BCD436HP/BCD536HP: Volume offset Sentinel with '536

[jackmail226]

Is there a way to use Volume offset on Sentinel software to lower the volume on a specific unit ID?

I have been hearing a digital system where just one of the units voice audio is way higher than the rest of the traffic on the same system. I have saved the unit id but see no way in the software to utilize volume offset on just one unit. (all other units on this system seem to be at a good audio level)

Does anybody have any ideas that might help?

Thanks

 

[KevinC]

Is there a way to use Volume offset on Sentinel software to lower the volume on a specific unit ID?

I have been hearing a digital system where just one of the units voice audio is way higher than the rest of the traffic on the same system. I have saved the unit id but see no way in the software to utilize volume offset on just one unit. (all other units on this system seem to be at a good audio level)

Does anybody have any ideas that might help?

Thanks

Nope.

 

[Ubbe]

The audio AGC in the 536 are very subtle, but then the SDS line of scanner have no audio AGC at all. One solution could be to take the audio and run it thru an audio processor, like the one you can find in some standalone $100 audio mixers, and use the compressor and limiter functions in that mixer to try and keep the audio at a more general level. Or use a dedicated audio processor that usually can handle 2 channels. If you can have your PC doing the job then there audio processing programs like the free Audacity that can do compression of audio and also have some plugin software with enhanced audio leveling functions like broadcasting plugin that keeps voice audio at a constant level.

/Ubbe

 

[jackmail226]

Thanks, I'll look into that. I was hoping there might be a way to lower the raw volume of just this one unit - sort of on a per unit-id basis, even if I have to purchase different software for the BCD-536 to accomplish that - if such a feature happened to exist on one of the other software packages designed for the '536.
The one unit ID I'm hearing is so much louder that all other units on the system I'm listening to it makes the system uncomfortable to listen to at times.
I'll take a look at Audacity too.

Thanks

 

[drdispatch]

I'll bet all of the other users on that system wish they had that feature, too. 🤦‍♂️

 

[ofd8001]

Well there is a way. Contact the "offending user" and tell him or her to tone it down. But as mentioned above, other folks on the system are probably just as aggravated and peer pressure may not have been helpful.

Also beware of the other end of the spectrum - the too quiet user.

 

[Ubbe]

I'll bet all of the other users on that system wish they had that feature, too. 🤦‍♂️

But they do have that. Professional radios usually have an incredible audio processing and the dispatcher even more so. The users on the system doesn't notice this extra loud audio from that single radio so it doesn't get reported and fixed. Only when the radio comes in for a check will they notice if the mic levels isn't right. Sometimes a user can select different sound profiles by pushing a button and select indoor, outdoor or high noise environments that are selected at the beginning of a shift depending of what the assignments are for the day and will change the mic sensitivity and noise reduction filters.

/Ubbe

 

[drdispatch]

But they do have that. Professional radios usually have an incredible audio processing and the dispatcher even more so. The users on the system doesn't notice this extra loud audio from that single radio so it doesn't get reported and fixed. Only when the radio comes in for a check will they notice if the mic levels isn't right. Sometimes a user can select different sound profiles by pushing a button and select indoor, outdoor or high noise environments that are selected at the beginning of a shift depending of what the assignments are for the day and will change the mic sensitivity and noise reduction filters.

/Ubbe

I wish. Over my 41 years of dispatching, using both analog and digital, there have always been officers who mumbled, others who "swallowed the mic", and others who always seemed to talk with the mic facing into the wind. There was nothing at our disposal (as users) to compensate for that, other than riding the volume control. Sure, P25 sounds better than analog, but a user who talks like he has a mouthful of marbles is still going to sound like he has a mouthful of marbles. It'll just be a digital reproduction. The principle of "garbage in = garbage out" still applies.

 

[jackmail226]

Thanks to all for the comments and response