Amy Glover
·2-min read
I thought it just happened to me, but it turns out lots of people have been dealing with hearing a blaring theme tune followed by whispering dialogue on their fave streamer’s TV shows and movies.
Thankfully, one Netflix user on X (formerly Twitter)revealed why this can sometimes happen on the site over the weekend ― and it could just be a settings issue.
In the post, which has garnered over 170,000 views as of the time of writing, @MittenDAmourshared: “Can’t remember who told me this but it’s fixed the blight of Netflix playing tiny mouse fart dialogue audio drowned behind trumpeting background noise.”
They added: “It thinks your TV is surround sound, so change this from English [Original] 5.1 to just English [Original]. You’re welcome.”
Can’t remember who told me this but it’s fixed the blight of Netflix playing tiny mouse fart dialogue audio drowned behind trumpeting background noise.
It thinks your TV is surround sound, so change this from English [Original] 5.1 to just English [Original]. You’re welcome. pic.twitter.com/uxOIMpo5GQ
— Mitten d'Amour (@MittenDAmour) April 20, 2024
And the pros agree
Writers for TechRadar have covered this before.
“If you have anything other than a surround sound setup, be it a 2.1 soundbar, stereo speakers or just your TV’s built-in speakers, Netflix may be defaulting to a setting that will have a negative impact on the audio you’re getting,” they revealed in a 2023 article.
The feature was introduced to make TVs and laptops with surround sound capability sound better.
Netflix themselves say that you can tell if a movie or TV show is using the feature because they “will show a 5.1or a Dolby Digital Plus icon on their description page”.
How can I get rid of this problem?
Begin by starting a movie or TV show, then pause it.
After that, hit the “other” option from the toolbar and choose English [Original] instead of English [Original] (5.1).
Your sound should equalise better for non-surround sound devices if this was the issue causing the problem.
People were pleased to learn the trick
“It works! Now I can fully appreciate Russell Crowe’s mumblings in Gladiator,“ one commenter said under the post.
“Trying this when I get in coz my hearing isn’t great and find the sound balance awful on most telly. Nice one!” wrote another.
“I realised this just last week. I felt reborn afterwards,“yet another app user said.
Having tried it myself, I can confirm it made my listening experience a lot smoother (now for an even more intense Baby Reindeer binge...).
