Sound no longer has directionality?

Warhammer 40,000: Darktide Technical Support
1

Issue Description:
During beta and pre-release the audio directionality worked fine, but since release every audio queue sounds like mono like it’s behind me so I can never tell where something is coming from.
I am using a headset.

I have tried changing the Audio settings’ Speaker Settings from “Stereo Headphones” to “5.1”, and “Mono” and they all sound the same.
I have also tried on my pc’s sound settings enabling the “Spatial sound” but that was off even before release when it worked so I don’t think that would have been the issue. (It still didn’t fix it)
I’ve tried updating drivers, restarting my computer, verifying integrity of game files and nothing worked.

Platform: Steam

Player ID: Steam Community :: AtunASandwich

Approx. Time of Issue & Timezone:
From release and continuing

Reproduction Rate:
Constant, though since nobody I’ve asked has the same issues in game or outside, it seems to be local to me.

Upload Supporting Evidence: I don’t think video would relay the issue.

Upload Console Log:
console-2022-12-01-17.26.56-b4730f53-4722-4f87-a436-afaf4dc61b4e.log (180.5 KB)

Upload darktide_launcher.log:
darktide_launcher.log (1.0 MB)

2

Thank you for reporting, I’ll make note of this.

3

Not sure what changed either from my pc or in game, but sounds work fine now.

4

I have same issue… I wondered how games by same developer what have huge difference in directional sound… I thought maybe the paranoia of space or my inexperience might be to blame even tried headset on backwards but I cannopt pinpoint specials in Darktide but could kill assassins blindfolded in Vermintide… is there a fix?

5

I had the same problem. Turns out my audio was running through Nvidia Broadcast, and disabling that solved the issue.

6

I have some additional info here. (sound settings can be very individual per PC setup, so IDK if useful but this is how it works for me on FiiO k3 + sennheiser HD-650 win11).
If i use the “stereo headphones” setting ingame and spatial sound in windows OFF, directional sound works reasonably. (so i guess your “stereo headphones” setting actually adds some directional filters?)
If i use “stereo headphones” setting ingame and spatial sound in windows ON, it completely breaks 3d sound. (tried both windows sonic, dts x headphone, dts x ultra).

So, question: If I want to try dts x headphone, dts x ultra or windows sonic, should i disable “stereo headphones” ingame and just set it to stereo?

You should probably figure this out and update with proper info: https://support.fatshark.se/hc/en-us/articles/360021425153--PC-How-to-Resolve-Audio-Issues
" Enable Spatial Sound

If using a headset, you may need to ensure ‘Spatial sound’ is enabled in Windows 10."

Seems both too vague and (at least for me) incorrect and only mentions win10.

1 Like
7

And Dolby Access Spatial. You see DTS in the loading screens, and many versions are bundled with mobos.

Excellent questions that I too am wondering.
It would be great if we can get guidance from the devs who worked on the sound (WWise?) settings for 3D positional audio.

P.S. And why is 7.1 output mix missing when VT2 had it? Most virtual surround software( +DAC) options are 7.1 afaik.

5.1 seems to output correctly

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“So, question: If I want to try dts x headphone, dts x ultra or windows sonic, should i disable “stereo headphones” ingame and just set it to stereo?”

I’ll answer myself as I have tested this a bit now, and it does seem to work that way.
Either use “stereo headphones” setting ingame and spatial sound in windows OFF,
OR “stereo” setting ingame and spatial sound in windows ON.

This should be made more clear in the sound settings.

2 Likes