John Kettler Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 (edited) Don't know about anyone else's sound levels, but I've learned the hard way that even at the minimum volume, being near a tank with engine running is pretty loud,. Fortunately for my eardrums, I wasn't "near" a engine running tank when it fired. My nightmare, though, is "being" someplace when a shell or, worse, bomb bursts nearby. I suspect that this could be outright painful if not damaging. I shudder to think what might happen at even higher settings. Decades ago in a SECRET level training course on naval warfare for defense contractors, we were told the Japanese were having serious problems finding sonar operators for the JMSDF (Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force--their navy). Why? Because most Japanese live in apartments and the walls are thin, they habitually use headphones. The high sound levels have wrecked the sensitivity of their hearing. It's very easy to find yourself in an acoustic jam when the sound levels jump, even without adjusting the volume control. And it's patently obvious my computer doesn't have AGC (Automatic Gain Control), which would stop sound levels from exceeding a given threshold value. Given the above, I urge those of you who wear headphones to exercise every precaution when playing any CMx2 game, but especially CMBS, where the weapons are, generally speaking, significantly more powerful than in WW II. Normally, I wouldn't use headphones, but I now have someone just down the hall who isn't a night owl and goes to bed early. Therefore, it's either headphones or (blech) no sound, it having been firmly established that even Setting 1 provides no protection against sudden loud noise. Audio levels aren't as much of an issue with speakers because there is significant attenuation between the speakers and your ears, whereas headphones put the speakers essentially on your ears. Worse, they trap the sound in the ear cups. I urge every one of you using headphones to be very careful, for you could well be one explosion away from getting your bell rung or even permanent hearing damage! Regards, John Kettler Edited July 20, 2015 by John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lethaface Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 (edited) Save your ears and think of the neighbors! It's always good to check the volume of your headphones. Especially if watching a video featuring ads. Ads are always MUCH more loud. Who wants to become deaf because of Amazing Mike's new ironingabkitchen machine? I guess it fits a real grog to become deaf in the harnass, while listening in on an enemy T-90AM firing close by in CMBS Although this topic made me laugh, perhaps this is something more appropriate for the general forum. Edited July 20, 2015 by Lethaface 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Jack Ripper Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 I just plug my earbuds directly into my speakers, then all I have to do is tweak the volume knob. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sburke Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 LOL the super SECRET squirrel club decided Japanese have audio hearing problems? Did they actually interview any Japanese? Do they know any Japanese to interview? Let me ask my wife, hold on... oh crap that look again- "stupid f**kin Gaijin, where do you come up with this crap?" Never mind honey, never mind. Hey Macisle, how about asking yours? I know I am stretching things here but you do know you can adjust the audio setting even on headphones so it isn't like lying next to a regular speaker right..... hmm maybe that was a different SECRET class. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOS:96B2P Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 (edited) I urge every one of you using headphones to be very careful, for you could well be one explosion away from getting your bell rung or even permanent hearing damage! My wife bought me headphones about a year ago after I downloaded Mords Chaos US w/radio chatter for CMSF. (I was cranking the chaos up just a little to much I guess). A very cool mod for when the battle is raging. I play with just one ear covered so I don't miss the call to supper or anything else important ....... Edited July 21, 2015 by MOS:96B2P 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted July 21, 2015 Author Share Posted July 21, 2015 (edited) Lethaface, It's my understanding there's a federal law on the books which specifically prohibits boosting the audio on commercials. Sadly, it's not enforced. Presumably, we have the lobbyists to thank for that. This post wasn't intended to be funny. I've had several scares already, and I thought it was a good idea to pass the word, possibly preventing someone's permanent hearing damage as a result. Am particularly jealous of my hearing, since I've had big time myopia since the 2nd Grade. sburke, FLECOMTRACENPAC (Fleet Combat Training Center Pacific) of the US Navy hosted the event in 1980 at Monterey, California. I report what I was told while sitting in a secure classroom. The course was called Naval Tactical Warfare Orientation Course for Industry and was an official Navy program to educate defense contractor personnel regarding the grim realities of Fleet Defense. Why grim? In 1980, the US had no real defense (AEGIS didn't exist) against the mighty AS-4/Kitchen Mach 3 high diver cruise missile. The SAM doctrine for the RIM-66 Standard missile at the time was deeply disturbing: "Fire until the deck plates glow!" The US has long had liaison officers to the JMSDF, and that's the likely source of the hearing problem report, something the Japanese presumably ruefully admitted to their American colleagues. Not exactly a face building disclosure. Mind, I'm not saying the prospective sonar men had major hearing problems. They were fine for normal tasks, but sonar operators need especially acute hearing in order to discriminate all sorts of underwater sounds from the faint emissions of a sub not wanting to be found. My headphones go straight into a USB port on the back of my iMac. The same volume control which runs my external speakers controlls my headphones when they're plugged in. Sounds like your system implementation is quite different from mine. MOS:96B2P, How very military of you. I do that sometimes, too, but it's in order to stop my head from being squeezed. No wife, so no dinner call! Regards, John Kettler Edited July 21, 2015 by John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDork Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Personally I would like to see a slider that adjusts audio level added into later versions of the game or at least the next engine upgrade. Having only on/off is rather limiting. I like playing music or having a video/movie running on one monitor while playing CM on the other and without the ability to adjust the audio levels in the game, and the game being rather loud when right on a vehicle or when things are going boom, it can drown out the other audio also playing on the PC. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Canadian Cat Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Until that day comes if you are on Windows you can exert some control now using the OS Volume control's mixer feature. In the task bar on the far right there is a set of icons for controlling various services: LAN connection, drop box, virus checker etc. One of those is the OS volume control widget. If you open it it has a slider that controls the overall volume. At the bottom is a "Mixer" button that displays individual volume control sliders for all the currently running apps. So, with your game and your player running you can tweak the game's contribution to the overall volume down to make things sound like you want. I just learned that from someone else here on the forum a few days ago - I forget who - thanks who ever you are. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lethaface Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 (edited) Ninja'ed by IanL, but indeed since windows vista (or even XP?) it is possible to manage volume per application in Windows (scale 0-100). Not sure about Mac, but it ought to have something similar too. My headset has an analog button for volume control, sometimes analog owns digital ;-) Edited July 22, 2015 by Lethaface 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nidan1 Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Ninja'ed by IanL, but indeed since windows vista (or even XP?) it is possible to manage volume per application in Windows (scale 0-100). Not sure about Mac, but it ought to have something similar too. My headset has an analog button for volume control, sometimes analog owns digital ;-) Sometimes? Analog is better than digital all the time, since digital is not a real sample of sound but an electronic representation of a sound with the higher and lower frequencies discarded. For someone with really fine tuned hearing, listening to digital music especially can be a disappointment. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lethaface Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 Sometimes? Analog is better than digital all the time, since digital is not a real sample of sound but an electronic representation of a sound with the higher and lower frequencies discarded. For someone with really fine tuned hearing, listening to digital music especially can be a disappointment. Well not everything is audio ;-) I'm personally very happy with my analog Sennheiser headset, and have been happy with it for the last 10 years orso. Still in mint condition. Wasn't a cheap one but quality lasts. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A co Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 Wearing earphones for any length of time bugs me, so when playing CM I wear them not on my ears but on my temples. I can still hear what's going on and the louder noises don't come thru so loud. Sometimes I watch a turn without any sound on at all, but of course there's less immersion and you might miss an informative sound cue here and there. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wicky Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 On a Mac simply use the dedicated volume adjust keys on the keyboard... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted July 25, 2015 Author Share Posted July 25, 2015 A co, I do that, too, sometimes, but mainly because the compression forces, while relatively small with the headphone band opened as wide as possible, are still, over a period of hours, enough to induce a headache. But I usually go one cup on the ear and the other above it in such cases. Wicky, I have been using exactly those keys. And I have found that engine noise, if close to the source, is pretty loud at the lowest setting, which is precisely why I worry about being around a shell burst or bomb detonation. The problem seems to be even worse if streaming video of TV shows, where high dynamic range audio can simultaneously make it most unpleasant when things get loud, while rendering soft speech so unintelligible that, at times, I have to rewind and listen with my eyes closed. So far, I've yet to find a satisfactory solution. Also, sound levels vary wildly from show to show, even without the issues commercials cause. With the volume cranked up as high as halfway or more to be able to hear on those shows, it's downright dangerous to put something else on before first adjusting the volume to a very low setting. Learned this the hard way. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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