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IMO we are not that far off the cockpit sounds currently. It’s the trackside sounds that need the most refinement judging by this video.
It’s also one thing to hear something through the TV and to compare it to our games, I imagine it’s totally another thing to be in a real V8 supercar and comparing those sounds to the games (and even TV).

the in cockpit sound in this video is missing all the low frequency, probably due to a cheap camera being used

Some titles fall a bit short but iRacing falls miles short! Not the right thing to do just because iRacing sound sucks big time you make it as if all other sims sound sucks as bad as iRacing Montoya this isn’t true there are some mods and sims out there pretty close to the real thing!

great graphics feels cartoonish when looked from trackside coz of the sound is not as realististic as the graphics.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XD0KG7ew084

soon, there is time :) there will be realistic sounds in sims:) wait for it:)

Hey, thanks for the article. I was wondering why my video views had gone through the roof! It was pointed out to me on another forum.

Forza series has nailed the sounds, the engine has the “roar” as no one, they are the beacon to seek.

Right on cue, negative post from SBK!

I don’t like that they add distortion to the recorded audio, but otherwise I agree that they do a great job. Part of the issue is people looking for the cars to sound like they do on TV or YouTube videos, which unless it’s a replay will be wrong.

Although not a sim I think Project Gotham 4 is even better.

This is why we’re all excited for Simbin’s development(s) ^_^

Which is why in car camera audio should not be the goal for sims. It should be what it actually sounds like, not how it sounds clipping through a crappy microphone.

It’s true that in almost all sims, sound is almost neglected at times. That, in my opinion, is in part due to the subjective nature of sound and in part due to the current technology’s inability to cope with the numerous variables comprising an engine sound. We might recognise a general tonality and such, but there’s aspects like intake, exhaust, pressure, ignition cycles, the lot, no two seconds of an engine sound are the same as the next two. The problem is, in order to achieve the perfect engine sound, developers might have to do away with looping samples altogether, and instead engineer an audio engine capable of generating frequencies from scratch based on the engine, intake, and exhaust variables.

All in all, great vid, great idea, and I must also say, a great feel for camera editing. With iRacing’s quite accurate saturation and all, a few of the trackside cam shots can make almost anyone take the bait. Very good work.

People should really stop thinking that youtube videos are a good representation of on board sounds! The microphones VERY rarely deal with the noise without distortion, and most cameras use compression so the low volume parts are amplified and the high volume parts are muted. Good sound is all about a realistic difference between idling in the pits and full blast acceleration or top speed. That sounds great even when the sound samples aren’t perfect. Most games sound like modern pop songs, everything is just as loud..

Agreed.

The problem with dynamic volume range is that it’s difficult to get it right with a limited number of samples for the whole range (usually 4 or 5 for on-throtle) but, perhaps, biggest culprit is inexistence of a volume multiplier for throtle/pedal pressing (there are only contrast multipliers, load smooth and scale parameters) on any sound-engine in exhistence, for any racing games out there (AFAIK).

That’s why there must be a trade-off with “balanced” volumes throughout the rev-range, otherwise it gets too silent in lower revs; i.e, the car would sound like bogging-down when revving up from low-revs and too peaky, when it should ‘bark’ even when stepping on the throtle at low-revs (as in reality).
Some sound-guys exaggerate and make it sound too flat though. Matter of fine-tune touches, I guess. :-)

To a point, but even with poor samples (I’m not a sound guy!) you can get a nice range going, if you ignore the quality of the sound and focus more on the dynamicness. When you set the initial part of that ‘video’ to be quite loud, it really blows you out of the seat when I floor it. :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsQddYzAPV0

rFactor has a throttle position based sound volume multiplier btw.

Yes and No.

You must be on about the parameters “playerEngineVolumeThrottleFraction” and “playerEngineVolumeRevFraction”.
The second is not anything else other than a volume fine adjuster for coasting sound; The first is another fine tuner adjuster that simply works as contrast enhancer for the throtle volume since low revs.
Another one is the “EngineLoadBlend”, which only serves as a contrast enhancer/smoother between acceleration/coasting sounds in relation to throtle command (pedal, twist, button).

What I’m mentioning is like a parameter for “punch” (think of volume booster, though not really inducing even more volume over what exhists in the samples already – would be counter producive), which depends and affects engine samples on how harsh you press the pedal. A separate parameter, without messing with already fine tuned samples and parameters.

If you noticed on a real motorcycle or car with race parts, the engine sound is more or less sensible (not just loud) depending on how you press/twist the throtle. It’s very noticeable if listening to professional recordings with separate mics/channels for exhaust and airbox. :-) That can’t be recreated through samples nor through the exhistent (and insufficient) parameters, be it Miles, FMOD or other known sound-engines in racing games, which ends up provoquing a gimnastique with side mechanics and solutions that don’t bode well and have to work as semi-placebos.

In addition, the ability of setting a volume depending on RPM (only NKPro has this) would assist on how you want to “characterize” certain aspects of car sounds that you wish to recreate. Never understood how most sims still overlook this.