[Noisemaker]

Just helping Bernie out here with some sound issues he's having, and probably a good idea to point this one aspect out to others that may have a issue as well.

In the SMS, sometimes a volume line can be inserted in the parenthesis of say the horn/whistle section, or other sections of engine sounds to boost or lower volume of that particular sound. What Kuju did was make the ceiling Volume (1.0) - which by audio standards is 0db. And in layman's terms 'full blast'. :)

I've come across a few SMS to Engines and such, where someone tried desperately to boost say a horn or whistle sound by going Volume (1.5) What happens in this case then is from the cab, the horn will be loud, but still sound no different than (1.0) When you do a external camera view or headout, you'll hear the Mono wav of that whistle or horn, and whatever volume and quality it's set at. Now coming back into the Cabview and playing the horn/whistle again - it will sound incredibly quiet. Or 'half' it's volume. So basically MSTS is hopping from Volume (1.0) to Volume (0.5) when toggled with camera views. Next headout and return, volume should return to being louder - but still not loud enough. :pardon:

So if you're experiencing this on any of your goods, it's best to open those SMS in Note/Wordpad and check those Volume lines then and make sure they all read a maximum of ( 1.0 ) and nothing higher. (Lower is okay IE; ( 0.9 ) or ( 0.6 ) or similar )

For best results, WAV's themselves should be handled by good audio ediors and made to be 'Normalized' or leveled to 0db. Yet for some sounds, this can still not be quite enough in volume. Some editors may go beyond 0db - which is good in small increments. But starts introducing 'clipping' and/or distortion. So be careful in that regard as well. I have tools that can go well beyond, and keep the WAV relatively clean and distortion free, which I'll gladly help anyone with their sounds with if they're in a jam and a pickle. :blush:

[captain_bazza]

Well spotted. Nice simple fix.

Cheers Bazza

[captain_bazza]

Topic name amended, added 'sound' to title in order to help with future searches.

Cheers Bazza (moderator)

[Coonskin]

Speaking of sound quirks: Is there a way to have a random sound in an exterior sound SMS? I have been told "no".

What I am hoping for is a way to have the sim randomly play a single phase air pump "gasp" wav every now and then.

[Noisemaker]

Thanks Captain. :) Wasn't sure how I should title that.

And for sure Andre, it's actually quite easy I've learned. Anthony Woods has done it to many of his great diesel sounds with random 'spit' sounds. Which I think are not only time randomized, but speed controlled too? Meaning, they only 'spit' up to 25mph or so, and cut out the faster the train goes. And resume when the train goes below 25mph again. Oops, just having a quick peek at an SMS of his, can't seem to see it now, But I think it's still possible? This is the parenthesis Anthony uses in one of his 710 Eng.sms....

Stream (
Skip ( **** AirBlast2 **** )
Priority ( 6 )
Triggers ( 1
Random_Trigger ( Delay_Min_Max ( 60 120 ) Volume_Min_Max ( 0.8 0.9 )
PlayOneShot ( 1 File ( "x_Airblast.wav" -1 ) SelectionMethod ( RandomSelection ) ) )
)
)

So you could interject this into your SMS (Don't forget to update top count and all) and just swap out X_Airblast.WAV for yours then and should work well. In this example, the sound will play ever 1 to 2min from it self. And the volume varies ever so slightly. You could exploit these even more by upping or reducing the amounts in either. Not sure what the time extent is, if any? But it's in seconds, and I've taken random coach noises to 360 ( or 6 minutes) and they work well still. And again with the Volume, don't exceed 1.0 on either, or that will mess things up on you. ;)

[Coonskin]

Thanks, oh, Noisey One.

Out of time for tonight (bed time), but will do my best to remember to try that tomorrow after I'm home from playing trains.

[Coonskin]

Thanks Noisemaker!

Using the above script, inserting the wav of my choice and adjusting the parameters to my situation and liking... I now have a single phase airpump randomly panting and wheezing. That's SOOOOO MUCH better!

[ACY4FR]

Thanks. There are engines in my roster that need this fix, and I couldn't figure out how to do it.

[amtrakconductor]

Noisemaker, on 16 December 2012 - 05:38 PM, said:

Just helping Bernie out here with some sound issues he's having, and probably a good idea to point this one aspect out to others that may have a issue as well.

In the SMS, sometimes a volume line can be inserted in the parenthesis of say the horn/whistle section, or other sections of engine sounds to boost or lower volume of that particular sound. What Kuju did was make the ceiling Volume (1.0) - which by audio standards is 0db. And in layman's terms 'full blast'. :pardon:

I've come across a few SMS to Engines and such, where someone tried desperately to boost say a horn or whistle sound by going Volume (1.5) What happens in this case then is from the cab, the horn will be loud, but still sound no different than (1.0) When you do a external camera view or headout, you'll hear the Mono wav of that whistle or horn, and whatever volume and quality it's set at. Now coming back into the Cabview and playing the horn/whistle again - it will sound incredibly quiet. Or 'half' it's volume. So basically MSTS is hopping from Volume (1.0) to Volume (0.5) when toggled with camera views. Next headout and return, volume should return to being louder - but still not loud enough. :pardon:

So if you're experiencing this on any of your goods, it's best to open those SMS in Note/Wordpad and check those Volume lines then and make sure they all read a maximum of ( 1.0 ) and nothing higher. (Lower is okay IE; ( 0.9 ) or ( 0.6 ) or similar )

For best results, WAV's themselves should be handled by good audio ediors and made to be 'Normalized' or leveled to 0db. Yet for some sounds, this can still not be quite enough in volume. Some editors may go beyond 0db - which is good in small increments. But starts introducing 'clipping' and/or distortion. So be careful in that regard as well. I have tools that can go well beyond, and keep the WAV relatively clean and distortion free, which I'll gladly help anyone with their sounds with if they're in a jam and a pickle. :lol:

Does that apply to 22k and 44k as well and is there anything you need to change in the sound.cfg file? (I am just starting to play with sounds a little, so please be gentle!) :rolleyes: PS: while I'm thinking about it, I have a signal question. Since I'm still fairly new here, where do I go, or who, how do I address that?

[Mike B]

Hmmm. Will have to check a few locos that have strange differences between inside and outside ... haven't run into any random changes as you described, but some are annoying anyway.

Also: does this work differently in ORTS? It might. I have a couple of locos where outside sound (especially) loses some streams (like the bell or the horn!) completely in ORTS that are present in MSTS, or has greatly different volumes compared to MSTS.