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I really wish Discord would implement an audio compressor (or if they use one, make it much more aggressive) for voice chat. For example, Mumble doesn't require

by ReidZB 8y ago

I really wish Discord would implement an audio compressor (or if they use one, make it much more aggressive) for voice chat. For example, Mumble doesn't require manually adjusting anyone's volume - instead, it uses a compressor to automatically normalize volumes for everyone. In contrast, Discord has a volume slider that I end up having to adjust for most people. That requires manual tweaking, often while I'm playing a game, and isn't future-proof; just the other day, one of my friends changed his microphone setup and was extremely loud (I had him at 200% when in the new setup he should've been at about 75%). This is really my only complaint with Discord's VOIP functionality. It is a major step backward from Mumble. (Also, for some reason the Discord community mostly uses voice activated mic instead of push-to-talk, but I don't think that's Discord's fault.)

iMerNibor 8y ago
> voice activated mic Which is a very sane default for most people The only reason you'd want to use push to talk is either you have a lot of people in the channel, you have a loud background or you don't want people hearing stuff not designated for the discord voice (if you're streaming, have irl people in the same room - that kinda stuff)
- r_smart 8y ago
  Personally, I hate the sound of people chewing and smacking their lips directly in my ear as they work their way through their 'fresh that afternoon' gas station nachos. But that's just me :)
  - Zekio 8y ago
    if you are in control of the Discord server you can force push to talk in voice channels
  - LinuxBender 8y ago
    It is not just you. I know of several gaming sites that will block or ban people for leaving their mic open or making breathing sounds into it.
  - tzakrajs 8y ago
    Also vaping incessantly...
  - paulmd 8y ago
    > "They actually do talk, then. They use words, ideas, concepts?" > "Oh, yes. Except they do it with meat." > "I thought you just told me they used radio." > "They do, but what do you think is on the radio? Meat sounds. You know how when you slap or flap meat it makes a noise? They talk by flapping their meat at each other. They can even sing by squirting air through their meat." https://youtu.be/7tScAyNaRdQ https://youtu.be/7tScAyNaRdQ
    - mwcampbell 8y ago
      What a haunting short film. (I understand that it's adapted from a short story.) Tangent: It's ironic that the dialogue between the two aliens is spoken by humans. After all, the actors are rendering the dialog with meat sounds. I think it would have been better to use a speech synthesizer that's not based on actual recordings of meat sounds -- like eSpeak, DECtalk, or ETI-Eloquence. DECtalk, at least, is flexible enough to speak with whatever intonation you want, so the dialogue wouldn't necessarily come out sounding flat.
- e12e 8y ago
  It's not a sane default for people gaming with mouse/mechanical keyboard. The voice activation can (in general) be set not to have squad breathing and chewing in your ear - but you'll hear every Crack of desperate mouse movement... It might be better with people using Xbox controllers.
  - zrobotics 8y ago
    >>It might be better with people using Xbox controllers. Not necessarily, I have had to disable my mic when playing certain games, apparently I'm violent enough with the analog sticks that hitting the end of travel will activate discord.
  - xfalcox 8y ago
    My modmic setup doesn't transmit me typing on my Cherry MX Brown keyboard. And we complain a lot when someone on the server has an improper voice activation threshold, so everyone quickly fixes theirs.
    - plexicle 8y ago
      Also rocking a ModMic5 and a keyboard with Brown switches. Never had an issue transmitting when I wasn't actually speaking. Both in Discord and Slack.
- kadendogthing 8y ago
  >Which is a very sane default for most people I couldn't disagree more. Having an open mic setup for gaming is both insane and completely inconsiderate to everyone else in the channel/group. It's hard not to personally judge people that join a group, whether that's a friend of a friend, someone looking to try out, public LFG lobbies, etc and you can immediately tell they have an open mic configuration. It's maddening. Breathing, keyboard smashing, mouse clicking, background noise, eating, or exasperated whining every time you die/lose are all annoyances you push on the rest of the channel/group with an open mic configuration. At best it's an annoyance. At worst it's actively disrupting people's game play and team communication. For the love of all that is decent with humanity, use push to talk.
  - gsich 8y ago
    Open mic and voice activation are two different things. The first is permanent sending of your microphone input, the last one is only sending when there is activity, hence the name.
    - kadendogthing 8y ago
      >Open mic and voice activation are two different things. In theory but not in practice.
      - gsich 8y ago
        Also in practice. You just need to tell people, and by tell I mean command them to fix their stuff.
        snlnspc 8y ago
        "working as intended, just patronize other users into fiddling with their settings until it's acceptable" sounds to me like it's not a sane default
        slavox 8y ago
- arkh 8y ago
  The joy of hearing sick people coughing or sneezing. Or raging people. Or their family. Their barking dogs. The best being when they use speakers so you get some echo. That's usually when they get muted because fuck their lazy-ass.
- urda 8y ago
  Absolutely not, the default should be PTT. I can't tell you how many times I've ran into users who just cannot get their sensitivity right. So in turn, you end up with a ton of people coughing, sneezing, talking to others, fans, and insert your other favorite background noise. Most users just don't care to set it up right, and it's impossible to get them to adjust it (unless you have some type of Discord Mod / Admin privs on the server at the time to force them to fix it). Otherwise, you have a bunch of users who have to put up with Joe-Schmoe chewing away on his mic. It's why the Discord servers I'm in 100% completely enforce PTT, zero voice activation allowed.
- mmanfrin 8y ago
  Hi, I'd like to introduce you to the very large gaming crossover niche of mechanical keyboards. What were you saying about open mics?
- valarauca1 8y ago
  you have a lot of people in the channel Which is common you have a loud background Which is also extremely common. Fans, open windows, keyboard, neighbors yelling, etc. you don't want people hearing stuff not designated for the Like the fact you're a goddamn mouth breather. Fuck I refuse to join most discords because most the time I have to hear people mouth breath into their mics.
- Imburr 8y ago
  I think you outlined several major reasons to use push to talk. I exclusively use push to talk, specifically so I am not that guy in raid with an open mic, breathing heavy, with police sirens wailing in the background.
klank 8y ago
I wonder if the difference in PTT vs voice activated has to do with the common games being played at the time. PTT is mandatory running an MMORPG raid with 40 people. Voice activated is perfect for playing a game while talking with 3-8 people at a time.
- pvg 8y ago
  I think that's exactly it, as well as the comparative twitchiness of the game. You don't have time to fiddle with an extra button in something like Overwatch while you can probably exchange a couple of emails and check twitter during a single FF14 GCD.
- wlesieutre 8y ago
  Even for Overwatch in a group with 2-3 friends I’d much rather have them use PTT because a lot of people are keyboard-smashing typists who can’t set the mic transmit threshold right.
  - chii 8y ago
    How can so many people be complaining about keyboard sounds?! I assume they ain't using a mechanical keyboard, and/or they ain't using a laptop with built-in mic, but a headset.
  - stringyham 8y ago
    In Overwatch, we can set the input/output volume but no threshold and my mic doesn't have that option. That's why I also use PTT.
- eertami 8y ago
  Eh we raided Mythics with 25 where most people had voice activation. Was perfectly fine. I think it's more about who you're playing with, if you are good friends with the people that you are on voice with, chances are you're quite alike and considerate to each other.
  - gizmo385 8y ago
reificator 8y ago
> Also, for some reason the Discord community mostly uses voice activated mic instead of push-to-talk, but I don't think that's Discord's fault. Definitely the community, as Discord provides an option to require PTT on a channel-by-channel basis.
- seba_dos1 8y ago
  Not sure if this is the case here, but the chosen defaults and the UX around it could easily make it a Discord's fault.
  - reificator 8y ago
    IMO it would be significantly more user-hostile to disallow users choosing whether to use PTT unless the benevolent server owner allows it. I know people who consider voice-activation to be an accessibility feature, as otherwise it would be too difficult/distracting to be able to use VOIP. A community should absolutely be able to disallow voice-activation, but disallowing it by default across the platform would be an issue.
    - seba_dos1 8y ago
      No, I'm speaking more about hiding voice-activation mode somewhere into accessibility settings page, as opposed to getting big shiny button "activate voice-activation" after first login or even enabling it by default with an option to switch to PTT afterwards.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
VectorLock 8y ago
I used TeamSpeak for a long time but when my group switched to Discord there have been a litany of audio problems. My favorite is people will complain about an intermittent hiss that only stops when I talk. The hiss ends even after I've finished transmitting, and I'm not transmitting the hiss (it happens even when I'm not connected to the audio chat.)
dharma1 8y ago
should be doable with https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/DynamicsCompressorNode https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/DynamicsCom...
Imburr 8y ago
I don't find this to be the case. I have played several games on several servers, including 40 and 50 person channels, and I have never manually adjusted volume. The only adjustment I make is to mute myself so everyone else can't hear me yell at football.

by ReidZB 8y ago

iMerNibor 8y ago

> voice activated mic Which is a very sane default for most people The only reason you'd want to use push to talk is either you have a lot of people in the channel, you have a loud background or you don't want people hearing stuff not designated for the discord voice (if you're streaming, have irl people in the same room - that kinda stuff)

r_smart 8y ago
Personally, I hate the sound of people chewing and smacking their lips directly in my ear as they work their way through their 'fresh that afternoon' gas station nachos. But that's just me :)
- Zekio 8y ago
  if you are in control of the Discord server you can force push to talk in voice channels
- LinuxBender 8y ago
  It is not just you. I know of several gaming sites that will block or ban people for leaving their mic open or making breathing sounds into it.
- tzakrajs 8y ago
  Also vaping incessantly...
- paulmd 8y ago
  > "They actually do talk, then. They use words, ideas, concepts?" > "Oh, yes. Except they do it with meat." > "I thought you just told me they used radio." > "They do, but what do you think is on the radio? Meat sounds. You know how when you slap or flap meat it makes a noise? They talk by flapping their meat at each other. They can even sing by squirting air through their meat." https://youtu.be/7tScAyNaRdQ https://youtu.be/7tScAyNaRdQ
  - mwcampbell 8y ago
    What a haunting short film. (I understand that it's adapted from a short story.) Tangent: It's ironic that the dialogue between the two aliens is spoken by humans. After all, the actors are rendering the dialog with meat sounds. I think it would have been better to use a speech synthesizer that's not based on actual recordings of meat sounds -- like eSpeak, DECtalk, or ETI-Eloquence. DECtalk, at least, is flexible enough to speak with whatever intonation you want, so the dialogue wouldn't necessarily come out sounding flat.
e12e 8y ago
It's not a sane default for people gaming with mouse/mechanical keyboard. The voice activation can (in general) be set not to have squad breathing and chewing in your ear - but you'll hear every Crack of desperate mouse movement... It might be better with people using Xbox controllers.
- zrobotics 8y ago
  >>It might be better with people using Xbox controllers. Not necessarily, I have had to disable my mic when playing certain games, apparently I'm violent enough with the analog sticks that hitting the end of travel will activate discord.
- xfalcox 8y ago
  My modmic setup doesn't transmit me typing on my Cherry MX Brown keyboard. And we complain a lot when someone on the server has an improper voice activation threshold, so everyone quickly fixes theirs.
  - plexicle 8y ago
    Also rocking a ModMic5 and a keyboard with Brown switches. Never had an issue transmitting when I wasn't actually speaking. Both in Discord and Slack.
kadendogthing 8y ago
>Which is a very sane default for most people I couldn't disagree more. Having an open mic setup for gaming is both insane and completely inconsiderate to everyone else in the channel/group. It's hard not to personally judge people that join a group, whether that's a friend of a friend, someone looking to try out, public LFG lobbies, etc and you can immediately tell they have an open mic configuration. It's maddening. Breathing, keyboard smashing, mouse clicking, background noise, eating, or exasperated whining every time you die/lose are all annoyances you push on the rest of the channel/group with an open mic configuration. At best it's an annoyance. At worst it's actively disrupting people's game play and team communication. For the love of all that is decent with humanity, use push to talk.
- gsich 8y ago
  Open mic and voice activation are two different things. The first is permanent sending of your microphone input, the last one is only sending when there is activity, hence the name.
  - kadendogthing 8y ago
    >Open mic and voice activation are two different things. In theory but not in practice.
    - gsich 8y ago
      Also in practice. You just need to tell people, and by tell I mean command them to fix their stuff.
      - snlnspc 8y ago
        "working as intended, just patronize other users into fiddling with their settings until it's acceptable" sounds to me like it's not a sane default
        slavox 8y ago
arkh 8y ago
The joy of hearing sick people coughing or sneezing. Or raging people. Or their family. Their barking dogs. The best being when they use speakers so you get some echo. That's usually when they get muted because fuck their lazy-ass.
urda 8y ago
Absolutely not, the default should be PTT. I can't tell you how many times I've ran into users who just cannot get their sensitivity right. So in turn, you end up with a ton of people coughing, sneezing, talking to others, fans, and insert your other favorite background noise. Most users just don't care to set it up right, and it's impossible to get them to adjust it (unless you have some type of Discord Mod / Admin privs on the server at the time to force them to fix it). Otherwise, you have a bunch of users who have to put up with Joe-Schmoe chewing away on his mic. It's why the Discord servers I'm in 100% completely enforce PTT, zero voice activation allowed.
mmanfrin 8y ago
Hi, I'd like to introduce you to the very large gaming crossover niche of mechanical keyboards. What were you saying about open mics?
valarauca1 8y ago
you have a lot of people in the channel Which is common you have a loud background Which is also extremely common. Fans, open windows, keyboard, neighbors yelling, etc. you don't want people hearing stuff not designated for the Like the fact you're a goddamn mouth breather. Fuck I refuse to join most discords because most the time I have to hear people mouth breath into their mics.
Imburr 8y ago
I think you outlined several major reasons to use push to talk. I exclusively use push to talk, specifically so I am not that guy in raid with an open mic, breathing heavy, with police sirens wailing in the background.

klank 8y ago

I wonder if the difference in PTT vs voice activated has to do with the common games being played at the time. PTT is mandatory running an MMORPG raid with 40 people. Voice activated is perfect for playing a game while talking with 3-8 people at a time.

pvg 8y ago
I think that's exactly it, as well as the comparative twitchiness of the game. You don't have time to fiddle with an extra button in something like Overwatch while you can probably exchange a couple of emails and check twitter during a single FF14 GCD.
wlesieutre 8y ago
Even for Overwatch in a group with 2-3 friends I’d much rather have them use PTT because a lot of people are keyboard-smashing typists who can’t set the mic transmit threshold right.
- chii 8y ago
  How can so many people be complaining about keyboard sounds?! I assume they ain't using a mechanical keyboard, and/or they ain't using a laptop with built-in mic, but a headset.
- stringyham 8y ago
  In Overwatch, we can set the input/output volume but no threshold and my mic doesn't have that option. That's why I also use PTT.
eertami 8y ago
Eh we raided Mythics with 25 where most people had voice activation. Was perfectly fine. I think it's more about who you're playing with, if you are good friends with the people that you are on voice with, chances are you're quite alike and considerate to each other.
- gizmo385 8y ago

reificator 8y ago

> Also, for some reason the Discord community mostly uses voice activated mic instead of push-to-talk, but I don't think that's Discord's fault. Definitely the community, as Discord provides an option to require PTT on a channel-by-channel basis.

seba_dos1 8y ago
Not sure if this is the case here, but the chosen defaults and the UX around it could easily make it a Discord's fault.
- reificator 8y ago
  IMO it would be significantly more user-hostile to disallow users choosing whether to use PTT unless the benevolent server owner allows it. I know people who consider voice-activation to be an accessibility feature, as otherwise it would be too difficult/distracting to be able to use VOIP. A community should absolutely be able to disallow voice-activation, but disallowing it by default across the platform would be an issue.
  - seba_dos1 8y ago
    No, I'm speaking more about hiding voice-activation mode somewhere into accessibility settings page, as opposed to getting big shiny button "activate voice-activation" after first login or even enabling it by default with an option to switch to PTT afterwards.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

VectorLock 8y ago

I used TeamSpeak for a long time but when my group switched to Discord there have been a litany of audio problems. My favorite is people will complain about an intermittent hiss that only stops when I talk. The hiss ends even after I've finished transmitting, and I'm not transmitting the hiss (it happens even when I'm not connected to the audio chat.)

dharma1 8y ago

should be doable with https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/DynamicsCompressorNode https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/DynamicsCom...

Imburr 8y ago

I don't find this to be the case. I have played several games on several servers, including 40 and 50 person channels, and I have never manually adjusted volume. The only adjustment I make is to mute myself so everyone else can't hear me yell at football.