Window focus and sound...

[lukehall 10]

Hi!

 

I run my FSX windowed on a large flat panel monitor and EFB on a second smaller monitor from the same PC. Is there any way of forcing FSX sound to continue when EFB has the focus in windows? It is slightly damaging to the immersion to have the cockpit sound disappear each time I'm setting up something in EFB!

 

My plan is to run EFB on a networked laptop sometime soon, but I'd like to make this work better for the time being.

 

Thanks and best wishes,

 

Luke

[Tabs 2,790]

I put this in as a request to the programmers the other week. No idea if it's possible or not, we'll see.

[hopskip 253]

Majestic Q400 does it (but only the engine sounds, the environment sounds disappear, though you only really notice this when on the ground at low power settings like idle/taxi or engines off)

 

It'll be pretty cool if it can be done for the jets. (It'll make videos/livestreams on youtube that much easier!)

 

I think Majestic use an entirely separate sound system outside FSX, though it does respond to the "Q" key to mute, so not sure about that entirely. The only other aircraft that did this was the earlier Majestic product. No others I'v come across.

[Andydigital 93]

You need "SoundStream" from Flight1, that will stop any sounds from FS itself from muting when FS loses focus, but it won't stop any externally generated sound modules going quiet, PMDG would have to make a change to their module for them to continue to be heard when FS doesn't have focus.

[Steven_Caffey 23]

Any way to make this optional if it does make it in?

[hopskip 253]

Any way to make this optional if it does make it in?

 

Sound is always optional.

 

Q

[Steven_Caffey 23]

Sound is always optional.

 

Q

 

If they do make the sounds play outside the sim, it would have to go around the built in sound system of FS, so that probably won't work (I believe it doesn't with the Q400). 

[hopskip 253]

Sound is always optional.

 

Q

 

 

If they do make the sounds play outside the sim, it would have to go around the built in sound system of FS, so that probably won't work (I believe it doesn't with the Q400). 

 

Here's a video of me rolling up to takeoff power in the Majestic Software Q400 while repeatedly pressing the letter "Q" on the keyboard. (If you look at the top right, you can see the "Sound off" text coming on and off.

 

[guenseli 1,606]

Soundstream of Flight1 is a tool that does exactly what you want, as Andy says.

 

Could be a great tool, but I have had several crashes in FSX related to Soundstream and certain addons. However none with PMDG. Soundstream support was not too encouraged to look into this as it just affects certain addons - so I gave up in the end and uninstalled it.

[lukehall 10]

Thanks for your replies!

 

Do we know then that Flight1's Soundstream does work properly for PMDG aircraft, or does the sound for those aircraft behave as if it were generated by an external module?

 

Luke

[Andydigital 93]

I suggest you just buy it and try it, Flight1 has a 30 day no quibble money back guarantee and the price of the app isn't going to break the bank. I find it works great even with PMDG aircraft, you only lose some of the sounds when switching away from FS, and certainly not enough sounds to blemish the experience too much.

[Steven_Caffey 23]

Here's a video of me rolling up to takeoff power in the Majestic Software Q400 while repeatedly pressing the letter "Q" on the keyboard. (If you look at the top right, you can see the "Sound off" text coming on and off.

 

 

Ah, I am mistaken.

[Tabs 2,790]

If they do make the sounds play outside the sim, it would have to go around the built in sound system of FS, so that probably won't work (I believe it doesn't with the Q400). 

 

99% of the 777 and NGX sounds are already "outside of FSX". The engines are the only thing we use FSX for.

[guenseli 1,606]

 

99% of the 777 and NGX sounds are already "outside of FSX". The engines are the only thing we use FSX for.

 

 

But they do not play if FSX window lost focus?!

 

As I understand it, the OP asks for playing FSX sounds, even if FSX window has lost focus.

That is, what soundstream is for.

[Andydigital 93]

Yes but only 1% of sounds will be heard (going by what Ryan just said) if you was using the NGX or 777 with it and FS lost focus. To be honest I don't think it's quite that extreme, but like I said buy it and try it and make your own mind up.

 

I've never had a crash in FSX due to Sounstream, so you are in a tiny minority, it's certainly not something I have read on their support forum.

 

As far as I am aware, making a program play sounds when it has lost focus is a trivial thing to fix if you have the source code of course.