Quiet ATC?

[Jeff N]

Has anything changed on PE's end with the audio? The past 3 days in a row, controller volume has been so quiet I can barely hear them even with my engine/ambient sounds turned all the way down. Maybe it's on my end, but I haven't changed any settings on my system.

Being that I use a Mac with a USB external speaker interface (iMic) for my engine audio and a headset plugged into the headphone jack for PE, I can't change PE's volume settings. However, I do notice that the sound level fluctuates - usually it's fine, but some days it's too loud or, like lately, too quiet.

Is it just me?

[muzz]

Today, socal was completely unreadable on my computer for about 6-8 minutes going in to SAN.

[Keith Smith]

Go ahead and check out the hourly recordings for your flight(s) and let us know if you hear the issue.

[Keith Smith]

Muzz, I found your recording, http://www.pilotedge.net/recordings/201 ... _17510.mp3

Start the end and bring it back just a couple of minutes, you'll hear the controller's transmissions. They sound ok to me. What were you hearing on your end? I do hear you say at the end "you're breaking up really badly."

[Jeff N]

Everything sounds normal to me on the recordings. I was just wondering if it was an input issue from your guys' end since, as I mentioned, the ATC volume changes without me changing any system settings. Sometimes even in the middle of a flight.

[Keith Smith]

Jeff, the sound library we use constantly adjusts the audio level, trying to find a 'normal' level. See if you can locate some of your recent flights in our recordings section: http://pilotedge.net/audio (this was released today, the site just hasn't been updated yet). Let me know if you find the quiet one. The best way to search for the flight would be to locate one or more of the flights on [url="http://peaware.pilotedge.net]PEaware[/url], track down the start time, then select the appropriate recording.

The last recording I posted was for Muzz. Did you find one of your flights?

Keith

[Jeff N]

Yeah, just heard one of my flights from today (right at the beginning of 16:00 local). Sounds fine now, but from my end it was just barely audible at the time.

[Keith Smith]

Gotcha. The code that is connecting to the server and capturing that audio is the same code used in the pilot client to connect to the server to relay the audio within the sim.

If the audio sounds good on the recording, there was some sort of a local issue that was making it hard to hear, as the volume corrections applied by the software would've been the same in both cases.

If you are using Win7/XP, try opening the PE client (assuming this is FS9/X and not X-Plane) and then open the audio mixer (the detailed screen). It should show sliders for EACH app that's running. Crank the PE app to max and see if that helps. If not, then reduce the volume of FSX and turn up the speakers (or simply reduce the volume within FSX directly).

If you're using X-Plane, then your only recourse is to reduce the in-sim sounds within X-Plane (engine, prop, avionics fan, etc) and then turn up the speakers on the system.

[muzz]

Keith - the recordings are clear - I heard the faintest voice in real time, not loud enough to understand. This has been going on for quite some time. It is very intermittent and short in duration. Usually it is not a problem, but yesterday it came at a busy time in the approach. I will increase the mixer volume to max the next time I'm on. Thanks.

JM

[MMeseke]

Hi Keith,
I seem to be having this issue. Sometimes I can hear loud and clear, then all of a sudden it sounds like a faint whisper. I'm 99.9% sure it's on my end and have a feeling it has to do with my system memory load at the time. If I'm flying in clear sky with no other planes around me, it's loud and clear. When I get in the clouds or in busy airspace that's when the sound goes away. I listen to the recordings the next day every time I fly to review my flight and it is always loud and clear. If you listen to the recording of last night’s flight starting at around the 47 second mark you can hear me asking for the controller to repeat the instructions several times, then around 9:10 the tower loses radar contact all together and my PE crashed. After restarting the PE Client and continuing my flight the sound gets a little better, but not 100%. I know this is frustrating for the controller, so I just want to figure out how I can fix this. Do you have any ideas for me? I am using Windows 7 with FX10 and my headset is a dual 3.5mm plug type.

http://www.pilotedge.net/recordings/hou ... _17510.mp3

For this flight I was Mooney N623TA