Okay so High Quality Video has been covered, what about High Quality audio?

[Sensuki]

Are you guys going to consider doing a HQ sound pack for the music, character voices and environmental audio? Most games use fairly compressed audio files to my knowledge, would it be possible to also include the sound files in an uncompressed format, say as a download where you just paste them over the top of the uncompressed sound files?

 

http://docs.unity3d.com/Documentation/Manual/AudioFiles.html

 

Looking at this it seems possible I think since Unity supports uncompressed WAV.

Edited June 3, 2013 by Sensuki

[samm]

Why use wav in a game? Transparent lossy compression is good enough. However, yes, why not offer wav as additional download, would do no harm (except to internet traffic )

 

I was already afraid of reading some gibberish about 24bit/96kHz or something like that, so consider me pleasantly surprised by the lack of mention of said snakeoil.

[Frenetic Pony]

320kbps mp3 for everything, nigh lossless to human ears. I think that about covers it. I'd be more than willing to download a bit extra for that.

Edited June 3, 2013 by Frenetic Pony

[Bartimaeus]

CD quality (lossless) for at least the music, I would hope, (not necessarily for use with the game itself, but somewhere...like on a CD soundtrack release). I don't really keep music that doesn't come in such...(for reasons not related to listening quality)

Edited June 3, 2013 by Bartimaeus

[mstark]

320kbps mp3 for everything, nigh lossless to human ears. I think that about covers it. I'd be more than willing to download a bit extra for that.

I highly doubt they'll use MP3 compression, it's a very outdated format that's only surviving because it's become ubiquitous. If they're going with lossy compression I hope they'll use something else, possibly OGG Vorbis.

 

I'd also like to see a losslessly compressed 192/24 audio pack if there's an easy/cheap way of distributing it .

Edited June 4, 2013 by mstark

[Sensuki]

320kbps mp3 for everything, nigh lossless to human ears. I think that about covers it. I'd be more than willing to download a bit extra for that.

Not really, it really depends on the quality of the rip. Usually if I play a Redbook quality file and an mp3 there's an immediate difference. Dynamics and Impact are usually big giveaways.

 

I use a moderately decent setup compared to the average PC gamer

 

Creative Professional EMU 0404 > (couple of dedicated headphone amps, have 2 diff ones) > Sennheiser HD650s

Edited June 4, 2013 by Sensuki

[samm]

Yeah :D I've been so waiting for someone to post something like that quote below, so I could reply: 24/192 can even be considered *harmful*: at best it's no quality gain, at worst, it decreases audible quality. Simple physical reasons. Read http://xiph.org/~xiphmont/demo/neil-young.html
 

On the issue proprietary, licence fee ridden inferior codec mp3 vs. superior open source codecs we're on the same page however.

 

 

I'd also like to see a losslessly compressed 192/24 audio pack if there's an easy/cheap way of distributing it 

Edited June 4, 2013 by samm

[mstark]

 

Yeah :D I've been so waiting for someone to post something like that quote below, so I could reply: 24/192 can even be considered *harmful*: at best it's no quality gain, at worst, it decreases audible quality. Simple physical reasons. Read http://xiph.org/~xiphmont/demo/neil-young.html

Interesting! Thanks for linking the article.

[ravenshrike]

320kbps mp3 for everything, nigh lossless to human ears. I think that about covers it. I'd be more than willing to download a bit extra for that.

Anything above 160-192 VBR is nigh indistinguishible to the human ear. Unless you are intimately familiar with the track and using very high quality audio equipment, you would not be able to tell compressed from uncompressed, let alone the difference between 160 and 320.

[Sensuki]

I don't know about that statement lol.

 

Some audio gear is also a lot more revealing than others.

 

My Sennheiser HD650s tend to gloss over flaws and make everything sound generally pretty listenable.

 

on the other hand my previously owned Alessandro MS-Pros and my (unfortunately broken) Grado RS-1s were a lot more unforgiving of **** recordings.

I find the same with my Tube amp (Mapletree Audio Ear+) compared to my solid state amp (Dynahi), The Ear+ is more forgiving and the Dynahi is very detailed.

The average person generally doesn't tell the difference because they are not used to critically listening to audio.

 

It is generally fairly easy to tell the difference between a Redbook file and an mp3, but it might not be out of an iPod using stock iPod earbuds.

I also find telling the difference out of speakers a lot more difficult than headphones, but I use headphones 99% of the time for everything.

[samm]

Hm, regarding Unity Engine and sound playback quality: On both Expeditions: Conquistador and Endless Space, I do experience clicks / stutters / pops in the game's music and sound-effect playback, possibly during harddisk activities. Just something to please keep an eye on - no matter how high quality the sound files are, if they do not play smoothly, sound can ruin much.

[Sensuki]

Same here actually. I thought it was just my sound card because it has issues with some games.

Edited June 17, 2013 by Sensuki

[samm]

That's what I initially thought too, but then I installed Endless Space on my former HTPC, and it had the same issue on Realtek onboard audio it had had with my X-Fi on my main PC.

[Archmage Silver]

I think the argument for lossless audio in modern PC exclusive games is reasonable considering the fact that high-speed internet connections have become more common and large capacity storage solutions can be had for very little money.

[mkreku]

To anyone saying their delicate ears need 320Kbps sound or their ears will bleed..

 

I once made a sample of 10 songs on this very board, where some of the songs were 320Kbps and some were downgraded to 160Kbps and then upgraded back to 320Kbps (mp3 is lossy, so the songs were actually 160Kbps, but looked indistinguishable from the untouched 320Kbps songs). I then challenged all the self appointed audiophiles on this board to download the song pack and tell me which songs were 160Kbps and which songs were untouched. Noone managed.

 

Do I really need to do this again?

[Sensuki]

Yo I've got an idea, how about I get my FLAC copy of Eyehategod - Taken As Needed for Pain and then my mp3 copy and upload them and see if you can tell the difference ?

 

Do I really need to do this ?

[Mico Selva]

In the case of game sound, technical quality is secondary to content quality. I'd rather listen to good music in 128kbps mono MP3 than to poor music in FLAC.

[Archmage Silver]

In the case of game sound, technical quality is secondary to content quality. I'd rather listen to good music in 128kbps mono MP3 than to poor music in FLAC.

What's your point though? Regardless of what the quality is, the produced audio is lossless to begin with, it's not an added step. The added step is converting the lossless audio to a lossy format.

[Mico Selva]

My point is that I'd rather see resources committed to making better audio content than providing better audio quality.

Of course if better audio quality is generated at no additional cost, I'm all for it too.

Edited June 20, 2013 by Mico Selva

[Sensuki]

Resource pool dedicated to good music =/= Resource pool dedicated to good quality music files

 

It's probably even easier to provide HQ music files, because you just use the source redbook files rather than compressing them to OGG or whatever. Your argument is invalid.

[Bartimaeus]

To anyone saying their delicate ears need 320Kbps sound or their ears will bleed..

 

I once made a sample of 10 songs on this very board, where some of the songs were 320Kbps and some were downgraded to 160Kbps and then upgraded back to 320Kbps (mp3 is lossy, so the songs were actually 160Kbps, but looked indistinguishable from the untouched 320Kbps songs). I then challenged all the self appointed audiophiles on this board to download the song pack and tell me which songs were 160Kbps and which songs were untouched. Noone managed.

 

Do I really need to do this again?

For me, it's not about listening quality; it's about using a lossless data container. While I may not be able to hear the difference, I can definitely see it when examining the raw frequencies, (which, by the way, would easily show which of yours were upscaled and which ones weren't). I just don't...listen to music in lossy containers, (such as .mp3). Not entirely sure why. Probably an OCD thing. Doesn't really matter on the actual game for me, but having true .flacs SOMEWHERE, I think, is a necessity.

 

Also, .ogg vorbis is superior and free, so if we're using a lossy format, we should probably use that instead of .mp3 garbage.

Edited June 21, 2013 by Bartimaeus

[Sensuki]

Precisely. Lossless container for all sound files please. Hope you're reading this Justin Bell

Edited June 21, 2013 by Sensuki

[Sensuki]

I found some information on the audio crackling

 

http://forum.unity3d.com/threads/30534-Audio-Crackling-amp-Audio-Source-Volume-Adjustment

 

Hopefully Justin Bell has a read of this.

[alanschu]

 

To anyone saying their delicate ears need 320Kbps sound or their ears will bleed..

 

I once made a sample of 10 songs on this very board, where some of the songs were 320Kbps and some were downgraded to 160Kbps and then upgraded back to 320Kbps (mp3 is lossy, so the songs were actually 160Kbps, but looked indistinguishable from the untouched 320Kbps songs). I then challenged all the self appointed audiophiles on this board to download the song pack and tell me which songs were 160Kbps and which songs were untouched. Noone managed.

 

Do I really need to do this again?

For me, it's not about listening quality; it's about using a lossless data container. While I may not be able to hear the difference, I can definitely see it when examining the raw frequencies, (which, by the way, would easily show which of yours were upscaled and which ones weren't). I just don't...listen to music in lossy containers, (such as .mp3). Not entirely sure why. Probably an OCD thing. Doesn't really matter on the actual game for me, but having true .flacs SOMEWHERE, I think, is a necessity.

 

Also, .ogg vorbis is superior and free, so if we're using a lossy format, we should probably use that instead of .mp3 garbage.

 

 

Is it necessary to watch your audio?

[Bartimaeus]

 

 

To anyone saying their delicate ears need 320Kbps sound or their ears will bleed..

 

I once made a sample of 10 songs on this very board, where some of the songs were 320Kbps and some were downgraded to 160Kbps and then upgraded back to 320Kbps (mp3 is lossy, so the songs were actually 160Kbps, but looked indistinguishable from the untouched 320Kbps songs). I then challenged all the self appointed audiophiles on this board to download the song pack and tell me which songs were 160Kbps and which songs were untouched. Noone managed.

 

Do I really need to do this again?

For me, it's not about listening quality; it's about using a lossless data container. While I may not be able to hear the difference, I can definitely see it when examining the raw frequencies, (which, by the way, would easily show which of yours were upscaled and which ones weren't). I just don't...listen to music in lossy containers, (such as .mp3). Not entirely sure why. Probably an OCD thing. Doesn't really matter on the actual game for me, but having true .flacs SOMEWHERE, I think, is a necessity.

 

Also, .ogg vorbis is superior and free, so if we're using a lossy format, we should probably use that instead of .mp3 garbage.

 

 

Is it necessary to watch your audio?

 

No...but it is nice to know it's actually a relatively "whole" recording without having thousands of pitches in the upper human hearing frequency range cut off, (not to mention the "optimization" of the lower frequencies...).

Edited June 30, 2013 by Bartimaeus