I really think the new car sounds are amazing but the whole sound mixing for surround sound systems isn’t very good. While the effects are spreaded across all channels, the car sound for the 3rd person camera is only focused at the center channel. This isn’t how the center channel should be used. Car sounds are powerful and need to be spreaded to the stereo front speaker AND the center speaker, not only to the center speaker.
Why? Because the car sounds are too quiet and not powerful at all if only the center speaker is used without any stereo support from the front channels. This completely ruins your improved car sounds and the only fix for now is to set the surround sound output to 4.1 (to mute the center and force the game to spread the car sounds to the front channels).
So please fix the sound mixing and map the car sounds to Front L/R and Center. Also, low frequencies should be improved too. Keep in mind that I’m not complaining about the car sounds at all. It’s just about the (fixable) channel outputs.
I just hope they don’t ignore this because of laziness. Would be a shame since the car sounds itself are so much better this time. But if the whole sound mixing is wrong, the car sounds can’t shine at all.
I’m finding the car sounds to be a lot more ‘broken’ than they were in FH4…in FH4 they may have sounded inaccurate, and now they sound distinctive, but many, many, many of them sound tinny and distant on my setup. I’ve got a large sub paired up with a reasonable soundbar and then a full atmos system costing a whole lot more. in 3rd person view so many cars sound tinny and rattly that you wonder if they’re using samples from not just the exhaust but also from mics positioned under the hood or something, I hear WAAAY too much high-end/treble, like what sounds like it could be the clattering of valves and lifters or something, not just an exhaust note.
This is mainly in 3rd person, in cabin sounds often sound correctly ‘muted’…with more emphasis on a sound-deadened interior lower end being prominent…
Note: I wonder if this 3rd person sound issue on some cars is related to the “Ray Traced Sound” changes that FH5 made in how exterior audio is processed…hmmmmm.
Same Problem for me and My setup 7.1.2. Other cars are louder than mine. I can not here when I should shift. Thought that I am alone with that Problem…
You sure your sound is set up correctly and are you remembering the sound changes depending on your camera position, so bumper view should have the sound coming from behind you ?
I ask if you have the sound set up correctly because if youre sure you do maybe you could explain it to me cause Im lost with sound these days. Things were simpler with stereo ;).
I have sound settings in game, sound settings on my PC and Xbox, I have the atmos app …which also has sound settings, sound settings on my TV and sound settings on my sound system which is set up in a 5.1.2 or 7.1 switchable speaker config and has an app worth of settings and is atmos and DTX capable. The sounds great and despite people complaining the cars sound ‘weak’ if I turn the music off or down and set all the volumes at max I can set off car alarms down the street with the car sounds…but I have no idea if my settings are optimal and set up the way they should be, which things should take precedence and what should be turned on or off to experience the sound the developers actually want me to have…
If anyone can shed any light on ‘whats best’ Id appreciate it.
Well basically your not meant to change anything once your system is calibrated. The game programmers need to move the mic nearer the car for chase view, there’s nothing we can do about it.
I upgraded my entire rig for this and FM. Sorta. I mean the imminent release of these 2 urged me to pull the trigger. My system isn’t the best, but it’s no slouch either ( Denon X4700H + 4x Klipsch RP8000F + 4x Klipsch RP 500SA + Klipsch RP 600C + Klipsch SPL120 ) and this game struggles to sound good on it. I have the entire thing calibrated with Denon’s Audyssey and every game but this sounds phenomenal on it. When I play this I have to turn on the dynamic EQ, set the reference point to 0, and enable cinema EQ. This screams bad mix. Idk why they think that everything from 2.5khz and up is more important than the rest of the frequencies. It’s well beyond me. I have a sneaking suspicion that they have some EDM, Dubstep or DnB people doing these mixes. Not hating on the music, but they don’t know how to mix and master. Not even remotely good at it. This must end. I’m tired of fighting with them.
All that said, I have found 7.1 uncompressed to sound the best. All others ( including 5.1 uncompressed ) sound narrower with the bass and lower mids sucked out. No other game on my series X has the audio altered as much as H5 does when I cycle through the xbox sound modes. I have re-calibrated my rig several times to see if I maybe messed something up, but no, It’s the game. They mix all the cinematic booms 'n stuff ultra loud while the car sounds take back seat. Nearly none of them sound natural except maybe the AMG One. Especially in cockpit view. Nearly every cockpit view is way too noisy, lacks bass, and feels flat ( hence my suspicion about who they have mixing these ). Idk why they can’t just engineer these to sound natural. I’m a bit of seasoned audio engineer and the little bit of this I’ve had through my studio rig just does not sound right. I have some pretty high end studio gear and it’s all calibrated as well so when a mix is off, my gear SCREAMS at me how off it is. I recorded a couple clips of these cars, and they all hit a dynamic range of around 9 - 10. That’s just terrible. Movies are generally in the DR10 - 14 range. They need to be mixing this like a movie, not some pop or EDM record. It’s a shame. All this brilliant sound design is being ruined by some loudness war engineer. It’s really sad. This is the closest we’ve had to authentic audio since Horizon 2 and it’s being squashed to death for no good reason.
I’ll keep bombarding them with tickets until this is changed tho. I’m sick of this obnoxious mixing and mastering ruining my experience.
Similar setup to me. I have Denon 9.1 setup. I was lucky I got a Denon AVR-X4200W for £500 when they are closer to £1100 2nd hand. I upgraded it to 9.1, and Auro 3D.
I thought I try 7.1 after the feb update but I after reading this thread I think I will stick to stereo…
fh5 btw is the only game I own with that massive surround-issues
I’m playing mine in Atmos on a Yamaha Aventage AVR and full Definitive Technologies 5.1.2. Still lacks a lot of bass, and I do only cockpit cam. No real Atmos effects, decent staging, and accurate channels use for the racing, just poor volume for the cars as stated above. Only using the upper portion of the frequency range and a lot of weird raspy/rattly exhaust sounds. Yes, GT Sport still spunds miles better, with accurate and full range frequency sounds. I’m glad the sounds have become a little better than FH4/FM7, but still a long way to go.
I play in cockpit cam too, and what’s really irritating is that not every car in the game sounds terrible. There’s like maybe 30% that I’d consider to be good mixes. Like why can’t every car be mixed as well as the AMG One, BMW M4, M2, McLaren P1 ( even though the sound is wrong ), McLaren Speed Tail for examples? I feel scammed.
So, I think I figured out what the deal is. The game is stuck in night mode after restarting. What I just did was go to audio settings. Set night mode. Saved. Set it back to home theater. Saved. This cleared up my issues. Everything has more weight and dynamic range. Even the McLaren 600LT, Senna and 720S. Everything sounds better. Sounds as I’d expect.
Currently have my receiver volume at -42 in dolby atmos mode w/ passthrough enabled and I can feel the pistons ( lower mid punch / dynamic range ) 'n my sub is moving. Stereo width feels quite good too.
Yep. Can confirm. Every time I start this game on my series X I have to run through that lil workaround. Once I do it sounds correct. Stupid sound mode bug.