[ANSWERED] Question Regarding Surround Sound

[ISRS Media]

Thank You Beau,



I've forwarded this information over to the systems team for their perusal (confusion?). If they can understand and work around the LLAPBH data inputs, I may have to consider a pay raise for these people.



I'm politely stepping out of this and handing it over to the software / hardware folks. I'm way out of my league here.



Thanks to you and your staff for the information.



Dave H.

Team ISRS Media

[jimcooper1]

I'm not answering for LM but from my own experience all P3D sound files are WAV. Consequently when P3D makes a 'sound call' it simply initiates the WAV player. If your Sound files are recorded, mixed and saved in 5.1 (or 7.1) format and your MB/Soundcard supports those formats then I see no reason why you can't play 5.1 (or 7.1) sound files.



I do not know what 'call' P3D uses to play the WAV but if it uses DirectSound then if the system is configured for more physical speakers than the number of channels specified in a multichannel WAV file, DirectSound will not mix audio to the additional channels. DirectSound connects to the output device using the current mix format and does not perform any speaker filling. For example, a 5.1 channel WAV being played on a system with a 7.1 speaker setup will have two silent speakers.



When creating custom sounds for my own DLLs I use the PlaySound() function. This works.....but I don't know which Sound API Windows uses to make it happen. Also I have only ever deployed systems that use 2.1 sound so can't comment about whether 'Speaker Filling' takes place or not.



Regards



Jim

[ISRS Media]

Thank You for the reply Jim,



As we are designing a four place full motion platform, the sound system will comprise channel separations; L & R Front, L & R Sides, L & R Rear + 6-Sub Woofers for strategic placement within the airframe.



We were hoping to get a direct response from one of the staff at Lockheed for a simple answer if Prepar3D does indeed output (amended: by default) in either 5.1 or 7.1.. Our software / hardware planning is rather dependent on this knowledge.



Jim, I'll forward your reply on to the guys here.



Once again, our sincerest thanks.



Dave

[jimcooper1]

Dave,



As you've already purchased the licence you can test it on 7.1 and see if 'Speaker Filling' takes place with the default sounds. Also there are various sites where you can download 6 channel (5.1) and 8 channel (7.1) WAV files. You could then place them in the Sound folder and reference them in the Sound.cfg file to check that Multi-Channel sound files are supported.



Jim

[Beau Hollis]

We do support at least 5.1 via DirectSound as we inherited the feature from FSX/ESP and haven't made any major changes. I'm a bit hazy on details though. I'll ask around the team some more and try to post more info in a bit.



Thanks,

Beau

[ISRS Media]

Quote:

Quote from jimcooper1 on November 26, 2012, 13:34

Dave,



As you've already purchased the licence you can test it on 7.1 and see if 'Speaker Filling' takes place with the default sounds. Also there are various sites where you can download 6 channel (5.1) and 8 channel (7.1) WAV files. You could then place them in the Sound folder and reference them in the Sound.cfg file to check that Multi-Channel sound files are supported.



Jim

Jim, this is good news! I was not aware of any 7.1 dedicated downloads for sound files. I will start a search for these and hopefully, we will find what we need.



Many Thanks Sir!



With Kind Regards,



Dave H.

Team ISRS Media

[ISRS Media]

Quote:

Quote from bhollis on November 26, 2012, 14:25

We do support at least 5.1 via DirectSound as we inherited the feature from FSX/ESP and haven't made any major changes. I'm a bit hazy on details though. I'll ask around the team some more and try to post more info in a bit.



Thanks,

Beau

Mr. Hollis, (Beau) we are pleased the 5.1 capabilities are available. We do apologize if this information was readily accessible and we failed to study the documents carefully enough.



The fact that 5.1 is built-in by "default" is a very important USP to us. If any further data or information is available, please feel free to PM me. As well, I will check this topic for any updates or additional information.



Many Thanks.



We wish all of you at Lockheed Martin a wonderful and safe holiday season ahead.



Sincerely,



Dave H.

Team ISRS Media

[jimcooper1]

Sound Test Files can be found here:



http://www.jensign.com/bdp95/7dot1voiced/index.html

[Beau Hollis]

Just for a bit more info...



It does support 5.1. I'm not sure about 7.1 but it's likely since Direct Sound handles the per-speaker volume adjustment based on 3d placement. Our internal sound sources are placed using an Lat/Lon/Alt/Pitch/Bank/Heading (LLAPBH) and an optional XYZ offset. The LLAPBH are updated by the sim and used to calculate the an xyz position of all 3d sounds relative to the user each frame. I believe that sounds can be associated with SimObjects and Effects and given a local offset. The LLAPBH of the sound would be inherited from the parent object's simulated position.



As Jim alluded to, many add-on developers roll their own aircraft sound solution, assuming the user to be in the pilot seat and playing pre-baked 5.1/7.1 surround sound audio.



I would assume sounds intended for 3d placement should be mono (or at least that there wouldn't be much benefit to having additional channels). If you intend to make a direct request to play a sound from a gauge, it would not be placed in 3d space. In that case, formatting a 5.1 wav file would probably play back in surround format but would not reflect the position of the users ears in the sim.



Thanks,

Beau

[ISRS Media]

Thank You Beau,



I've forwarded this information over to the systems team for their perusal (confusion?). If they can understand and work around the LLAPBH data inputs, I may have to consider a pay raise for these people.



I'm politely stepping out of this and handing it over to the software / hardware folks. I'm way out of my league here.



Thanks to you and your staff for the information.



Dave H.

Team ISRS Media