External sounds in DCS

[Hummingbird]

So, after coming back into DCS around a week before the launch of Heatblur's excellent F-14 Tomcat module, having had a break from the sim for about a year, I immediately noticed that the external sounds of all aircraft have been changed, and NOT for the better.

 

Before taking a break about a year ago I remember the external sounds being a lot more authentic, there being a noticable sonic thump as jets lit their reheaters, as well as when they blasted through the soundbarrier and roared past in fly bys.

 

Now, oddly, all those powerful sounds are gone and every jet I've tried so far fly past with quite a muted rumble.

 

This is quite a sad reduction in sound quality IMO, one that really hurts the immersiveness of the sim.

 

Why was this done ED? I really don't understand it :(

[FoxxyTrotty]

Several months ago they changed many of the external sounds for situations like a plane approaching you at Mach .99 would sound the same as 200kts then suddenly go silent as it went Mach 1.0+

 

This was an improvement, imho, although there are now some missing sounds even from modules I own (mig19 on idle is silent when doing fly by, external view). This might be due to early release.

 

One thing is various companies making mods and viggen has always had very quiet engines+sonic boom that is drowned out by harrier at same distance from camera parked on idle. If all sounds were given relative volume then the only sounds in DCS wud be booms and explosions. Hard to say how they can give each sound, from waves at the coast to the nuke out mig15 a good volume in all realistic conditions (think of the coding to adjust every audio clips volume and pitch so everything can function and still be realistic).

Until we all have 1000W speakers, or quantum computers, compromises have to be made on this aspect.

[btd]

Over the past year, a lot has changed. It is a pity that you remember only one thing that you noticed. Yes, the effect of a passing plane with a super-sonic speed was turned off. Because it caused multiple problems. But at the moment, it is implemented again and you will hear it in the next updates -

 

Many hundreds of sounds are refined and added. Please keep in mind that third-party modules, like F-14 or MIG-19, are not within our competence and you should write them in a specific branch about your wishes.

Edited March 29, 2019 by btd

[hubson]

Great to hear you comment on this. I am sure the ones who follow closely improvements in the sound department do appreciate all the changes done so far. Great news the sonic boom is comming back, speaking of which, I am very curious: are there plans to allow other sounds to be called with the same logic? That is - the sound sample plays once in dependency on camera position? And could that ever be defined via the sdef files?

Over the past year, a lot has changed. It is a pity that you remember only one thing that you noticed. Yes, the effect of a passing plane with a super-sonic speed was turned off. Because it caused multiple problems. But at the moment, it is implemented again and you will hear it in the next updates -

 

Many hundreds of sounds are refined and added. Please keep in mind that third-party modules, like F-14 or MIG-19, are not within our competence and you should write them in a specific branch about your wishes.

[wilbur81]

Over the past year, a lot has changed. It is a pity that you remember only one thing that you noticed. Yes, the effect of a passing plane with a super-sonic speed was turned off. Because it caused multiple problems. But at the moment, it is implemented again and you will hear it in the next updates -

 

Many hundreds of sounds are refined and added. Please keep in mind that third-party modules, like F-14 or MIG-19, are not within our competence and you should write them in a specific branch about your wishes.

 

AWESOME!

[Hummingbird]

Over the past year, a lot has changed. It is a pity that you remember only one thing that you noticed. Yes, the effect of a passing plane with a super-sonic speed was turned off. Because it caused multiple problems. But at the moment, it is implemented again and you will hear it in the next updates -

 

Many hundreds of sounds are refined and added. Please keep in mind that third-party modules, like F-14 or MIG-19, are not within our competence and you should write them in a specific branch about your wishes.

 

Many thanks for responding btd! The video example you just posted showcases some very impressive sonic boom sound effects (!) and I'm very glad that you're improving the sounds ingame.

 

As for the F-14 module, I dont think it sounds any worse than the rest, and my inquiry concerned all aircraft ingame, esp. the disappointing lack of a sonic boom and deep afterburner rumble effect.

[btd]

are there plans to allow other sounds to be called with the same logic? That is - the sound sample plays once in dependency on camera position? And could that ever be defined via the sdef files?

 

At the moment there are no such plans, sorry. This approach creates many new bugs. Therefore, we will probably limit ourselves to Sonic Boom.

[btd]

my inquiry concerned all aircraft ingame, esp. the disappointing lack of a sonic boom and deep afterburner rumble effect.

 

Please provide a video or audio comparison of changes in the afterburner sound (or any other) for the worse in a year so that we can understand exactly what is wrong and what can be (if necessary) corrected. Although, looking at the logs, I see that the sound of the afterburner has not changed over the past year.

 

I think it will be more productive to compare the current version that you don’t like with high-quality YouTube videos taken from the same angle from which we’ll clearly hear what needs to be improved.

[hubson]

It's a pity but understandable. Hopefully it could/will be revisited one day, if not for stable release then at least as an experimental tool for modders:music_whistling: Thank you!

At the moment there are no such plans, sorry. This approach creates many new bugs. Therefore, we will probably limit ourselves to Sonic Boom.

[Hummingbird]

Please provide a video or audio comparison of changes in the afterburner sound (or any other) for the worse in a year so that we can understand exactly what is wrong and what can be (if necessary) corrected. Although, looking at the logs, I see that the sound of the afterburner has not changed over the past year.

 

I think it will be more productive to compare the current version that you don’t like with high-quality YouTube videos taken from the same angle from which we’ll clearly hear what needs to be improved.

 

Well I'm afraid I don't have any videos from back then, but I do very much recall the sonic boom being there - albeit it didn't sound as good as the one you just showcased, which is very impressive.

 

On that note, is there any ETA on this new sound improvement?

[btd]

Unfortunately, I can not say with certainty when this update will be in the user version. But I think that very soon. Please be patient :)

[MonnieRock]

Unfortunately, I can not say with certainty when this update will be in the user version. But I think that very soon. Please be patient :)

 

Kanstantsin,

 

In the new updates, are there any improvements to the differences in gain from "Hear like helmet" cockpit db levels to then switching to external view (F2) db levels?

 

It's a huge gradient . The external views are very loud in this setting.

 

If you play with "Hear like helmet" off, external views have more of a unity gain. But, it seems all the the communication values and other sound files are geared more to having "Hear like helmet " on.

 

Happy Simming,

Monnie

[btd]

But in real life, think otherwise? there will be 10 times louder outside :)

In the near future, a volume fade-in will be made when switching from the cockpit to the external view. Sorry, but the volume outside will remain the same. But the expense of a smooth increase in volume during the transition will not stun so much. And also you can quickly roll the camera away from the plane to an acceptable volume level for you.

And you can always lower the volume of the external view sounds in the settings.

[MonnieRock]

Kanstantsin,

 

Sounds like a great plan. Looking forward to the new features !

 

 

Happy Simming,

Monnie

[Hummingbird]

Seeing as this is a hot topic on other subforums atm, is there news in regards to when we might see the excellent sounds showcased by btd?

[btd]

Sonic Boom and external view fade-in should be in 2.5.5 version. As far as I know, for technical reasons, the update is delayed

[Hummingbird]

Okay, thats great to know. Many thanks for the news btd :thumbup: