EXTREMELY Headache-Inducing Ringing Sound during Alexander Resurrected

[lucatracy]

Yeah, asked around during my run, theres definitely a hum from the shield, but no one hears anything so bad its headache inducing. Gotta be blunt this might be one those actual "you" issues, something with your audio or your ears...

Respectfully, if they can make the somewhat extreme change they did to the Promathia arena because a "you issue" to maybe a couple people, I don't see what's so hard about removing the sound effect or editing it to not sound so high frequency. Clearly it wouldn't actually matter to the majority considering I'm being treated like I'm crazy for even hearing it, so I'm not sure why people are getting defensive or even somewhat hostile over something they never even knew was there.

[lucatracy]

I think you should at least link the YT video you watched & write down the timestamp where exactly this bothersome sound exists—mind you, it’s not necessarily for us other forummonger, but moreso for any of their staff if they happened to read this thread. Edit your first post and put it up there for better visibility.

If you just tell anybody “Oh X fight sound effect makes me dizzy…” without specifying which SFX in the span of 4-6 minutes encounter, you’ll just prolong the time window it takes for them to address the issue because now they need to wait for you to get back at them which SFX exactly you were referring to. No, saying which phase doesn’t narrow it down proper either because in a single minute there can be plenty of SFX playing at the same time, much less identifying the common thread.

Tl;dr drop the link & put a timestamp on your first post. You can edit it.

Fair enough, I'll do that in a bit. Only concern is that these few examples also kind of have the same problem with SFX vomit and volume but I'll at least get a clip of just boss. Thanks!

[lucatracy]

I have really sensitive ears and I haven't noticed anything, but maybe I'm getting old lol.

I would maybe see if using a different audio device has any effect on it, otherwise it might be good to try and reach out to support directly.

Not sure if it's really an age thing or if this changes anything, but I am somewhat younger than what seems like the majority lmao. I always forget support is an option but by the looks of things, it's seemingly not worth it now..

[Majatok]

I don't hear anything, but that isn't the first time people complained about "disturbing" sound design that didn't affect me. Back then, during the early days of Endwalker, people complained about scholars broil 4 having some weird, high pitched lalafell scream sounding bit at the end of the sound effect. I and other people didn't hear it, but the devs did end up adjusting the sound.

That being said, it's not like I don't have my own personal grievance with some sounds in this game. I despise the Type 1 and Type 2 sound effects you can use for chat messages because they give me an uncomfortable physical reaction. I don't know why, but it just does. There are some crafter sound effects too that I found unpleasing, like the goldsmiths grinding machines.

Honestly, I think in general that the devs have gotten really bad with keeping the sensory side of their art accessible. I used to have all battle effects by everyone enabled, but nowadays I only have mine active because I straight up can't see anything anymore due to all the fireworks and explosions that all jobs are dishing out. Some boss stages are also pretty bad with their choice of colors. The third fight of Pandaemonium is infamous for its heavy use of orange, for example.

Basically, what I'm saying here is that I agree with you that this needs to be changed.

[Laerune]

I have not noticed and I have sensative hearing. I think the only solution is to reduce the volume.

[Jeeqbit]

I had no issues. Reducing volume of the specific environmental volume that's causing it seems the simplest solution. You can make a macro to do this which does /ambientsounds, so that you can disable the ambient volume. It's just one fight out of the whole game.

[ThreeBeastSmile]

OOH! I think I know what you mean. Damn I'm actually glad I heard it lol as I've been having ear problems that have yet to be addressed within a sensible timeframe (thanks NHS) and it's been eating away at me that I'm losing too much range (I have very sensitive ears, but quite proud of it). It's not quite on the level of nauseating for me but it's in that l'il threshold of upper range piquing, there's a bit of a vibrational buzz to it.

That fight's got a lot of shrill sounds I have to say (I have yet to do that content). Hmm. Guess in the meantime you could uhhh... use ear plugs? In the lower db range. I do that sometimes to dampen unpleasant sound ranges too, while still being able to hear what matters. While using over-ear headphones. Since having this problem (the medical one) anyway.

ED: as a fun note, maybe we could have people replying to this thread take the "is it laurel or yanny?" test.~

[Astronis]

I had no issues. Reducing volume of the specific environmental volume that's causing it seems the simplest solution. You can make a macro to do this which does /ambientsounds, so that you can disable the ambient volume. It's just one fight out of the whole game.

Absent any action by SE, this is probably how you should handle it, OP. I have macros to mute /voice and /bgm for instances where these separate audio tracks irritate me, then I turn them back on when the irritation is passed. Audio that's giving you a headache is absolutely worth temporarily muting while the fight is going on.

Though yes, do make a video with the sound and time stamp it, then send it to support directly. Possibly in-game? They may adjust it. They do adjust audio from time to time, so it's not out of the question that they'd adjust this one if you bring it directly to their attention.

[JerryBerrry]

A true definition of a first world problem. “This part annoyes me and should be changed to cater me and f$&@ everyone else”.

[boigerking]

Thanks genius, but muting my entire game, or having to change any volume setting mid boss, is not a solution to a sound effect causing literal headaches

This is quite literally the only solution outside of SE bending over backwards for you. I know it's not fun to deal with these headaches but sometimes you have to make some adjustments yourself, especially if it's a really easy one like this.