[Bug] Muffled Audio on PC

[Alk]

Hello. I recently bought the game, and the audio seems very compressed and/or muffled. It sounds like I have a jar on my head or cotton in my ears. It's not a low volume problem, it's just muddy audio. It's not crisp at all, it's like it's missing lots of the higher frequencies. It's so bad I am considering dropping the game if I can't fix it.

I have a DAC/amp combo. It does not have surround sound capabilities. It is full stereo.

I have read all the threads about this issue, and I have tried the following things:
-changing my audio quality (many different combinations)
-cannot disable surround sound, as I have no surround sound capabilities
-disabling any enhancements, EQ, or sound software (I had none of this from the beginning)
-using a different headset
-reinstalling the game
-using a different audio device entirely

I heard this is the official place to report bugs, so I am reporting it here. If anyone can help me fix this, it would be great. If not, then I hope the devs can be made aware. I realize this is likely related to the binaural audio the game uses, and while I love the idea, maybe it would be good to give players the option to disable it because I keep finding threads of people with muffled audio who have not been able to fix it.

Let me know if there is a better way to make the devs aware that this is an issue.

[Alk]

Note: I do not have this problem in any other game. Obviously I have played many games, and very recently. Windows did not just update, and I just downloaded the game for the first time today.

[Unknown]

any shot you could record it? That would narrow down if it's a corrupted file, or something on your end.

[Alk]

Well it's currently uninstalled, but I'll record something when I install it again. I doubt it's something to do with my sound devices, as every other game and media sounds normal and crisp, whereas it's only this one game that sounds this way.

[Unknown]

I getcha. I just wonder if I hear what you hear in your clip

speaking of which, have you watched clips of Hunt online? does it sound the same, or is yours uniquely muffled?

edit: also, are you audio drivers up to date?

[Alk]

I just spot checked 3 different videos from 3 different channels that were uploaded in the last month and all of them sound much better than my game.

I also found this video that shows the exact problem I'm talking about: (not me)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8dFRVJ5RNo

[Alk]

That video is an exact example of the audio muddiness I'm experiencing. As you can hear, it sounds like there's a jar on my head lol.

[Unknown]

Originally posted by Alk:

That video is an exact example of the audio muddiness I'm experiencing. As you can hear, it sounds like there's a jar on my head lol.

The only thing I can think of is either a corrupt file, or you need a driver update.

other than that, maybe it's a bug where it engages the poison audio. That's kind of what it sounds like at the end of being poisoned.

[Alk]

I can confirm that I do not need a driver update, and I have already tried reinstalling the game (I wiped all config, leftover files, etc when I did). Plus, if it was my audio driver, other games would be experiencing this problem as well. It's just Hunt.

It's most likely related to binaural audio, and as I said before, the devs really should give players the option to disable it and just use standard audio. It would be trivial to add in a checkbox to the game to swap audio engines and would fix many people's issues.

[Unknown]

Most games can run fine on old audio drivers, Hunt just might not be one of them. But if they're up to date, then that's not it. If you have reinstalled, and I assume have verified the files, along with all the other methods you've tried, i'm really not sure what it could be. Hopefully someone else can be more helpful than me.

[Alk]

And now that I think about it, even if it WAS caused by some sound manipulation I had via software, or surround sound, or whatever, Hunt is the ONLY game that breaks with those things. People shouldn't have to bend over backwards to have proper audio in one game just because of its superior sound processing. For all the people who use audio configurations that break the sound in this game, the "acceptable" solution is not to change their sound configuration when all other games work fine. If all other games work fine, it's not the users' setups that should be at fault. Devs, please give users the ability to disable the enhanced sound processing.

Again, I don't have any extra sound processing that's interfering, I'm just saying that for all those that do, asking them to change their settings isn't an acceptable solution. It would mean if they want those settings, they would have to change them every time they want to play Hunt, then change them back afterwards. And that's silly.

[Alk]

I just realized something. Tarkov has a toggle for their binaural audio. I even have the binaural audio enabled in tarkov (I always have) and it sounds nice and crisp and good. So it's not a "binaural audio issue", it's an issue specifically with Hunt Showdown's implementation. (For the record, I tried disabling binaural audio in Tarkov, and the game isn't significantly clearer with it off, so the binaural audio isn't causing the same problem in Tarkov)

[jangosplace]

I recently cant hear behind me in game and just this last round i couldnt hear much at all on any side.

[Alk]

Originally posted by jangosplace:

I recently cant hear behind me in game and just this last round i couldnt hear much at all on any side.

I don't think this is the same problem. Maybe make a separate post for your issue.

[Alk]

So how do I know if devs see this? Is this really the place to post bugs officially?

[Evillo]

do you have an option for compressor or similar things that can alter the normalithation of the sound? to me it sound like using the razer or other soundcards wile using the compressor to the fullest; I can't be sure right now becaus ehere I have crappy headphone I will check later tonight how mutch of a difference I can really hear