Another audio thing, I use 5.1 surround (true/speakers) and the center channel mix is way off. There is way too much audio data coming through the center channel, including all the player movement SFX. It sounds pretty bad, and also "audio pro" by trade.

It appears the 5.1 Surround sound mix is off. Too much of the mix is coming through the center channel. All center positioned SFX are coming through the center channel, not just some SFX and VO. There sounds like there is way too much audio content coming through the center channel, such as all movement related SFX.

@astrocat Does not surprise me there is no cinematic mixing flair to give 5.1 surround sound users a reason to rejoice. Most of the SFX library used in the game is mono, with the exception of ambient sounds. Very glad that you chimed in as I was curious about that.

Yeah with 1.04 patch I'm not hearing any improvement. It's really bad if you have a 5.1 setup and all the motion SFX are crammed into the center channel. The low resolution audio is really bad. I went back and played Odyssey to compare. Sure, a lot of audio data is in the center channel but the quality of audio is so much better it's totally ok. I was really hoping for any improvement so I could actually start playing the game.

@captainstarpaw

So it looks like Ubisoft advertised the game as including Dolby Digital Surround Sound and Dts-HD Digital Surround Sound and then only provided stereo low quality audio files....

Warranty of Merchantability kicks in here folks. They have to provide you the refund or face legal liability regardless of time played because they didn't provide what they advertised. Point this out in your refund requests.

Hopefully they fix this soon, but wow, shame on them.

@therealdaemon

Back of the box for one. https://imgur.com/dzFQ4Sa

@lizzared Hey lizzared, I updated my Reddit thread to include your discovery. Thanks for letting us know. DTS Digital Surround is a powerful codec, and it is a shame that due to the internal audio quality of the game, it is only utilizing a fraction of its capabilities.

• Did you start to play Valhalla before the initial game updates were released?
  • Started on launch day.
• What is your platform, and if on PC, what are your system specs? (CPU, GPU, RAM, etc.)
  • PC (10700K, 3080, 32GB)
• What is your audio set-up? Are you using a headset (wired or wireless?), a speaker system, a surround sound system, etc.?
  • 5.1 Surround Speakers using SoundBlaster ZX, Denon Receiver with External analog input)
• What audio output is in use? 7.1, 5.1, Surround, Stereo?
  • 5.1
• A video demonstrating the issues you are experiencing.
  • All you have to do is start the game and move around. The center channel mix is way too loud and the sound files sound like their bit and sample rates are really low. I compared against AC:Odyssey and the difference in mix and sound quality using the same hardware is dramatic.

New big patch coming... seriously fingers crossed we get any fixes for the messed up audio system.

@raski0611 The snow footstep SFX and mix is so bad, it's really over the top that it got released like this.

I was trying some settings, at one point instead of selecting headphones i have selected "speakers" and "front speaker". So I have received only sound middle channel. There were no footsteps, no conversations, but I was able to hear clearly all background sounds and everything around it sounded surprisingly well. Party on very begining-people cheering, music, musician playing song for Eivor, there is even choir singing some viking song.
After that I was trying (insted of standard stereo sound) to use different settings for emulation of 5.1 or 7.1 on headphones. Even tried external sound card plugged into USB port (there virtual 5.1 for hedphones was working quite good) and game sounded better. There was still some echoe/reverb on Eivor lines, but footsteps sound improved and was no longer overpovering the rest of audio.
My conclusion is-game has problem with this channel on stereo setup. Middle channel (od sound that should be displayed on front of player/in bacground) is too quiet on stereo, all the rest - player noise,footsteps, some npc and covnersations are too loud. Difference between this channel and the rest is too big causing this issue. I don't know if it's related to the way game recognises customer setup, checking if it's stereo or 5.1 or anything else but clearly mixing there is the issue.

We'll see, maybe one day. Just tried the game again after 1.1.1, walked in snow for 3 seconds. Center channel mix is way too loud, and SFX are super muffled sounding. Quit game.

@hieromalex

I also do not remember any AC that had audio issues that huge compared to Valhalla. The audio mixing in Valhalla is faulted in its roots and feels like done by amateurs. I dont mean that music is played too litle (which i dislike since Origins) - I mean that you cant hear the music at when in combat or the music is too quiet or doesnt play at all when in combat situations.

This is a problem that is hard to fix and needs some actual work and all those problems that need actual work from experts in the dev team will never be fixed. Those people clearly moved on to the next project and no one in the live team is able or has the knowledge to fix issues like this.

I second what has being said here. I use a 7.1 Hyper X set up, the audio feels poor and not well spatialized. The overall high compression of the audio doesn't help.