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[Mick]

I changed the conf.ini Attenuation value from 7 (which I've used for years) to 5. That made a notable difference

Does it change your impression when I state that this value is from pre-1946 times and doesn't even get read by IL-2 these days anymore?


Mike

... no change at all for me (4.09 + UV3.0 sound mod) when I fiddle with this "Attenuation" value in my conf.ini ... 

[Frankiek]

Several values in the sound section of the conf.ini are quite mysterious and don't have any apparent effect on the game. It seems to me that the first versions of the game have a more careful consideration of the sounds, even more the parameters still seems tailored for Il-2 Sturmovik not even FB. Only with 4.15 there was an attempt to revive EAX that was quite disastrous resulting in painful attempts to even start the game. A part of the problem lay on the changes in windows and I would say that my XP version sounds better than the Win 10 one. But maybe I'm just being nostalgic here. 

[cbradbury]

Hello. For me there is a marked difference between cockpit engine and exterior engine sound levels, the exterior being too quiet for my taste. I've read through the documentation and this thread and it seems others are not reporting this, what am I missing ?

I've only tried the manual install in the latest BAT incidentally and not adjusted the default configs.

Thanks in advance.

Yes they are reporting it - see my post #26 in this thread.

[WxTech]

Mike,
About that Attenuation change from 7 to 5. I admit to not having followed the properly scientific method of testing one variable at a time. I did at the same time alter something else in my thrashing about. And funny enough, when I later tried a couple other Attenuation values, it struck me as odd that no difference was noted. Back in the day I tried a number of settings to finally settle on that value of I-ve retained for some years now.

Your comments about sound levels auto adjusting is intriguing. At one point yesterday, during my fiddling, there was a period wherein, while firing guns, the other cockpit sounds would fade a bit, then fade back up over about one second to normal. As though AGC (auto gain control) were active.

Curiouser still is how I've been suffering the cessation of ALL sound except the far engine drone when more than a half dozen 4-engined bombers were closer than about 6km, and then this sound mod has cured that.

I suppose a Windoze update could have done something. I've disabled all sound effects (actually never had used any) in the device manager...

[WxTech]

I'm now 90+% convinced that some kind of Windoze auto volume control is in operation. I tried one reccommendation I found online, to disable volume reduction on the sound configuration's communication tab. I rebooted, but that did nothing.

Perhaps I have to live with it.

Or could it be that the spl levels are set too high? Funny how I had no such issue before this mod, or if present was of such a minimal extent as to not call attention to itself.

In all respects, when near to a source of a sound of any intensity, the level is really muted. Camera viewpoint practically touching a ship firing all AAA batteries? Way too quiet. And the examples abound of the same. It's so bad, because of the normal expectation--and execution--of the volume to keep rising as the camera gets nearer, the fact that it remains fixed makes it seem like it's getting quieter.

I'll try altering some spl values to see what happens...

As I say, my luck with sound just sucks.

[WxTech]

I just tried fiddling with the SPL values for the Sakae motor .prs files, but observe no difference. Perhaps other files need to be altered as well.

Has there been, as part of this sound engine design, a boosting of sound levels that could trigger this auto volume action? Something is fundamentally different to the stock sound handling.

Another clue: When in the external view and switching between planes, for a fraction of a second the sound is louder, very quickly diminishing in volume. A definite sign of auto level adjustment.

[WxTech]

Now that I'm more attuned to what's happening with sounds, I just went back to stock B.A.T. 4.0 sound to assess differences.

With motor sound, the most profound difference is the transition between the near and far samples. With stock, the volume during the transition as one fades into the other is better balanced; the continuation of the fading is reasonably natural. I do note that there does indeed seem to be some attenuation occurring with the near sample as I get ever closer to the plane. And so the stock sounds are likely somewhat impacted by this auto level adjustment, just not nearly so prominently.

With this mod, as the near sample fades out with distance, the fading in of the far sample is too loud, making for not just a plateauing of the volume, but an actual increase while the transition occurs.

This might be due to the near sample suffering a heavier auto attenuation. With stock, the throaty engine component is much more present, with this mod it's subsumed under other 'white noise'.

And for other audio events, when near a source of what should be impactful volume such as a battery of AAA guns barking their message of hate , the levels are muted and more distant sounds compete, if not actually dominate.


So, what's the underlying difference, where this sound mod appears to be more devastatingly impaired by what appears to be this auto-levels Hell induced by Windoze?


And what are other folk using for sound hardware/software that avoids this?

[pied]

I am also noticing this behavior, it appears most boldly whenever other effects 'blank out'.

Pied

[WxTech]

For external motor sounds, specifically the near sample as heard when the camera is close to the plane, setting useAroundAngle to 0 in NGSE.ini helps to a fair degree. That option, when enabled, causes the 'white noise' or 'wind' component to be relatively more prominent.

Indeed, for the moment I've disabled all 4 options.

There remains the oddness with balancing of near and far sound samples for many events.

Interestingly, I now seem to not suffer the former matter of a momentary loudness that quickly decreased when switching views between planes...

[WxTech]

As to internal sounds.

Even having a number of wind sounds disabled in the two aircraft.common.prs files, all cockpits are suffused with a dull roar of 'white noise' that makes some at least sound more like I'm in a jet. There's no higher frequency 'jet whine', but rather it's a range of low to mid frequency noise, like a mixture of MANY wind, rain and distant thunder samples all mixed together. In any prop plane I've tried, there's almost no component of banging cylinders making it through that dominating, unholy mix. And while firing guns, this roar of noise drops precipitously in volume, to something like one fourth.

I'm haunted by the really weird interaction I had with the rain sound coming through even in good weather (!), just because I had raised the altitude zone within which that rain could be heard in a modded class (subsequently deleted). This could be a clue to other unnecessary sounds being heard, adding to all this 'white noise'. Again, no such issue with the stock sounds.

At the very least, this mod does not like my Windoze install.

[hguderian]

Hi!
Thank you for this beautiful sound mod!!

I report that these files are missing:

"Cannot open audio file samples/MotorsPiston/Sakae/starter_s.wav"
"Cannot open audio file samples/MotorsPiston/R2800/starter_s.wav"

Furthermore, is it intentional that during flak explosions the internal and external sounds of the aircraft are significantly attenuated?

Many thanks again.
Best Regards

[WxTech]

hguderian,
You seem to be suffering the same kind of auto volume control induced by Windows that is afflicting me.


All,
I discovered that this mod includes GunGeneric.class, of which I have my own modded version. I moved mine farther up the mods list to give it primacy, and now the issue of cockpit sounds going much quieter while firing guns has ceased. I can't see how this should make a difference to sound playback, as my changes have nothing to do with sound at all. But what do I know? 

I still must disable the useStereo option, for it does result in some degree of cockpit sound reduction while firing guns, presumably because of its loudness triggering the damnable Windoze auto attenuation.

And the useAroundAngle option causes the external motor sound itself to get lost in the 'white noise' component. With it disabled, the transition between the near and far motor sample is nearer to correct.

Not perfect, but better.