Sound bugs since 268 (potential minor exploit)

sotanahtsotanaht Join Date: 2013-01-12 Member: 179215Members
Mostly related to my particular headset/driver (corsair vengeance 1500) and mostly fixable on my own, I still wanted to report this due to the potential exploitative nature of what's going on.

When my headset is running in 2.0 stereo mode (either set that way in the corsair software or with the software not running), certain sound effects are extremely muffled when they should not be. In particular, most of my own movement sounds and certain attacks (shotgun and lerk bite/spike confirmed so far) are almost inaudible.

The reason I say this is exploitable is because while I can hardly hear myself, I can still easily hear the enemy, meaning I could be shooting or biting an rt (lerk but not skulk) and still clearly hear anyone approaching.

Simply setting the driver software to 7.1 surround fixes the problems. I should probably just leave it at that but I'm not all that happy with the way these headphones sound in 7.1 so I would prefer the option to listen to the 2.0 sounds I've been hearing all this time, which is why I say "mostly fixable".

Comments

  • METROIDMETROID Join Date: 2012-10-31 Member: 165171Members, Reinforced - Supporter
    Hah, that's funny, I have Razer Megalodon and I'm suffering the opposite situation: 7.1 mode - muffled sounds, 2.0 mode - ideal sounds. Please tell me why you are not happy with 7.1 sounds?
  • IronHorseIronHorse Developer, QA Manager, Technical Support & contributor Join Date: 2010-05-08 Member: 71669Members, Super Administrators, Forum Admins, Forum Moderators, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Subnautica Playtester, Subnautica PT Lead, Pistachionauts
    Yes i've noticed this.. do you hear the sounds only out of one ear when its in 2.0 ?
  • METROIDMETROID Join Date: 2012-10-31 Member: 165171Members, Reinforced - Supporter
    @sotanaht, @IronHorse, hey, guys, please tell me Corsair Vengeance 1500 and Logitech G35 <- are they using their own drivers or some sort of additional software instead of standard Windows drivers (you can look at your Windows Device Manager)? Also, Corsair and Logitech support Dolby, Razer - not, what about NS2's FMOD?
  • SamusDroidSamusDroid Colorado Join Date: 2013-05-13 Member: 185219Members, Forum Moderators, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Gold, Subnautica Playtester, NS2 Community Developer, Pistachionauts
  • METROIDMETROID Join Date: 2012-10-31 Member: 165171Members, Reinforced - Supporter
    @SamusDroid, you are welcome, though I don't think it will help you much, cuz I can't record the headphones' live sound, only the game's sound.
  • IronHorseIronHorse Developer, QA Manager, Technical Support & contributor Join Date: 2010-05-08 Member: 71669Members, Super Administrators, Forum Admins, Forum Moderators, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Subnautica Playtester, Subnautica PT Lead, Pistachionauts
    edited August 2014
    Taunt bug is known.
    G35 uses it's own drivers being that it is USB.

    If you are running these with the logitech gaming software, you can increase the volume with the included pre amp in the options.
  • IronHorseIronHorse Developer, QA Manager, Technical Support & contributor Join Date: 2010-05-08 Member: 71669Members, Super Administrators, Forum Admins, Forum Moderators, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Subnautica Playtester, Subnautica PT Lead, Pistachionauts
    Whoa... your healspray video sounds WEIRD when u go to marines and your footsteps are on the left only.
    0.0
    I do not experience this.
    What are your in game options for sound? Is NS2 recognizing your setup? Drivers?
  • sotanahtsotanaht Join Date: 2013-01-12 Member: 179215Members
    edited August 2014
    METROID wrote: »
    @sotanaht, @IronHorse, hey, guys, please tell me Corsair Vengeance 1500 and Logitech G35 <- are they using their own drivers or some sort of additional software instead of standard Windows drivers (you can look at your Windows Device Manager)? Also, Corsair and Logitech support Dolby, Razer - not, what about NS2's FMOD?

    That is exactly the problem. The corsair headphones are weird, they actually report themselves to Windows as if they were stereo speakers and only through the "corsair headset software" are they functional as anything else (windows still calls them 2.0 speakers). It's always been a problem in NS2 in one form or another (basically the 7.1 never worked properly), but only 268 introduced any sort of bug with the 2.0 mode.

    Dolby is only supported in 5.1 mode, which sounds much better to me so I'll be using that.
    METROID wrote: »
    Hah, that's funny, I have Razer Megalodon and I'm suffering the opposite situation: 7.1 mode - muffled sounds, 2.0 mode - ideal sounds. Please tell me why you are not happy with 7.1 sounds?

    Just the quality of the sound coming through the headphones takes a nosedive. Sounds a little echoy. I'm not good at describing sounds but I'm 99% sure it has absolutely nothing to do with NS2.

    My current theory for why some sounds are so muffled and quiet is that the game is sending full 7.1 audio and my headphones are dropping certain sound channels entirely, so all I hear is what is going to the front left and front right "speakers". With people complaining elsewhere that your own footsteps sound like they are coming from behind that makes a bit of sense. What doesn't make sense is that Skulk bites are full volume, but lerk bites are almost inaudible, same for LMGs (normal) and shotguns (quiet).
  • IronHorseIronHorse Developer, QA Manager, Technical Support & contributor Join Date: 2010-05-08 Member: 71669Members, Super Administrators, Forum Admins, Forum Moderators, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Subnautica Playtester, Subnautica PT Lead, Pistachionauts
    HUNH.
    Weird. After messing around with different audio setups tonight i attempted to play some NS2 and when i did i heard the same exact sound issue you had - it was playing the positioning incorrectly.
    So i switched off my surround using the analog switch, then flicked it back on, and BAM... it fixed it....... weird.
  • METROIDMETROID Join Date: 2012-10-31 Member: 165171Members, Reinforced - Supporter
    edited August 2014
    Guys, I think I've found something!! But first, I'll answer your questions:
    IronHorse wrote: »
    Taunt bug is known.
    G35 uses it's own drivers being that it is USB.

    If you are running these with the logitech gaming software, you can increase the volume with the included pre amp in the options.
    sotanaht wrote: »
    METROID wrote: »
    @sotanaht, @IronHorse, hey, guys, please tell me Corsair Vengeance 1500 and Logitech G35 <- are they using their own drivers or some sort of additional software instead of standard Windows drivers (you can look at your Windows Device Manager)? Also, Corsair and Logitech support Dolby, Razer - not, what about NS2's FMOD?

    That is exactly the problem. The corsair headphones are weird, they actually report themselves to Windows as if they were stereo speakers and only through the "corsair headset software" are they functional as anything else (windows still calls them 2.0 speakers). It's always been a problem in NS2 in one form or another (basically the 7.1 never worked properly), but only 268 introduced any sort of bug with the 2.0 mode.

    That is the first difference: Megalodon is using standard Windows drivers to report itself to OS as 7.1 (or 5.1) soundsystem. No additional drivers or software are needed.

    IronHorse wrote: »
    Whoa... your healspray video sounds WEIRD when u go to marines and your footsteps are on the left only.
    0.0
    I do not experience this.
    What are your in game options for sound? Is NS2 recognizing your setup? Drivers?

    My ingame sound options:
    sound_options.jpg
    My soundsystem is correctly configured.

    So, to what I've figured out.
    I extracted the PCM soundtrack from my "healing" video, I opened it in SoundForge and saw this:
    soundforge1.jpg
    The channels are:
    1 - Front left
    2 - Front right
    3 - Center
    4 - Low frequency
    5 - Surround left
    6 - Surround right
    7 - Surround back left
    8 - Surround back right

    And yes, the Center channel is screwed up!!! It acts somehow like a Surround left! That is why IronHorse hears footsteps from the left, and that is why all front sounds are so muffled. Because Center channel is OFF or it is amplifies the left channels. Correcting: Center channel acting as it should, but Center channel is very low volume while gorge healing or not active while marine shoot rifle.


    >>>>>>WATCH the video in 7.1 mode<<<<<<


    I can try to make a video of the whole process, but you can get that file and test for yourselfs:
    Here you can get that WAV file.


    I need to test it a little more (for other player's sounds, speech, ets), but Center channel needs to be fixed.

    We'll need a @SamusDroid to make a spacejump to us.
    =============================
    Update 1.
    The gamer's speech is using 1 and 2 channels (Front right and Front left) and not Center channel, that is why it sometimes causes echoing.

    Update 2
    I've recorded some ambient sounds like Docking showers, Generator, Ventilation and they seem to be fine and use Center channel properly.

    Update 3
    Added video file above.
  • sotanahtsotanaht Join Date: 2013-01-12 Member: 179215Members
    edited August 2014
    Skulk leap,parasite jumping and movement sounds are affected, bite and xenocide are not
    Gorge spit, breath, bile (launch but not the splash) bait, and walking are affected, bellyslide (inital sound) and building sounds are not
    lerk bite, flapping, and spikes are affected. Spores, umbra, and the "wind" sound are not.
    fade walking, swipe, and stab are affected, blink and metabolize are not.
    Onos stomp and walking/jumping is affected, gore is not. Shaking is still heard

    Marine footsteps, axe, rifle butt, shotguns, grenade launcher (firing), railgun (firing and charging), and all reloads are affected. Pistol, welder, lmg, flamethrower, jetpack, and minigun are not.

    Taunts and voiceovers are not affected, no commander sounds seem to be affected. I have not tested either of these thoroughly.

    Striking sounds (including building sound effects) are all completely audible.

    I have not found any circumstance where a particular sound effect changes. Either it something is always affected, or never is.

    Recorded gameplay (via shadowplay) plays all sounds properly.

    I had actually thought the problem had fixed itself for a bit. I wasn't able to reproduce it with any setting that had previously had problems. Restarting my computer however caused the problem to return.
  • IronHorseIronHorse Developer, QA Manager, Technical Support & contributor Join Date: 2010-05-08 Member: 71669Members, Super Administrators, Forum Admins, Forum Moderators, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Subnautica Playtester, Subnautica PT Lead, Pistachionauts
    edited August 2014
    @sotanaht‌
    I want to say that the majority of those items you just listed are not affected for me.
    Would you please attempt to investigate your setup as metroid has, and provide any data you find.

    Like i posted before, i was able to reproduce this issue by changing my own sound device to another set of headphones and back again. But to fix it, all i did was reinitiliaze the surround sound switch on my headset... and it fixed it while in game.
    SO when you can reproduce this issue, try resetting the sound device in your game options, and maybe try plugging it back in etc etc..

    @METROID‌
    What i need to find out is WHY center is not playing adequately for you.. have you checked your per channel volumes in your software? I know my software allows me to change each channel's volume:
    mcXrnSJ.jpg


    Edit: have you gone into device manager and clicked on your headset and then "driver details" and clicked through the various driver files to ensure that megladon has at least one driver file in there? my logitech headset has 2 out of 6 files that are logitech (the others are microsoft)
    Your headset DOES provide its own drivers as it is USB.. it is not using windows' default driver. Shouldn't be, at least.

    Have you tried plugging in the headset into another usb port? (one that is not 3.0 preferably)
  • METROIDMETROID Join Date: 2012-10-31 Member: 165171Members, Reinforced - Supporter
    @IronHorse, yes, I can adjust channel's volume but it will disbalance volume of the other sounds, because all other sounds are OK.

    Also, as you can see on video, the volume of the Center channel can't be helped when shooting, because shooting is using only Front channels.
  • IronHorseIronHorse Developer, QA Manager, Technical Support & contributor Join Date: 2010-05-08 Member: 71669Members, Super Administrators, Forum Admins, Forum Moderators, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Subnautica Playtester, Subnautica PT Lead, Pistachionauts
    Whats your console or log.txt say on this line :
    Sound Device: Speakers (2- Logitech G35 Headset) 7.1
    ?

    Does it report 7.1?
  • METROIDMETROID Join Date: 2012-10-31 Member: 165171Members, Reinforced - Supporter
    Yes.
    Date: 08/24/14
    Time: 23:03:49:
    --------------------------------------------------------------
    Build 268
    Windows 8 64-bit (build 9200)
    [  0.210] Unbound/Unknown : Error: PhysX: Invalid Cuda context!
    Steam initialized
    Num displays: 1
    Direct3D 9 initialized: AMD Radeon R9 200 Series (8.17.10.1299)
    Sound Device: 8=0<8:8 (Razer Megalodon) 7.1
    Record Device: 8:@>D>= (Razer Megalodon)
    
  • IronHorseIronHorse Developer, QA Manager, Technical Support & contributor Join Date: 2010-05-08 Member: 71669Members, Super Administrators, Forum Admins, Forum Moderators, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Subnautica Playtester, Subnautica PT Lead, Pistachionauts
    Can you confirm what i said in the previous post regarding at least one driver that is being used that is from Megalodon?
  • IronHorseIronHorse Developer, QA Manager, Technical Support & contributor Join Date: 2010-05-08 Member: 71669Members, Super Administrators, Forum Admins, Forum Moderators, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Subnautica Playtester, Subnautica PT Lead, Pistachionauts
    edited August 2014
    I was able to confirm the issue somewhat.. (even though i couldnt get 7 channels to show in sound forge, despite recording in multi channel, and handbrake saying it was 7.1 audio and telling it to not downmix the audio and despite actually HEARING the different channels in VLC...ugh)
    V5zB2jl.jpg

    All sounds, including footsteps are clearly biased to the right
  • SamusDroidSamusDroid Colorado Join Date: 2013-05-13 Member: 185219Members, Forum Moderators, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Gold, Subnautica Playtester, NS2 Community Developer, Pistachionauts
    From the FMOD Programmers API

    "NOTE! (Windows only) Sound will not behave correctly unless your control panel has set the speaker mode to the correct setup. For example if FMOD_SPEAKERMODE_7POINT1 is set on a speaker system that has been set to 'stereo' in the windows control panel, sounds can dissapear and come out of the wrong speaker. Make sure your users know about this.
    If using WinMM output, note that some soundcard drivers do not support multichannel output correctly (i.e. Creative cards).
    If using WASAPI the speaker mode will be forced to the control panel setting, you can call System::getSpeakerMode after System::init to verify.
    Only DirectSound, WASAPI and ASIO have reliably working multichannel output.
    If the speaker mode is not actually supported (even though the user set the speaker mode to 7.1 in Windows) the soundcard might not be able to handle it. You will get FMOD_ERR_OUTPUT_CREATEBUFFER error. Change the speaker mode to FMOD_SPEAKERMODE_STEREO and re-initialize if this happens."
  • METROIDMETROID Join Date: 2012-10-31 Member: 165171Members, Reinforced - Supporter
    IronHorse wrote: »
    Edit: have you gone into device manager and clicked on your headset and then "driver details" and clicked through the various driver files to ensure that megladon has at least one driver file in there? my logitech headset has 2 out of 6 files that are logitech (the others are microsoft)
    Your headset DOES provide its own drivers as it is USB.. it is not using windows' default driver. Shouldn't be, at least.
    I really do not need any driver/software for Megalodon, cuz it have it's own hardware DSP (not like soft-audiochips).
    1.jpg
    It says: For that device driver files are not loaded or not necessary.

    2.jpg
    It is using somekind of AudioEndpoint.inf

    3.jpg

    4.jpg
    Yes, I have the latest firmware.

    5.jpg
    Still, no drivers needed.
    IronHorse wrote: »
    Have you tried plugging in the headset into another usb port? (one that is not 3.0 preferably)
    Yes, there is no difference. Also tried USB 3.0.
    IronHorse wrote: »
    I was able to confirm the issue somewhat.. (even though i couldnt get 7 channels to show in sound forge, despite recording in multi channel, and handbrake saying it was 7.1 audio and telling it to not downmix the audio and despite actually HEARING the different channels in VLC...ugh)
    V5zB2jl.jpg

    All sounds, including footsteps are clearly biased to the right
    You downmixed channels for sure...
    Also, check the SoundForge audio settings and try hearing your sounds again:
    6.jpg

    SamusDroid wrote: »
    "NOTE! (Windows only) Sound will not behave correctly unless your control panel has set the speaker mode to the correct setup. For example if FMOD_SPEAKERMODE_7POINT1 is set on a speaker system that has been set to 'stereo' in the windows control panel, sounds can dissapear and come out of the wrong speaker. Make sure your users know about this.
    Green_check.png Check!
    SamusDroid wrote: »
    If using WinMM output, note that some soundcard drivers do not support multichannel output correctly (i.e. Creative cards).
    If using WASAPI the speaker mode will be forced to the control panel setting, you can call System::getSpeakerMode after System::init to verify.
    Green_check.png Check!
    SamusDroid wrote: »
    If the speaker mode is not actually supported (even though the user set the speaker mode to 7.1 in Windows) the soundcard might not be able to handle it. You will get FMOD_ERR_OUTPUT_CREATEBUFFER error. Change the speaker mode to FMOD_SPEAKERMODE_STEREO and re-initialize if this happens."
    Date: 08/24/14
    Time: 23:03:49:
    --------------------------------------------------------------
    Build 268
    Windows 8 64-bit (build 9200)
    [  0.210] Unbound/Unknown : Error: PhysX: Invalid Cuda context!
    Steam initialized
    Num displays: 1
    Direct3D 9 initialized: AMD Radeon R9 200 Series (8.17.10.1299)
    Sound Device: 8=0<8:8 (Razer Megalodon) 7.1
    Record Device: 8:@>D>= (Razer Megalodon)
    
    Green_check.png Check!
  • IronHorseIronHorse Developer, QA Manager, Technical Support & contributor Join Date: 2010-05-08 Member: 71669Members, Super Administrators, Forum Admins, Forum Moderators, NS2 Developer, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Subnautica Playtester, Subnautica PT Lead, Pistachionauts
    Yeah this is definitely a problem and it's on ns2 , not you.
Sign In or Register to comment.