Unacceptable sudden volume increase

[Nestor Perez]

Try lowering the volume to -72 too 😉

[Yanick Coulombe 965064]

@Nestor Perez

On 5/5/2020 at 8:58 PM, Nick Botica said:

He tried -72 and wasn’t getting the ‘audio bombs’ but we did notice the audio was quite varied in volume per person. Some were very quiet (which would make sense as per the name of the control) but some were quite loud.  I’m not sure if this was related to the setting or would have happened regardless. 

 

I also want to keep the realistic VHF effect, but it seems to be an easier fix.
Anyway AFV was at +72 in its settings, and 100% in windows mixer, and my main volume is also 100%, so I cannot increase it's volume at all.
I would like to test your -72 solution for you but it's not practical for me.
I have read people say the volume between 0 and -72 is the same and this might be an clue?
Maybe somewhere in the VHF effect code there's a reference to the volume settings and the problem might be near that? Im only speculating/brainstorming.

Good luck.

[Nestor Perez]

Just test everything and let us know which one works out best for you. Changes in the code have already been attempted, but it has not been tested and there is no ETA for this testing to begin as of now, so all we can do at the moment is gather information from as many different people as possible and see if we can establish any sort of relation which can help us pinpoint the exact issue.

[Yanick Coulombe 965064]

5 minutes ago, Nestor Perez said:

Just test everything

 

16 minutes ago, Yanick Coulombe 965064 said:

@Nestor Perez

 

AFV was at +72 in its settings, and 100% in windows mixer, and my main volume is also 100%, so I cannot increase it's volume at all.
I would like to test your -72 solution for you but it's not practical for me.

because I can't increase AFV's volume

Realistic VHF simulation is a must and I can't wait to use it again.
thanks for your work and good luck

Edited May 12, 2020 at 05:28 PM by Yanick Coulombe 965064

[Nestor Perez]

As has been pointed out by several other members that have tried the -72 thing out (myself included), there is cases in which there is absolutely no difference in volume whatsoever when doing this, and the only difference is not being earraped all the time 😛

[Yanick Coulombe 965064]

10 minutes ago, Nestor Perez said:

As has been pointed out by several other members that have tried the -72 thing out (myself included), there is cases in which there is absolutely no difference in volume whatsoever when doing this, and the only difference is not being earraped all the time 😛

I just connected without a primary frequency to test. For me there is a difference between -72 and 0. There is also a difference between 0 and +72 (My usual setting).
I tested with my ATIS.

Edited May 12, 2020 at 05:40 PM by Yanick Coulombe 965064

[Nestor Perez]

Hi there gents, for those that are xPilot users, there is a new version available with a possible fix for the random volume spikes.

Please note that this xPilot version is still an alpha and may cause unexpected crashes.

Let us know if this version works well for you or not!

 

[Nick Botica]

3 hours ago, Nestor Perez said:

Hi there gents, for those that are xPilot users, there is a new version available with a possible fix for the random volume spikes.

Good news 🤞

[Yanick Coulombe 965064]

Is it possible to add a quick fix that would limit the maximum volume over all (like someone mentioned).
Im talking about about going around the problem until we can fix the problem and before someone gets ear damage? (I LITERALLY have hearing problem and it is STILL VERY painful to my ears, I can't imagine a normal person)
All fixes didn't work for me (disabling VHF simulation doesn't fix it, and decreasing volume is not possible because for me it DOES decrease volume and then I cannot hear the pilots)

Thank you,

Edited May 21, 2020 at 01:37 PM by Yanick Coulombe 965064

[Nestor Perez]

Which simulator & pilot client do you use (versions too, please)?

Edited May 21, 2020 at 01:59 PM by Nestor Perez

[Yanick Coulombe 965064]

Euroscope with standalone AFV for controlling.
 

[Nick Botica]

12 hours ago, Yanick Coulombe 965064 said:

Euroscope with standalone AFV for controlling.
 

Have a look at “3appes Sound Lock” in the meantime.

It allows you to set a volume limit on your audio device. 

Edited May 22, 2020 at 02:55 AM by Nick Botica

[Joaquin Blanco]

I have been reading this topic from the beginning and have tried all the suggestions so far, and the only one that worked was Disable realistic ATC audio effects. Since I like to keep the effects I get around it by  placing the earphones of the headset just over my ears that still allows me to hear and when the volume suddenly rises, it's more manageable. Have had this issue countless times over the last few months while flying under ATC control all over this virtual world. Let's hope the people who set up the audio system can have another look and identify a solution.

[Andreas Fuchs]

You could give this APP a shot that was suggested by Nick. Luckily, AFV has never offended me with this behaviour, but I surely have downloaded the APP to have it ready, just in case.

[Robert Shearman Jr]

On 5/21/2020 at 9:34 AM, Yanick Coulombe 965064 said:

decreasing volume is not possible because for me it DOES decrease volume and then I cannot hear the pilots)

I don't want to be pedantic, but, just want to help you find a workaround if you haven't already and are still waiting for a bugfix.

Are you able to set the in-app volume lower as suggested, then use Windows Mixer to lower the volumes of EVERYTHING else, then boost your overall speaker volume?

[Yanick Coulombe 965064]

1 minute ago, Robert Shearman Jr said:

I don't want to be pedantic, but, just want to help you find a workaround if you haven't already and are still waiting for a bugfix.

Are you able to set the in-app volume lower as suggested, then use Windows Mixer to lower the volumes of EVERYTHING else, then boost your overall speaker volume?

I appreciate your help I was just explaining my situation.
Unfortunately my headset is also already at maximum volume.

On 5/22/2020 at 8:19 AM, Joaquin Blanco said:

I have been reading this topic from the beginning and have tried all the suggestions so far, and the only one that worked was Disable realistic ATC audio effects. 

I don't know why but it seems I still had the problem after disabling the effect

[Robert Shearman Jr]

On 5/23/2020 at 9:24 AM, Yanick Coulombe 965064 said:

I don't know why but it seems I still had the problem after disabling the effect

Almost makes me wonder if you have something unrelated going on that's masking as this issue! 

[Nestor Perez]

Yep, I wonder that too... unless you have any sort of hearing problems (not saying you have, but if...) I really struggle to understand how you can have everything at maximum volume and only hear it such that when you lower it a bit you don't hear it well anymore. In my personal case my PC volume is lower than 20% and even then it still sounds too loud for me at times. I can understand that not all speakers/headsets sound the same way at the same level, but having it all maxed out just makes me think there is some other issue 🤔

[Yanick Coulombe 965064]

On 5/24/2020 at 10:50 AM, Robert Shearman Jr said:

Almost makes me wonder if you have something unrelated going on that's masking as this issue! 

On 5/24/2020 at 11:40 AM, Nestor Perez said:

Yep, I wonder that too...

I said "it seems" because Im 99% sure I disabled it, and im 99% that I heard the issue once. But since that day it hasn't happened once. It actually might have worked.
Sorry I don't have time to control a lot these days. I wouldnt take it as

On 5/24/2020 at 11:40 AM, Nestor Perez said:

unless you have any sort of hearing problems (not saying you have, but if...) I really struggle to understand how you can have everything at maximum volume and only hear it such that when you lower it a bit you don't hear it well anymore. In my personal case my PC volume is lower than 20% and even then it still sounds too loud for me at times. I can understand that not all speakers/headsets sound the same way at the same level, but having it all maxed out just makes me think there is some other issue 🤔

My headset cost me 12$ on amazon so the volume isn't high, and I do have some tiny hearing problem, I need to listen to everything at high volume, nothing serious. I also don't have the 'boost' option somehow on my audio card.

[Timothy Prata]

Also a victim of this issue, 

Using vPilot with Output Volume initially at +3. Upon hearing the noise, I reduced output volume to 0 only for it to persist though not as often. 8/7/20

[Nestor Perez]

Which clients (and their versions) are all of you experiencing this with? Please name all those in which you’ve ever experienced it; independently of if it stopped happening or not.

Edited August 7, 2020 at 10:48 PM by Nestor Perez

[henry koch]

Happens to me all the time with Vpilot latest version update and before  for p3d 4.5... it would be nice to find a solution . Very annoying .

henri

[Nestor Perez]

Have you tried lowering the volume bar down?

[Reynolds Price]

ive tried the -72 in the client and its still ear-piercing...happens both when i fly on vpilot 2.6.7 and on the stand alone AFV 1.8.1 for when im using VRC. Its happening more and more frequently. 

[Yanick Coulombe 965064]

On 9/8/2020 at 10:56 AM, Nestor Perez said:

Have you tried lowering the volume bar down?

Have you tried my suggestion of capping the maximum volume this app can produce.

At this point it has been almost a year with a huge problem that can cause permanent damage to hearing and no solution in sight.
As a programmer I understand it can be hard to fix a problem when you can't reproduce it yourself, but at this point this is just ridiculous.

I admit I am not on the project and have no insight, but a long time ago I provided a simple solution idea and I have just been ignored.

I understand you would want to correctly fix the problem, but can you provide the reason for your refusal to implement such an easy fix for temporarily make this application medically SAFE to use PLEASE.

If you are not able to fix this, I suggest removing AFV. It's a shame, but as a professional programmer, I would never intentionally keep a product live that can cause hearing damage with my arms crossed without trying to fix it. Anyway AFV lacks the basic features we all need and was important for training. I know it's drastic and even unrealistic, but everybody will agree that if an application can cause medical problems, it shouldn't be used. I'm sorry, but unfortunately, you need to fix it or rollback now.

This problem is obviously not only a disaster medically speaking, but also operationally. Apart from the obvious stress and possible damage to audio equipment, this can render a controller useless and even force him to disconnect. This happened even to me: I had this problem so much that I was embarrassed at how much I was asking to say again. When they would repeat, it would do it again, so I would apologize and ask them to write in text instead. It happened so much that I had to disconnect because I wasn't able to use the audio. I never had to quit my position out of embarrassment before I encountered this problem.

I'm sorry if I come out strong, but I gave you a solution in May and felt ignored.
I think a problem as simple as "sound is too high" with the magnitude and implication it has, should be fixed right away with no excuses IMO.

One thing I can say is: Disabling realistic VHF didn't work, but output volume at -72 DID fix the problem. Another simple solution if you want your app to be medically safe to use: Just make it so it's always -72, then when you fix the problem bring this setting back. A handful of people will be disappointing, but it's about the safety of our users first.

Good luck,
Yanick Coulombe