In Game Sound FX Discussion

[OctavianAXFive]

Sound is an often overlooked aspect of games compared to graphics. But I think they are just as important in creating immersion.

I invested in a sound card and some nice headphones recently and I've come to appreciate the difference sound makes in my experience.

Frame rate wise this game is far from ideal. But it has a hell of a 3D sound stage and I suggest that if you're interested in immersing yourself deeper, you poke around and invest in a dedicated sound card and a decent sound system.

I use the Creative Soundblaster Zx with AD 700's. I will always hear you coming...

Anyway, what I actually want to talk about are some of the more specific sounds things make. What sounds do you like, what sounds do hate?

With the exception of the Vanu weapons, I don't like how guns sound. And even then, I'd like more identifiable Vanu gun sounds.

I also don't like the sound tank shells make when firing. It's not quite as earth shattering as I'd like.

Explosions are fine though, maybe lacking a little bass but get enough of them and it can sound pleasantly apocalyptic.

[Falcon_br]

I can normally tell which faction is firing for the weapons sound, so I am awe when it is a friend firing from the back or I must turn fast and kill the enemy!
But with the introduction of NS weapons, sometimes I get confused, because there is 2 medics in my outfit that uses the ns11, I am used to don't identify it as a tread, most of the times it is not a problem because most medics are not firing, just healing and I am killing them.
But with the introduction of the ns 11 c, light assault and engineer are killing me from the back without retaliation, because it is much faster to hear the gunshots them my high latency tell me I am receiving damage, since GU 06 I don't even see my health bar going down, or I am alive from a firefight and I can see how much health I got left or I am dead. Even using the centered HUD, your health the update time of it is much more higher them ever, maybe they did that to decrease server load, but I really don't like to see it to know if I should fire back or run to cover based on how much damage I am receiving.

I also agree the NC weapon sound the best, the ns ones also sounds good, but the TR...
Also I don't like to all LMG have the same sound to everyone, but as the angry joe said, all weapons in the game looks the same, only the status number changer with each weapon, in the tr the got all the same skin, the same sound, just different statistics! The only exception is the tmg50, but not that much.

Also the t7 got a unique sound that really makes your a target when you open fire with it from behind the enemies.

[hashish]

Yea i gotta say, with a decent pair of headphones this game sounds amaaaazing :D

Ive got a creative soundblaster pro with dolby digital live turned on and a pair of Astro A50's. Spent like £300 on my sound set up and it totally worth it.. The Bass i get in planetside roccks my brain lol..

One thing i would like to see more tho is the ingame music. Everytime u do something the ingame music que is like stopped or when u respawn it is restarted so u never get to hear the nice music.. :(

[Artimus]

All my sound is bugged... It goes in and out like bad reception on the radio. Incredibly annoying for how much I appreciate the sound in this game.

[hashish]

Artimus whats wrong with your sound? Im sure u can sort it out, maybe your soundcard has a problem or something??

[Striker KOJ]

Hashish (dig the name), I agree sound can make a huge difference. I'm in the market for a new Sound Card right now, as my creative extigy finally took a dump, so I'm stuck with on-board sound for now (with $200 cans, no less). How are you liking the pro? I've heard mixed reviews about the newer sound blaster cards.

I know in PS1, it was like playing two different games after my Extigy died. The sound blaster drivers were just hands-down better than the other options available. I would be inclined to pick up another Sound Blaster just to be able to take advantage of those drivers again, but I've had my eye on the HT|Omegas.

So yeah, don't know how much of an audiophile you are, but would apriciate your opinion on the sound blaster.

[Belhade]

I love the sounds of the NS guns (I demo'd the NS-11c and accidentally bought the 15m) though I don't pay much attention to the other weapon sounds specifically.

Wish I could get some decent sound for the game. I used to run an SB Audigy (yeah, I know, old) with analog headsets, but they keep dying on me. So I kept switching between cheap analogs and cheap USBs and just got rid of the Audigy for onboard sound.

[Falcon_br]

Dude, that audigy was an awesome soundboard, I think it is still better them any onboard sound in any motherboard on the market today, despite what is written in the tech specs.
The only problem is the lack of support and since windows vista, soundboard are having bad and nasty driver problems, because of the windows forced software sound in their SO.
But I still spend money on soundboards, got a creative fx since BF 2142 and it is very good.
I just dont know if I should buy the razer 7.1 headset or not, I saw some review and bad bass are not my style.
Also I think the game is 5.1 it is lacking some environmental effects and the grenades are no echoing in close spaces like it does in battlefield 3.

[OctavianAXFive]

Falcon_br, I wouldn't go for those Razers if I were you.

Here is a very useful headphone guide from a trusted source for all your gaming needs.

http://www.head-fi.org/t/534479/mad-lust-envys-headphone-gaming-guide-updated-4-4-13-mad-dog-added

And for people looking to jump into sound cards

http://www.head-fi.org/t/593050/the-nameless-guide-to-pc-gaming-audio-with-binaural-headphone-surround-sound

He does not speak well of the Sound Blaster Z series and the software emulation of 3D sound. However, I caved and bought a new Sound Blaster Zx a few months ago and I have to say, the 3D soundstage is nothing short of amazing. I can sound whore like a champ and the software is really easy to use.

The "Scout Mode" for FPS gaming actually works, though in planetside it jacks up the ambient sound on Amerish too much. Otherwise you can hear footsteps from a ways off and pinpoint the direction they are coming from.

[KALU]

I actually miss continent themed music.....

AHhhhhhhh Solsar i remember that being one of my favs

[Levente]

the TR gun sounds are terrible except the heavy assault one. but the rest....holly shit...Change them ASAP they Sound like some plastic bucket

[almalino]

I use this headsets:
Creative Sound Blaster Tactic 3D Omega

Do you think I seriously degrade PS2 sound quality using those quite expensive surround sound wireless headphones?

[Pella]

I use this headsets:
Creative Sound Blaster Tactic 3D Omega

Do you think I seriously degrade PS2 sound quality using those quite expensive surround sound wireless headphones?

Can get the exact same effect / quality with a $25 5.1 Surround sound card and a stereo headset.

I hear clearly enemy footsteps/ Max movements. And most important for me which direction enemy ESF's are coming from.

These 5.1/7.1 surround sound headsets are a waste of money. And just a gimmick.

[almalino]

Can get the exact same effect / quality with a $25 5.1 Surround sound card and a stereo headset.

I hear clearly enemy footsteps/ Max movements. And most important for me which direction enemy ESF's are coming from.

These surround sound headsets are a waste of money.

I was more worried about bass level for example. Wireless headphones are not good at that. Otherwise sound sounds good for me but I do not have anything to compare it to.

[Pella]

I was more worried about bass level for example. Wireless headphones are not good at that. Otherwise sound sounds good for me but I do not have anything to compare it to.

Wireless is a totally different level of quality. And to be honest i have no idea.

All i know is that having a Sound card with a Headphone amp, Is allot more superior in quality.

Listen to this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmL-YRxC6Y8&hd=1). And if you can hear the guy moving around you. Your on the money.

I can hear it as surround perfectly. On a stereo headset.

[Artimus]

Artimus whats wrong with your sound? Im sure u can sort it out, maybe your soundcard has a problem or something??

I don't think so, I have no problems in any other games. I have validated my files and checked my drivers everything checks out. I keep sending bug reports but so far no avil. It seems.to happen in larger fights.. I cant hear people shooting guns 40 yards from me or I cant hear my own footsteps. Sometimes I can only hear my gun shooting. It really sucks.

[Snydenthur]

Wireless is a totally different level of quality. And to be honest i have no idea.

All i know is that having a Sound card with a Headphone amp, Is allot more superior in quality.

Listen to this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmL-YRxC6Y8&hd=1). And if you can hear the guy moving around you. Your on the money.

I can hear it as surround perfectly. On a stereo headset.

Surround headset has always been more of a fancy thing to have. My opinion is, they aren't needed. Just a quality stereo headset has always done a good job. Surround is needed on speakers. But does anyone actually play pc-games with them?

[Boildown]

Surround headset has always been more of a fancy thing to have. My opinion is, they aren't needed. Just a quality stereo headset has always done a good job. Surround is needed on speakers. But does anyone actually play pc-games with them?

No. Just flat out wrong. I tried using my Sennheisser HD555s with this game, and they don't compare at all to actual surround sound, as far as locating where that sound you just heard is actually located. Stereo headphones are crap for locating sounds, even if you have high quality headphones. The sounds will sound great, you will just not be able to pinpoint where it came from with any degree of accuracy.


I just dont know if I should buy the razer 7.1 headset or not, I saw some review and bad bass are not my style.

I have the Razor 7.1 analog headphones, bought them after a few weeks of playing PS2 and I realized that my stereo headphones weren't going to cut it. I like them a lot. They use analog connections so that nothing is "simulated" like most surround headphones. Although from all reports simulated surround actually works too, I just didn't want to trust it. For the Razor 7.1s you actually need a 7.1 analog capable sound card though, and that's a little harder to find than 5.1.

I got the Asus ROG Phoebus for my sound card, but I wasn't impressed by it. It has limitations my old SB X-Fi didn't have, like it can't output to two different outputs simultaneously. And despite the ROG name, Asus is only giving it token support, hardly any driver updates, etc. If I had to do it again I'd get something like the eClaro or one of the cheap Asus 7.1 sound cards with the 3rd party drivers, instead.

My chief complaint about the Razor 7.1s is that when I wear it for 5 hours straight, like I sometimes do when playing PS2, the ear pads are killing my ears. They aren't big enough to completely go around my ears, so they partially lay on them. My Sennheissers are far more comfortable, because the around-the-ear pads have a larger space for the ears to fit. Then again, maybe they don't expect people to have them on for five hours at a time. On the other hand, they are marketed to hard core gamers, so they should have thought of this.

My secondary comment, not really a complaint, is that its true that the audio quality isn't as good as my stereo Sennheissers. Quite a bit worse, really. I wouldn't use these to listen to music. If you've never used good headphones in your life, you won't care, because you don't know what you're missing (not a bad thing really). Fortunately the Razors come with a really nice pass-through device. For anything else, I use my Sennheissers, and for surround capable games, where I don't care about audio quality so much as I care about locating sound sources in the game, I use my Razor 7.1s.

[Snydenthur]

No. Just flat out wrong. I tried using my Sennheisser HD555s with this game, and they don't compare at all to actual surround sound, as far as locating where that sound you just heard is actually located. Stereo headphones are crap for locating sounds, even if you have high quality headphones. The sounds will sound great, you will just not be able to pinpoint where it came from with any degree of accuracy.

That's kind of funny, since I have sennheiser hd 555. I've used them in countless games, from cs to ps2 and I've never had any problems with knowing where the sound comes. But we are all individuals then.

Btw, does anyone else have problems with using 24bit 48000hz sounds in this game? I sometimes have this rattling noise. Doesn't happen in other games and doesn't happen if I go with the 16bit 44100hz (cd quality). I haven't tried all that is between them, just those two.

Edit. I don't know if that rattling is the right word for what I mean, since I don't natively speak or write english. And I can't remember the right word in my native language, so I can't use google translate either. :D