Low-end Frequencies are Bitcrushing

Question

Hello people of Godot,

The low-end information of audio tracks is bitcrushing inside the godot engine. Is anyone else experiencing this? Is godot transcoding? Any info/fix is very much appreciated.

Grts.

Foley

Answer 1

The audio works fine in Godot, it should sound the same as any media player. For music, you want to use MP3 or OGG. MP3 is fine (I use this cause most of the originals are in MP3) but OGG has slightly better compression. Both should be high quality with a similar bitrate. WAV is only used for short sound effects like footsteps or gunshots.

However, you need to make sure that the sample rate in Godot matches what is set in your OS. If I'm not mistaken, 44.1 khz is the most common, so set Windows to 44.1 khz and make sure that is also selected in the Godot editor settings and the same for the audio file.

Lally

Answer 2

Godot version?

Bellinger

Answer 3

This is a known issue: https://github.com/godotengine/godot/issues/23544

Using a different audio format might help (specifically Ogg Vorbis or MP3, as they are resampled in a higher-quality way by Godot).

Also, make sure the Compress import option isn't enabled if using a WAV file. IMA-ADPCM compression is pretty low-quality by today's standards.

Wildman

Answer 4

@Calinou said: This is a known issue: https://github.com/godotengine/godot/issues/23544

Using a different audio format might help (specifically Ogg Vorbis or MP3, as they are resampled in a higher-quality way by Godot).

Also, make sure the Compress import option isn't enabled if using a WAV file. IMA-ADPCM compression is pretty low-quality by today's standards.

Hi all, thanks for the answers. I'm indeed making sure I'm not compressing on import. I'm currently on 3.2.stable. Do I understand correctly that the MP3 resampling is fixed in later versions?

Is there a reason for only having better resampling for MP3 as opposed to WAV? I'd prefer being able to use WAV in the final product.

Thanks in advance!

Foley

Answer 5

I'm currently on 3.2.stable. Do I understand correctly that the MP3 resampling is fixed in later versions?

Yes. Please upgrade ASAP as 3.2 isn't supported anymore :)

Is there a reason for only having better resampling for MP3 as opposed to WAV? I'd prefer being able to use WAV in the final product.

The different resampling choice was done for performance reasons. However, it may not be relevant in 2022 (even on mobile), so WAV playback may be changed to use better resampling in the long run. I can't guarantee this will actually be done in a future Godot release though.

That said, high-bitrate MP3 or especially Ogg Vorbis gets very close to WAV in terms of quality, especially for game use cases (which is less demanding than critical listening).

Wildman

Answer 6

@Calinou Alright, thanks for your kind help.

I'm sorry to press, but I believe I read on GitHub that it might be possible to create a separate audio back-end in order to support WAVs? Would this be an option in order to successfully use WAVs in Godot? Or would this be a really cumbersome process?

Thanks again.

Foley

Answer 7

WAV is kind of unnecessary. A 320 kpbs MP3 sounds great, and it would be very difficult for anyone to tell the difference. Especially in a game when there are other sounds happening. Plus, file size can be an issue for downloads, and using WAV for music takes up way too much space. I mean, technically it is better, I just don't think anyone can notice.

Lally

Answer 8

I'm aware of the difference, I'm just wondering about the possibility - thanks!

Foley

Answer 9

I'm sorry to press, but I believe I read on GitHub that it might be possible to create a separate audio back-end in order to support WAVs? Would this be an option in order to successfully use WAVs in Godot? Or would this be a really cumbersome process?

Audio internals have been significantly reworked in 4.0alpha, but this can't be backported to 3.x since the refactor relies on a lot of compatibility-breaking changes.

Wildman