The sound effects and sound issues in ED discussion thread

[Leak]

Sound hasn't worked for me properly since regular beta. Popping, static, and cutting out of sound periodically has been the norm. dxdiag info was uploaded etc... sound works perfectly in all my steam library of games. I ticketed it and it was ignored during the transition to live. I haven't tried 1.1 yet though so we'll see tonight.

Do you have an Intel system with Hyperthreading turned on? In my case I was able by editing one of the games' XML files to tell it to ignore 4 of my 8 "cores" (on a quad core system) since according to Windows' ressource manager
ED never managed to unpark any of my 4 HT cores anyway (whose extra performance should be quite negligible) so the game was probably running with the expectation of threads being distributed across 8 cores but in reality it was only 4, meaning some threads always had to wait which of course is a killer for low-latency audio...

(As for which XML file it was I'm sadly unable to check since I'm in the hospital with a smattering of pneumonia, but I think it was next to the games' executable...)

 

[Starlanced]

I'm in the middle some sound I like more and some I hate. I use an external DAC through an optical out to a 3 channel active ground headphone amp of my own design in to denon d-5000 phones. I'm a bit of an audiophile but I have 2000 plus albums so its a cheap investment in the long run. The mix is a little on the high side but in some ways slightly clearer at times

 

[Coccolino]

The same has happened to the ASP... used to roar ... now it whimpers... very sad... please bring back the old ship sounds

+1

They seem to be glitched now.

 

[BaronDeKalb]

I have noticed some of the same issues, the type 6 reverse thrusters is greatly reduced, and some sounds do not blend well.
Also after i bought a adder and switched back to the type 6 some of the adder engine sounds transferred to the type 6, very odd.

 

[Chazzie]

Strange, sound is like 100 times better than before for me.
Finally all the crackling is gone. Also they seem to have toned down the annoying high pitched noises and treble.
Hyperjumping sounds a bit more like a dive in a submarine now, but that's the only think I don't really like.
Much better for me.

Now that is weird, I have had exactly the opposite of this since the full 1.1.01 update.
I now have insane amounts of popping and cracking sounds on the menus and in other places, sound quality in general - took a nose dive as well - including some cutting out.

1.07 was fantastic, what happened?
The menu's are so bad now that I even put in a ticket about it!

 

[Starlanced]

There are also missing sounds for instance most of the docking sounds, I'm pretty sure they were ticketed and discussed in the beta forum

 

[Wicz]

Chill out, it was not meant for you.

Too many people buy expensive headphones/sound cards and think they are audio experts nowadays.

I have never suggested I am an audio expert, far from it.

I buy nice kit because I like music, and I wouldn't say I could hear a difference if I couldn't.

In fact I couldn't hear a difference at first, it was only when I plugged my headphones in and increased the volume levels that it became obvious.

No expert required.

 

[two quiet suns]

im running on a fairly expensive rme soundcard through my pmc tb1's on sand filled speaker stands and it sounds pretty good here! system scan ftw

 

[neiby]

I just play with basic headphones. I think the new sounds are really nice except for when I'm in super cruise. In SC, engine sounds almost completely disappear. I use those cues to quickly know when I'm speeding up or slowing down. Without those sounds, I have to pay a lot more attention to the visual cues.

 

[Aewarin Jameson]

Please trust us to do our job ... we want the game to sound as good as possible ... in fact I passionately want the game kick audio ass even more than you do, having poured my soul into it over the last 18 months, and been a fan of the Elite franchise since I was a child. I know the rest of the audio team feel exactly the same way too. We are on your side honestly.

Best thing about ED IMO are the sounds ... +1 from me

 

[gregoreuo]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for all the feedback. It’s very much appreciated.

Seems like there are a number of different issues here.

Firstly, let me just reassure you that we do not go and mess with stuff for no reason. That’s totally not how we work here in the audio department.

Both in-house at Frontier (QA and audio departments), and at my home, the game is sounding fine, we are not hearing most of these issues at all. So we need more info to investigate. (However we are getting the missing sounds on the landing pad lift, and the problems with the engine sounds on the clipper. These are both bugs which we will be addressing over the next few days)

If something is broken, it’s a bug and we will fix it. So please post a ticket with some specific info on what the problem is, ideally with an audio or video clip that we can refer to. If you private message me the ticket number, I will look at it sooner.

Please trust us to do our job ... we want the game to sound as good as possible ... in fact I passionately want the game kick audio ass even more than you do, having poured my soul into it over the last 18 months, and been a fan of the Elite franchise since I was a child. I know the rest of the audio team feel exactly the same way too. We are on your side honestly.

So if there is a problem, please communicate the specifics ... help us fix it, and we will.

Again my apologies for all the problems, and thank you for caring so much about the audio! That in itself is just wonderful.

Thanks Joe for responding and it really is appreciated. The sound scape is truly awesome! THANK YOU!

 

[HeavyGroovez]

For the most part everything is fine on my setup but the levels of the multicannons impacting a ship hull have been turned waaay down.

Can i have my dakka turned back up please

 

[Bacon Sarnie]

Sound issue from 1.1 onwards

Recorded by my friend but this is the issue I, he and many others are experiencing
He and I both have different setups and he is using Creative hardware while Im using Realtek so its not hardware related

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoEMhThgpCE&feature=youtu.be

 

[Mr_Blastman]

I had that popping in 1.0x. I didn't notice it until I got higher end headphones though. I hope they can fix it. The bigger issue I'm having in 1.1 is the huge lack of bass or oomph the game used to have.

 

[Starlanced]

I only wish to have some of the low end back (seems like it was mixed out some in some places) and fix that terrible sound of the Clipper, both the whale sound and the cats dying sound.

 

[Sgt.Glory]

I'm using the on-board Realtek HD Audio on my motherboard with a pair of AKG K430 headphones. No weird processing going on and the game was like sonic sex before.

Now I have to agree I'm hearing flatness: no kick in hyperspace and rumble in my Asp engines, no chunky lift, docking, and landing gear noises etc. SC is actually a bit harder because you have to strain to hear the 'upshift' and 'downshift' sounds to get a feeling of acceleration and decelleration.

 

[lifeschool-amiga]

Thanks for the feedback. I notice at least two threads started regarding the sound issue - which I am 100% happy with BTW, but only this post seems to mention the station computer screens being 50% more faded. I was hoping someone would step in and suggest some GFX card trick like disabling transparency will work. ??

edit: without wanting to bump this. Just logged on tonight and it seems better. I also had a play with my GFX card settings to improve sharpness. Its almost back to how it was before now, and I guess they made it this way so the player must use the mouse to highlight the page rather than everything being visible at a glance, but still. I think the compromise works so I'm closing my case.

 

[Commander Halley]

Lol. Just pushed a T7 head-on back out of the station entrance, as I flew out in my T9; the new scraping/grinding sound made me genuinely feel guilty for the npc..

 

[DogTailRed2]

Sounds before patch, excellent.
Sounds after patch, tinny.

 

[Sophist]

Sounds before patch, excellent.
Sounds after patch, tinny.

The sounds has defintiely changed for me as well. It was the first thing that I noticed, and it was very quick after launch. Sound quality seems poor across the board, and I do notice engine sound cutting out completely now as well. Will have to assemble more info and submit a ticket.