General Question Which sound client do you use for Orbiter 2016?

Which sound client do you use for Orbiter 2016?


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Abdullah Radwan

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I created this poll to see which sound client people use for Orbiter 2016.

For me, I use XRSound with SoundBridge.
 

Sbb1413

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I generally use Orbiter Sound, but use XR Sound for vessels compatible with that sound client, especially the XR Fleet by @dbeachy1.
 

Abdullah Radwan

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Would definitely like to see the XR vessels reintegrated into OrbiterSound. Switching between the two is a hassle.
Indeed. But one problem with Orbiter Sound is that it only allows 60 sounds per vessel, so that's why I won't use it in the next version of G42-200 Starliner, as it has more than 60 sounds. This might be a problem for other add-on developers too.
 

dbeachy1

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Would definitely like to see the XR vessels reintegrated into OrbiterSound. Switching between the two is a hassle.

Sorry, that's not ever going to happen. The entire reason I wrote and released XRSound in the first place, and then sent the entire source code to Martin, Xyon, and Woo482, is because OrbiterSound did not work with Orbiter 2016 for years, and nobody had any way to port it. With XRSound, I can ensure that XR vessels will have working sound for all future Orbiter versions. In addition, if I get hit by a PSB ("Programmer-Seeking Bus"), Martin or someone else can take over XRSound maintenance and thus ensure that XRSound will continue to work with all future Orbiter versions and patches.

And in any case, there is always Face's XRSound-to-OrbiterSound bridge for users who want to use both XRSound and OrbiterSound simultaneously without switching.
 

n72.75

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At some point NASSP may support both, but that project got moved to the back burner with the release of OS5.
 

Sbb1413

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It seems like Orbiter Sound is the winner for easy and extensive configuration, good background musics and 3D sounds. XR Sound is the winner for the flexibility with future Orbiter versions, as described by @dbeachy1.

One of the problems with the current version (5.0) of Orbiter Sound that isn't found in XR Sound or the earlier version of Orbiter Sound is that I can't be able to hear landing commentaries like "you are clear to land", "2,500", "1,000", "500", "400", "300", "200", "100", "50", "40", "30", "20", "10" etc.

On the other hand, XR Sound (unnecessarily) extend these commentaries to include "9", "8", "7", "6", "5", "4", "3", "2", "1" etc.
 

Pioneer

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Sorry, that's not ever going to happen. The entire reason I wrote and released XRSound in the first place, and then sent the entire source code to Martin, Xyon, and Woo482, is because OrbiterSound did not work with Orbiter 2016 for years, and nobody had any way to port it. With XRSound, I can ensure that XR vessels will have working sound for all future Orbiter versions. In addition, if I get hit by a PSB ("Programmer-Seeking Bus"), Martin or someone else can take over XRSound maintenance and thus ensure that XRSound will continue to work with all future Orbiter versions and patches.

And in any case, there is always Face's XRSound-to-OrbiterSound bridge for users who want to use both XRSound and OrbiterSound simultaneously without switching.
Would it be a big hassle to include an "XR Vessels Only" option in the configuration of XR Sound so that I hear the callout and warning sounds while using Orbiter Sound for the rest? This way we can have the best of both worlds: sounds for the XR vessel callouts and the 3D external sounds and stuff for other vessels.
 

dbeachy1

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Would it be a big hassle to include an "XR Vessels Only" option in the configuration of XR Sound so that I hear the callout and warning sounds while using Orbiter Sound for the rest? This way we can have the best of both worlds: sounds for the XR vessel callouts and the 3D external sounds and stuff for other vessels.

That would not work, because OrbiterSound 5 would still play default sounds for XRSound-enabled vessels, still resulting in double sounds for default vessels sounds like thrusters, altitude callouts, etc.

But even if that was not the case, adding a setting like that would be unfair to other add-on vessel developers who use XRSound in their vessels, as it would result in a disincentive for users who would enable that 'XR Vessels Only' setting to download and use other XRSound-enabled vessels, because those users would not want to bother switching that config file setting each time they switched to/from other XRSound-enabled vessels (and this would be no easier to use than the current switching method of clicking checkboxes in the Orbiter module settings anyway). A better solution for people who want to use OrbiterSound 5.0 instead of XRSound for XRSound-enabled vessels would be for someone to develop a reverse version of Face's OrbiterSound-to-XRSound bridge, such that XRSound calls would be seamlessly routed to OrbiterSound 5.

EDIT:
On the other hand, XR Sound (unnecessarily) extend these commentaries to include "9", "8", "7", "6", "5", "4", "3", "2", "1" etc.

Don't forget that you can disable or replace any sounds you don't like simply by deleting or replacing the corresponding .wav file in your $ORBITER\XRSound\Default folder; e.g., C:\Orbiter\XRSound\Default\9.wav, C:\Orbiter\XRSound\Default\8.wav, etc. You can also enable/disable entire groups of sounds (altitude callouts, etc.) by editing your XRSound.cfg file.
 
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Abdullah Radwan

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A better solution for people who want to use OrbiterSound 5.0 instead of XRSound for XRSound-enabled vessels would be for someone to develop a reverse version of Face's OrbiterSound-to-XRSound bridge, such that XRSound calls would be seamlessly routed to OrbiterSound 5.
I think I can do this. You should see it coming out soon. But you still have to download XRSound and install the default sound set to have the sound themselves, shouldn't be too hard to do. Also, any vessel with more than 60 sounds won't have the sounds more than 60 played.
 

Sbb1413

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I still like Orbiter Sound for its 3D-ness, something that XR Sound don't have. However, as @Abdullah Radwan described, Orbiter Sound don't support more than 60 sounds in one vessel. How Arrow Freighter is cool with only 60 sounds? For vessels with more than 60 sounds, I support XR Sound.

I think the dev of XR Sound should add an MFD à la Orbiter Sound to change radio callouts, background musics etc. I am neutral on whether that MFD should be a separate add-on or a part of XR Sound.

I also like to add a T-5 to liftoff narration (T-10 to liftoff narration for Falcon add-ons) using stock XR Sound wave files.
 
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dbeachy1

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I think the dev of XR Sound should add an MFD à la Orbiter Sound to change radio callouts, background musics etc.

To be honest, I have zero interest in writing that since I already just copy all my desired radio callouts into the active ATC folder (and there is no limit to the number of callout files XRSound can play), and I do the same with music files. i.e., personally, I never need or want to change those settings in-flight, but that's just me. However, any Orbiter developer could easily write an XRSound MFD to do what you are suggesting and release that as an add-on; check out the SetDefaultSoundGroupFolder method in XRSound.h:

// Set the default subfolder path for a default sound group, relative to $ORBITER_ROOT.
// Not supported for module sounds.
// defaultSoundID: which default XRSound group to update (only DefaultSoundIDs that end in "Group" are valid for this call).
// pSubfolderPath: subfolder path relative to $ORBITER_ROOT; may not be NULL or empty.
// Returns true on success, false if defaultSoundID is not a valid default group sound ID, no default sounds loaded for the supplied defaultSoundID, or XRSound.dll not present.
virtual bool SetDefaultSoundGroupFolder(const DefaultSoundID defaultSoundID, const char *pSubfolderPath) = 0;

You can set the active folders for ATC callouts and music by passing the enum values RadioATCGroup or MusicFolder, respectively, as the defaultSoundID parameter in that call. Piece of cake! (y)
 

kuddel

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Hi @dbeachy1,
I've just ported a (simple demo) MFD to use XRSound (v2.0) instead of OrbiterSound (v4.0)[*] .... which was very easy! ?
I am just wondering if you might be able to include a "pitch"-changing feature (set the playback frequency) that OrbiterSound allows into XRSound as well?
Or is there a code-sample on how to achieve this...
@Face : Is your sound-bridge supporting this? How did you do it?

Thanks in advance,
Kuddel

[*] actually I can use both, whatever is installed ;)
 

dbeachy1

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I am just wondering if you might be able to include a "pitch"-changing feature (set the playback frequency) that OrbiterSound allows into XRSound as well?

Hmm, I'm not sure. The sound engine that XRSound uses, irrKlang Pro, supports changing a sound's playback speed, but I haven't tested if that also changes the sound's pitch. I already have a TODO item filed for XRSound version 2.1 to add a method to adjust playback speed for a sound, but I haven't started on that yet. :)
 

Face

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@Face : Is your sound-bridge supporting this? How did you do it?
The sound bridge is only forwarding calls to XRSound. Since XRSound does not offer a frequency parameter, it is simply ignored. Functions that do not do anything at all in the bridge just log (in the logging build of the DLL) and return false.
 

Face

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The sound engine that XRSound uses, irrKlang Pro, supports changing a sound's playback speed, but I haven't tested if that also changes the sound's pitch.
Why should it not? If the speed of a sound pattern is increased, it should increase all frequencies within it as well. I can't imagine what a sped-up pattern should sound like if the frequencies are not increased as well.
 

kuddel

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Thanks for the explanations!
@dbeachy1 : I think that the playback speed change feature is exactly what I like to use (I just called it "pitch change" as that's what happens when you change the playback-frequency in OrbiterSound). The irrKlang's ISound::setPlaybackSpeed seems to be exactly right ?

So, if the "change playback speed" feature is already on your TODO list for version 2.1, that's fine!
 

N_Molson

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Right now, I have XRSound installed on the O2016 I currently use. Why ? Because I installed O2016 a couple of years ago, and back then, OrbiterSound wasn't up to date. XRSound works and as one says, "if it works don't break it". ?

For my Energia 5 addon I'll probably need to dig into "advanced" functionalities, if it does what I need I'll stick with it. If I have to make "OrbiterSound" .dlls I'll do it too.
 

Sbb1413

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if it works don't break it

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it". This quote is widely shared. However, I believe its opposite because any unnoticeable error in software would lead to some unknown bugs and glitches in your computer.

SpaceX always tweak their vehicles even though they work flawlessly, because any imperfection would lead to some unknown failures. Two Falcon 9 boosters aren't exactly same.
 
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Abdullah Radwan

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Attached below is a test version of the XRSound to Orbiter Sound bridge. It's called SoundBridgeOS. Compiled against XRSound 2.0 and Orbiter Sound 5.0 with Orbiter 2016 SDK.

Would be great to get some feedback before release. Read the manual in the Doc folder.
 

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