Audio Tweaking (dev branch)

[Brisse 78]

Nope. :D

I have used two different types.

Shgr56 http://www.soldf.com/shgr56.html

Shgr90 http://www.soldf.com/shgr90.html

I was pretty much describing the 56 as that is the one I have most experience with. It is standard procedure to use dual hearing protection while using it.

[neodammerung 8]

I have thrown almost forty of these : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HG_85 and I agree with Brisse

[John Kozak 14]

I have thrown almost forty of these : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HG_85 and I agree with Brisse

Umm... I doubt you've thrown them hundreds of meters away, did you?

[Brisse 78]

Umm... I doubt you've thrown them hundreds of meters away, did you?

During training, you are not going to be the only one throwing grenades. While your comrades are making their throws, you are likely going to be in a shelter, away from the action, so you get to experience how it sounds both up close and far away.

Edit: With the shgr56 there is a safety distance of 300 meters. When we were practising with these, there was only one squad at the range inside the shelter at one time. The rest of the squads had to stay 300 meters from the range and wait. You get to experience hundreds of detonations from different places before everyone was finished.

Edited July 2, 2014 by Brisse

[John Kozak 14]

During training, you are not going to be the only one throwing grenades. While your comrades are making their throws, you are likely going to be in a shelter, away from the action, so you get to experience how it sounds both up close and far away.

Edit: With the shgr56 there is a safety distance of 300 meters. When we were practising with these, there was only one squad at the range inside the shelter at one time. The rest of the squads had to stay 300 meters from the range and wait. You get to experience hundreds of detonations from different places before everyone was finished.

Okay, point taken :) Wonder if BIS audio engineers can go to a grenade range as they did with some weapons back in Alpha.

[Greenfist 1863]

Speaking of sound distance, why can't the gunshots and grenades be heard further? Is it just for performance reasons? I mean, a rifle should be audible a few kilometers in an open terrain like Altis.

[Brisse 78]

Hard to say. In my opinion, JSRS did a good job at extending the range from which you could hear a firefight.

[Tonci87 163]

Nope. :D

I have used two different types.

Shgr56 http://www.soldf.com/shgr56.html

Shgr90 http://www.soldf.com/shgr90.html

I was pretty much describing the 56 as that is the one I have most experience with. It is standard procedure to use dual hearing protection while using it.

Point taken :D

It sounded as if you were exagerating a little bit in your description ^^

[Brisse 78]

Point taken :D

It sounded as if you were exagerating a little bit in your description ^^

Going back and reading it, I can see why, but I'm not going to take it back. It's not the same as the usual fireworks at new years eve :)

[Tonci87 163]

Going back and reading it, I can see why, but I'm not going to take it back. It's not the same as the usual fireworks at new years eve :)

That is true

[sqb-sma 66]

Going back and reading it, I can see why, but I'm not going to take it back. It's not the same as the usual fireworks at new years eve :)

Haha, fair enough. And I guess most people hear fireworks at huge ranges/large shells as well.

The difference with grenades in game is you hear them very, very close, they use an explosive with far higher explosive velocity and they throw the plating/fragmentation around (if they are frag, even HE will throw out plating though).

I guess the point I was making is I've never heard anything close on youtube, and I've thrown one live grenade in real life as part of BCT. I think more people are familiar with fireworks than grenades :)

[Tankbuster 1747]

I guess the point I was making is I've never heard anything close on youtube, and I've thrown one live grenade in real life as part of BCT. I think more people are familiar with fireworks than grenades :)

Can I suggest a better point might be that even if you have heard them close on youtube, it's nothing like the real thing. Firstly, the microphone used to capture that YT footage likely isn't capable of capturing the full range of sound frequencies an explosion like this makes and secondly, even if it was, your speakers probably aren't capable of playing it back to you for the same reason. Don't forget too, that explosions, even small ones are REALLY LOUD and a game can never really replicate that.

There's other things, like you say, and I'm sure you'll agree the fragmentation is noisy, and there are other 'after-sounds' associated with grenade explosions, but your hearing is in such shock after the initial blast, you rarely hear them.

The above said, I think Arma3 makes a reasonable job of portraying these sounds. It's not brilliant but it is among the best I've heard in any game. There is a lot of guys though, both at BI and here in the community, who really know their shit when it comes to audio so there's definitely room for improvement.

I'm going to make another point here, and this might be sacrilege. :) I'm lucky enough to have in my circle, a couple of guys who are former servicemen. One who has been in vehicle on a number of occasions who describes an IED attack as very loud, yet another describes having sat (yes, sat) on an IED which partially detonated as a completely silent experience, despite throwing him 15 feet and breaking his hip when he landed on his Browning. Should we model experiences like this?

[Brisse 78]

I agree Tankbuster, the grenade sounds in Arma3 are not that bad, but there are several sounds, and while most of them sound good, there's this one that sounds really really bad. :(

[bravo409 13]

I personally like the new suppressor sounds they sound so much more real and have nice thump to them as well. I think BIS has it almost right with sounds,they need to change some of the weapon sounds cause some sound the same and also the distance of weapons should be fixed to hear them farther when they aren't suppressed like SOS mod.

[John Kozak 14]

Good virtual surround isn't really in the headset itself, it's in the hardware/software that does the virtualization (converting the game's surround sound channels into a stereo mix that has the proper processing to trick your ears). If you already have a headset you like, I recommend getting one of these, it offers virtual 5.1 and it works quite well in Arma.

Razer's free software also works just fine in Arma, but I don't like how it muddies the sound a bit.

Nice hint, thank you.

After testing Razer's software and the "Surround" option in Sound Blaster's settings, I can confirm - both work. Surprising. I really thought SB Surround was just a fancy sound effect.

With one of those options enabled, it's much easier to spatialize sounds. Good temporary solution for those suffering with stereo (like me).

May that be that the game doesn't correctly recognize it's run on pure stereo system, and treats the headphones as the FR/FL pair of speakers?

Edited July 6, 2014 by DarkWanderer

[Fushko 59]

Fixed: Sound: Reloading can be heard far away

HOLY SH*T

NO I MEAN,

HOLY F*CKING SH*T

THEY DID IT, THEY DID IT!

Can anyone test if this fixes the reload sounds not being positional in MP?

[haleks 8212]

Anyone knows if BI plans to revamp the ambiant soundscape?

The Wind sounds are extremely annoying (there's no 3D localisation, no dynamic stereo) and broken : audio samples overlapping during weather changes is extremely frustrating for mission makers... è_é

It looks like people think that audio immersion in Arma relies on weaponry sounds, while there's a shitload of issues that completely kills the immersion : crappy vehicle sounds, strange audio artefacts during radio chatter, absence of echo/reverb, silencious doors and so on. Must of those are present (well, lacking, actually) since OFP, but even if we deal with it - thanks to the community - Arma3 is worst than its predecessor in that regard (just take a walk in a Chernarussian forest and listen to the wind blowing in the trees around you - there's no comparaison with what happens in Arma3!)...

It saddens me that, apparently, only the weapons are concerned by "Audio Tweaking".

[Gudsawn 93]

I know that at some point a limiter was added to the stable building to prevent clipping. However, it seems like the limiter is far too aggressive as you can actually hear it making everything quieter.

I noticed this the other day - grab an MX and fire full auto. After the first shot, everything else is drowned out like someone is turning the volume down. When you notice it, it's really quite annoying.

Is this a bug, or this just how Arma is now?

[Brisse 78]

Goodson: Are you sure you are not using a limiter in your sound card drivers as well? It could have that effect if they stack on each other.

[blackpixxel 53]

I just read "building" and asked myself: Why is there no sound for buildings getting damaged/destroyed?

They just sink into the ground or loose big parts of their wall completely silent. A nice sound could bring at least some immersion to the detruction of buildings.

[haleks 8212]

I know that at some point a limiter was added to the stable building to prevent clipping. However, it seems like the limiter is far too aggressive as you can actually hear it making everything quieter.

I noticed this the other day - grab an MX and fire full auto. After the first shot, everything else is drowned out like someone is turning the volume down. When you notice it, it's really quite annoying.

Is this a bug, or this just how Arma is now?

Sounds like badly applied compression (Limiters don't lower the volume, they only cap the maximum level).

Looks like BIS needs a new (and competent) audio engineer! :P

[Bouben 3]

Devs,

is it really difficult to simply lower the volume of Marshal's machinegun? It is so disproportionally much louder compared to any other weapon in the game. Really really annoying and uncomfortable for ears. Just turn its volume down a bit for god sake. Nothing more is needed. It should be done in a matter of seconds. This was already requested a long time ago. It is such a trivial fix.

---------- Post added at 19:49 ---------- Previous post was at 19:47 ----------

Sounds like badly applied compression (Limiters don't lower the volume, they only cap the maximum level).

Looks like BIS needs a new (and competent) audio engineer! :P

Not correct. Limiter is just a compressor (with very fast attack and release) set to an infinite ratio.

Edited July 7, 2014 by Bouben

[vegeta897 13]

I noticed this the other day - grab an MX and fire full auto. After the first shot, everything else is drowned out like someone is turning the volume down. When you notice it, it's really quite annoying.

This effect has been in the game since Arma 2. Ideally, it shouldn't be noticeable; it should seem like a natural way to make the gun sounds seem louder, since a video game has drastically less dynamic range than real life. It would be odd to hear birds chirping while firing a rifle.

[Bouben 3]

This effect has been in the game since Arma 2. Ideally, it shouldn't be noticeable; it should seem like a natural way to make the gun sounds seem louder, since a video game has drastically less dynamic range than real life. It would be odd to hear birds chirping while firing a rifle.

That's right. Always compromises. Maybe it could be done in a more subtle way though.

[haleks 8212]

Well JSRS certainly achieved to increase the dynamic range, I assume it wouldn't be hard to do for BI.

But I think it is a choice, rather than a limitation : not everyone wants to be deaf when firing a machine gun (it would need an "earplug" feature). Arma isn't a pure simulation; I guess that extreme game mechanics/simulations would scare the average consumer.