How About that Audio for VATSIM Project

[Ira Robinson]

I have a question. With all the excitement generated by the new Audio for VATSIM (AFV), I have to ask what is all the excitement about? I have been listening intently to various controller and pilot conversations and I don’t understand what all the hype is about.

 

I still hear pilots and controllers stepping on each other. I still hear pilots and controllers who have poor voice quality; even worse than before. Quite frankly, I don’t understand what this is all about that people have been calling for this new project with such glee.

 

The new voice program does not sound any better than the old. In fact I have heard comments that this is better because it is more realistic and if that is so, I wonder how airline pilots and ATC can actually communicate with each other. In fact when I listen to Live ATC the sound quality is nowhere near as bad. So my question is this; will someone please explain to me what all the fan fare is about. Thanks!

[Aidan Stevens]

Can you please confirm that you are connecting to the VATSIM network and not something else by accident?

 

Regards,

[Robert Shearman Jr]

The elimination of the 1.5-2 second delay from transmit to receive, *alone*, makes this project a godsend.

 

But if you're seriously not hearing a substantial difference in the sound quality, might I recommend upgrading your headset. Anything that costs an amount in USD that surp[Mod - Happy Thoughts]es the single-digit threshold ought to suffice.

[marcus holmes]

If you cannot hear a difference between the old voice and the new then there is a problem at your end. Like Robert said you might need a new headset.

[Shane VanHoven]

Definitely a problem on your end. I’m shocked that you honestly believe that this many people volunteered their free time to develop software that isn’t any better than the old stuff.

 

As a real world controller myself, the new voice is absolutely, 100% spot on. LiveATC isn’t always an accurate representation of what pilots and controllers hear in their headsets.

[Andrew Ogden]

I believe there is also an existing issue with the old voice servers where connections are sometimes being accepted to the old system. Please make sure you have updated your pilot client or downloaded the AFV standalone client in order to be able to fully utilise the new system.

[Dominic Nguyen]

Ok, boomer

[Chriss Klosowski]

You sure you are using the correct new software for the new voice? It doesn't sound like it to be honest. There QUITE a huge improvement with the audio.

[Andreas Fuchs]

Well, if you happen to be at the edge of someone's airspace, you might be experiencing weak reception of ATC-calls, but that is realistic. In the real world this usually does not happen, because

 

a) you get handed over to the next ATCO in good time before leaving the radio-reception zone of your current ATCO

 

b) on real radios you have a squelch-function that will mute any static and "weak transmissions" will also get filtered out. So, when I am far away from someone else transmitting (e.g. ATIS), I often need to open my radio's squelch to receive their transmission - which can be hard with all the static noise.

 

 

And how do regular radio-comms sound in the real world? There are plenty of YouTube videos around that demonstrate this very well, e.g. "Niko's Wings" who happens to be a friend of a veteran VATSIM member from Greece (you may see him on some of Niko's videos):

[Gunnar Lindahl]

Ira

 

Sounds like you need to sit down with someone to see if there is a problem with your setup. AFV has totally revolutionised both my flying and controlling. It's finally possible to effectively control a busy frequency.