Rfactor2 lack of surround sound

[Gadaga]

Hi all,

For me rfactor2 remains one of the best simulations around and it's getting better and better.

However, why is there no work on surround sound?

As one can read in many threads, there is some sound in the rear speakers when driving near walls, under bridges and in the pits (implemented in an unpleasant on/off manner).

However, there is no trace of other cars from behind on the track for example. That's really missing. And I suppose all the information is available in order for the software to generate it. So it should be easy to implement!

So.... Why is this not being worked on? It would be a giant step forward with little effort. So please devellopers... Put this as high priority on your to-do list..

Paul

 

[Case_]

How do you know it would require little effort?

 

[BrunoBæ]

You are right there is no official surround support in rF2 - but at least if you have a "real" soundcard like the X-Fi series there is a lot of ambience and directional sound from both the sides and rear.
And its absolutely not only on/off.
Actually I consider the rF2 "surround" sound way better than iRacings veeery official but in reality veeery meh meh Surround (formerly 5+ years member).
Its not studio 397s fault if people dont have reasonable soundcards.
(like a Auzentech Forte 7.1

 

[Case_]

There's no directional sound in rF2, let's not get too excited. No matter what soundcard you have. It's all just stereo sound with some reverb (that indeed does come from surround speakers as well, but has no real directionality).

 

[BrunoBæ]

You folks would be amazed how much ambience and directional clues DTS Neo can extract from rF2 - and position it into the side and rear speakers.
Note: DTS Neo surround encoding is a HW facility in most X-Fi surround cards.
Note2: Actually you only need 2 channels to hold/encode surround infomation. Because eventhough we only have 2 ears we can easily destinguish a 360 degr soundfield.

 

[Case_]

No, we wouldn't. You're not the only one using good audio equipment, no matter how many brand names and technologies and how much expensive equipment you try to impress us with to make your opinions appear more relevant.

And DTS Neo: PC in particular is just another way to "fake" surround out of a stereo signal. It works fairly well, sure, but can never hold a candle to true 7.1 positional audio. Nor a proper virtual surround solution for that matter, because those at least work with true 7.1 (well, 5.1 if you're using any Creative card that's not like a decade old, because they basically stopped supporting 7.1 audio) sound again, not with stereo sources.

 

[BrunoBæ]

Who is trying to impress somebody here?
Nothing extremely expensive with my 2nd hand Auzen X-Fi Forte 7.1 card
Hehe and instead of being so narrow and conservative it would maybe a bit more productive to open up and as example admit oh I didnt know these type of cards had something up in the sleve that is able to reveal a lot of hidden information in a proper recorded stereo soundscape.
But to repeat myself how are we able to pinpoint even with closed eyes where sounds comes from both from horisontal and vertical 360 degres?
Eventhough most people have only 2 ears(channels) - and not 5.1 or 7.1.

 

[Case_]

Hehe and instead of being so narrow and conservative it would maybe a bit more productive to open up and as example admit oh I didnt know these type of cards had something up in the sleve that is able to reveal a lot of hidden information in a proper recorded stereo soundscape.

DTS Neo PC is not some mysterious well-kept secret only selected few are privy to, the support and the technology has been there for like a decade or so.

Also, there's no "hidden information" in a stereo sound. There are technologies to create fake "surround" out of a stereo source, such as your DTS Neo: PC, but there's nothing "hidden" involved. No matter how well the technology works, extrapolating surround sound from a stereo source can never beat working with an actual 7.1 source to begin with, simply because 7.1 has a lot more directional information to begin with, for fairly obvious reasons (7 is more than 2).

But to repeat myself how are we able to pinpoint even with closed eyes where sounds comes from both from horisontal and vertical 360 degres?
Eventhough most people have only 2 ears(channels) - and not 5.1 or 7.1

Ah, the obligatory "we don't need anything more than stereo source because we only have two ears". Yes, we have just two ears. But the sounds are not coming to our ears just from two directions, they're coming from all around us, and our ears and our brains can pick up the subtle clues of this directionality and "process" it. This doesn't apply to game audio - if you're using a stereo source, the sounds are always coming from two directions only, left and right. You can use technologies like DTS Neo to extrapolate a "sort of" surround from that, but, again, it can never beat a full blown 7.1 or even 5.1 source, because instead of elaborately *guessing* what direction the sound is coming from in a stereo source (which is exactly what these technologies are doing, they're assuming and guessing based on certain set criteria), with 7.1/5.1 you know *exactly* what direction the sound is coming from.

 

[BrunoBæ]

 

[BrunoBæ]

Disagree x 1
Hahaha Good one.
Made my day.
Because disagree to what?
To someone who yawns?
---
CatsAreTheWorstDogs: there is a discussion in the 397 forum about this subject

 

[Gadaga]

I've tried to use simple headphones with the Dolby Atmos tzvhlologt and tried it on a sound track with sounds coming from all directions (it simulateds 7.1 positions of the speakers). I was very impressed that I really could distinguishe the position of the sounds. Since having experienced that I'm a 'believer' in the fact that a headphone can reolace real. 7.1 or 5.1 speakers.

Asseto Corsa Competitiine is compatible with Dolby Atmos so it says. The sound is nice but I have trouble hearing, let alone positioning, the cars behind me.

But I think that it can be done. And so could rfactor2 I believe. And that's what I'm hoping for....

 

[BrunoBæ]

I agree...somewhat
It sounds like Dolby Atmos also has something up in the sleve conserning gaming sound.
Im waiting for my copy of the Creative SXFI headphone amp and because of that I checked a compare between Dolby Atmos and the mentioned SXFI - on headphones.
And I have to say that in that long video it sounded like the Atmos could do something more convincing than the Creative gadget.
Hard to admit but very exciting.

 

[Case_]

Since having experienced that I'm a 'believer' in the fact that a headphone can reolace real. 7.1 or 5.1 speakers.

It absolutely can. But apart from Atmos (which needs direct support from the game), technologies like Dolby Headphone (my personal favorite) or SBX need at least a 5.1 source, and better yet 7.1 source to work properly, and sadly on many current soundcards, they've been crippled into stereo sources only. But if you can supply them with that and find the technology you are most compatible with (it varies, because our ears and heads also vary, so everyone needs a slightly different HRTF profile, and these technologies usually only come with a fixed one), then they can certainly hold their own.

Anyone interested in this should check HeSuVi, BTW - https://sourceforge.net/projects/hesuvi/

You can get great positional audio like this in AMS or R3E. Sadly, to get back to the topic here, rF2 does not offer true positional audio, so there's little it can do for you there.