Popping/Clicking Audio - I found out why

artao · 11-16-16, 12:08 AM

I searched the forums and google, and found virtually nothing about this issue. All I found was a possible issue with Win 7 (and later?) regarding audio hardware acceleration. I cannot disable this on my system.
SO!
I downloaded SC Sound Edit and extracted all the audio files from every .agg in the game (one at a time, of course). Then I did a random sampling of these files.
LO!
From my random sampling, I can fairly deduce that the VAST majority of the sound files have the gorram click IN them.

Nice quality control there SCS :\
Well, the GOOD news is that Audacity (free open source audio editing software) has a Click Removal effect, which perfectly removes these clicks.
The bad news is two-fold:
a) there are THOUSANDS of files to process. however, they can be batch-processed in Audacity. ... this leads me to ...
b) some of the files are too short for the Click Removal to work. ... HOWEVER! From what I can see, most of the short files do NOT have the click in them

Do the rest of you experience this popping/clicking problem? I find it odd that I can't find it brought up anywhere really. It is quite annoying, frankly.

Anyone interested in joining together on this project to remove these annoying clicks? It's a bit overwhelming for me to take on all by myself -- mostly due to having to sort out the files that are too short for the click removal to work. very tedious.

Regardless, I'm sure everyone would appreciate a clean set of .agg files, eh?

NOTE: I did look in the RA mod as well, and the clicks/pops are in there too (at least for all the default platforms I checked. Didn't actually look at the added playables). LWAMI doesn't include any sound files, so fixing the vanilla ones would cover that as well.
EDIT: Yes, some of the other platforms in RA have the clicks in the audio files too. But not all of 'em. Odd

EDIT EDIT: and yes, i did do a full un-/re-install of the game to make sure my modded version wasn't all janked. it was in the fresh install that I checked the .agg files.

FPSchazly · 11-16-16, 08:06 AM

Can you give an example (preferably a sound clip)? The only clicking sound I've ever experienced is when listening to shrimp

Pirate · 11-16-16, 09:59 AM

In my experience when using SC Sound Editor to extract or compress wav files from/into agg files, corrupts the wav files creating those clicking sounds.
And the DW game engine does not deal very well with the corrupted wav files which makes matters even worse.

Solution is to use the agg.exe tool instead.

artao · 11-16-16, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FPSchazly

Can you give an example (preferably a sound clip)? The only clicking sound I've ever experienced is when listening to shrimp

Trying, but my screen capture software isn't co-operating.
For instance tho, when streaming the TA or raising the radio or ESM masts, i get a click every time the audio loops.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pirate

In my experience when using SC Sound Editor to extract or compress wav files from/into agg files, corrupts the wav files creating those clicking sounds.
And the DW game engine does not deal very well with the corrupted wav files which makes matters even worse.

Solution is to use the agg.exe tool instead.

that's mildly disconcerting, but I get the clicking/popping on a clean fresh install as well.

Pirate · 11-20-16, 05:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by artao

that's mildly disconcerting, but I get the clicking/popping on a clean fresh install as well.

artao, I think you gotta ask your self the question.
If that really is the truth with this game, why isn't there any more people complaining?

artao · 11-20-16, 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pirate

artao, I think you gotta ask your self the question.
If that really is the truth with this game, why isn't there any more people complaining?

Yeah. I've asked myself that. Then blamed it on Win 7

I was very surprised to see the clicks and pops in the audio files themselves, but if SCSoundEdit causes that then I dont' know.

For some reason, my screen capture software (Open Broadcast Software) only captures a blank screen with Dangerous Waters. Still trying to sort that out so that I can upload examples of what I mean.

For now I'll just deal with it. It's annoying, but not game breaking.

Pirate · 11-20-16, 01:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by artao

For some reason, my screen capture software (Open Broadcast Software) only captures a blank screen with Dangerous Waters. Still trying to sort that out so that I can upload examples of what I mean.

I've had that problem before with screen captures, but now I use Fraps (recommended by FPSchazly) and it works great!

FPSchazly · 11-20-16, 02:23 PM

Thanks for the shoutout, Pirate! I also use OBS for multiplayer matches or streams because of the length (and therefore size) of the recording. I run the game in a window so I just set OBS to do window capture on Dangerous Waters.

artao · 11-21-16, 06:50 PM

Window.
I'd not thought of trying that LOL.
16 bit here we come

01-20-17, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pirate

artao, I think you gotta ask your self the question.
If that really is the truth with this game, why isn't there any more people complaining?

Because it is an old hat. There have been topics on this in the past. On top, most people don't care about sounds and simply won't voice concern.

The pops are there and they are annoying indeed. For me, they are more noticeable on my desktop pc and good headphones, while less so on my dated laptop and headphones.

Using the editor to add or change sounds does indeed seem to corrupt things and make it worse - I noticed this after creating my personal sound mod that changes most sounds, from interface to music, to engine sounds of all platforms, etc.

Very annoying issue and mostly noticeable with looping sound effects.
Not sure what can be done about it.

lodiped · 08-18-20, 07:46 PM

I just downloaded the game (1.0) and it didn't have any clicking. Then I messed with it trying to run it properly, downloaded the 1.04 and run it again at 800x600. NO CLICKING. Then I edited the ini and changed a few settings and ran it in admin mode (basically the ideal settings, I was ready to play the game). NOW THERE'S CLICKING. It's infuriating. I haven't been able to go back to no clicking. I don't know what's going on.

EDIT: Actually, running it in 800x600 (ModeId 1) got rid of it. It's weirdly 100% a resolution problem (how does it even-).

Aktungbby · 08-18-20, 11:55 PM

lodiped!

Xx.LOFDxBERLIN.xX · 09-01-20, 03:22 AM

English:
Hello everyone .. Greetings from Berlin

I looked at the audio files .. it is not a big problem to remove the click .. when I have more time I'll take care of it ..

I just looked at the sfx.agg .. that's it, isn't it?

Before I start, has anyone already taken care of the matter?

Greetings Xx.LOFDxBERLIN.xX

German:
Hallo Allerseits .. Grüsse aus Berlin

Habe mir die Audio Files angeschaut .. es ist kein grosses Problem das klicken zu entfernen .. wenn ich mehr Zeit habe werde ich mich der Sache annehmen ..

habe mir nur die sfx.agg angeschaut .. um die geht es doch oder ?

Frage bevor ich damit anfange hat sich jemand der Sache schon angenommen ?

Gruß Xx.LOFDxBERLIN.xX

Captain Reyes · 11-10-20, 07:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pirate

In my experience when using SC Sound Editor to extract or compress wav files from/into agg files, corrupts the wav files creating those clicking sounds.
And the DW game engine does not deal very well with the corrupted wav files which makes matters even worse.

Solution is to use the agg.exe tool instead.

Where can I find the agg.exe tool?

MarkShot · 11-11-20, 04:16 AM

I did notice it. It's irritating. But I am just happy to run it.

Other annoyances:

SC: Leaves mouse droppings.

DW: You cannot save a replay. So, most enter a final mission save. It occasionally crashes or hangs.

I remember also there was a popping issue after the release of SC which they fixed. One of the reasons it was so annoying is that it work like a cheat.

You know you cannot see a track on BB; it's not nearly as sensitive as low frequency NB detection. Anyway, if you scan with cursor in BB and heard a pop, you had a contact even though no audio track.

So, I remember it was a big deal.

You just got to live with this stuff. I think SC give perfect LOBs on the TA in a turn.

DW: And I remember that surface ships which are using radar don't seem to pick up the Kilo scope or ESM mast. Why? Air mounted narrow wave length RADAR was the scourge of U-Boats.

DW: I don't recall the KILO needing to recharge.

---

I watched a couple of Cold Water missions on Youtube. External 3D view with infinite visibility in water. You really didn't need any sensors at all. It didn't even look like a subsim, but instead cheating in a flight sim. So, be happy we have this. Be happy we can still run it. Be happy the RA Team is still modding it to make it better. Be happy that a number of players wrote fine reference guides. Be happy folks such as Neil Stevens and Bill Nichols gave it a home. Since in reality, hardcore wargaming is a niche market. And subs are a niche within a niche, within a niche.

I am not criticizing anyone. These are just my feelings.

11-16-16, 12:08 AM	#1
artao Officer Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 238 Downloads: 144 Uploads: 0	Popping/Clicking Audio - I found out why I searched the forums and google, and found virtually nothing about this issue. All I found was a possible issue with Win 7 (and later?) regarding audio hardware acceleration. I cannot disable this on my system. SO! I downloaded SC Sound Edit and extracted all the audio files from every .agg in the game (one at a time, of course). Then I did a random sampling of these files. LO! From my random sampling, I can fairly deduce that the VAST majority of the sound files have the gorram click IN them. Nice quality control there SCS :\ Well, the GOOD news is that Audacity (free open source audio editing software) has a Click Removal effect, which perfectly removes these clicks. The bad news is two-fold: a) there are THOUSANDS of files to process. however, they can be batch-processed in Audacity. ... this leads me to ... b) some of the files are too short for the Click Removal to work. ... HOWEVER! From what I can see, most of the short files do NOT have the click in them Do the rest of you experience this popping/clicking problem? I find it odd that I can't find it brought up anywhere really. It is quite annoying, frankly. Anyone interested in joining together on this project to remove these annoying clicks? It's a bit overwhelming for me to take on all by myself -- mostly due to having to sort out the files that are too short for the click removal to work. very tedious. Regardless, I'm sure everyone would appreciate a clean set of .agg files, eh? NOTE: I did look in the RA mod as well, and the clicks/pops are in there too (at least for all the default platforms I checked. Didn't actually look at the added playables). LWAMI doesn't include any sound files, so fixing the vanilla ones would cover that as well. EDIT: Yes, some of the other platforms in RA have the clicks in the audio files too. But not all of 'em. Odd EDIT EDIT: and yes, i did do a full un-/re-install of the game to make sure my modded version wasn't all janked. it was in the fresh install that I checked the .agg files. __________________ l8r, artao Last edited by artao; 11-16-16 at 12:27 AM.

11-16-16, 08:06 AM	#2
FPSchazly Good Hunting! Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Maryland Posts: 771 Downloads: 15 Uploads: 1	Can you give an example (preferably a sound clip)? The only clicking sound I've ever experienced is when listening to shrimp __________________ Your friendly neighborhood modern submarine YouTuber. My videos: Exclusive Look at Modern Naval Warfare! Dangerous Waters Liu Doctrine (LwAmi Learn to play Dangerous Waters

11-16-16, 09:59 AM	#3
Pirate Lieutenant Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Oeiras, PORTUGAL Posts: 258 Downloads: 152 Uploads: 0	In my experience when using SC Sound Editor to extract or compress wav files from/into agg files, corrupts the wav files creating those clicking sounds. And the DW game engine does not deal very well with the corrupted wav files which makes matters even worse. Solution is to use the agg.exe tool instead. __________________

11-20-16, 02:23 PM	#8
FPSchazly Good Hunting! Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Maryland Posts: 771 Downloads: 15 Uploads: 1	Thanks for the shoutout, Pirate! I also use OBS for multiplayer matches or streams because of the length (and therefore size) of the recording. I run the game in a window so I just set OBS to do window capture on Dangerous Waters. __________________ Your friendly neighborhood modern submarine YouTuber. My videos: Exclusive Look at Modern Naval Warfare! Dangerous Waters Liu Doctrine (LwAmi Learn to play Dangerous Waters

11-21-16, 06:50 PM	#9
artao Officer Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 238 Downloads: 144 Uploads: 0	Window. I'd not thought of trying that LOL. 16 bit here we come __________________ l8r, artao

08-18-20, 07:46 PM	#11
lodiped Bilge Rat Join Date: Mar 2020 Posts: 1 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	I just downloaded the game (1.0) and it didn't have any clicking. Then I messed with it trying to run it properly, downloaded the 1.04 and run it again at 800x600. NO CLICKING. Then I edited the ini and changed a few settings and ran it in admin mode (basically the ideal settings, I was ready to play the game). NOW THERE'S CLICKING. It's infuriating. I haven't been able to go back to no clicking. I don't know what's going on. EDIT: Actually, running it in 800x600 (ModeId 1) got rid of it. It's weirdly 100% a resolution problem (how does it even-).

08-18-20, 11:55 PM	#12
Aktungbby Gefallen Engel U-666 Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: On a tilted, overheated, overpopulated spinning mudball on Collision course with Andromeda Galaxy Posts: 27,837 Downloads: 22 Uploads: 0	welcome aboard! lodiped! __________________ "Only two things are infinite; The Universe and human squirrelyness; and I'm not too sure about the Universe"

09-01-20, 03:22 AM	#13
Xx.LOFDxBERLIN.xX Swabbie Join Date: Aug 2020 Location: BERLIN Posts: 9 Downloads: 20 Uploads: 0	Not dramatic English: Hello everyone .. Greetings from Berlin I looked at the audio files .. it is not a big problem to remove the click .. when I have more time I'll take care of it .. I just looked at the sfx.agg .. that's it, isn't it? Before I start, has anyone already taken care of the matter? Greetings Xx.LOFDxBERLIN.xX German: Hallo Allerseits .. Grüsse aus Berlin Habe mir die Audio Files angeschaut .. es ist kein grosses Problem das klicken zu entfernen .. wenn ich mehr Zeit habe werde ich mich der Sache annehmen .. habe mir nur die sfx.agg angeschaut .. um die geht es doch oder ? Frage bevor ich damit anfange hat sich jemand der Sache schon angenommen ? Gruß Xx.LOFDxBERLIN.xX

11-11-20, 04:16 AM	#15
MarkShot Ace of the Deep Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 1,134 Downloads: 93 Uploads: 0	I did notice it. It's irritating. But I am just happy to run it. Other annoyances: SC: Leaves mouse droppings. DW: You cannot save a replay. So, most enter a final mission save. It occasionally crashes or hangs. I remember also there was a popping issue after the release of SC which they fixed. One of the reasons it was so annoying is that it work like a cheat. You know you cannot see a track on BB; it's not nearly as sensitive as low frequency NB detection. Anyway, if you scan with cursor in BB and heard a pop, you had a contact even though no audio track. So, I remember it was a big deal. You just got to live with this stuff. I think SC give perfect LOBs on the TA in a turn. DW: And I remember that surface ships which are using radar don't seem to pick up the Kilo scope or ESM mast. Why? Air mounted narrow wave length RADAR was the scourge of U-Boats. DW: I don't recall the KILO needing to recharge. --- I watched a couple of Cold Water missions on Youtube. External 3D view with infinite visibility in water. You really didn't need any sensors at all. It didn't even look like a subsim, but instead cheating in a flight sim. So, be happy we have this. Be happy we can still run it. Be happy the RA Team is still modding it to make it better. Be happy that a number of players wrote fine reference guides. Be happy folks such as Neil Stevens and Bill Nichols gave it a home. Since in reality, hardcore wargaming is a niche market. And subs are a niche within a niche, within a niche. I am not criticizing anyone. These are just my feelings. __________________ War games, not wars! --- Only a small few profit from war (that should not stand)!