Could earphones ever become standard?

[jetfour]

It's hard to hear your own match over Dreamland 64 at tournaments.
Seriously though.

I find that audio is a significant factor in a match. Sometimes the smoke, green rings, and other effects visually block out what is really happening and hearing a cue makes a difference. Clanks, techs, and character grunts are sometimes reacted to faster than seeing what happens. There are also (probably insignificantly) abusable things like Doc's boost grab when he lets out the yell like he's dash attacking.

My view might be skewed being a Falcon player though. Whenever Falcon does his get-up attack at >100%, his grunt is audible way before he even gets up. It is easy to react to and punish hard.

Maybe someone can clarify about the matches where SilentSpectre connects the Falcon Punches against Pink Shinobi -- I personally find that those pawnches executed in the magnifying glass have a higher success rate when the opponent doesn't hear FALCON being yelled out, thus unable to anticipate. Maybe Waffles was being loud as usual and PS couldn't hear that distinct yell?

I just used that as an extreme example to illustrate where audio could have made the difference in a stock.

I personally find it much easier to focus on the match when I hear the audio of the game. It made me wonder why there isn't a convenient way for me to hear my match clearly at tournaments without having other set-ups crank up their own volumes to hear over my loud volume.

Is there an easy way to do this at tournaments? Would it have to be something like using headphone splitters and BYOearphones? Is there a simpler way to let each station focus on their own YES's and FALCON PUNCH's?

Spoiler

I was sleepy when I wrote this, if it didn't make sense I'll edit it when I get the chance

 

[Che_Lab]

interesting theory
what do you say about people who perform well listening to other music through headphones

 

[PaperstSoapCo]

I feel the same about sound and performance. I actually find my self looking always when doing ledge stalls with Ganon and just keeping the timing of his grab sound so I can be successful. I listen to music but only when practicing. I need to at least hear my characters sounds in either situation.

 

[azianraven]

Earphones would be nice, but I just crank up the volume at a suitable level for the person playing and myself.

As for Doc's grab, iirc it only just cancels the dash attack and doesn't give him a "boost", but you are correct about the sound.

 

[Yuna-Maria]

I tend to wear earphones while spectating more than while playing. Hearing people scream really hurts my ears and my concentration.

 

[Fuelbi]

Interesting. Youre right I cannot play a game without sound(except for war games where I put on some rock music). When lets say my father turns down the volume to talk to someone while watching me I start to tend to do horribly and I have to crank up the volume at least a bit so I can hear the audio. Why that happens I dont know.

 

[kciD]

Buy one of those bluetooth looking things called "Listen Up" or something like that. I don't know how well they work, but if you think it could be the difference between a match, try it out. Buy them at Walgreens or something, and if they don't work take them back. Walgreens will take anything back with a receipt.

 

[JPOBS]

Clanks, techs, and character grunts are sometimes reacted to faster than seeing what happens.

This would only make sense if light traveled slower than sound.

but it doesnt. Depending on sound for ANY kind of reaction based movement is simply inefficient because light travels faster than sound waves.

granted, at a distance of 5-6 feets away from the tv this is all negligible, but you get the point.

Personally, i like the sound to be kinda loud durin gameplay but thats moreso to do with the fact that i enjoy the musical selection in the game, i odnt think it has any strategical advantage either way.

 

[Winston]

This would only make sense if light traveled slower than sound.

but it doesnt. Depending on sound for ANY kind of reaction based movement is simply inefficient because light travels faster than sound waves.

light travelling slower than sound is far less relevant than how fast the brain can interpret the information.

Also, for certain things like the animations he mentioned, the sound would happen before the animation reaches the stage where it is easily distinguished from the other get-up animations.

 

[JPOBS]

light travelling slower than sound is far less relevant than how fast the brain can interpret the information.

Also, for certain things like the animations he mentioned, the sound would happen before the animation reaches the stage where it is easily distinguished from the other get-up animations.

i dont see how you could say one is less relevent than the other, when the former compliments the latter entirely.

the faster information reaches sensory organs, the faster it can be interpreted. there is no argument here.

but i understand in special cases where the sound comes before the action, thats a given.

 

[Fortress | Sveet]

the brain has to distinguish one animation from hundreds of others its seen, but with sound it can hear one unique thing and know instantly what is going to happen.

 

[Smoke and smash]

I rely purely on vision. Music through headphones helps block out distractions and allows me to focus on the game more.

 

[JPOBS]

the brain has to distinguish one animation from hundreds of others its seen, but with sound it can hear one unique thing and know instantly what is going to happen.

well there is such a thing as selective attention that pretty much eliminates the problem of needing to distinguish between anything. If you know what a particular animation looks like, the faster that information gets fed to the brain then the faster you can react.

i've already conceeded though that if the sound comes sufficiently before the animation then thats a different story.

whatever though its not a big difference either way.

 

[azianraven]

whatever though its not a big difference either way.

This.

The sound in gameplay is not really a vital component of one's performance compared to every other aspect of the player.

 

[Vulcan55]

I know that in HD remix, they made Zangief's kick lariat and punch lariat make different sounds, but that's because they look the same at the beginning (On just lasts longer, and they have very different hit boxes), so you need that to differentiate between the two instantly, and you'd miss that with music playing. I don't think anything like that exists in Melee, though.

 

[Tamoo]

This would be pretty **** useful actually, i constantly get distracted by crowds and commentators although i really shouldnt
I remember this french jiggs called benoit putting earplugs into his ears during a match, i personally dont know how id play without the game music

 

[keeper]

I've actually wanted to do this in tournaments. Just plug my headphones into the TV and listen to the game.

 

[raincatchfire]

I've actually wanted to do this in tournaments. Just plug my headphones into the TV and listen to the game.

your opponent was ok with this? i wouldn't be.

 

[keeper]

your opponent was ok with this? i wouldn't be.

I've wanted to, not I have.

 

[Duff0]

Listening to your opponents controller is viable too though.

 

[keeper]

Listening to your opponents controller is viable too though.

I agree. Some people shake out, some don't, and hearing that really helps as well as other movements.

 

[AXE 09]

a lot of my gameplay is based on sound. if i can't hear what sounds are going on in the match, i play a lot worse

sometimes if my opponents can't hear, it's good for me too

i can recall hitting a peach floating in the air twice by doing pikachu's down b. if they could hear the match, they would hear the "pika!" before the thunder came, but since there was no sound, it seemed like the thunder just came outta no where

i 100% agree that sounds can be a big part of the match.

i love when falcon uses his attack to get up from the ledge lol. he grunts like an entire year before he actually attacks

but if you couldn't hear the match, you'd never know if falcon was gonna roll, or attack, or just get up, etc...

 

[Nø Ca$h]

i think its a good idea. i edge gaurd better w/ sound. marth up bing falco/fox side bing, i prefer sound.

although, i do like my own music. :]

but sound is NOT a viable jon

 

[Stratford]

Much easier to run into a PAWNCH if you can't hear it coming.

 

[LSDX]

Well, any form of headset may never become standard, but it could always be an option for any tournament director. I do agree with your theory though, sound cues play a very crucial role in knowing what to do and where to be at a given point in a match.

 

[LLDL]

It's not seriously hard to hear your own TV. I think it only seems that way on videos, I've never had that problem. Don't get me wrong, I know exactly what you are trying to say, however when I actually started playing the match, my focus didn't pick up anything else buy my televisons sounds.

 

[-ACE-]

It's not seriously hard to hear your own TV. I think it only seems that way on videos, I've never had that problem. Don't get me wrong, I know exactly what you are trying to say, however when I actually started playing the match, my focus didn't pick up anything else buy my televisons sounds.

I mean it all depends on the volume, lol.

 

[LLDL]

Yeah. I mean I've been to tourneys with blasting Dreamland sounds, while my tv was only at like 10 volume, and in those, I had no trouble concentrating. I think it depends on the person, rather than the volume.

 

[Pi]

I use sound to tell if I've used my DJ
Also with fox's side B, while I am not fast enough to short it when I randomly perform it, I do hear the sound before I see it.

 

[jetfour]

Oh! That is a crucial point I left out. Some characters let out loud grunts when they use their second jump, and if they get hit out it right away you will not see the animation but still hear the sound. That makes all the difference for juggling and gimps.

 

[Vegard]

I support your theory to the fullest about the audio in Smash. I simply can't play on my a game if the TV's on mute..

 

[JFox]

go to sound options and turn off the music if u really wanna zone in on the sound effects.

 

[DtJ Jungle]

I personally love that no matter how loud the tv im playing at is, you can always hear dreamland.

 

[AXE 09]

I use sound to tell if I've used my DJ
Also with fox's side B, while I am not fast enough to short it when I randomly perform it, I do hear the sound before I see it.

Oh! That is a crucial point I left out. Some characters let out loud grunts when they use their second jump, and if they get hit out it right away you will not see the animation but still hear the sound. That makes all the difference for juggling and gimps.

these are also very important. a lot of times, i would never know if i lost my 2nd jump if i wasn't able to hear it, because a lot of times you use your 2nd jump right before you get hit. you can't see yourself do your 2nd jump, but you can hear it.

 

[Figgz]

I know that in HD remix, they made Zangief's kick lariat and punch lariat make different sounds, but that's because they look the same at the beginning (On just lasts longer, and they have very different hit boxes), so you need that to differentiate between the two instantly, and you'd miss that with music playing. I don't think anything like that exists in Melee, though.

True


huh, im hungry