Why is the sound on Blu-rays and DVDs always so low? Even through good quality headphones I end having to turn the sound nearly all the way up, and it's still low. Are these things really being this cheaply made? And I'm not just talking about cheap discs. It's the same with releases from high-end companies like Synapse, Blue Underground, Criterion and Arrow.
shareBlu-ray's high-resolution audio (Dolby TrueHD/Atmos/etc., DTS-HD Master Audio/X/etc., Linear PCM [LPCM]) allows for higher dynamic range and less compression than "lossy" formats such as Dolby Digital and the lossy version of DTS. (The DTS codec's full name is DTS Coherent Acoustics, or DCA.) (PCM is uncompressed.)
Also, if you're just using your TV's built-in speakers (or you're using a mediocre sound system such as Bose, or you're using tiny earbuds), you're doing a great disservice. If you can't afford a killer sound system (such as Bowers & Wilkins, Klipsch, JBL, Definitive Technolog, Boston Acoustics, Paradigm, Axiom, Infinity, Aperion, etc.), then you should at least opt for good (wired), full size, full range headphones and something to plug them into. I use premium Sony MDR-XB450AP headphones that cost about $50; which I plug into my clock stereo. I connect the Blu-ray to the stereo via RCA/composite-to-3.5mm (Helpful hint: To get true stereo sound, white goes in white, yellow goes in red, and red stays unplugged unless you want buzzing. If you put red in red, you might get mono, which would only come out of the left side.) You won't get surround sound, but you'll get damn good hi-fi stereo.
If your equipment is not capable of internally decoding Dolby TrueHD/etc. or DTS Master Audio/etc., then set up your player to output PCM. If you do this in tandem with using HDMI for video, you'll get impressive picture and sound quality.
Anyway, to sum everything up, hi-res = high dynamic range = the necessity to mix/master quieter than you would a DVD.