Testmod now final version with new counter measure sound and capship secondary explosions expanded by 2 and fixing the remaining mixing snafus! Not VP packed so that other mod authors can easily get to what would change as soon as this gets added to the MediaVPs.
Okay this thing has now grown so intertwined that maintaining a separate thread for the extra sounds no longer makes sense. So this will now be the main thread.
As per Joshua's suggestion the audible range for capital warps has been vastly expanded. The Colly and Sath use a new sound event with extra long range. The fighters/bombers/escape pods use a new sound event that is slighty higher pitched. the range for freighter/transport/cruiser/corvette has been rougly doubled. The range of beam sounds has also gone through changes. These are more reserved because increasing the audible range of beams quickly increases their overall volume in the mix. aaa beams actually got a slight range decrease.
Many sounds now have random slight pitch changes, which results in a more dynamic soundscape (primaries, secondaries, explosions, beams, flybys, warps etc.)
As my other thread states, there is now size based explosions going from tiny (sentry gun) to massive (juggernaut) 6 sizes with 3 variants each. I have created new impacts that have not been mentioned yet:
new missile explosion, also used as fusion mortar impact
new subsystem missile explosion
new emp missile explosion
new large bomb explosion
new ship explosion shockwaves
new beam impacts which are inspired by what you see in the FS2 intro, sounds like melting armor plating and hull instead of a boom, one variant each for aaa, large beams, and the rest.
By popular demand I have also now created a video you can simply watch. This is not a skill showcase it is an audio showcase.
No great editing here, just me playing through "Their Finest Hour". ( When the Hella shoots the Stalwart you can nicely hear the new beam impact).
I pulled the old mod because the name was no longer fitting. It has been re-uploaded as Soundscape Enhancement Submission. Since this mod only weighs in with 4MB this should not be to bad for anyone.
Alright so much for the updates on this.
So here is another submission I wish to make. A revised sounds.tbl file. While Volitions mix was fine for its time it isn't really up to par anymore. Alas much more could be done with a dynamic mix than with a static mix but there is still things that can be improved upon when taking modern sound design principles into account.
I do not only wish to lay out what I have changed but also explain why I made those changes. That includes volume as well as attenuation range adjustments.
Okay onto the basics first. One thing the current sounds.tbl file doesn't take into account is that low frequency ranges have a different volume from mid or high frequency ranges. What do I mean by that? The established unit to measure volume of sounds is decibel or dB. Yet dB is inadequate to measure volume for the human ear. You can test this for yourself with the file I have attached. There is a low frequency and a high frequency sound in that mp3. Both have exactly the same dB volume but the high frequency sound will be much louder to your ear. A new measurement unit has been developed for this the loudness unit or LU. That is the first thing the revised sounds.tbl takes into account. Low frequency sounds that need it like explosions get the most volume.
High and mid frequency loops and high and mid frequency sounds with a lot of repetition, like guns, missiles and beams have been reduced in volume. These sounds do not require this much volume in the overall mix. They are now less likely to completely overpower sounds that play less often in the mix.
Engine drones have also been reduced in volume since the FSO sound engine does not know playback instance limiting. No longer will you be unable to hear voice audio while flying in the midst of a Vasudan wing.
Flyby and enemy shield impact sounds have been reduced in volume as well. They can still be heard well with less overall volume.
The nebula lightning has been reduced in volume which also has a high tendency to overpower every other sound playing at the same time.
The volume as well as the attenuation range for turret servos is way to high. It doesn't seem realistic that you would hear a turret turning from hundreds of meters away.
The attenuation range for electric arcs has been reduced. A sound such as this just doesn't carry for close to half a km.
The max attenuation range for boom_1 and _3 has been expanded. Loud low sounds like these carry far.
Atomic is the equivalent of a nuke going of as the name states. It is the loudest sound in the mix and the attenuation range has been greatly expanded upon. You can hear a destroyer go even when you are relatively far away from it.
No changes were made to any in cockpit sound, interface or hallway sounds.
These values assure that you can run both effects and voice volume at the full setting and at no point in time should you really be struggling with hearing what command wants from you. No sound effect should completely overpower any other.
P.S. Personal recommendation, do not run EFX. All that does is make your cockpit and space sound like a cathedral and horribly muddies the sounds being played.
EDIT: sound.tbl upgraded to new sound set syntax which allows for pitch randomization. This has also been now included in the mix for a more dynamic soundscape
[attachment eaten by a Shivan]
