Compression is used in other competitive shooters as well, CSGO audio compression has been a thing for a long time, it’s mainly used to protect your ears by creating a baseline level of noise
Exactly! I have some hearing loss issues from drumming for years and I don’t want to make it worse while playing Tarkov and having my audio cranked to hear footsteps but the shots make my ears bleed. Sorry I want to play games and try to salvage what little of my hearing I have left
@@swantonbomb9081 That's kind of the point. Have you ever shot a gun in real life? Normal people wear ear protection because they're loud. If you're pumping audio to "hear footsteps better," the price to pay is your GUNS ARE GOING TO BE LOUDER. If you're compressing this range of frequency down, you're violating ToS because at the point you are "giving yourself an advantage over others." It's cheating and this guy is using everything he can think of to make excuses so he can sleep at night while he's taking people's money on Twitch all day.
@@Jonny_Z Obvious troll. I bet you've already place an order on Amazon through an affiliate link to get your Mackie mixer lol. Let's try it another way... imagine if there were sliders in game to turn UP enemy footsteps and TURN DOWN all other sound.
I use SoundLock for a very long time now due to my Tinnitus. It's really nice to see that people start to care more about this stuff in general. Thanks for making this video!
That is a great idea - I was one of the few that actually used my cans on active duty, and have luckily dodged the dreaded night time mosquito in the ear, but still worry when playing videogames where audio is alpha and omega.
I love the way you lay out your arguments. Data, testing, proof, and facts. It's upsetting to me that it won't change some people's minds, but that's just where we are as humans. Thanks for putting in so much effort. You're doing awesome work. Keep it up please!
It's not that it won't change people's minds it's just not explaining why people think it's actually cheating because you can crank the sound up and won't blow your ear drums so being able to hear the quiet stuff easier. Thats why people dislike it I just feel like everyone should just use it because of just saving everyone's hearing then everyone's also on the same playing field I'm all for it as I'm pretty much deaf already
@@David-mg5jx /vomit. Facts are things that are indisputable. Lol. If you need more definition, I'm not your guy. Lol. Sound compression aint cheating.
My suggestion for Sound Locker is to do "Filter Master" under filter mode. For me, changing it to just channels, it was causing issues in locating the source of sounds, and left side gunshots sounded like they were coming from the right.
Thanks for cheats man, just starting playing and have never got a pmc kill, as soon as i used ur cheats i got 8 pmc kills in customs (could hear them thro walls) and then went to labs and got 4 more pmc
I've got my equalizer & compressor set to "bush camper." It will pick up other things but especially the air passing through an empty bush as opposed to a camper bush.
Thanks for putting this out there. I installed sound lock and ran a few raids and it was a huge difference . Not bleeding from the ears after left mouse clicks was nice!
@@Ryzen5900x it’s not about making it easier. I have like 1k hours in EFT and this is the first set up I’ve had that “equalizes” the volumes. I can’t feel any positive effect other than that.
@@Ryzen5900x lmao it literally makes nothing easier all it does it make super loud sounds like gunfire or glass breaking not be an ear rape. Jesus didn’t even watch the video or educate yourself before u speak
Also extreme example of whats possible can be found here. Raw gameplay in offline mode, tweaking mid video. You might be interested: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-3Q-7-kVVzc4.html
This is the first time in my life where when trying to see what you can get away with the mindset was "well its never mentioned so it must be wrong" vs "well, they didnt bother to mention it so its clearly okay with them for us to do" this is in reference to the tos stuff.
Your analogy of audio vs visuals explaining how people view compression as an alien was insanely funny Also, a general rule of thumb for tarkov with the best outcome would be: untill Nikita expressively states something is off limits, it is fair ground
Never heard of audio compression until it was raining in raid and told my buddy wish there was a way to limit the highs so I’m not going deaf he showed me he compression software more salty that I didn’t know about it than that he was using it.
Oh boy that blows my mind people could say that audio compression of all things, would be considered cheating. But most people don’t know anything about digital audio or analog audio in general. So I guess it’s not too surprising. But people will say any sentence under the sun if it means they are in control lol. Great video Onepeg.
Youre thinking more along the lines of people saying audio compression is hacking which its obviously not. Audio compression does however give you a massive advantage over people who just have default audio as you can hear their movements much further than they can hear you. For a game like tarkov, where audio is so important, it does give a very unfair advantage so people saying its cheating arent completely wrong. (i use audio comp just fyi)
@@Cathal-zb4lu Not necessarily true. Lots of people play games at extremely loud volumes for that "competitive edge". The only advantage compression gives is not going deaf.
I feel like talking so long about the cheating thing is almost like feeding the trolls. These are the same people who say human eyes can't see more than 25fps.
loved all the arguments as to why compression is cheating and we should be facing capital punishment for completely reverse engineering the entire game. hacking into the mainframe and back tracking all the players IP so we can tap into their microphones and listen to their footsteps around their home.
I remember reading that this shit existed like so long ago and I really wanted to set it up so I didn't blow my fucked up ear drums out playing this game. Thank you, Peggy for making this guide. This makes my life so much easier. I wish they did this shit in game, because the in-game headsets like the Comtacs DO do this so that you can still hear other people talk when you go shooting without blowing an ear drum out. Seriously though, thank you.
Just to spite everyone claiming using audio compression as to be cheating, I'm NOW going to use a compressor when playing Tarkov, once again great vid Onepeg
I tried this out today it’s great. actually more of a public health awareness issue like you said. and I thank you very much for this. I was in the military and already have some hearing damage but I was not paying attention to further damage. Thank you sincerely!
thank you for the information, i got a tinnitus on both ears 5years now (26years old) and i really felt that my tinnitus was influenced by the loudness of the game, 3minutes reserve alarm or shooting a weapon without headset on really hurted my ears.
i feel like the people who say that audio compression is cheating are the same people who said that post-fx is cheating too. I'm sorry if I don't want to aggravate my tinnitus any further by limiting how loud gunshots are in the games. /s
Holy shit, just tried the windows 10 one since Nahimic doesn't work for me and I love how quiet the gun fire is now. The gun fire before especially with the gssh would actually kinda hurt. Especially when crossing the metal boat on scav island on shoreline.
As part of the ToS, BSG should also publish a list of allowed monitors. Surely someone on a 32" ultra wide would have a large advantage over someone on a 19" CRT. :p
@@JSlizzo you are right, the audio compression software is free and more buttons on a mouse costs money. So audio compression is fair while a 3+ buttoned mouse is not
There is definitely going to be someone thats going to be salty about being proven wrong and still is going to try to argue their point until they are "Right"
I personally feel the visual analogy would have been closer to reducing the saturation or the something equivalent to reducing the range of visible ligh. The increasing brightness would not convey the aspect of "compressing higher volumes" as it sounds like the brightness analogy it wouldn't be too different from just blasting the sound.
Should i be using both the Loudness Equalization checkbox in windows 10 together with Sound Lock. Or do I not need sound lock at all if i have already aplied the checkbox in my windows settings?
Very interesting that some people would think an organization most publish guidance on all the things that are NOT cheating in order to clarify bannable offenses. The list of things that ARE cheating is probably a shorter list. Ipso facto, if audio compression is not listed as a bannable offense then it is allowed.
Bsg hasn’t explicitly said discord or nvidia is ok but they use it openly so it’s the same as them endorsing is to a point, therefore bsg allowed, same thing could be used against them if they were using some website or app that isn’t good for reputation, they don’t use any game altering settings from other partys so that’s the cheating part, if you have to download something else that’s not accessible from in game settings, therefore not even for everyone and easier
i use the roughrider plugin for equalizer APO, it basically prevents sound from going past a certain level and my ears love it. i used to get jumpscared by gunshots even off in the distance. the baseline sound isnt much louder than before because if it was i would go deaf. if anyone says its cheating they have 2 digit IQ
If people think that audio compression is cheating in a game like these, boy are they gonna hate when they find out about 21:9 or 32:9 ultrawide monitors and how much more peripheral vision they give. Or in my case, I can have lower FoV to have bigger targets on screen while still having slightly more peripheral vision than standard 16:9 monitor. But boy I love the immersion UW gives in FPS games.
Excellent video. Love the explanation, tone and tutorial. Downloaded soundlock, gonna give it a try. I have a serious problem with loud, sudden sounds making me jump. I love Tarkov, but the fear of getting jump scares all the time is making me play less and less. This compression-thing might just cure me losing my shit everytime I get shot at.
@@trippie_fabio3181 I have clocked in about 1300 hours in game. This is not going away. I'm getting it in other games I have played for years as well. Might be medication or stress or whatever. It's getting worse, but making the shooting a bit less loud helps a bit. I still jump like an ass just from people sitting behind corners, but, no sound app can help me there :P
Yeah, I'm the same way. I don't get "jump scared" as much as I used to, and it's kinda comical when I see this happen to big name streamers or long time players. But reality is, I play with the volume a lot lower than what I probably should, just for this very reason. It's that loud THUNK whenever you get randomly headshot that is just loud af. And in Tarkov, this is going to happen. A lot. I just want to turn down the max level loud sudden noises. Is that basically what soundlock does? I don't care about rain, quite steps, or random gunfire. It's that damn sudden thunk or the crack of a mosin nearby that is just irritating.
compression isn't cheating, it's protecting your damn ears in a game where if you don't have your audio cranked up to unhealthy levels you're at a disadvantage. I'm fairly new but this has been my observation so far as an audio engineer. I've been using an elysia alpha compressor on it's negative settings in tarkov and it's been a life saver.
Compression only really makes the audio louder, like you say across the board, however it affects the lower frequencies more due to the nature of human hearing. We are worse at detecting lower frequencies than mid range frequencies. Compression helps with hearing footsteps for example , since it just makes it louder, but it wont help with directional information. I don't think compression really is cheating any more than adjusting your screen settings would be. If you wanted to cheat by manipulating the audio, you would have to go further than using a compressor.
I spend alot of time producing beats so my hearing is already kind of f'ed, I had just downloaded soundlock a few days before you started talking about it cause I saw something on the subreddit. Highly recommended. Anyone who says this is cheating is a straight up troll
Thanks for the vid. I was honestly was expecting more in-depth compressors using like Equalizer APO and VST plug-ins. Do you think these on/off style compressors really offer enough customization to meet the needs of everyone’s ears? Honest question.
I'm actually just using earplugs, with my normal volume level in-game (max). Something I'm used to at work is lots of noise. I've been performing pretty well, been trying out two different sets so far. I thought it might have hindered my gameplay, but it actually hasn't.
I loaded into a raid once and there was no ambient sound. No wind or rain. Jus bushes and footsteps. When people think of compression they think that is what's happening.
*UPDATE* i have sent in the compression software layed out in this video to bsg along with others and they have replied to me stating that it is 3rd party software and against the rules to use the software in this video i cannot share reports as i dont want to get banned however when the support ticket is closed i will be able to share. dont get banned because some noob cant hear guys
when I built my PC I bought Razer Blackshark headset and it came with reazer synapse and Razer Surround Pro Razer Surround Pro was boosting my in game audio to have a better surround sound and I was actually hearing better when in game, all the footsteps, all the far away shootings and sound, everything
Thanks for vid! Used SoundLock to save my ears from loud gunshots without messing with any other sounds (well, from my understanding) Also, can I ask, what earcups you use with your ATH?
Dude, forget about audio banana or hardware compressors, get Equalizer APO along with a VST plugin compressor(Klanghelm is the best, has a free version called MJUC Jr.), and that's it, you add the compressor to the Equalizer APO configuration.
People saying its cheating, don't understand audio or how it works. i know plenty of guys that will run audio compression at all times, not just for gaming. Most audio interfaces come with software that have a compression function built in. If you don't use that software, you can't hear or use that interface. Its the same for people that have to run PCIE sound cards to get audio, are we just gunna say "hey sorry your pc doesnt have audio without this but you cant use it because its cheating"? It's not cheating. Never has been, never will be.
Depends on your budget. $150-250 audio technica M50x or beyerdynamic dt990. If you wanna go spendy, look at 64Audio and use “Onepeg” with the capital O and you’ll get 10% off
Devs just need to make the game look and sound clear and it wont be a problem. People dont feel the need to modify if the same doesn't suffer in those areas. There is a difference between using cheats and just trying to create clarity.
I was watching veritases stream yesterday and he was saying how u would make a video on this lol, he just kept going on about how u dont need a compressor and that u need a limiter. Watched his stream for about an hour, he complained for about 57 mins the other 3 mins was him not talking
but he is right isnt he? a limiter would do the exact same thing the compression does (in regard to loud sounds) but would not change anything on the quiet sound, or am i mistaken here?
discord and. msi aftrburner do not modify the game files to make the game easier... your sound compression program does change the sound files. tarkov has allowed nvidia control pannel stuff and graphics buffering stuff.. getting a program to boost foosteps is literally an unfair advantage and an auxiliary program. whats hard to understand here??
Lets talk about tarkov sound in general, I cant hear if someone is above or below me. My friends knows and have to give me info about it, and it makes it impossible to play solo. I have a G PRO X WIRED headset with 7.1 surround DTS:X V.2. Should I have DTS:X disabled or 7.1 disabled, or even both disabled. I've heard people talk about surround sound not being supported and it just makes the game audio a mess, but then some say there is support with steam audio. Pls help, I cant stand this game sometimes, even putting hours into thing like this never seems to get the problem solved!
the way my headphones work and my eq i cant set it up very well. if i try changing anything the game sounds horrible and i cant hear footsteps and just get blaster by gun fire. despite this really good video
I still don't understand why people think something like this is cheating, especially for people (like me) who don't have g a m e r h e a d p h o n e s that are specifically EQed to bring out sounds like foot steps and whatnot. You're not hearing things from a farther distance than you normally would, like extending the distance threshold at which sounds begin to play. The sound is technically audible in some capacity, you're just crushing the dynamic range. If you really didn't care about your hearing you could just crank the game's volume and hear those same sounds, and the headsets in the game ALREADY DO THIS while also blocking out environmental noise. Sure you're slightly undercutting the usefulness of a headset, but, at least in my experience, it still doesn't even remotely compare. As far as I'm concerned, this is just allowing me to hear things that other people would without playing at ear damagingly loud volumes.
The simple fact that people think that by being able to simply turn up your volume without having to explode your ears is "cheating" just shows you they didn't bother the understand how it's working or what it does, lol. You still hear all the other ambient noises louder too...
Me and buddies used a compressor in Tarkov for the first time last night and holy smokes is it broken…you can hear people from 50m away like they are 10m away…hope the ad revenue was worth people not wanting to move around as much moving forward lol
Great arguments. Great video. Unfortunately the software solutions are not available to me apart from sound lock which I dislike because it kicks in so late and you get these weird sound spikes. Voiceemeter would be great but I understand your concerns why you’re not doing it :)
It's funny tho what do people think the in game headseets do??? pretty much compress sound in different ways that's why different headsets sound differently and do different things so technically someone in game using a better pair of headphones would have an advantage over someone who uses a crappy pair or none at all
You know it’s ok to not be so judgmental, yeah? Don’t watch it. That’s way less offensive than whatever you think you’re pulling off by being a jackass in my comments
@@Onepeg It must really be hard for you when you take every comment like this, like everyone is after your head. Remember, this negativity is coming from you so dont wonder why other people you interact with on the internet return that favor. Only you can stop the loop.