At a loss with broken surround sound been fighting with Fdev to fix it on their end for 4 years, anyone else have a fix?

[Azmuth Divarchchron]

F-dev will never fix the issue i have with surround sound always being broken in their game on every computer i own regardless of the surround sound audio suite used.

little sound queues maininly when entering supercruise or hyperspace are always stuck in the right ear on ships with centered cockpits, but can be heard in the left ear if you are sitting in a ship with a right-adjusted pilots seat.

I've even made videos pointing this out but frontier keeps insiting there is nothing wrong with the audio despite being provided video and audio evidence.


Does anyone have a way to fix the sound settings in elite dangerous to "fix" imbalanced surround sound audio? this is the only game i get imbalanced surround sound in and its also the only game i get major sound stuttering issues in.

Headsets used:
G933
Soundblaster evo wireless
Corsair void pro
Astro A50
Arctis pro wireless

audio suites ive tried:
Dolby 7.1
Dolby atmos
DTS:X (out of game)
DTS:X (in game)
DTS 2.0
Razer Surround
THX surround
Windows sonic.

Connections types used:
Bluetooth
USB
Aux
Optical
2.4Ghz Wireless


Every single audio suite with every single connection type has had the same problem with sounds always being stuck in the left or right ear and its why i wont even bother picking up the game for months at a time because its so distracting and its basically inside my ear every time.
I actualy saw an audiologist because of this issue because i thought i was going deaf, turns out I wasn't I actualy had above normal hearing.

I want to start getting back into elite again esspecially with odeyssy coming in but I wont play the game if there are still imbalanced audio sections

Here is the video where i detail every single sound that is imbalanced in the game.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdyGQ7Zk9WE

 

[STRONTIUM DOG]

never actually noticed till you pointed it out but yea could do with better balancing
cant say it bothers me in the slightest but for sound engineers etc I can imagine it being very off putting
as long as speech and eng sounds comes primarily out of my center speaker I am not to bothered

 

[Azmuth Divarchchron]

never actually noticed till you pointed it out but yea could do with better balancing
cant say it bothers me in the slightest but for sound engineers etc I can imagine it being very of putting
as long as speech and eng sounds comes primarily out of my center speaker I am not to bothered

im just glad someone else actually is able to pick it out

 

[FlySwat]

I have Logitech Headphones. Their 7.1 surround software is trash, as you are saying. That looks to be your problem.

I also have Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Headphones, Creative Sound BlasterX G6 7.1 HD Gaming DAC Sound Card + Amp together with their Sound Blaster Connect 2 Windows software. Their 7.1 virtual surround is the best I have ever heard ... Magic !! The surround effect, bass, treble and EQ levels can be adjusted to your liking. Fantastic. Money well spent.

I also have my PC connected via HDMI to a Marantz SR7011 AV Receiver which is the heart of my 5.1 surround sound home cinema system. The Elite Dangerous "Multi Channel In" sound effects are super duper. Cannot fault their surround sound whatsoever. Top job Frontier !!

 

[Para Handy]

...........
Connections types used:
Bluetooth
USB
Aux
Optical
2.4Ghz Wireless
........

^^^^^^^^^ I suspect this to be your issue. ^^^^^^^^^^^^

I use the discrete channel rca jacks on my MOBO ( maximus viii hero) to my surround system ( Logitech Z906) and the surround audio from Elite is perfectly fine (actually it is superb).

If I try to use the spdif output to the optical input of the Z906 and use its decoder - doesn't give a good result - reason - only a stereo audio signal is passed on.

From an old thread:

" Take note. As Elite: Dangerous doesn't support compressed digital surround sound formats such as DTS or Dolby Digital, you HAVE to get a setup that supports uncompressed digital surround sound = hdmi. If you use tos link or coaxial or something else you will get a "mix" signal that may sound very nice, but it will not be "true" digital surround. "


There were numerous threads discussing the surround system on the old forum, maybe one of the "gurus" that were on that will still be around and can come in here to talk about how to get the best results. @Globusdiablo, @TorTorden and @Zeeman for example seem to know the tech side of things.

So I agree with F D - there is nothing wrong with the audio provided by the game, issues are from encoding / decoding / MOBO specs / type of connection - Elite Dangerous surround audio is simply gorgeous - I am sorry you are having difficulty experiencing it.

EDIT: To be honest I should admit to one gripe with the audio - SRV engine noise gives me a headache, even with the sub turned down and even the change to the wavescanner audio did not overcome this, shame really but it is the only audio blemish in my mind.

 

[Rubbernuke]

On my old 5.1 setup I've noticed Win 10 breaks my front right channel and despite doing everything I've never got it back- it might be down to this as well.

 

[Azmuth Divarchchron]

I have Logitech Headphones. Their 7.1 surround software is trash, as you are saying. That looks to be your problem.

I also have Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Headphones, Creative Sound BlasterX G6 7.1 HD Gaming DAC Sound Card + Amp together with their Sound Blaster Connect 2 Windows software. Their 7.1 virtual surround is the best I have ever heard ... Magic !! The surround effect, bass, treble and EQ levels can be adjusted to your liking. Fantastic. Money well spent.

I also have my PC connected via HDMI to a Marantz SR7011 AV Receiver which is the heart of my 5.1 surround sound home cinema system. The Elite Dangerous "Multi Channel In" sound effects are super duper. Cannot fault their surround sound whatsoever. Top job Frontier !!

I should have clarified on this front the logitech is not the only headset ive used to try and resolve the issue, i have tried others as well (updated in op)
Edit: I will try taking a look at the marantzto resolve my issue. Im currently using the arctis pro's right now, never heard of beyerrdynamic's before but looking at them they rival the arctis pro wireless as far as specifications go.


Para also suggested the G6 so ifan HDMI to audio converter doesnt resolve my issue ill try the G6 next

 

[Azmuth Divarchchron]

^^^^^^^^^ I suspect this to be your issue. ^^^^^^^^^^^^

I use the discrete channel rca jacks on my MOBO ( maximus viii hero) to my surround system ( Logitech Z906) and the surround audio from Elite is perfectly fine (actually it is superb).

If I try to use the spdif output to the optical input of the Z906 and use its decoder - doesn't give a good result - reason - only a stereo audio signal is passed on.

From an old thread:

" Take note. As Elite: Dangerous doesn't support compressed digital surround sound formats such as DTS or Dolby Digital, you HAVE to get a setup that supports uncompressed digital surround sound = hdmi. If you use tos link or coaxial or something else you will get a "mix" signal that may sound very nice, but it will not be "true" digital surround. "


There were numerous threads discussing the surround system on the old forum, maybe one of the "gurus" that were on that will still be around and can come in here to talk about how to get the best results. @Globusdiablo, @TorTorden and @Zeeman for example seem to know the tech side of things.

So I agree with F D - there is nothing wrong with the audio provided by the game, issues are from encoding / decoding / MOBO specs / type of connection - Elite Dangerous surround audio is simply gorgeous - I am sorry you are having difficulty experiencing it.

So, you are saying I need to find a way to convert an HDMI signal to pass through my headset?

 

[Para Handy]

So, you are saying I need to find a way to convert an HDMI signal to pass through my headset?

No, I am saying you won't get surround sound.

I can use a USB-connected HyperX Cloud headset and use its built-in DSP to give a "pretend" surround - works OK, balanced but not really surround. I can use a normal jack-plug headset to the headset output of my PC and by enabling the DTS-Headphone:X in audio options I get a DSP "pretend" surround that is not as good as the HyperX DSP sound.

Nothing in a headset* can compare to actual surround-sound via discrete sound sources and to get that from Elite Dangerous you have to use a HDMI connection to a decoder or use a built-in decoder on your MOBO.

* That of course is not true since true binaural audio through a decent headset is fantastic - but "pretend" or simulated binaural signals are inferior.

 

[Morbad]

If this was an actual surround sound system, I'd tell you to use HDMI, USB, or analog outputs; make sure the Windows sound properties are set correctly for 5/7.1 full-range; and not to use any special matrix encoding, or 'audio suite'.

I'm not sure how to get your headphones to sound like they should, as they only have two drivers and rely on software to emulate 7.1 audio.

 

[Azmuth Divarchchron]

No, I am saying you won't get surround sound.

I can use a USB-connected HyperX Cloud headset and use its built-in DSP to give a "pretend" surround - works OK, balanced but not really surround. I can use a normal jack-plug headset to the headset output of my PC and by enabling the DTS-Headphone:X in audio options I get a DSP "pretend" surround that is not as good as the HyperX DSP sound.

Nothing in a headset* can compare to actual surround-sound via discrete sound sources and to get that from Elite Dangerous you have to use a HDMI connection to a decoder or use a built-in decoder on your MOBO.

* That of course is not true since true binaural audio through a decent headset is fantastic - but "pretend" or simulated binaural signals are inferior.

Is there a third party decoding solution you would recommend?

 

[Zeeman]

^^^^^^^^^ I suspect this to be your issue. ^^^^^^^^^^^^

I use the discrete channel rca jacks on my MOBO ( maximus viii hero) to my surround system ( Logitech Z906) and the surround audio from Elite is perfectly fine (actually it is superb).

If I try to use the spdif output to the optical input of the Z906 and use its decoder - doesn't give a good result - reason - only a stereo audio signal is passed on.

From an old thread:

" Take note. As Elite: Dangerous doesn't support compressed digital surround sound formats such as DTS or Dolby Digital, you HAVE to get a setup that supports uncompressed digital surround sound = hdmi. If you use tos link or coaxial or something else you will get a "mix" signal that may sound very nice, but it will not be "true" digital surround. "


There were numerous threads discussing the surround system on the old forum, maybe one of the "gurus" that were on that will still be around and can come in here to talk about how to get the best results. @Globusdiablo, @TorTorden and @Zeeman for example seem to know the tech side of things.

So I agree with F D - there is nothing wrong with the audio provided by the game, issues are from encoding / decoding / MOBO specs / type of connection - Elite Dangerous surround audio is simply gorgeous - I am sorry you are having difficulty experiencing it.

EDIT: To be honest I should admit to one gripe with the audio - SRV engine noise gives me a headache, even with the sub turned down and even the change to the wavescanner audio did not overcome this, shame really but it is the only audio blemish in my mind.

For me, I was running a Marantz SR6005, HDMI from PC -> AV Reveiver -> TV. Back then, I was running 1080P, and a GTX970.

You need to go into the audio settings and ensure that the digital formats are selected (EG - Dolby Digital), it is often set to stereo by default - this is Windows itself, and it may be an idea to check the card driver settings too, just in case. It has to be HDMI through the whole chain.

I currently run a GTX1080Ti, hooked up to a 4k Sony and a Sonos Beam, problem is, my GTX1080Ti decided to die a few months back, and with the way graphics card availability and pricing are right now, I'm basically waiting it out for stock of a new card at reasonable pricing. Otherwise, I'd go in to my PC and tell you exactly where all the settings are.

Z...

 

[Para Handy]

Is there a third party decoding solution you would recommend?

I don't know enough about them to make a sensible recommendation. Hopefully some of the people using external DACs etc can chime in with suggestions. The only steer I could think of giving would be maybe look at the SoundBlaster X range of things like the X3 or the X G6 external DACs but as I say, I know nowt about them as I rely on the decoder in my MOBO.

P.S. I have not listened to all of that 45 minute video but I will download it and see if I can detect what you are talking about in its audio.

 

[Azmuth Divarchchron]

I don't know enough about them to make a sensible recommendation. Hopefully some of the people using external DACs etc can chime in with suggestions. The only steer I could think of giving would be maybe look at the SoundBlaster X range of things like the X3 or the X G6 external DACs but as I say, I know nowt about them as I rely on the decoder in my MOBO.

P.S. I have not listened to all of that 45 minute video but I will download it and see if I can detect what you are talking about in its audio.

This looks like it already does what the DAC for my arctis pro wireless does. At this point im not sure if this would actually help to resolve my issue.

Ill see if I can fiddle with something on the HDMI end as you have suggested, If worse comes to worse ill try another dac like the soundblaster, I'll gladly put down another 300$ just to have the audio in elite working properly

 

[Globusdiablo]

F-dev will never fix the issue i have with surround sound always being broken in their game on every computer i own regardless of the surround sound audio suite used.

little sound queues maininly when entering supercruise or hyperspace are always stuck in the right ear on ships with centered cockpits, but can be heard in the left ear if you are sitting in a ship with a right-adjusted pilots seat.

I've even made videos pointing this out but frontier keeps insiting there is nothing wrong with the audio despite being provided video and audio evidence.


Does anyone have a way to fix the sound settings in elite dangerous to "fix" imbalanced surround sound audio? this is the only game i get imbalanced surround sound in and its also the only game i get major sound stuttering issues in.

Headsets used:
G933
Soundblaster evo wireless
Corsair void pro
Astro A50
Arctis pro wireless
...

If you are using headphones, then you will be getting a "virtual" surround sound stereo mix signal, no matter what options you choose.

In that light I would focus on getting good stereo sound. Don't bother worrying about odd hdmi solutions, or "surround" solutions for that matter, as it is nonsense in regards to headphones (2 cans equals stereo, no matter what anyone claims).

Try different settings based on whatever sound card you are using now (and fiddle with the windows settings as well. I assume you are using win10), and see if anything evens the audio out. I would suggest sticking with stereo, but if all else fails you should give mono a shot. This will of course remove any kind of spatial sense in the audio feed, but should remove any imbalances in the signal.

Good luck.