Equipment cooling fans noise

[JP59]

I think the equipment cooling fans noise inside PSX virtual cockpit is not very loud when the aircraft is parked with engines shutdown. The cockpit looks like very quiet, and from what I remember of my short experience inside a real 744 flight deck, this noise is much more important. Unfortunately, if I turn the master volume of my system up, the sound becomes too loud when the engines starts. Am I the only user thinking the equipment cooling fans noise should be louder regarding the other sounds ?

[Hardy Heinlin]

Depends on your physical audio system at home. If you have an equalizer, you may reduce the lower band a bit to make the engines a bit quieter in comparison to the air aircon noise.

Some people want it louder, some want it quieter. Yes, I know you want to have an audio mixer in PSX ...


Cheers,

|-|ardy

[Jeroen Hoppenbrouwers]

Can you pull the trick to load the right sound file in an audio editor and increase its volume?


Hoppie

[Hardy Heinlin]

A little bit. The file is called equip.wav and the volume may be increased by 3 dB. Not much.

I wouldn't increase it.


|-|

[United744]

I have the same problem - when the engines are shutdown you can't hear anything even with 3 packs on.

[Matt Sheil]

in my sim we have cooling exhaust fans 4 of them, they make enough noise.
Just turn on a fan in your room  

[Hardy Heinlin]

Do you hear the engine compressor surge BANG loud enough? If that bang doesn't make you jerk, your home theater master volume is set too low. Turn it up and you will hear the other more quieter stuff as well.

If the engines are too loud (heck, I thought they are too loud in MSFS), play the engine sounds on a separate computer at a lower volume.

See page 90, 91.


|-|

[JP59]

Why do not replace, in the sound page, the check box in front of each noise source by a slider, to allow a mix of different sources, like MSFS does ? If the slider is at 0 the sound is deactivated. Just a suggestion. One more solution for me would be to play the fans sound on a separate computer.

[Hardy Heinlin]

Because the release date was in August 2014 already.

[United744]

Because the release date was in August 2014 already.

 :lol:  

I'll try the compressor surge and see what happens.

[United744]

Hmm - I disabled the *really* loud audio (MAWEA and engines) and can really turn up the volume and hear the other audio. Note that I'm using a home cinema system.

Loudest sounds:

* MAWEA
* Engines


"About right" (all these sounds are balanced reasonably well with each other and are a good volume):

* First officer
* various chimes/alerts from CPDLC
* Evac
* Flap lever, buttons/switches, speedbrake motor


Far too quiet (if I turn the volume up to make these sound like the "about right" sounds, then the other audio is deafening):

* air con packs
* avionics
* backup altimeter vibrator and backup ADI gyro (almost inaudible even at maximum volume)

[United744]

I just played the raw audio files and they all sound fine at a single volume. The problem is with how they're mixed in PSX.

[Hardy Heinlin]

My goodness, you want the most ugliest of all noise louder, and that continuously :-)

You must be young and have good nerves :-)

Just in case you refer to cockpit videos: Note that all these recordings include extreme dynamic compression (in the camera electronics); that is, the master volume is automatically reduced when the deck gets loud, and it's amplified when it gets quiet.


Cheers,

|-|ardy

[United744]

I haven't been on a 747 flight deck IRL, but the flight decks I have been on the EFIS cooling fans are audible. When the packs are on they are distinctly audible as well, and obviously in flight it is very noisy due to wind noise.

I never use YT for any reference material due to the reasons you state - it destroys everything.

[Hardy Heinlin]

Sure, they are audible in real life.

I can hear them in PSX too.

Well, it really depends on each user's individual audio system. Certain frequencies may be louder on one system, and quieter on the other. No system and no room acoustics are 100% flat and neutral.

Maybe I'll add an audio mixer next year.

[United744]

I did find turning the bass all the way down helped (in Windows), so that could very well be it. I'm quite surprised though at the apparent difference in response (unless my hearing is screwed  :shock: ). The raw audio played fine though.

[John H Watson]

I'm sure if the sound levels were completely realistic, simmers would end up with some kind of hearing impairment. It's the reason why noise-cancelling headsets are now standard on the 744 (at least in countries where Occupational Health and Safety is considered).

The 744 especially has a problem with air noise at high mach numbers. Because of the hump of the fuselage and relatively upright angles of the cockpit windows, the air is accelerated and reaches supersonic airspeeds.

Rgds
JHW

[JP59]

My goodness, you want the most ugliest of all noise louder, and that continuously :-)

You must be young and have good nerves :-)

Just in case you refer to cockpit videos: Note that all these recordings include extreme dynamic compression (in the camera electronics); that is, the master volume is automatically reduced when the deck gets loud, and it's amplified when it gets quiet.


Cheers,

|-|ardy

Just want to reproduce the ambiant "atmosphere" of the flight deck accurately. If the real one is too noisy, I want my simulator too noisy also. This is the aim of a simulator, isn't it ?

[Hardy Heinlin]

Absolutely.

[the mad hatter]

okay then to give you a idea of how loud it is in real life ... plug in x6 vacuum cleaners all at once :-) then you for sure will want the "ambient" sound reduced