Take a look here https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=112579
An entire thread of sound issues, faults, people saying similar and worse.
An entire thread of sound issues, faults, people saying similar and worse.
The sound effects and sound issues in ED discussion thread
- Thread starter dreamer1986
- Start date
No one would disagree with that, however if changes are made for the worse, and clearly thats what has happened, people will be and are vocal about it (we're not only talking about changes to one craft btw). The new changes are bugged, perhaps when they are fixed people will get on board with the changes and hopefully enjoy them. As it stands they cannot.
What has annoyed people is that the changes are bugged, the devs have admitted this, these bugs were reported during the beta phase, but instead of rolling back the audio for the 1.1 release and then fix it over time, perhaps even opening a beta when they believe the issues to be fixed, they released it anyway and now we're stuck with broken sounds and by extension peripherals that no longer work with the game.
I assume if a patch came out tomorrow, a patch that caused huge amounts of input lag with the HOTAS, or any other combination of input devices you might use, you would see this point of view and question why the devs had messed with and in the process broke support for that particular device, particularly when it functioned fine before.
You would want a quick fix, a roll back, anything to get you flying again, disappointment and frustration only exaggerated by Frontier releasing further patches which do nothing to address the issue. Most likely also frustrated by people posting in the inevitable thread that would be created asking for a fix saying "mine works, whats your problem? If the devs did it then they likely did it as design choice"..... "Your HOTAS doesn't work? Just switch to another control method and stop complaining".... This is just a simple analogy of what I have seen in this thread time and time again.
There are many bugs in this game, bugs which should have not been present in a 1.0 release, bugs that should have been addressed as a priority. Bugs such as the none functioning player to player comms which prevents friends from talking 99% of the time, but instead no, they mess with and break a part of the game which required nothing to be messed with and received nothing but praise in it's previous state. It was a bad decision and one that presumably could have been sorted quite quickly by rolling back the audio to a working state.
Perhaps there is something that prevents a roll back of the audio, I don't know, I don't work for Frontier but if such an issue exists Frontier should say something to that effect, there has been ample opportunity. Instead we get the slap to the face that was "Audio for the Imperial Clipper more closely resembles the sound from the 1.07 release." in the last patch notes - Great....That really helped so many of us.
One thing to note and as you quite rightly said in your post, things should be allowed to evolve, but as nature has shown, when they evolve for the worse they eventually die out and become extinct. None of us want to see that happen to E: D, that I'm sure we can agree on. Evolution that stops players from playing, patches released without adequate testing & game breaking bugs ignored in favor of aesthetic updates will only lead us to that sad truth. There is something very wrong with Frontiers priorities here, I'm not the first to say it and I doubt I'll be the last. Sadly I can't see it ending well if something doesn't change.
Again I'll make a plea to the devs to make the sensible choice to roll back the audio to it's pre 1.1 state and then take some time to address the issues with current audio rather than shoe horn the odd minor fix into the next patch.
Last edited:
Ah thx ... didnt find that via forum search
Just to add to what CylonSurfer posted above, I think some of the vehemence in the complaints in this thread is due to how amazing the sounds were for the people affected by this bug (like myself) before patch 1.1. If the sounds had been "Meh" throughout Beta and 1.0 I doubt there would be such strong feeling.
I always knew that Elite Dangerous sounded good, but it wasn't until patch 1.1 broke my sounds that I truly appreciated just how much immersion they generated. For me, pre-1.1, the roar of the ships engines, the creaks and groans of the structure, the bass buzzing of the letterbox "shield", the sounds of the weapons and impacts, the supercruise sounds and music, all had a visceral meaty quality that made me feel like I was really sitting there in a powerful warship (built for performance rather than comfort), or a creaky old transporter. The audio gave me all sorts of cues as to what my ship was doing, what was going on around me, and where I was in relation to celestial objects when in supercruise. All the layers of sound and music blended together perfectly, with no weird or jarring fading or differences in volume.
Post-1.1, it's like I've gone from sitting in a powerful world war 2 fighter to sitting on a badly-tuned 50cc moped (and I've got my hands over my ears so I can't hear the traffic around me, so presumably I'm steering with my knees...) It's not just that the sounds are quieter or have been changed - there is no longer any balance between different sounds. The ships' engines in normal space are now much louder than in supercruise. Pieces of music fade suddenly into being and are then completely cut off by other effects. Some sounds are so quiet I can hardly hear them. Different pieces of music play at different volumes. And so on... It's such a complete mess that I can't believe it's by design.
I also like to play WW2 flightsims, and I'm in to vehicles in general (planes, cars, ships, tanks, trucks, ...), so I'm pretty tuned in to how they sound. When I'm flying a WW2 fighter in a sim, the roar of the engine, the rushing sound of air moving over the wings and canopy, the rumbling-crackle of my guns firing, are all just as important (if not more so) as the flight model and graphics. If I'm racing an American muscle car, the visceral roar of the engine as I accelerate and the squeal of the tires when I throw it round a corner are just as important as the handling. It's a huge part of my enjoyment of the experience, and without it I would spend significantly less time with such games.
I always knew that Elite Dangerous sounded good, but it wasn't until patch 1.1 broke my sounds that I truly appreciated just how much immersion they generated. For me, pre-1.1, the roar of the ships engines, the creaks and groans of the structure, the bass buzzing of the letterbox "shield", the sounds of the weapons and impacts, the supercruise sounds and music, all had a visceral meaty quality that made me feel like I was really sitting there in a powerful warship (built for performance rather than comfort), or a creaky old transporter. The audio gave me all sorts of cues as to what my ship was doing, what was going on around me, and where I was in relation to celestial objects when in supercruise. All the layers of sound and music blended together perfectly, with no weird or jarring fading or differences in volume.
Post-1.1, it's like I've gone from sitting in a powerful world war 2 fighter to sitting on a badly-tuned 50cc moped (and I've got my hands over my ears so I can't hear the traffic around me, so presumably I'm steering with my knees...) It's not just that the sounds are quieter or have been changed - there is no longer any balance between different sounds. The ships' engines in normal space are now much louder than in supercruise. Pieces of music fade suddenly into being and are then completely cut off by other effects. Some sounds are so quiet I can hardly hear them. Different pieces of music play at different volumes. And so on... It's such a complete mess that I can't believe it's by design.
I also like to play WW2 flightsims, and I'm in to vehicles in general (planes, cars, ships, tanks, trucks, ...), so I'm pretty tuned in to how they sound. When I'm flying a WW2 fighter in a sim, the roar of the engine, the rushing sound of air moving over the wings and canopy, the rumbling-crackle of my guns firing, are all just as important (if not more so) as the flight model and graphics. If I'm racing an American muscle car, the visceral roar of the engine as I accelerate and the squeal of the tires when I throw it round a corner are just as important as the handling. It's a huge part of my enjoyment of the experience, and without it I would spend significantly less time with such games.
I second your opinion. Expecially the <strong> part.
Absolutely agreed and very eloquently put, we can only hope our ticketing gets some action, and soon!
I purchased an Asp, being advertised that it would sound great by various people, but it sounds exactly like type 6. Expected so much more 
I'm glad this issue isn't me suffering alone.
I actually really really hate the sounds now.
Its disorientating, a nightmare in dogfights, super cruising is just meh. Yet unimportant sounds are just stupid loud.
FD, please, bring back the fidelity of the sound.
Its really really off putting and actually in part turns me away from the game in its current setup.
Its only a small part but it is crucial for immersion.
Poor sounds have always turned me away from games.
The sad fact is, I love this game but the sound engine currently is keeping me away.
I actually really really hate the sounds now.
Its disorientating, a nightmare in dogfights, super cruising is just meh. Yet unimportant sounds are just stupid loud.
FD, please, bring back the fidelity of the sound.
Its really really off putting and actually in part turns me away from the game in its current setup.
Its only a small part but it is crucial for immersion.
Poor sounds have always turned me away from games.
The sad fact is, I love this game but the sound engine currently is keeping me away.
I'm puzzled about what made them do such changes to the sounds in 1.1 and after. Pre-1.1, they were working just fine and really did sound great.
I just can't get used to the weakness of the new sounds. But what I hate the most is almost completely losing engine sounds when other effects are played over them, like scooping. When it's finished, there's a delay of several seconds until the engine sounds are heard again. It's VERY annoying and does a pretty good job of ruining immersion.
I've never had such problems with sounds in any other game that I've played on my current PC.
As harsh as it may sound, I can't help but wonder about the professionalism of the Frontier devs.
I just can't get used to the weakness of the new sounds. But what I hate the most is almost completely losing engine sounds when other effects are played over them, like scooping. When it's finished, there's a delay of several seconds until the engine sounds are heard again. It's VERY annoying and does a pretty good job of ruining immersion.
I've never had such problems with sounds in any other game that I've played on my current PC.
As harsh as it may sound, I can't help but wonder about the professionalism of the Frontier devs.
My updated analysis of what's wrong with the audio:
In the internal mixing, there are various audio streams. Like on an analog audio mixer, some of this audio is sent directly to the output, some is sent to a special fx unit, which does reverb.
Now what's happening is that when engines start making more noise, the volume of the music channel is reduced. Hoever, the amount that is sent to the FX channel remains the same.
So you can hear that there's music, but you can just hear the reverb and not the music itself.
In the internal mixing, there are various audio streams. Like on an analog audio mixer, some of this audio is sent directly to the output, some is sent to a special fx unit, which does reverb.
Now what's happening is that when engines start making more noise, the volume of the music channel is reduced. Hoever, the amount that is sent to the FX channel remains the same.
So you can hear that there's music, but you can just hear the reverb and not the music itself.
So thats why we hear more noise/distortions like prior to FSD countdown?
Joe replied to my question about distortions during Starport Services menu and in ship menu and said it was designed like that to give the effect of how old some of these docking panels were in the Starport. I wish we could atleast contact Lakon and have a BOSE speaker kit installed in the Asp.
I really don't understand people defending the changes to the engine noises as making them sound "more like a spaceship".
Except in this instance all they've done is to take a unique and amazing engine noise and make it sound whiny and generic. One of the great things about this game was that every ship had a very distinctive engine noise. The Viper snarls and spits, the Eagle screams, the Hauler wheezes and the Asp sounded like a turboprop from hell. That's why I ground out the same trade route for day after day after day, specifically for that ship with that engine noise.
As a petrolhead myself, I can confirm that the engine noise makes a massive difference. This ship, MY ship, sounds completely different now and frankly it kills all interest I have in flying it, or in playing the game till this is resolved. The Asp's identity has been destroyed and yet here we get people who are actually defending a change that makes the soundscape even more bland and generic and holding it up as a good thing? I don't get that. I really don't.
Except in this instance all they've done is to take a unique and amazing engine noise and make it sound whiny and generic. One of the great things about this game was that every ship had a very distinctive engine noise. The Viper snarls and spits, the Eagle screams, the Hauler wheezes and the Asp sounded like a turboprop from hell. That's why I ground out the same trade route for day after day after day, specifically for that ship with that engine noise.
As a petrolhead myself, I can confirm that the engine noise makes a massive difference. This ship, MY ship, sounds completely different now and frankly it kills all interest I have in flying it, or in playing the game till this is resolved. The Asp's identity has been destroyed and yet here we get people who are actually defending a change that makes the soundscape even more bland and generic and holding it up as a good thing? I don't get that. I really don't.
Rep for this, especially the 'turboprop from hell' part!
Now Frontier, I'm hoping you can see what is going on here. Do the right thing!
100% Agree. Instead of bug fix and add new features. Break one of the best parts. Carry on like this ED will die a slow painful death. I just can not even fire the PC up at the moment. 1.1 sound has killed it for me.
Even though in some way I appreciate the new Asp sound (after all, it's a spacecraft, not a WW2 bomber), the overall change has been for the worse, and the latest patch (1.104) has not improved things at all.
Cryptonomica summed up my feelings perfectly:
With 1.1 that fullness in the soundscape disappeared. I want it baaack (pretty please)...
Cryptonomica summed up my feelings perfectly:
With 1.1 that fullness in the soundscape disappeared. I want it baaack (pretty please)...
sound design in elite dangerous
Heya Elite Team, just a thought on the ( great ) Sound design... I really love how all sound FX and music blend all together, creating a really unique experience and great feel of immersion.. but.
I started to fly a lot from one system to another ( explorer type and basically most of my experience can be resumed like this:
I pop up in a new system nearby a star ( insert dramatic music intro in here ) , start orbiting around it ( insert fuel scoop systems starting in there ) and scan the area ( insert cool sound FX there ) all at the same time see where I am going with this? the whole experience ( sound design wise ) feels telescoped over and over again...
I suggest you guys try to emulate one of those key moments we get to experience A LOT and try to find solutions form the sound perspective.. the main music themes could for instance start a little later when we leave a star's orbit ( when the stars becomes brighter for instance ), meaning that we plan on staying a bit around, and another music, more appropriate to the jump to jump experience could be squeezed here instead ... I love how you guys managed to create such a detailed and epic sound experience, I'm sure it will get better, just my two cents
Heya Elite Team, just a thought on the ( great ) Sound design... I really love how all sound FX and music blend all together, creating a really unique experience and great feel of immersion.. but.
I started to fly a lot from one system to another ( explorer type
and basically most of my experience can be resumed like this:I pop up in a new system nearby a star ( insert dramatic music intro in here ) , start orbiting around it ( insert fuel scoop systems starting in there ) and scan the area ( insert cool sound FX there ) all at the same time see where I am going with this? the whole experience ( sound design wise ) feels telescoped over and over again...
I suggest you guys try to emulate one of those key moments we get to experience A LOT and try to find solutions form the sound perspective.. the main music themes could for instance start a little later when we leave a star's orbit ( when the stars becomes brighter for instance ), meaning that we plan on staying a bit around, and another music, more appropriate to the jump to jump experience could be squeezed here instead ... I love how you guys managed to create such a detailed and epic sound experience, I'm sure it will get better, just my two cents
Problem is everybody is slightly different. I don't mind the new sounds but when I fire the space horn all other sounds cease. Start scanning a planet and fire the discovery scanner again and you will hear nothing for a few seconds and then it will slowly fade in.
I have tons of footage from before the 1.1 patch, and am one of the unlucky encountering issues. I've sent along a comparison video to the devs, though I could probably do a whole lot more.
For me (ie. my hardware), what's made the game playable sound-wise again is muting the music and switching Dynamic Range to Nighttime, which normalizes volume levels on all sound effects. It's definitely important for those not experiencing issues to know... this isn't just people griping about some tweaks. For those bringing it up, our hardware is for some reason not responding the way Frontier intended. Certain sounds have virtually disappeared, others have been washed out a whole lot, etc.
I have the same issue. In supercruise I can barely hear my engines. Jumping from system to system sounds boring. This is really immersion breaking. I did already notice this in the beta and thought this is just a beta bug and will be fixed until public release. I stopped playing until this issue is fixed.