Current Live Stream audio feedback

[Zok.4956]

20 hours ago, Ashantara.8731 said:

Fun aside, the audio is plain terrible, regardless of whether you have a sensitive hearing. Certainly not fit for a professional live stream.

I watched the beginning with the opening statements in the Twitch recording https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2214041991 (or better: I listened to it on good speakers): Richie was very loud and distorted due to clipping and/or compression, Sarah was quite quiet in relation to him and difficult to understand, and Joel's volume fluctuated. But you could also hear that the volumes were adjusted and it got better later. Apart from the fact that Sarah's volume was very quiet at the beginning, her audio quality was very good and the best of the three.

If this were a Zoom meeting or a Discord voice chat I would have told Richie to turn down his microphone sensitivity or that he might have a defective microphone. However, this was not good audio quality for a professional stream.

 

1 hour ago, Ultramex.1506 said:

So when are we gonna talk about the contents?

Yes, that would be good. Is there perhaps a "TLDR" (more precisely, a "TLDL")? 

 

Edited August 3 by Zok.4956

[Ashantara.8731]

13 minutes ago, Zok.4956 said:

> So when are we gonna talk about the contents?

Yes, that would be good. Is there perhaps a "TLDR" (more precisely, a "TLDL")?

I would love to, but I just couldn't keep watching (or rather listening). I tried again today, but the distortion and volume issues were unbearable for my sensitive hearing. (Hence this thread.)

A shame, I was looking forward to all the information. Now I will have to wait till August 20th.

[Agrotera.1254]

2 hours ago, Ashantara.8731 said:

And it is not inappropriate to damage your audience's hearing?

I had no problem with the sound. Did you stop to consider that maybe the problem was at your end, not theirs?

[Agrotera.1254]

I thought that this topic was supposed to be discussing the information that we got from the livestream. Instead all that I see is a discussion of whether or not the audio was good? Can we please put the audio topic to bed and get to the actual topic?   🙁

[Ashantara.8731]

5 hours ago, Agrotera.1254 said:

I had no problem with the sound. Did you stop to consider that maybe the problem was at your end, not theirs?

My hypersensitive hearing is a "problem"? 😂 And if you were referring to my audio settings: Sure, that's why everything else doesn't distort/overdrive/whatever-the-correct-term-is, hence does not hurt my ears. I'm a musician and have really good hardware (sound card, sound boxes), which is well calibrated. The problem certainly wasn't on my end, unless you do count my sensitive hearing as a problem.

Edit: I clarified the thread's title for you. 😉 

Edited August 3 by Ashantara.8731

[Batel.9206]

24 minutes ago, Ashantara.8731 said:

My hypersensitive hearing is a "problem"? 😂

Yes, it's probably your own audio setup that's the issue. Sorry you had problems with it. Seems some did, some didn't. 🤷‍♀️ That likely points to the users' individual audio being the problem; if it was something on the developers' end, everyone would have had a problem with it. [edit: Ah, you edited your post while I was typing to address the audio setup. Not sure what else to say, then, but still - considering that not everyone had problems with it, whatever issues are likely on the users' end, not the devs.]

(By the way, I have hypersensitive hearing, too. Actually had it tested once when I was a kid...my hearing abilities literally went off the charts. The technician advised that I should be fitted for permanent earplugs - I chose not to do that, but the point remains that a doctor actually said "you should consider permanently muffling your own hearing because it's just that painfully sensitive." Still have issues with audio sensitivity to this day...and I thought this livestream was fine.)

Edited August 3 by Batel.9206

[Ashantara.8731]

7 hours ago, Batel.9206 said:

Yes, it's probably your own audio setup that's the issue.

Read my full last post. It is not.

I find it quite impertinent how people always insist to "know" the "real" cause of a problem, just because they cannot relate. My audio hardware and settings are perfect, and it is not my fault that my hearing is very sensitive and reacts stronger to unpleasant noises than yours.

When I visit a location with extremely loud music, my ears ring for many hours until I can hear normally again (which is why I avoid those places; at rock concerts, I often need to use ear plugs to hear the music at normal level). When the subway passes through a tunnel and the windows are open, I need to put my fingers in my ears or else the noise will blow my eardrums.

Therefore, you can trust me when I say that yesterday's audio quality was not only absolutely amateurish but also painful to listen to for people with sensitive hearing.

Edited August 4 by Ashantara.8731

[MysticalGoddess.8637]

7 hours ago, Ashantara.8731 said:

I would love to, but I just couldn't keep watching (or rather listening). I tried again today, but the distortion and volume issues were unbearable for my sensitive hearing. (Hence this thread.)

A shame, I was looking forward to all the information. Now I will have to wait till August 20th.

Watch Mukluk on youtube, he does his best to tweak the audio, as he can, and he and his chat agree the audio is bad so it's not just us ❤️ 

To everyone else I wasn't being rude when I talked about the audio, I didn't call them horrible or bad like some of you are calling us. It was just an observation, and YES it hurt my ears, and I am allowed to say it hurt my ears without it being an attack on them!

 

Other than That I am stupid excited for the expansion, I can't wait ❤️

Edited August 3 by MysticalGoddess.8637

[Ashantara.8731]

16 hours ago, MysticalGoddess.8637 said:

Watch Mukluk on youtube, he does his best to tweak the audio, as he can, and he and his chat agree the audio is bad so it's not just us ❤️ 

Thank you for the pointer! I will definitely go check his video out. 🙂 

Edit - Even Mukluk couldn't bear to suffer through the original stream's audio:

 

Edited August 4 by Ashantara.8731

[Flowersunshine.7385]

I was watching on my phone in the middle of the night trying to not wake my boyfriend up with it. I kept pressing my sound buttons: up, no down again. Wait, can't hear, up again. kitten now it's too loud, better lower it again. Up down up down up down. I will not try listening to this with headphones, that would be too close to my eardrums to take the risk.

[Tearthy Flame.1463]

I think this topic derailed but I'm wanting to express my Audio discomfort with the Homestead Live Stream as well.
Sound Cards, Audio Drivers, even down to the tuned-equalizer, Audio is complicated; the most complex audio becomes is with THX and Dolby Atmos (Audio mixing for Movies), you need far better audio equipment and power to run complicated surround systems.

At the base level, Computers and Cell Phones will have a generalized sound stage with modern hardware, Audio becomes more complicated when you invest in complex equipment not necessarily higher priced headphones. It's not unusual to encounter poor quality speakers. Apple's products, at a consumer level, have a higher standard of Audio clarity than other brands. However, the audio in the Homestead Stream is unbearable to listen to- improperly balanced and one person is peaking their audio 100% into the red, meaning the microphone is being overblown beyond its capacity and not limited by any audio software. Headphones with build-in-mic's normally don't have good quality in the lower price range because it's a E-Waste product.

Now, pick any screaming video from the 2000's, the microphone is always being blown out and compressed, even sounds like it's being eaten. That's not going to sound good on any system it will either annoy or hurt someone(s) ears. That's basically this Live Stream Anet did on Aug 2nd 2024, fundamentally the audio has a completely horrendous quality for this year.

I know ArenaNet has been fairly consistent with their Audio Quality and fixes in their Live Streams, yet everything went terribly wrong with this one- I wish they ended the stream and came back another day with Audio Fixes 'cause I cannot listen and other people feel the same way. If this happens again you must put a full stop to the Stream otherwise you've put out a unwatchable product, again.

My only solution for this problem is a Anet blog post or a User post with bullet point lists of Homestead features- I would greatly appreciate reading about it with some pictures or other.

Now why did I explain some basics of Audio? Well, we're not talking about listening to an older Guitar AMP that will have a unique sound profile that the Guitarist really loves- as if a Unicorn. In this day and age we're listening to a average standard of Audio Quality, it's surprising how far technology has come. Yes, we as people will hear differently, sensitivity levels are unique/common. Sound could either drive you batty or you don't care/mind.

Thanks for reading.