Volume of thunder and precipitation sounds in FSX

[WebMaximus 372]

I always found the volume of the thunder and precipitation sounds in FSX to be very low. I have AS2012 which comes with it's own different sounds and I find them better than the default FSX sounds but I still find the volume to be too low.

 

Guess I could modify the wav files myself and increase the volume a bit but thought I would ask here first if someone else maybe already did this?

[abax2000 1]

If you have onboard audio, check the environmental settings of your driver ( i am not in front of the pc to give you the exact radio button term).

 

 

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

 

 

[timest 472]

Have you tried the SOUND SETTINGS area inside FSX yet?

[bennyboy75 85]

You can't really hear thunder from the flight deck. I can attest from a jumpseat approach in a storm to Newark in a Virgin 744 (Jan 2001) that you can however hear the lightning! It made a kind of 'thunk' sound like the flashbulb those photographers use when they do nice family portraits!

[JSkorna 137]

Audacity is a free program that makes this very easy and there are other effects you can add, like adding more bass.

[WebMaximus 372]

Thanks for your input guys!

 

No, I haven't checked the sound sliders in FSX because I'm actaully overall happy the way they are set. It's only these specific sounds I always found to be very low.

 

Although you don't actaully hear the sound of the thunder when on the flighdeck during flight surely you must hear it when sitting in a cold and dark cockpit on the ground in a thunderstorm and I do hear the sound in that situation also in FSX but even in that situation I find the volume very low.

 

@Jim, thanks for the tip about Audacity. Fact is I already have that on my PC and it's great for lots of stuff so I'll try increasing the volume a bit and see (hear :wink:) what happens.

[WebMaximus 372]

OK, so...I'm far from an audio expert and obviously I did something wrong or maybe the problem is FSX for some reason don't like when you modify sounds like this because I tried to use amplify, leveller and normalize in Audacity but when starting FSX instead of having the volume increased it was totally silent when I used the modified wav files. As soon as I copied back the original files (AS2012 or FSX, tried both) the sound was back but at the same low volume.

 

Maybe I'll just have to stick with the default sounds and volume then unless someone with more knowledge about these kind of stuff could tell me what's wrong and why FSX won't play the sounds when I increase the volume in the files. Very strange because I have done the same thing with other files with success, one example being the sound of the wipers in the NGX which I also found to be too soft.

[JSkorna 137]

Make sure you are re-saving the file as a wave in Audacity. Also don't save directly to the FSX folder and make sure the name stays exactly the same. I know it works because I have done it myself.

[WebMaximus 372]

'Check' on each one of those things you mention and as I wrote I'm puzzled myself why it didn't work since I too did it to other files in the past.

 

What I did do this time to save me time and effort I automated the process using a chain in Audacity, wonder if that for whatever reason could be the culprit?

 

What method/effect did you use in Audacity?

[bennyboy75 85]

Check the bitrate of the files. It has to be a PCM wav I think 32bit? Not at my PC so can't say for sure.

[JSkorna 137]

 

 

What method/effect did you use in Audacity?

 

Load the file, increase the volume, save as wav., move the file back into FS.

[abax2000 1]

Thunderstorm is low volume by default in FSX.

If your audio is Realtek, uncheck "Loudness Equalization" in Sound Effects tab.

This should help with default or edited wav.

[WebMaximus 372]

OK, so I just did another test and made sure the modified wav files are exactly the same as the original both when it comes to sampling freq, bitrate, 16-bit PCM and I also found a setting in my Creative SB settings called SVM which I believe is the same as "Loudness Equalization" but still no go so I will just let this rest for now and use the default sounds and volumes.

 

Thanks anyway guys!

[IAF747 8]

I have never heard thunder whilst in an aircraft or jet. You might hear it if in a real thunderstorm.... But ask some real world pilots like Captain Ro.

[WebMaximus 372]

No, I'm sure you're right you don't hear the sound of thunder on the flightdeck the same way you hear it down on the ground but as I wrote in one of my previous posts I do think you hear more of the thunder sitting in the cockpit when on ground in a cold and dark cockpit compared to what you hear in FSX in that situation.

 

Same thing with the sound of precipitation and the rain hitting the cockpit windows (again on the ground in a cold and dark state), this sound in FSX is very vague IMHO.

 

Guess it doesn't really matter since I for some reason can't increase the volume of these wav files. Did however find a download in the file library here at AVSIM called HQ Thunder Sound Pack V1, think I'll give that a try.