[simpits-tech] intercom

[Matt Bailey]

Yeah I agree........I also think a large portion of sound in an airplane
is felt more than heard (never been in a helo).

That said, stereo effect can add greatly to the immersion IMO,
especially on a relatively decent audio system (i.e. something better
than the el cheapo speakers that come with most pre-fab PCs). However, I
don't know if it would be worth it to rig the intercom for stereo.......

I have a pair of old Realistic headphones I use when people in the house
are trying to sleep........music usually sounds ok, but to me, without
all the rumble and shaking floorboards, simulator sounds just aren't
nearly as good as on "normal" speakers. Personally, I think the better
solution is to have just voice output (and possibly backround "fuzz" to
simulate scratchy radios or "humms" or whatever) on the headset, and run
the engine and systems audio through an external setup, with the volume
cranked way up. This way you get clear, in-your-ear voice comm, and
bone-jarring engine noise that's realistically muffled by the headset.

I have a run-of-the-mill stereo system hooked up to my PC and with the
volume cranked and some good simulator sounds, it's pretty cool. :)
Basically, just make it like it is in the real thing.........everything
that would normally go through the headset (voice, nav audio, etc) goes
through the headest on the PC, and everything else goes through the main
audio system. The voic part is a simple task with two sound cards. Sound
cards are cheap these days (you don't need anything fancy for voice) and
if you have one of the many motherboards with onboard sound, it's even
more convenient. RogerWilco and all other voice comms I've tried allow
you to set what audio device to use, for both input and output. To get
nav audio and other headset-only sounds right, you'd need to have some
external software that plays the files on whatever audio device you
select. Alternatively, if you're on a multiple-machine setup (as many
sims are), you can have one machine playing headset sounds and the other
playing external sounds. With X-Plane for instance, each machine has its
own copy of X-Plane, complete with data files etc, including sound
files. You could have all the external sounds on one copy just be blank,
on another machine you could have normal external sounds but make all
the voice and avionics wav's blank (you'd plug your headset into the
former machine, and run an external system on the latter). For MSFS
using WideView or whatever, you might be able to rig something up with
FSUIPC without resorting to custom software.

	-Matt Bailey

Fred Mahone wrote:
> 
> This intercom was designed by someone else and I am just adding bells and
> whistles.
> 
> It does have connections to the computer both in and out. I guess the in is
> for simming over the Internet with friends. In its original configuration,
> it uses standard computer headsets. My job, should I decide to accept it,
> is to make it compatible with civilian and
> military impedances. Of course, unless you have stereo headset conversion
> of you headset, you will not get the spatial effect (gee,
> I LIKE those fancy words!). This could be synthesized, but I do not have
> that much smarts. Besides, my helicopter headset reduces
> noise by 24db which cuts almost everything out but transmission gear whine
> and rotor beat on a steep curve and in hover.
> 
> How much is the stereo effect needed? When I have flown it seems like the
> seat of the pants feeling of flaps movement, landing
> gear and such is felt more that heard.
> 
> Fred Mahone