Half-Life 2 sound - do you think it will be high quality?

[EnochLight]

I truly believe that sound is just as important as graphics when playing a game. Half-Life's sound was always a bit low-quality to my ears; low sample/bit rate - dissappointing sound quality, even though the foley work and sound fx were tops.

Does anybody have any concrete info regarding Half-Life 2's sound quality? I would hope that Valve would do at least 44.1 kHz at 16 bit at the very least, in 5.1 surround.

Anybody?

Cheers,

EnochLight

 

[Guest]

heh

 

[Lifthz]

kind of a no brainer...

 

[vissione]

I hope HL2 has great sound, cause I know Doom III will have excellent sound.

I can't afford a real 5.1 setup, but I'm going to purchase headphones to emulate it. I had my eye on a Aopen headset just for Half-Life 2 and Doom III... plus my motherboard has integrated 6 channel sound, so I atleast can hear it ok. I'm going to shop locally before I order any headphones... I saw some phillip wireless ones for as much as the Aopen, except it had no mic. I need a mic or I'll be forced to find some clip on mic or bend over to my crappy mic that barely pics up my voice.

I can't use real speakers anyway, since my parents would kick me out if I had Half-Life 2 on all night long with sound fx, shots, and people screaming.

 

[BlumenKohl]

Ah I managed to ask this question @ E3.

Valve is shooting for support for 6.1 Speakers, and quality will be 11/22/44 khz. Take your pick.

 

[Lifthz]

5.1 is good enough for me. I dunno about all that 6.1 and 7.1 stuff, way too many speakers. Not many people will buy into it I don't think.

 

[$pazmatazz]

Valve has said a few times they have a very sophisticated sound engine, so hopefully this not only means high quality sounds, but proper sound placement. It’s a pain with MOD’s using the HL1 engine when you can’t tell if a player is above or below you with sound alone.

 

[Ridic]

well i dont use speakers, but i have top notch headphones so sound is important. think about what you said though "Half-Life's sound was always a bit low-quality to my ears; low sample/bit rate - dissappointing sound quality, even though the foley work and sound fx were tops."

thats the same as saying "do you think hl2 graphics will be better? hl1 graphics always looked grity ugly and pixily"

of course it will be, they have been making this game for 5 years. everythign will be top notch...

 

[Guest]

it better be

 

[Guest]

actually its going to be cpu beeps like the original wolfenstein

 

[Apos]

In the interview, Jay Stelly talks about sound a bit. I posted a lot of this in the valve info thread, but to pick out the key pieces:

"We've done the straightforward, all the sounds sound better now, it's all super-high quality of course."

"It's much easier to get new audio in the game, they don't have to write code to make things happen. There's one thing I talk about called soundscapes, where as you move through the environment, an audio designer can script what's happening, how the sound is being presented to you. It's almost like scoring, the tone, you know, like, there's a low rumbling in this room, and as you get closer to this thing maybe this part of it gets louder to kind of emphasize that there's something interesting about this object. Almost like film-scoring but in an interactive sense. You have a scripting language where you are doing that."

A recent interview confirmed 5.1 sound, and they promise to support any new audio tech that comes along and gains any prominent use, including 6.1.

Stelly also noted that they have all the original sound samples from HL1: not the sound files, the original samples in super-high-quality digital form. So they can play around with his original stuff to make it both much higher-quality, familiar, but also with a new edge to it.

 

[Lifthz]

Sounds like the kinda stuff they do for Halo... which is good news for Half-Life 2.

 

[Zigrah]

They said the game will outright support 5.1 and they hope to keep developing updates for the future of soundcards ie. 6.1 and up.

 

[RabidMeatloaf]

Just listen to the Docks vid. You can hear the ruffling of the crows' feathers as they fly by, that seems pretty good quality to me (well either that or I don't know what I'm taking about :dozey: ).

 

[zitbug]

Can't wait to be submerged... :bonce:

Doom III will probably have the better soundtrack from Trent Reznor, but Half-Life I think will have it's own unique sounds that will bring back the nostalgia of the original game.

I love the way Half-Life sounded. From the door sound, to the bone cracking sound when someone falls from a great height!

:cheers:

 

[Finger]

I thought I heard that Trent Reznor pulled out of the D3 project. Of course, wtf do I know about D3.

My question: is HL2 is going to support any 3D positional sound technology, like it supported A3D, EAX? I havent experienced dolby 5.1, or up with pc games, but I know that A3D gave such accurate positional information, with just 2 speakers (headphones usually)...that it managed to cause a rift in the DM community, between people who supported using it, and people who considered it cheating.

Now I know that A3d cards are not being produced anymore, and I always thought it odd, that such a remarkable sound technology would just 'flop' like A3d did . Maybe that technology was absorbed by Creative and incorporated into their high end line of cards?

 

[Guest]

the sound will be the best sound effect in the history, also vulvo said that they going to support 6.1, 5.1 and in the future they are going to release a patch which add 7.1 support.....

next month iam getting creative inspire 6700 6.1 channel........:cheese:

 

[malice]

Whats the best sound card to have .... ive heard good things about the audigy 2 ... can anyone confirm this?

Thnx

 

[Guest]

AUDGY TWO IS THE BEST................

A2 =====BEAST

OTHERS=====;(

 

[Guest]

Here is my view on audigy....

I dont ****ing know how i ever used anything eles ever.
Its great man, if u care about sound it is must.

 

[Spiffae]

Originally posted by zitbug
Can't wait to be submerged... :bonce:

Doom III will probably have the better soundtrack from Trent Reznor, but Half-Life I think will have it's own unique sounds that will bring back the nostalgia of the original game.

Trent Reznor decided that he didn't want to do Doom 3 just recently, and on top of that, he decided that id couldn't use any of the work he had done. They are going to be making a new soundtrack, on the cheap most likely, and i am not expecting much.

also: Doom 3 has been delayed to 2004.

also: there have been some magazine interviews that mention the sound stuff that's going on in HL2...sounds like cool stuff.

 

[_-_-SELAS-_-_]

Yeah I have an audigy 2 (correct spelling!) and it rocks. The soundprocessor on the chip is even better than humans can hear. Im very found of it. And yeah ofcourse HL2 will have top sound u can even hear how good it is in some of the demoes like the 1 with the 2 striders. :cheers:

 

[Phisionary]

Originally posted by alb1221
actually its going to be cpu beeps like the original wolfenstein

Hell yah! PC speaker r0x0rs!

Originally posted by zitbug
...to the bone cracking sound when someone falls from a great height!

I always thought that sound was kinda crappy. There was some game, I think it was quake 2, everytime I fell, I winced. It had this sound like your spine was being snapped in half or somehitng. Anybody remember that?? I loved that game for MP. I had dreams about the grenade laucher...

-Phision

 

[EnochLight]

Thanks for all of the input, guys.

Originally posted by Lifthz
kind of a no brainer...

Well, not necessarily. I can't remember which title it was - either Medal of Honor: Allied Assault or Return to Castle Wolfenstein, but one of those recent titles came out when 5.1 soundcards were prevelant, yet the sound in the games did not support it. Kind of surprised because it really, truly, helps the game and gameplay.

Originally posted by alb1221
heh

Heh, nice Borg gif!

Originally posted by BlumenKohl
Ah I managed to ask this question @ E3.

Valve is shooting for support for 6.1 Speakers, and quality will be 11/22/44 khz. Take your pick.

Just the answer I was looking for; thanks BlumenKohl - that's music to my ears!

Originally posted by alb1221
actually its going to be cpu beeps like the original wolfenstein

LOL! That's classic. Nice!

Originally posted by Apos
In the interview, Jay Stelly talks about sound a bit...

"We've done the straightforward, all the sounds sound better now, it's all super-high quality of course...

Stelly also noted that they have all the original sound samples from HL1: not the sound files, the original samples in super-high-quality digital form. So they can play around with his original stuff to make it both much higher-quality, familiar, but also with a new edge to it.

Oh yes - BRILLIANT!!! Thanks Apos - that's truly the answer I was hoping for. Cheers mate!

Originally posted by malice
Whats the best sound card to have .... ive heard good things about the audigy 2 ... can anyone confirm this?

Thnx

Greetings malice, this I can answer with confidence. The latest incarnation of the Audigy 2 is what the original Audigy should have been from the start. It truly records in 24 bit 96 kHz - something that the original Audigy could not perform, but was marketed as a true 24/96 card. The current Audigy uses very little CPU resources as it offsets the processing to the processor on the card - any review I have read always places the A2 as having the best performance in gaming.

In short, you can't go wrong with any version of the Audigy 2.

I heard about Doom 3 being delayed again; it's a shame, but maybe they'll take the time to not only beef up the graphics even more, but perfect the gameplay to make it a bit more revolutionary than just..***n...shoot..***n...shoot! It's a shame about Trent's drop out from the project, but then again, maybe we'll actually see a new studio album from NiN eventually. I think living in New Orleans has gotten to his head - what the hell has he been doing down there?

Again, thanks for everyone's comments.

Cheers,

EnochLight

 

[malice]

Cheers people for clearing that up

Looks like im going to buy an audigy 2 then

 

[Apos]

How much better, really, is the audigy from a sb live? I mean, I'm not an audiophile who needs to record audio: does it REALLY sound any better, noticably, to a layman?

 

[EnochLight]

With the proper speakers? Very clearly unquestionably better! Plus, it's friendlier to the CPU than the old Live! series.

If you've got a crappy set of old desktop PC speakers, then you probably wont hear much of a difference.

I've got a set of Klipsch 5.1 400 watt ProMedia's - I couldn't fathom using anything less than a good soundcard. However, your mileage may vary.

Cheers,

EnochLight

 

[theHATRED]

It'll probably very high quality. I could actually feel the machine gun, but then again, I've got the z-560. It sounded alot better than the sound in HL1.

 

[Guest]

Originally posted by EnochLight
I truly believe that sound is just as important as graphics when playing a game. Half-Life's sound was always a bit low-quality to my ears; low sample/bit rate - dissappointing sound quality, even though the foley work and sound fx were tops.

Does anybody have any concrete info regarding Half-Life 2's sound quality? I would hope that Valve would do at least 44.1 kHz at 16 bit at the very least, in 5.1 surround.

Anybody?

Cheers,

EnochLight

ugh another dumb thread. Dont see why it would matter but in an interview they said that the sound will be 44khz 5bit and have support up to 96khz 5 bit.

 

[Anthraxxx]

Originally posted by vissione
I hope HL2 has great sound, cause I know Doom III will have excellent sound.

I can't afford a real 5.1 setup, but I'm going to purchase headphones to emulate it. I had my eye on a Aopen headset just for Half-Life 2 and Doom III... plus my motherboard has integrated 6 channel sound, so I atleast can hear it ok. I'm going to shop locally before I order any headphones... I saw some phillip wireless ones for as much as the Aopen, except it had no mic. I need a mic or I'll be forced to find some clip on mic or bend over to my crappy mic that barely pics up my voice.

I can't use real speakers anyway, since my parents would kick me out if I had Half-Life 2 on all night long with sound fx, shots, and people screaming.

Plantronics dude. Plantronics. DSP-300......


I've got the Plantronics Audio .90's and i'm pleased to say that not only do i get great sound quality, I also have an excellent mic that able to capture my voice clearly.:thumbs:


If you're gonna get a sound system and you have 400 extra bucks, go with the Klipsch 5.1 400 watt system. I haven't found a 5.1 system better than Klipsch's. Don't buy the new Klipsch 5.1 GRX speakers, not good for computers, but excellent for use with a console. Next best system would prolly be the Creative Inspire 5.1/6.1 speakers.

Or you could just shoot me in the head and eat some KFC.

Screw PETA!!

 

[EnochLight]

Re: Re: Half-Life 2 sound - do you think it will be high quality?

Originally posted by THUGENSTE1N
ugh another dumb thread. Dont see why it would matter but in an interview they said that the sound will be 44khz 5bit and have support up to 96khz 5 bit.

16 bit, actually.