FSX Sound Question

[mal998]

Hi All,
I've noticed (for a while now) that when in the VC of many aircraft the sound is lower when looking straight ahead, than when you pan to the right or left.

When I look right or left the sound level actually increases and it strikes me, that is the way it should sound when looking straight ahead (if that makes any sense).

Does anyone know how to switch the sound-views so the side-view sound actually takes the place of the view-forward sound.

Any thoughts will be appreciated.

mal

 

[Tako_Kichi]

If you don't have the FSX SDK installed then take a look at this page for the ESP SDK.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc526952.aspx

(ESP was/is the commercial version of FSX and is basically the same as far as the SDK is concerned).

If the aircraft you wish to change is a true FSX aircraft then it will probably be using FSX 'sound cones'. You should be able to find the cone for straight ahead easily enough and then make it match the left/right ones (or tone down the left/right ones to make the central one seem louder). It does take some trial and error like most other FSX 'tweaks'.

Bear in mind that there are cones for internal sounds as well as external sounds so make sure you edit the correct section(s).

You should back up any files before you make changes of course!

 

[mal998]

Ah, thanks for that!

I do have the SDK installed but sometimes I just forget to look at it.

Thank you for pointing me to it.

BR's,
mal

 

[mfitch]

Hi All,
When I look right or left the sound level actually increases and it strikes me, that is the way it should sound when looking straight ahead (if that makes any sense).
mal

I am not a sound engineer, but I think the sound should be louder when we turn our heads left or right. That places one ear closer to the engine and the other in a quieter location (not contributing in our minds).

Not related to your question (i.e., not helpful but rather curious), but it is possible to induce nausea by making the apparent location of sounds not match the location of the object. For example if the tower view shows the plane flying clockwise around the tower, but the sound moves counter-clockwise the brain will become unhappy.

 

[TeaSea]

Interesting observation by mfitch.

I have my hearing tested annually, and have had almost no loss in my upper ranges (unusual for my age and former occupation). So, basically I have very good hearing and am generally not disturbed by loud noises (used to sleep quite soundly behind the gun line when I was working in Field Artillery), My wife on the other hand, absolutely cannot stand loud sustained noise. When she flies with me and becomes nauseous, it's always the noise she complains of, not the movement of the aircraft. She is also startled easily by sudden loud noises (as is my son), whereas I am not.

I think sounds in the simulation to be somewhat subjective. Personally I would agree with mfitch that sounds tend to change as we change the position of our head left or right and that the sim mostly has it sort of right. As good as most PC's would be able to present anyway.

 

[mal998]

I think that nausea is caused when the eye sees one thing and the ear senses another. I've done a lot of flying this past year and sometimes feel a little quesy if I'm sitting in a particular spot in the aircraft but all the window shades are pulled down and I have no point of reference to focus on outside the aircraft.