Ventrilo - Volume Normalization

[twchad]

Hey guys, I'm new here but thought I would share this bit of info. I did a forum search for "ventrilo" to see if this had been posted yet. I've used it for years in my FPS gaming group, and when you're in a channel with 10+ users, differentiating volume levels can get quite annoying. So, without further ado,:
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Vent Normalization makes everyones voice the exact same volume.
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Here's how:

- Go to Setup

- Enable Direct Sound

- Select the SFX Button

- Select Compressor and click Add.

- Under Compressor Properties use the following settings

- Gain = Adjust for how loud you want people to be. (I use 10)

- Attack = 0.01

- Release = Around 498

- Threshold = Around -20

- Ratio = 89

- Pre delay = 4.0
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Gain
How much volume you feed into the compressor. Not really relevant unless everyone is too quiet, then you can turn this up a little; turning it up too much will sound EXTREMELY *%*%ty.

Attack
How fast volume change will happen. example: setting this to 500 means that any-
thing coming in will only be dropped in volume after a half a second. for vent this should
be set as low as possible.

Release
how fast the compressor stops changing things. not really that relevant with vent, setting it around 500 is good for voice material.

Threshold
This sets the point where we actually start changing what's coming in. Whereas 0 is the absolute loudest you can have for an input, -60 is super quiet. Average users will probably come in somewhere around -25 to -15, with the occaisional few being really quiet, which is why I have this set so low.

Ratio
How much any sound below the set threshold gets compressed and/or modified in the volume department.
If you still want to hear SOME volume variation then set this lower (2-4)... the higher you set it the closer in volume everyone will be.

Pre delay
Mostly just deals with processing; with computer and digital processors they can look ahead a few milliseconds to see what needs to be dropped in volume or changed before it actually comes through the speakers. Highest is ideal.

[Blaxman]

Hey Chad....


thanks for the valuable info!!


I have one problem that maybe you or any other folk can help me. Ventrillo works fine for me while Heat is not fired up. Once I start the game, I cant hear a thing.... the volume of the other person in the channel gets real low.

I have no clue on what could be causing this.

Anyone has some hints??

.

[twchad]

In your options.cfg file I belive, you should have this line set to yes in the [SOUND] section, so as to activate the mic/headset functionality while in game.


compatibility_mode yes


That has always worked for me and my guys, when racing and chatting on ventrilo.

Hope it works for you buddy.

[Mustangman]

correct chad its in options cfg, gonna try this out later thanks