Post the config file so we have a look!

Allrighty, I've attached my current .conf file. I've already tried switching to sb, sbpro1 and sbpro2 without noticeable difference. If it helps I could try recording a snippet of audio? Thanks!

Ok try this one

Thanks! Does not appear to make a difference yet though. I've attached a recording, .wma as I lack proper recording software here. Perhaps this is the way it sounds for everyone, but I distinctly remember the popping being introduced when upgrading hardware many years ago and DOSBox having it as well.

edit1: the crackling at the beginning are credits ticking down, note the clicks and pops during the laser fire.
edit2: forgot to mention I am using a X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty in case that matters.

Some of those sounds are not samples but generated using FM synthesis or whatever MIDI device you have attached...what's your configuration for sound effects? Dune 2 lets you set 3 different preferences: music, FX and digitized sounds. If your Dune 2 is patched to the latest version (to select different sound cards as I said and General MIDI) you could try playing those from the x-fi midi driver or the windows soft synth (or whatever soft synth you choose).

I have the sound patch, the recording had sound effects and digitized effects set to sbpro over DOSBox-emulated sb16 (also tried setting it to sbpro1 and 2) and music over an actual MT-32.

The clicking is in the digitized sounds only, for which Dune 2 only supports sb and sbpro (and adlib gold, but cannot get this working under DOSBox). I've attached a recording of the isolated digital samples only, all other output set to none.

The voices are fine...those sound fx I'm rather sure are not digitzed, try setting them to play with general MIDI.

US release of Dune 2 or some other? Patched to version 1.07?

What OS are you using? What version of DOSBox and where did you get it?

BTW, why not use the WAV audio capture in DOSBox? (Ctrl-F6 to start/stop recording)

I have Dune 2 'Battle for Arrakis' (that's the UK version then?) version 1.07 on W7x64, DOSBox 0.74. If I should give another DOSBox build a go, let me know. I have other versions of Dune 2 around (diskettes and the CD version from C&C Commemmorative) but I'd need to dig those up. Chances are all are EU/UK though.

Awesome tip for audio recording; had not crossed my mind, good to know!

@bloodbat: I only had digitized output set for that last recording, setup does not allow a midi device for these sounds. There are midi-alternatives for some sound fx, but these sound quite different (though indeed without clicks), but the 'pewpewpew' (with the clicking) is digitized only.

By the way, do any of you guys *not* have the clicking as per my recording?

I have the US release (Building of a Dynasty) patched to version 1.07, and I'm using the multi-soundcard setup patch. I don't get the distortion I'm hearing in your recording, but I get the pops at the beginning and ending of the gun shooting sound effect.

I ripped GUNMULTI.VOC out of the the VOC.PAK file, and it has a DC offset that causes the pops, which you can hear just playing the file in an audio application.

Thanks. To be honest *I* hadn't noticed any distortion other than the pops in the gun fire until you mentioned it; do you mean what almost sounds like background hiss/warble in these same samples?

But interesting that you actually found the popping to be in the file! Does make me wonder if certain versions of the game maybe came with a different version of that sample or played it back differently, as I really remember it sounding clean in the version I played years ago. To be fair, that was a cracked copy that included trainers etc., so who knows what was altered. These floppy discs are long lost, unfortunately.

Any tips regarding tools for unpacking, 'fixing' and repacking the sound file? I believe there might be a missile firing sound that would need a similar treatment.

edit: already found the (un)packer, any tips for a super-simple (lossless?) voc editor are still welcome 😀

sndwv wrote:

I believe there might be a missile firing sound that would need a similar treatment.

Many of the sound effects could use better normalization. The ones with the most pronounced DC offset are DROPEQ2P, EXDUD, EXTINY, GUN, GUNMULTI, and MISLTINP.

You might want to consider Audacity for your audio editing needs. It has some nice features, can handle VOC files, and it's free software. Using Audacity you would select "Effect", "Normalize...", and only check the "Remove DC offset" checkbox -- that's the minimum amount of processing to eliminate the pops.

Nice! I've fixed the DC offset of all files from VOC.PAK that would in my opinion benefit from it without causing clipping. WORMET3 and MISLTINP required a tiny bit of extra doctoring to remove pops, but I did not want to alter the samples too much.

That said, there is still some noticeable clicking left; not sure where that is coming from. I'll have another look when I have more time to see if there is more tweaking that can be done.

I've attached a zip containing two recordings, before and after normalization. The difference should be clear, but it's still not quite there yet.

Ok; cleaned a pop at the start of GUNMULTI and added a fade-in at the very beginning of MISLTINP and now have a nice, relatively clean sounding set of samples. In-game recording attached.

I would be happy to add the .PAK or any of the .VOCs if anyone is interested, but that might not be legal?