Sound FX

[Smawg]

I noticed that the sound effects were a bit more realistic than any other game I have played/seen. Like the pistol, it's like a pop at first. Or the part where in the movie, he drives up to that house where they have the shoot out. The combine soldier in the distance was firing, and it was like a realistic muffled popping noise. Thats awsome. And the part where he is upstairs and shoots off those grenades. The second explosion was my favorite, that was the most realistic sound I have ever heard in a video game.

:cheers: Mr. Valve Sound Recorder Guy

 

[goldenboi]

Yea, it's pretty awesome. I have onboard sound. Would a sound card like an Audigy 2 do anything good for me? All I use are some $40 Altec Lansing earphones w/ mic.

 

[Smawg]

Dude, if you don't have good speakers, use a headset. It's awsome cause you get all the surround sound and you can turn it up as loud as you want!!!!

 

[Mr. Redundant]

Yea, it's pretty awesome. I have onboard sound. Would a sound card like an Audigy 2 do anything good for me? All I use are some $40 Altec Lansing earphones w/ mic.

if your sound is causing fps lag, yes
if you want 5.1/7.1 surround sound, and EAX then yes.

if you use headphones, and are a gamer, not an audiophile.. then no.
honestly... my Audigy2, (I use headphones) sounds almost identical to my lil bro's built in Soundmax (on board ASUS).

btw the soundscapes and doppler effects applied to sounds in hl2 is pretty amazing... cool stuff.

 

[Mr-Fusion]

It doesn't sound realistic at all. Real guns sound like total crap.

If there's one aspect of realism i never want to see in computer games, it's gun sounds!! I prefer the sound designers to create stuff that sounds awesome instead of realistic. If that means loads of bass and a crisp clean sound, so be it!

 

[Lobster]

lol I know what you mean Fusion, theres these 2 games, Battlefield 1942 and RTCW: Enemy Territory, there gameplay is very unrealistic, and yet they still insist on using horribly underpowered muffly "realistic" sounds.

 

[A.I.]

Well I think that thevsound is one of the most underrated aspects of HL2. Everybody is talking about graphics and I'm really getting sick of it. The sound sounds most realistic to me I've ever experienced in a game. It seems that the sounds in most of the games are reverbated and compressed though in the open areas this doesn't happen. And HL2 does the trick about this, not to mention the ringing in your head if a grenade explodes too near to you. That's sooo cool.

Fusion, you mentioned that sound of the weapons should be crispy and stuff. Just turn the volume knob a bit louder and you'll get "da sound" (and some very pissed off neighbours )

 

[hype.db]

Audigy Gamer-X/Logitech z560's/Sony MDR-V700 phones
muaha, bring on the sound effects baby.

 

[deathryuu]

Audigy Gamer-X/Logitech z560's/Sony MDR-V700 phones
muaha, bring on the sound effects baby.

bow down to my Zalman Theatre 6 5.1 Surround Sound headphones

 

[Brian Damage]

Bow down to my crappy "Turando" speakers, one of which occaisionally descends into fits of crackling, and makes popping sounds whenever the washing machine is on!

 

[hype.db]

bow down to my Zalman Theatre 6 5.1 Surround Sound headphones

I've been looking into those sets. Do they sound as good as they claim?

 

[ScopeD]

Seems like you guys haven't had to fire a real weapon ever lol. I've shot too many shots with Rifle and pistol, some with shotgun and few with sniper rifle. I can honestly say: they make sound, they make awfully lot of sound IMO and the others that had to go to hospital for the "hearing" check after shooting with a rifle It doesn't sound like "puff" or some nice sound..it's the sound of death and it's more like "BOOM" that sends your brains to timeout.

edit:
and yes, in HL2 the sounds are the most realistic to date in games.

 

[deathryuu]

I've been looking into those sets. Do they sound as good as they claim?

indeed. i did lots and lots of research on them. ive tested my pair on LOTR fellowship of the ring dvd w/ dolby 5.1 on. the only problem is that not many pc games are fully dolby digital 5.1 compatible so on some games the rear and front channels are a little bit quite, but for games like that i just switch to headphones and it works perfectly(i think the front and rear channels work even when set to headphones instead of 5.1.

heres a good site to buy em from if you are looking to buy a pair

http://www.pctoyland.com/Merchant2/...&Product_Code=840556016380&Category_Code=zhpc

 

[hype.db]

indeed. i did lots and lots of research on them. ive tested my pair on LOTR fellowship of the ring dvd w/ dolby 5.1 on. the only problem is that not many pc games are fully dolby digital 5.1 compatible so on some games the rear and front channels are a little bit quite, but for games like that i just switch to headphones and it works perfectly(i think the front and rear channels work even when set to headphones instead of 5.1.

heres a good site to buy em from if you are looking to buy a pair

http://www.pctoyland.com/Merchant2/...&Product_Code=840556016380&Category_Code=zhpc

Holy !@#$
only $47.95?!

Awesome, thanks for the link.

 

[deathryuu]

Holy !@#$
only $47.95?!

Awesome, thanks for the link.

ya, pretty good price for a set of headphones that have the sound quality of a mid - high range 5.1 system and you can turn up the volume as high as you like w/o disturbing anyone else around you

 

[Briderider]

First time I saw a halflife 2 vid sound was the first thing struck me. Apparently the music is dynamic mixed and a track can be applied to an entitiy so as you get closer the music builds up. Sort of like Dune2 for those of you who had the pleasure. Obvioulsy that was very basic but halflife 2 should take sound to a new level. All they have to do is take the same technology and apply it to every day life then when the music starts to build I will know when my boss is comming and stop posting stupid comments.

 

[CR0M]

Real life gunshots are a 50-50 combo of a shockwave you feel and a sound you hear. Speakers can't emulate this shockwave no matter how good your sub woofer is, so you're always going to get a false impression of a shot.

All game designers can do is to create the sound part of the report, most developers enhancing it to sound more impressive than it should be - Valve have obviously opted to create a more accurate sound, even though it means losing the echoing hollywood booms that most people think of as gunshots.

This works for me as I'm a sucker for well observed design - something that Halflife 2 thankfully seems to have oodles of.

 

[A.I.]

Seems like you guys haven't had to fire a real weapon ever lol. I've shot too many shots with Rifle and pistol, some with shotgun and few with sniper rifle. I can honestly say: they make sound, they make awfully lot of sound IMO and the others that had to go to hospital for the "hearing" check after shooting with a rifle It doesn't sound like "puff" or some nice sound..it's the sound of death and it's more like "BOOM" that sends your brains to timeout.

edit:
and yes, in HL2 the sounds are the most realistic to date in games.

Ahh, Finland, the land of the hunters

 

[A.I.]

The whole soundscape of HL2 is probably the best which I've heared in a game.

 

[Mr. Redundant]

ya, pretty good price for a set of headphones that have the sound quality of a mid - high range 5.1 system and you can turn up the volume as high as you like w/o disturbing anyone else around you

only thing that sucks about them is that they have no built in mic

 

[PvtRyan]

I have the Zalman too, it's pretty good. You shouldn't expect the same surround quality as from a good 5.1 speaker set, but for 50 bucks, it's good enough.
The bass is awesome for a headset too, and the music playback quality is more than good, especially with all 6 channels turned on.

And the sound of HL2 is really good, not many games have doppler effects, BF1942 fakes it (it just plays a standard muffled sound if the distance is great enough, even if you fire one shot you still hear multiple shots).
I love the *pop pop* sound.
And yes, HL2 sound is underrated, everything sounds perfect, but HL1 sound was also always overlooked, I used to love how sounds were deformed when walking through a vent or something.

 

[Dougy]

lol I know what you mean Fusion, theres these 2 games, Battlefield 1942 and RTCW: Enemy Territory, there gameplay is very unrealistic, and yet they still insist on using horribly underpowered muffly "realistic" sounds.

BF1942's sounds are about as from realistic as a blue wale in a tutu.

And the Gameplay is meant to be arcade, not realistic.

 

[SubKamran]

bow down to my Zalman Theatre 6 5.1 Surround Sound headphones

Bow down to my 109" screen projector and my Onkyo HTS760 6.1 surround sound system. Oh yes, I'm not playing HL2 on the comp.

I need a better way to get sound from my computer to my stereo though, it's low quality using a RCA-to-mini stereo cable. MORE RESEARCH. Maybe a Audigy ZS or Pro or Platinum would work.

 

[MindCrafter]

indeed. i did lots and lots of research on them. ive tested my pair on LOTR fellowship of the ring dvd w/ dolby 5.1 on. the only problem is that not many pc games are fully dolby digital 5.1 compatible so on some games the rear and front channels are a little bit quite, but for games like that i just switch to headphones and it works perfectly(i think the front and rear channels work even when set to headphones instead of 5.1.

heres a good site to buy em from if you are looking to buy a pair

http://www.pctoyland.com/Merchant2/...&Product_Code=840556016380&Category_Code=zhpc

Oh yeah, now i have a chance to ask:

I got 5.1 support on my PC, 5 mini jack slots: 1 mic,1 who i use with my headphones,3 i don't know what's for, it says that 3 of those 5 are used with surround.
There is something...wierd with my Subwoofer, it has:

CD and AUX, they have 1 red and 1 white each, can someone help?
How do i use my 5.1 surround with my computer? ( i'm such a newb )

 

[MadGuy]

Bow down to my 109" screen projector and my Onkyo HTS760 6.1 surround sound system. Oh yes, I'm not playing HL2 on the comp.

.

That just makes me cry

 

[blahblahblah]

When I first got my computer that has 5.1 sound (thank-you soundstorm!), I was confused like no other. It had only three slots for surround sound.

It took me a while to realize that one slot is for the center channel, the second slot is for the front speakers while the third slot is for the rear speakers.

So related, what does SPDIF do? I have one on my soundcard but I have never seen a set of speakers that uses SPDIF.

 

[MindCrafter]

When I first got my computer that has 5.1 sound (thank-you soundstorm!), I was confused like no other. It had only three slots for surround sound.

It took me a while to realize that one slot is for the center channel, the second slot is for the front speakers while the third slot is for the rear speakers.

So related, what does SPDIF do? I have one on my soundcard but I have never seen a set of speakers that uses SPDIF.

Yeah, but do you use a subwoofer? Damn i feel like a n00b.
Since there are 2x2 free slots on my subwoofer then...lol i don't know how to ask...

 

[blahblahblah]

No. I don't know too much about speakers.

Is your subwoofer an amplifier too? And is your subwoofer meant for home audio or computers?

 

[Lethal8472]

Im trying to find a good headset for gaming thats wireless...I keep tearing up the ones with cords.

 

[MindCrafter]

No. I don't know too much about speakers.

Is your subwoofer an amplifier too? And is your subwoofer meant for home audio or computers?

I have a amplifier, but the subwoofer works as one yes.
It works with TV DVD PC and all that stuff it says in the manual :S

 

[blahblahblah]

home audio equipment usually has different connections than PC audio.

How did you hook up your subwoofer to your computer?

[Edit]: I was under the impression that you couldn't

 

[MindCrafter]

home audio equipment usually has different connections than PC audio.

How did you hook up your subwoofer to your computer?

[Edit]: I was under the impression that you couldn't

I know I can, but I don't know how.
No that's my problem, i don't know how to hook up my subwoofer to my computer.

 

[blahblahblah]

I have no idea how you hook up a subwoofer to a computer.

Simpliest solution is to use your subwoofer for your TV/DVD player and then go out and purchase a 5.1 system for your computer.

 

[Ownzed]

Wow. You dont even deserve to have a computer then.

 

[Mr. Redundant]

you cant run your sub through your center speaker?
read your speaker's manual

 

[MindCrafter]

Wow. You dont even deserve to have a computer then.

Neither does blahblahblah then



Well i guess i'll give up...damnit i want surround,and it pisses me off that i know i can have it but don't know HOW TO...

 

[deathryuu]

Bow down to my 109" screen projector and my Onkyo HTS760 6.1 surround sound system. Oh yes, I'm not playing HL2 on the comp.

bow down to my ability to turn up my 5.1 system as high as i want at 2am in the morning w/ my parents sleeping on the other side of the wall. ;p