Game should equalize the volume of all incoming VOX users automatically

[TDeacon]

I've started using VOX in AH3, and I've noticed that the volume of the various users varies widely.  So one is blasting in my ear, while another is barely audible.  There is no way to correct for this at the receiving end, currently, and attempting to get people to adjust at the sending end is difficult to impossible. 

It would be nice if AH could somehow equalize the volume of all incoming VOX participants, prior to it being received at our speakers / headphones.  Then, at the receiving end, we would still control volume of this equalized VOX with a slider, as currently. 

MH

[DubiousKB]

.....  There is no way to correct for this at the receiving end, currently, and attempting to get people to adjust at the sending end is difficult to impossible.

MH

I'm an audio/video guy, and if you can figure out a way to have automatic gain control address "far side" gain inadequacies, well then sir, you will be a rich man. 

As it stand, if the far side microphone isn't actually digitizing voice at any kind of reasonable level, you'll never "enhance" that for the receiving end. Garbage in,  garbage out.

So AGC is great, but can only compensate so much. The root problem is that the far side speaker is has their system (mic) gain either way too high, or simply too low. It's not you, it's me. 

Best advice: Make sure your own settings are appropriate, and politely let the offenders know they are WAY TOO LOUD, or need to bring their mic gain levels up for those around them to hear... That's where you hear the 5-5 after "mic checks".... Let them know they can tune their vox channel to themselves to hear how they are coming across to others.

[Wiley]

If automatic adjustment isn't feasible, perhaps individual manual volume control?  Pretty sure I saw it in Teamspeak a few years ago.

Wiley.

[DubiousKB]

Squelch?

I get the desire, but the practical implications and cascading issues it can create, just don't make this viable in my opinion.  I'd rather see some way to notify they offender.... Like a report, but the "flag" is just shown upon next login... example:  Login and a popup window shows up: 16 users flagged you as "mic too loud", or "Cannot hear voice", or "Speech comms hard to understand"....

I'd rather see this than some form of automation for which I can now blame instead of the root problem, being the persons bad/poor configuration of their audio.

[TDeacon]

DubiousKB, and others:

Note that, in most cases, volume adjustment using an AH slider fixes this issue for both the "too soft" guys and the "too loud" guys, so it IS technically possible for AH to do this.  The problem currently is, as stated, if you increase volume to hear player A better, player B becomes too loud, and if you decrease player B, player A becomes inaudible.  And requests to players to adjust don't usually work; it's just human nature. 

I also would support individual volume adjustments at the receiving end, as an alternative. 

MH

[TDeacon]

Note that this would make it easier for new players, or inexperienced VOX users, to use VOX. 

The fact that most people can function under the current functionality is not really the point. 

MH

[popeye]

It would be nice if AH could somehow equalize the volume of all incoming VOX participants, prior to it being received at our speakers / headphones.  Then, at the receiving end, we would still control volume of this equalized VOX with a slider, as currently. 

+1

[DubiousKB]

I also would support individual volume adjustments at the receiving end, as an alternative. 

MH

Are you suggesting that we have a volume slider for every playerID?!  Because the challenge remains without any solution.

You CANNOT "auto-mix & auto-gain" to correct improper gain structure of "far side" participants. . . I work with tele-conferencing and audio mixing. trust me the "correction" creates more problems than it solves....  This is why I suggested a simple reminder at login to MA that details the "playerID flags".

Example:

5 players marked you as "VOX too quiet"
 OR
14 players marked you as "VOX too loud"

 

lol we dont' really NEED a system other than to help that player perhaps... a polite "Hey, your VOX is really loud, do you know how to check it by tuning to yourself?"

[JunkyII]

+1 would be a nice quality of gaming update.

There are players who I'm sure purposely turn their vox up so they think they can talk over others...aka armchair generals.

[Wiley]

Are you suggesting that we have a volume slider for every playerID?!  Because the challenge remains without any solution.

What doesn't that fix?  Like I said, Teamspeak had it about 7 or 8 years ago at least.

Wiley.

[Petey]

compressor limiter with line level boost option for the lower quality mic with low volume.  like a pro tools plugin or something of the like?

[DubiousKB]

What doesn't that fix?  Like I said, Teamspeak had it about 7 or 8 years ago at least.

Wiley.

  Root problem vs perceived problem.....

Perceived Problem = I can't hear the other guy, I'll turn HIM up.

Root Problem = Other guys system gain is too low. PERIOD. . .  "raising his volume" will only serve to raise the noise floor and any other interference present in his signal..... What you will end up with is MUCH worse audio... Because NOW, everyone will be different levels to everyone.... that is just not the answer. I work out gain structure problems at work, i don't want to have to do it in a game.

It starts with the user's setup. You can ask for audio adjustments for other people all you want, but it's not going to correct the root problem. You may get LUCKY and it will assist in a percentage of players. But overall, it is not the way to approach this issue. . .


The intention is not without merit, but the practical application is not as easy as, "give me sliders for every player ID". . .

[Wiley]

Root problem vs perceived problem.....

Perceived Problem = I can't hear the other guy, I'll turn HIM up.

Root Problem = Other guys system gain is too low. PERIOD. . .  "raising his volume" will only serve to raise the noise floor and any other interference present in his signal..... What you will end up with is MUCH worse audio... Because NOW, everyone will be different levels to everyone.... that is just not the answer. I work out gain structure problems at work, i don't want to have to do it in a game.

It starts with the user's setup. You can ask for audio adjustments for other people all you want, but it's not going to correct the root problem. You may get LUCKY and it will assist in a percentage of players. But overall, it is not the way to approach this issue. . .


The intention is not without merit, but the practical application is not as easy as, "give me sliders for every player ID". . .

Honestly the main problem I perceive is not turning people UP.

And "fix your setup" rarely changes anything on the internet.  Like Junky said, there are people who will figure, "Oh good!  People can hear me good!"

Wiley.

[DubiousKB]

What doesn't that fix?  Like I said, Teamspeak had it about 7 or 8 years ago at least.

Wiley.

I suppose +1 and -1db adjustments would be perceived as "fixed", but again, with teamspeak this solution fails scrutiny when discussing proper gain structure.

Have you not experienced this with teamspeak etc... If the persons signal is so low because they are just low talkers, then bringing their volume "up" will only serve to raise all other signals that make up his audio signal coming into the software.... That fan in the backround now becomes louder, the road-noise increases, the noise-floor increases.....and yes finally, their voice.

I come across this all the time... but KB, that FIXES the issue of me not hearing that one guy. Sure. if you are OK with simply increasing gain to achieve a desired effect without consideration to what's ACTUALLY causing the problem. sure, tweek the gain structure to your hearts content thinking you've "fixed" the problem.

Just don't come back and complain when that person is distorted, or can't be heard over noise, or hurts your eardrums because they finally configured their equipment correctly and you still have them set to +11 on the dial... 

[100Coogn]

I think the OP wants to Normalize the audio from everyones VOX.
It would be nice, but in order to actually do that the game would have to be able to 'look ahead'.  Same way a music CD can be normalized.
The game really can't look ahead, because it's a live signal.

Coogan