Lately with some of the new FSX aircraft packages that I have downloaded, the aircraft sounds are so loud I can't hear ATC instructions. The sound settings in the options menu don't seem to cover a lot of addon aircraft. I understand I can get USB headphones for FSX which will play me only ATC, is that correct?If anyone has some tips for me I'd appreciate it a lot.Lee

If all else fails, you can edit the sound file itself to reduce the volume.You'll need to deterine which .wav sound file for the given aircraft contains the sound that is too loud. You can then use a program such as Audacity (freeware sound editor) and lower the volume of that .wav file.Not the best solution, but if all else fails, may be your only hope.

I think in the sound options in fsx you can increase the atc volume and reduce the engine sound, but it affects all pales.

Under normal circumstances, that's correct.The OP was suggesting however that "The sound settings in the options menu don't seem to cover" his add-on aircraft.

I've had this same problem with plane addons. I don't usually use the text for ATC, but I've had to turn it on because I can't hear the ATC instructions. I've turned the engine sounds all the way down with the sound settings but they still drown out the voices. And if I switch to an outside view, the plane engine sound is so loud, I have to turn down my speakers. Then when I switch to an inside view again, I have to turn them up again. This is so much of a hassle that I've stopped flying a lot of my addon planes. This is only with some plane addons.

hello,as an alternative you can separate aircraft noise from atc-chatter by using a second soundcard. On the second soundcard connect a headphone. In controlpanel/sounds and audiodevices (maybe in english XP version this is called different, as I have a german OS) in he "voice" tab you select that soundcard the headphone is connected to. And you get realism :-), ATC is talking to you via the headphone.regardsUli

I've had to look at this lately too since one particular aircraft I've added (an FS9 conversion I'm still tweaking) has an entirely unique external sound signature in terms of sheer volume and particularly compared to what is a relatively very quiet cabin (despite having twin turboboprops on the wings immediately aft of the cabin). All other aircraft are well-behaved in this regard but the first time I took it up and switched to external view, the turboprops shook the floor, the TV fell off the wall, the wife came running into the room to see what kind of truck had crashed through the wall of the house, and the dog hasn't come out from behind the couch all week. In looking at the sound.cfg file immediately after curtailing the flight, I notice there are various "volume=" entries and if memory serves, these values are around 1,000 or 10,000 or something. I am not a "sound person" (just do repaints, FSX view-fiddling, some panel and gauge swapping and a little bit of dabbling with GMAX and scenery) but do these volume attributes in the CFG file have any bearing or is adjusting the WAV files really the way to go?

Yes, it is possible to use a USB headset for ATC sounds and the regular speakers for all other sounds. I think there is a setting in the FSX SP2 sound settings that let you choose which device to send ATC sound. If you're using SP1 or RTM you would have to go through Windows's sound settings and set your USB headset as default for voice and your main sound device as default for regular sound.Klas