Thanks to Jolly Roger Two for your observation on engine volume. I've uploaded a new engine sound (enrafexl.wav) which hopefully is a bit better for open canopy takeoff although it's not yet how I would like it ideally (still learning!), especially at higher speeds. I've also updated my gun sound and added a quieter wind howl sound.

BoB2 RAF Sound Mod

Installation notes are included in the zip file.

Folks,

Boreas:

Thanks old man. Duly downloaded; soon to be installed.

What programs do you use in your work? I have Cakewalk Pro, Sound Forge and Reaper.

I use Pazera Free Audio Extractor to extract sounds from video and Wavesaur to trim and loop. I still also use Audio Cleaning Lab 2004 which has many good mastering tools but more often now I rely on Cakewalk's Sonar Home Studio 7 (I had version 3 previously) for both mixing and mastering (Para-Q and Boost11 are often useful). Just recently I've eked out a bit more volume by putting identical sounds fractionally out of sync to gain a sort of constructive phase effect.

Hope all or some of the sounds will be of use.

Folks,

Boreas:

I do not have Pazera; I use Format Factory for converting and the other programs I mentioned. My version of Cakewalk Pro is a bit long in the tooth now but I'm finding that Reaper has a load of features and accepts most filters.

I downloaded the latest version of Jonesoft Generic Mod Enabler and installed the sound files.

I flew a quick dogfight mission over Biggin. The sounds I heard are great. Would you have an enhanced version of enrafinl.wav? The one I have is a good mod that improved over the default in cockpit engine sound so it may be yours.

Hi Jolly Rodger Two

It’s likely just that the sound engine is fussy about engine sounds and only works with wave files saved at 22050 Hz ideally in stereo for in-cockpit sounds and mono for external sounds. Hope this helps. I’ll have another think if not. I haven’t been able to get close to improving on the stock enrafinl. I’ve lacked a good enough source sound and probably the necessary skill so I've looked at other areas. Sorry for being a bit dense initially!

Folks,

Boreas:

Thanks. I was thinking 44100Hz so you have helped a lot there.

I realize that your mod engine sounds are for exterior views. What I want to do now is modify the inside engine sounds. I believe they are enrafinh.wav and enrafinl.wav both located in the sampleHi folder.

My files are someone else's mods and not the default. The slow or cruise engine sounds are great. However I want the full throttle sound to be a faster rev. To me when I push the throttle all the way through the emergency tape the engine still sounds as if it is in cruise.

I have tried increasing tempo or modifying pitch in each of these files separately but no joy. Any suggestions?

Unfortunately I've not done any testing to get an idea what might be going on but the sound engine seems to like some sounds better than others and to do a bit more than adjust the volumes of the two sounds depending on rpm. If pitch or volume alone aren't the answer then in the absence of any coders notes maybe test sounds based on the stock sound and maybe with real time changes in pitch and EQ at various frequencies might smoke out what the sound engine doesn’t (or maybe does) like. In high speed dives even the stock enrafinl seems to get overcooked and fade out although it’s not very noticeable (maybe the code increases enrafinh from a minimum volume limit to compensate or maybe things just get quieter). I’ll probably have a further dabble at some stage now I’ve thought about it a bit more. More high rev growl would be nice though so best of luck.

Folks,

Boreas:

I'll keep plugging away at it doing some tweaking of those 2 files. So far any changes I've made to either file that sounded OK in the audio program sounded terrible in the game. I cannot quite get my head around what the game sound engine is doing with the files. It seems to be taking the two files and somehow blending them as you increase or decrease the throttle. Yet neither top end nor bottom end in the game sounds exactly like the files in question sound played by themselves in an audio program.

Fortunately I can live with the in cockpit sounds as they are and enjoy the game plenty. I could even go back to the default sounds and do that too. I just enjoy fiddling with this stuff. What you have done with all the other sounds is so good it limits the scope of any changes I might be able to make beyond the interior sounds.

I wish the coders had not seen fit to use any sounds for both the Luftwaffe and the RAF. That makes it a bit tricky for those who, like me, wish to mod the RAF sounds and then fly for both sides.

Jolly Roger Two

My collection of sounds was fairly easy to put together. Finding the sounds and modding them is interesting especially as the sound quality available is increasing. I haven’t been very scientific about the engine sounds though. Maybe the ideal approach is to assume that basically the sound engine is just mixing and altering the volume and pitch of enrafinl and enrafinh depending on rpm and with no involvement in how the two sounds are synchronised (that would seem processor intensive) based on an assumed initial rpm for each unprocessed sample. Unexpectedly poor results could be due to destructive phasing problems between the two sounds that might be solved with phasing tools in DAWs or just slightly altering where one of the sound clips starts. My guess is that for enrafinl the sound engine assumes the sample is recorded at 3000rpm (max level flight) and for enrafinh about 1800 rpm or half way between idle (about 1000rpm) and cruise (about 2600rpm). But the ear is the best gauge and might prove that wrong.

Folks,

Boreas:

This reminds me of cutting a long wire antenna for radio work. I agree with you there may be some harmonic distortion or canceling or something like that going on. Starting one sound later or earlier would indeed put them out of phase. I'm sure there is a VST or Reaper filter I can use for tweaking the phasing. And it may simply be a difference in personal preference or even a difference in sound systems. No one else is complaining about the in cockpit engine sounds so it may just be me. I use headphones almost exclusively now. I had a problem with my sub-woofer for a bit and my phones are connected to the computer through that. It gives me more bass that way.

I had a bad pot on the sub-woofer so I decided to get another from Radio Shack and replace it. When I broke open the box to replace the control everything was jammed in there so tight I decided not to try. I remembered an old trick for resurrecting scratchy, worn pots. You place a tiny drop of light oil (WD40, or Miracle Mystery Oil) into the case with a toothpick or in my case a precision needle applicator. Work the pot from one stop to the other several times and wait an hour or so. It worked for me like a charm and now that volume control is working perfectly again.

Disclaimer: I do not recommend that those who do not know their way around inside electrical appliances try this at home. A tiny drop is all you need and there might be a shock or fire hazard so take great care.