Why did this thread fail to complete its mission? What is blocking the way? Who is resisting us?
What can we do differently? Shall we start moving everyone who is bothered by the low volume design flaw to a competitor service until miraculously an official fix appears?
What’s the closest most direct competitor to Plex?
It failed because everyone complains but nobody votes
