Guild Wars 2

hi everyone, sound noob here. never really cared about the sound, mostly played with sound muted.

but my headset recently got chewed out of existence by a very bad guest kitty. then it occurred to me that it might be cool to get a 7.1 surround sound headset to see if i like it. who knows it may make me play with the sound on a lot more.

incoming noob questions!
does gw2 support 7.1?
do i need a audio card that supports 7.1?
if i have a 7.1 does that also mean i can do 5.1?
is there anything else i should know before i jump?

You must have your audio set to Stereo if you want to hear all sounds within the game.

Configuring your audio device to be surround sound would cause many sounds to not be heard. Unfortunately, many players have encountered this issue and have had to be instructed to configure their audio devices to be stereo instead of surround sound to once again hear all audio within the game. I can supply links to the many threads where players have encountered not hearing elements of audio if you would like, though a general google search for “GW2 surround sound” reveals most of them as well as showing the ongoing conversations regarding GW2 and a lack of surround sound since beta.

I really do not know why GW2 does not support surround sound.

Pic to show multi chan if it’s in stereo it doesn’t show that detail window just stereo

If you are using a surround sound set up and only getting 2 channel check the sound adapters properties and make sure windows has it set to 5.1 or 7.1 respectivly, windows 8.1 seems to have more options for 5.1 to pick if you have back or side speakers, but if you have windows set to surround sound and the game you will get a multichannel source out.

i dont understand most of what u said nuggant, yes im that much of a sound noob. i have no idea what it means to ‘play in stereo’ and the rest of your post was terrifying

i just bought the logitech g35 which came highly recommended. its a USB and will be plugged into my p8p67 mobo. i have a ati 5850 video card and it has some ports but im not sure if i should use them or just the regular usb ports.

so once i plug this bad boy in and install the software, how do i get it running in gw2? is it an option in game? is it something i have to do with the headset software? is it something i have to do in a txt file for gw2?

ty for the replies everyone btw

Ampris.5321:

i dont understand most of what u said nuggant, yes im that much of a sound noob. i have no idea what it means to ‘play in stereo’ and the rest of your post was terrifying

i just bought the logitech g35 which came highly recommended. its a USB and will be plugged into my p8p67 mobo. i have a ati 5850 video card and it has some ports but im not sure if i should use them or just the regular usb ports.

so once i plug this bad boy in and install the software, how do i get it running in gw2? is it an option in game? is it something i have to do with the headset software? is it something i have to do in a txt file for gw2?

ty for the replies everyone btw

Thats what I thought you meant I was explaining receiver options for surround sound you will not see them with headphones nor would you use an hdmi for audio with those. No files to edit, that uses a usb connection just plug it in and install drivers if they do not install automatically,

1 look at your windows task bar you will see a speaker icon,
2 right click it and pick playback devices
3 you should a list of audio devices one will be your headphones locate it and right click and select properties
4 go to the advanced tab and look for default format and set that to 24 bit and 44000khz or 48000khz click apply and ok
5 you will be back at the source menu again select the device you are using, and right click it, this time pick configure speakers.
6 change the number of speakers in the drop down bar accordingly if there are more options than the default 2 channel, you should get a 7. 1 or a 5.1 go through the menus after dont change the other settings then hit apply and ok.

That is it you should then have 24 bit multichannel audio as opposed to 16 bit 2 channel audio.

Also you asked about the difference between stereo and multichannel. When referring to audio a stereo setup is where all channels get the exact same signal how clubs are and how people listen to music. where as multi channel would be each channel getting the sound it needs when it needs it, keeping noises separated creating surround sound. So I have 7 speakers if i listen to music my reciver is set to output all channel stereo, 7 channels all identical, but if im playing games it is in multichannel to create the surround sound effect

Hope this helps

You may not even be able to change it from stereo for all I know I do not own a pair hopefully he will post back with results.

I have a dolby usb dongle i plugged in and i can only use the stereo option and 16 bit not 24 bit, so you must be relying on logitech software to virtualize the surround channels if yours is similar

wow thank you for the detailed instructions

JamesAckley.7541:

To be clear, Guild Wars 2 does support surround, if you have speakers and hardware to support it, like what nuggant has.

The problem StinVec is referring to is if you set the game to Surround but only have 2 speakers, you will lose sounds since it’s trying to route the audio to speakers that don’t exist.

Hope that helps.
james

Is it possible to add a option in the audio tab that allows one to change their speaker configuration?

update time! i followed all of your steps nuggant except 4 because there was no option for 24 bit. it was all 16 bit. right now its set to 16 bit 44100 khz.

is that bad? will it still be surround?

i am def experience audio loss. even on the main menu during the busy part of the intro song it starts to pop. what are my options for stopping this?

Ok ampris try turning the audio settings in the game to the far left on the sliders, 16 bit audio will work its just not that great, that may eliminate your audio issues.

Aza.2105:

JamesAckley.7541:

To be clear, Guild Wars 2 does support surround, if you have speakers and hardware to support it, like what nuggant has.

The problem StinVec is referring to is if you set the game to Surround but only have 2 speakers, you will lose sounds since it’s trying to route the audio to speakers that don’t exist.

Hope that helps.
james

Is it possible to add a option in the audio tab that allows one to change their speaker configuration?

From what I have seen the only way to change the speaker config for the game is to change the auido source speaker config

so i learned some things.

first off, the audio loss and popping was 100% the responsibility of the drivers i was using. the latest drivers totally kittened everything i guess, so i found old drivers and those work like a champ. sound is great.

the other thing i found out is that the headset has its own audio card built in (which i suppose i should have realized considering it was USB)

but that makes me wonder what the heck is preventing me from using 24 bit?

if it was my mobo onboard that was incapable of 24bit that i could understand, but if its built into the headset shouldnt it be able to use 24 bit? whats going on there? is there any way for me to access 24 bit?

No usb soundcards are too slow to do 24 bit you need onboard or a sound card for tha

I personally believe that a 7.1 headset’s are a waste, stereo headsets already give you a very satisfying surround sound experience. For proof get a set of any old headphones that you have laying around and look up virtual barber. After having a set of triton and razer 7.1 headphones they sound very muddled and lacking in crunch (like when you fire a gun in a game) due to the small drivers.