Gsm > speex pls help

[Ragar]

I am the only member of my guild with a mac and i finally got them to change it to speex but too many people complained there was a great difference in quality.

The guy whos in charge of it said that there is a difference due to bandwidth differences between pc and mac and that pc was basically better.

Anyway they dont intend to change it back to speex is there anything at all i can do anything i can download to support the Gsm codec. or will ventilo be making macs able to use it.

I am getting desperate now and its very frustrating

[Ur-Jack]

First off I request that you make the person in charge of your Guild's vent aware of this thread so that he may read it.

The guy whos in charge of it said that there is a difference due to bandwidth differences between pc and mac and that pc was basically better.

Incorrect. Bandwidth is not a feature or constraint of the computer, that is purely down to the network connect and the internet connection. An internet connection will run at the same speed on the PC as it does with a Mac; assuming appropriate interfaces. The standards of which are commonly sufficient on both.

finally got them to change it to speex but too many people complained there was a great difference in quality.

This suggest two things. The windows suers did not download the latest version of the Ventrilo client (marked Beta on the downloads page) which all users are encouraged to do. Secondly, the change of codec was not done correctly. Sounds like the setting for speex was too low to match the higher setting that was used for GSM. This quality CAN be matched using speex, and even bettered as there are far more configuration options available. What your vent admin has to do is select a Speex setting that matches the bandwidth usage that is set with GSM and you will not lose any quality.

For example:

GSM @ 11KHz 16 bit -> Speex @ 16 KHZ 16 bit quality 5

GSM @ 22KHz 16 bit -> Speex @ 32KHz 16 bit quality 9

The above comparisons use the same bandwidth (roughly) and the quality matches respectively. But this can be experimented by your guild either on the server or just on their own clients in the set-up to find something that is suitable.

[SteveJobs]

The problem is, they need the newest windows beta client, I understand it has better speex compatibility. I have not verified this, but I've read that this is the issue.

I own a Mac and a PC, I have not pushed for my guild to make this change because I use my PC solely for vent, and I can deal with it. Unfortunately the fix involves everyone updating their vent clients to the latest beta, which kinda sucks.

I wish they'd push the latest beta down as the newest version to windows users so I can have them switch and stop using 2 computers :P

[wadesworld]

Unfortunately the fix involves everyone updating their vent clients to the latest beta, which kinda sucks.

No, it doesn't suck. Windows users update all the time without a second thought.

The only issue with the beta is, people don't believe it when you tell them all Windows users should update. They figure their Vent is working fine, so they don't need to update. Thus, you end up with only 80% of users on a server that actually do the update.

[Upadi]

The problem is, they need the newest windows beta client, I understand it has better speex compatibility. I have not verified this, but I've read that this is the issue.

Exact, I had the same issue with my guild, most off the guys told me that the quality was not that good as PC, so I convinced them to DL the latest Windows version and afterwords everythings seems ok.

[purrdeta]

As I am the communications person in my guild, I set the codec. None of my guildmates have complained that it was different than other servers and I bet they arent using the beta.

[Ohidosee]

ok which codec would be comparable to

GSM 6.10 (44 KHz, 16 bit) 8905 bytes/sec?

I know when I have to switch to speedex for my mac user (for raids), everyone complains. People are distorted, cant be heard, etc. Then others are ok.

[wadesworld]

Originally Posted by Ohidosee

ok which codec would be comparable to

GSM 6.10 (44 KHz, 16 bit) 8905 bytes/sec?

I know when I have to switch to speedex for my mac user (for raids), everyone complains. People are distorted, cant be heard, etc. Then others are ok.

3\32\Speex (32 KHz, 16 bit, 10 Qlty) 5520 bytes/sec

Again, to reiterate, ALL Windows users should upgrade to the latest beta, whether they're having problems or not. Generally what happens is only a percentage of the people of the people upgrade.

Wade

[Trestle]

I hate to bump an old thread like this. I have always had problems with speex. I always thought maybe it was because everyone did not update or something to that effect but I tried all the fixes on here to get rid of my problems. Some people I hear just fine and others just sound like static. Since the servers just upgraded and 3.0 is out. I KNOW everyone is using the same client. However I still have the same problems. The strange part is the people I am having the issues with are other windows users. I dont want to lock my mac users out of the vent because of the codec. Please help me find a solution.

[wadesworld]

Generally, people having problems have one or more of the following issues:

1) Using outdated sound drivers
2) Have their amplifiers set too high (Speex is more sensitive to high amplifier settings)
3) Have mic boost turned on