My Dad hates it when he is watching a movie with low dialog and booming sound effects. I am trying to find a device which can produce the same effect as the "Night" mode on the 1050. I want something that balances the volume of the low and loud sounds. Does anyone know of such a device ?

It sounds like you’re looking for something to add to your Dad’s system since you are already operating a 1050. Such devices do exist and are found either built into other devices, such as the 1050, or are ‘stand alone.’ Stand alone limiter/compressor/expanders can be pricey and are not easily integrated into a system unless it is a ‘separates’ system. What type of system are you trying to add this capability to?

If this is one of the usual all-in-one receiver/amplifiers, or even separates, it may be easiest to sell and upgrade. If one is using the TV audio, directly from a DVD or cable box, that’s a bit tougher. Without the feature in a receiver, you will have to add something in the signal path. Trying to do this for a 5.1, 6.1 or 7.1 system might be cost prohibitive, hence my suggestion to upgrade.

Something you can try, if you are feeding stereo analog from a source and if you have a VCR sitting around not doing much. This may slightly degrade the signal, but gain the feature you wish. Put the VCR in the signal path from the source device you wish to limit and before the sound reproduction device, stereo L&R in and out. Place the VCR in ‘record’ mode even if there is no tape in the VCR, or put a tape in ‘paused.’ Most VCR’s will then automatically ‘ride gain’ on the volume level as when recording. Low levels will be boosted, high levels suppressed. You can try this to see if the sound doesn’t seem too crudely manipulated. If you leave this intermediary VCR ‘on’ but not in the record mode, sound may pass through without the automatic gain control activated.

I'm going to guess that your dad doesn't have a receiver - that he's just listening through his TV's speakers. If he has a receiver, options range from a night mode similar to what the 1050 offers to simply trimming down the sub and/or trimming up the center channel (since dialog goes to the center and sound effects tend to go to either other channels, all channels, or to the sub's LFE channel, this would serve to reinforce the dialog and pare back the other material). If it's just a TV, then you've got more of a challenge on your hands - bb4tb's VCR trick is actually a pretty slick one if it could be used, but you'd need either a separate switch box upstream of the VCR for inputs (which your dad might very well despise) or a VCR for each input.

Not to be a smart alec but, since I listen loud or not at all, I would personally prefer headphones to something like "night mode".
Sony makes wireless surround headphones and you can even add more headphone units to the system if you are anticipating more than one user. A set of 2 would run you around $258.

I see I left out some needed detail.
My Dad has a Sony Surround receiver. He finds the sound fine most of the time but as we all know some movies have a tendency to get quiet and then suddenly loud. He also doesn't like wearing headphones so that's not an option especially since the loud sound actually bothers him so headphones would be similar.

BestBang4thebuck - interesting ideas. The VCR trick is cool but I think he would lose his 5.1 processing.

Gonk - Actually he does have a receiver and he is happy with it except for the lack of this feature so he doesn't want to buy a new receiver for just this feature.

garcianc2003 - Headphones were my first suggestion since he originally told me he didn't like the increased volume at night when my Mom was sleeping. But he doesn't like using headphones and realized that the changes in volume actually annoy him all the time not just at night. Your suggestion to trim the speakers is good however the problem is he would have to trim them back to normal settings for most DVD's. After I set up his receiver I don't think he has ever adjusted the settings ;-)

I am really looking for a device which would connect between the DVD player and the receiver and limit the sound. Not sure if this exists.

You aren't going to find anything that could go inline between the DVD player and receiver, because such a device would have to both decode and re-encode DD and DTS in order to preserve those 5.1 tracks. It really does need to happen at the receiver. My channel trim idea could be a permanent adjustment (basically leaving the center 4 or 5 dB "hot" relative to the rest of the system), which would reduce the effectiveness of the surround system, but it really isn't as optimal a solution as a receiver-provided feature like a night mode. What's the model number of that receiver? Might be curious to see if there is something hiding in the Sony's menu that could provide a capability similar to night mode. Another option would be to find a few examples of the objectionable swing and figure out the exact nature of the loud passages - it could be something that adjustment to the sub trim could help with (if it's excessive low freqs that are getting to him), for example.

That is a good point. I will look into his receiver and DVD player to see if there is a feature we missed. Thanks everyone for the input.

This could be snake oil... but, who knows?

I like the vcr idea too.

That ‘ear saver’ appears not to have any automatic gain control, but only lowers the signal strength by 17db at all times. Turning down the volume by 17db would have the same effect.

The VCR idea only works for analog sources, so unless you are running 5.1 analog cables and want to interject three stereo VCRs, one for main left and surround left, one for main right and surround right, one for center and LFE, . . .

I know of no device which accepts and provides 5.1 or higher optical or coax digital that is not a ‘system’ built to have many other features for surround audio mixing at a much greater cost than merely upgrading from the receiver already in use.

If you do seek out an ‘upgrade’ for that feature, you may want something more than just the ‘night’ feature that applies only to Dolby Digital signals, but may also apply to other sources. I have not sought out such a receiver so I have no specific receivers to suggest.

Perhaps your Dad would like a 1050 and you would like a 1070?

I had a Sony STR-DA777ES receiver for many years and it had both a NIGHT mode and a 10-step dynamic range compression mode. Since I live in a condo I often used one or both of those modes to do just what your dad is wanting. My receiver was a one-time top of the line unit so I can't say if those features exist in other Sony models but if your dad's unit has them you should be good to go.