FSX-MS Intolerable background noise at addon airport with UT2 AI aircraft

[LecLightning56 33]

Hi,

 

I have been experimenting recently with AI aircraft and flight schedules in Ultimate Traffic 2, at Aerosoft's Mega Airport Heathrow addon. Indulging in a little plane-spotting and using EZDOK to position myself at a convenient location close to a runway, I find am subjected to a continuous, unbearable noise which in no way represents the level of activity injected into the sim by either the airport addon or the AI aircraft of UT2.

 

Has anybody else experienced this problem, and if so have you found a way to lessen or remove it? It seems a shame that, if this is hard-coded into FSX, it detracts from enjoyment of the general ambience of an airport environment.

 

Your help here would be greatly appreciated

[LecLightning56 33]

I believe that I have found a solution to this problem. When you install Ultimate Traffic 2, the soundai files are aliased improperly to B737_800\soundai instead of SimObjects\Airplanes\B737_800\soundai. Hence, if SOUND_LOD is set to 0 in the fsx.cfg file (telling FSX not to use the default sounds for AI aircraft but user-defined ones instead), the terrible deafening noise is activated about 4-5 minutes after UT2 has injected the AI aircraft.

 

This problem is overcome by installing a sound package such as Audio Environment which places sound files in all the soundai folders of the UT2 aircraft types. Instead, a more natural background noise is experienced in FSX which does not seem too unrepresentative of a major airport such as Heathrow.

 

If you endeavour to use your own sound files instead for specific aircraft types in UT2 then beware because I tried to use the Airbus sound files from Aerosoft's A318/319/320/321 and the bad noise returned again. However, other sound packages from e.g. TSS seem to be alright for this purpose (with a little simplification) and it is certainly good to watch an AI British Airways A380 taking off from Heathrow with what sounds rather more like Rolls Royce Trents!

 

So the injection of the terrible deafening roar seems to be function of poor aliasing in the UT2 soundai folders combined with issues relating to user-defined sound files for specific aircraft types which may cause problems. As it happens, I quite like the default background noise which FSX injects for Heathrow - a little over the top but at least sounding like an airport bustling with activity. Out with the deafening roar now and back to some serious plane spotting!

 

 

Paul Hermon 

[LecLightning56 33]

I believe that I have now isolated the reason for the deafening noise in FSX with the use of AI aircraft and custom sound packages. I have tried UT2 and World of AI and the problem is repeatable thus eliminating issues with UT2. I have installed British Airways at Heathrow with both these AI packages and, to add some realism, decided to substitute the default sound files in both cases with Turbine Sound Studios substitutes, but only initially with the A318/319/320/321. It would appear that the AI A318/319/320/321 do not operate effectively with the 'FanAX' and 'FanAX2' .wav files in the TSS sound package when the aircraft are taxiing at slow speed (I would have thought that the fan sound should be minimal if at all when taxiing). If I comment out FanAX and FanAX2 entries in the soundai.cfg file (and similarly FanBX and FanBX2) for each of these aircraft, the problem is eliminated but I lose the fan sounds for the engines which is somewhat self-defeating to get the full benefit of realistic aircraft sounds on takeoff.

 

I am looking for some assistance from somebody with knowledge of the sound configuration files in FSX to rectify this issue so that the fan sounds do not contaminate the AI sounds at slow speeds, but still operate effectively when the engines are throttled up on takeoff (which is clearly when you should experience such sounds at their best).

 

I believe that that there is nothing unusual with my installation of FSX and the AI packages, and indeed I have just about flogged to death every avenue with my sound card.

 

Your help here would be greatly appreciated and I feel that others will benefit from any solutions that may exist.

[irocx 292]

To understand and control the AI sound system in FSX,  I would suggest a thorough reading of the SDK.

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc526952.aspx

 

If your trying to control the sounds outside of the cockpit then you need to adjust any entries in the sound.cfg with a viewpoint = 2.  You can simply //comment out any entries you wish to eliminate or you can change any parameters to meet your needs such as limiting the volume of a specific sound. Be aware that TSS will alias the sound.cfg of AI to specific aircraft in their installation folder, so you need to make sure your editing the right file. Most planes will be aliased to the 737 sound.cfg

 

It can be a long, tedious process to get things to your satisfaction.   Have fun.

[LecLightning56 33]

Thanks for your advice and for the link to the sound configuration definition from Microsoft.

 

With a little experimentation, I have found that the probable cause of the issue is the use of mono wav files when sound cones have been used, in the soundai.cfg: this is particularly the case for the TSS sound package that I am using, and with the engine fan sounds associated with it. If you convert the mono fan wav files to stereo using the audacity software (great tool), then the problem noise disappears. I need to do further testing to confirm this, but it seems AI aircraft are intorerant of mono wav files when sound cones have been defined for such files.

[LecLightning56 33]

Further testing has indeed identified mono sound files which use sound cones in the external view (viewpoint=2) entries of the jet whine components of the custom sound sets which I have been using (you will find these in your customized, e.g. Turbine Sound Studios soundai.cfg files which you have to use for AI aircraft using UT2). If I convert these mono files to stereo, then the intolerable noise disappears. This seems to be a permanent fix. For reference if you are using TSS sound packages, the sound files concerned typically have names such as WhineAX, FanAX etc. for the external sounds associated with jet whine. If they are mono files (check using the Audacity freeware software), then convert them to stereo (again using Audacity) and you are done!

 

Happy plane-spotting with AI aircraft in the meantime!