And hey, it´s just recommended anyway. I do not force to use any of those settings.
That´s a whole different story. Some mods seem oddly out of balance yes, but since I can only talk about my sounds and why I set the volume levels how they are, here you are:
Basically, if you look into the Kunos cars, you´ll notice that theres a huge imbalance in the volume levels,
if you consider how loud different cars/ engines actually are. I noticed that the 911 Carrera RSR and the Escort are one of the loudest cars ingame. Okay, might be that they are just really loud IRL. Now, compare it to cars that should be atleast as loud, if not even louder. A Z4 GT3, 917k, 962c, Mazda 787b, or the Sauber C9 you would think. And obviously there should be cars that are significantly lower in volume, like most of the streetcars, as you´d expect. Well, take a bunch of cars, run a session, go into the freecam, and enjoy the spectacle.
This is a Ford Escort and an Audi R8 LMS passing by at Blanchimont in Spa, after that follows the 911 Carrera RSR, then a M235i and finally the Alfa Romeo 4C. Have a listen
here.
Pretty loud for a streetcar isn´t it, while the LeMans car is nearly silent once it´s passed. Following the same recording level,
this is another example with the Escort, the F138 (
a V8 F1 car! ) and the Praga.
And now lets compare the Abarth 500 and the monstrous Sauber C9:
Abarth 500
Sauber C9 ( even gave it an advantage by standing further down the corner since it couldnt go flat out through Blanchimont )
So, in conclusion: Where do you want me to balance my sounds? Should I make it as loud as a bloody Fiat 500, which means it will be louder than a V8 F1 car at full throttle? Or as loud as an growling Sauber C9, which is quieter than an approaching 911 Carrera RSR or a Ford Escort?!
The whole event cone angle volume balance is way off, and I´ve stopped paying attention to the Kunos standards for a while now, as some cars are double as loud at the front than from the rear, where it actually should be the other way around.
Same goes for how the volume progresses depending on the rpm. Most of them are too linear or static( same goes for most of the mods btw ) which means idle is nearly as loud as a fly by at full throttle. IMO it should be way more dynamic, which is why you might think my sounds are way too low in volume at lower revs.
Plus, notice how the sound switches from one ear to the other? Nice effect, but totally overdone and totally out of place. Sounds like you have two seperate mono sounds going from left to the right with no real surround sound.
So, simply lowering the volume is no fix, unless I leave out the extras I add to my sounds which makes these things sound like loud and evil racecars passing by at really, really high speeds.
Don´t want to rant too much about the standard sounds, not really fair given the amount of cars there are and how many changes there have been to FMOD. Just an explaination of why I do things like they are.
P.S. This response is way too long ^^