Curse

MercenaryKnight · Oct 14, 2008, 03:29 AM // 03:29

This is most likely going to sound like a weird question. I really don't know much about sound cards and stuff.

I have an x-fi soundcard and I want to use the equalizer to help set my settings for shooter games. Basically I want to lower the sounds of explosions and ambient noise and such, and increase the volume for sounds like footsteps.

The problem is, I have no idea which sliders do what with what sounds.

My equalizer has 10 different ranges to increase the db levels. 31Hz, 62Hz, 125Hz, 250Hz, 500Hz, 1kHz, 2k, 4k, 8k, 16k.

Is there any program that I can use that would help me go into game and like have my character run around and it'd show me which range the sound is coming from so I would know which sliders to increase for the footsteps sounds?

Because I am clueless as to what Hz levels manipulate what sounds, and how I can go about fine tuning the equalizer for my specific needs if I can't figure out what Hz levels I want to increase and decrease the sound levels.

Daisuko · Oct 14, 2008, 04:14 AM // 04:14

You could always grab a sound clip of the sound you want to modify, and set it on loop, then mess with the sound settings until you get the desired results?

snaek · Oct 14, 2008, 04:16 AM // 04:16

not really sure of any programs...

but u can do it by ear

the lower teh frequency, the lower teh pitch of the sound
the higher the requency, the higher the pitch of the sound

things like loud explosions and booms r generally low frequency
and they'll come out of ur subwoofer
in shooter games...any jet engines...or helicopters...or whoosing sounds
and any big explosions or bangs

high-frequency would be screeching sounds, various (metal) crashing sounds
in shooting games...teh bullet shells hittin teh floor
any deflections of teh bullets crashin wit certain metals

mid-frequency everything in-between, generally voices r always in teh mids
so any dialogue in teh game
footsteps would prolly be mid (depending on teh surface)

my sugguestion would be to play in windowed-mode
wit teh eq window open
and mess aorund wit teh 500hz first slide it up and down to see if teh footseps r affected
if not then other ranges

oh and ambient noises generally can come from teh bass
but also from teh highs (crickets, etc)

cant really draw teh eq good wit text...
but u'll eq will make some wut of a hill or mountain shape for wut u want to achieve
for 10band: 2-2-3-4-6-7-7-6-5-4-3 (or similar)

Numa Pompilius · Oct 14, 2008, 10:21 AM // 10:21

I think you're unlikely to find any particular frequence where just the sounds you want to make stronger reside.

You could try these steps:

1) Go into Guild Wars options, go to the Sound tab, and decrease the Effects volume and increase the Background volume.

If that doesn't do what you want,

2) Try minimizing the Quality slider (will reduce the sampling frequency and the number of channels Guild Wars uses, and should also reduce dynamic range).

dumimare · Oct 14, 2008, 11:44 AM // 11:44

Sorry to say but you're out of luck. Though programs like what you need exist (in form of spectrometers, in VST plugin format, most commonly) you will have a real hard time (read impossible) managing to quiet down explosions and raise the volume of footsteps and guns loading (just an example). Even if you try, like it was suggested, to got the trial-and-error way and fiddle around with the sliders. The reason for this is that even sounds on the lower end of the spectrum, like under-water explosions, have high frequencies. And vice versa.

Nothing natural has pure waveforms. Nothing natural is strictly low or high frequency. Every sound is a combination of different, and more often than not, irregular waveforms (multiple frequency ranges of various amplitudes), so isolating parts of an audio stream (like the sound of a game) by frequency is quite impossible, in human terms.

Zidane Ortef · Oct 14, 2008, 11:55 AM // 11:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by MercenaryKnight

I want to use the equalizer to help set my settings for shooter games.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Numa Pompilius

Go into Guild Wars options, go to the Sound tab,

Guildwars is a Shooter game since when?

All I have to say is READ the post before you reply.

Numa Pompilius · Oct 14, 2008, 12:31 PM // 12:31

My bad.

I think the OP might have more luck if he asked in an FPS forum, or better yet a specialist forum for the game he wants adjusted, there may well be console commands to do what he wants, but they're game-specific. Using an equalizer isn't going to work.

Quaker · Oct 14, 2008, 03:06 PM // 15:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by MercenaryKnight

Is there any program that I can use that would help me go into game and like have my character run around and it'd show me which range the sound is coming from so I would know which sliders to increase for the footsteps sounds?

There are software audio spectrum analyzers out there, but I don't know how well they would work in conjunction with a game - as in, would they work in the background, have conflicts, etc.
Here's a site that may be of interest:
http://www.dxzone.com/catalog/Softwa...rum_analyzers/

Try googling for "audio spectrum analyzer software".

FYI: Hz = cycles per second. You would talk about frequency ranges, not "levels".

Tick Tock Venah · Oct 17, 2008, 08:12 PM // 20:12

Depending on the game, you could open up the sound files and modify the volume of the files yourself using something like Audacity.

Enko · Oct 18, 2008, 01:24 AM // 01:24

if its for a specific game, you could probably go into the data files for it and find where the sounds are located and go from there. kind of hard to tell you without knowing which game