Hello. Good news, Engine Fixes is (mostly) working on the latest update of Skyrim. You do not need to disable SaveAddedSoundCategories. I have no idea why people are saying this.
Sound Record Distributor is also working and does not need an update. Here's to surviving another Skyrim update. And happy holidays! 🥂
INTRODUCTION – TOO LONG; DIDN'T READ SURE, WHY NOT. BUT PLEASE CONSIDER READING THE WHOLE THING. Audio Overhaul for Skyrim adds thousands of magic, weapon, ambient, and more sounds to your game. It is strongly recommended that you load Audio Overhaul for Skyrim very early in your load order. Non-SKSE, Epic Games Store, and Xbox Games Pass users should download Version 3.4.3.
As a reminder: I am not David Jegutidse. I am just the current maintainer and developer of AOS. This port and all subsequent updates have been made with his permission and blessings.
NEWS LAST UPDATED NOVEMBER 7TH 2022 Update 4.0.0 is here – Finally, the cloned projectile and explosion records have been condensed into vanilla records. What does this mean? With Sound Record Distributor, nothing (from the user). All necessary projectile and explosion records will have sounds added to them on runtime, relieving a massive burden on users, mod authors, and patch makers. For most users, no action is necessary on your part. For mod authors and patch makers, I've left all of the old "_AOS" records in and your patches are still fine to use.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED MODS LAST UPDATED NOVEMBER 7TH 2022
Regional Sounds Expansion – An extensive, standalone regional sound overhaul for towns, dungeons, and open-world. Reverb Interior Sounds Expansion – A thoughtful, vanilla-friendly remodel of the base game reverb, interior sounds, and more.
ADDITIONAL RECOGNITION FROM THE CURRENT MAINTAINER, DYLAN JAMES
David Jegutidse – For letting a guy you didn't really even know take over maintaining and supporting Audio Overhaul for Skyrim 2. I know it took a few years, but I'd like to think I held true to a lot of my original promises. And I'm so happy hundreds of thousands of people get to experience this classic project now and long into the future!
aers – For fixing the sound category bug for me back in 2018, allowing custom sound categories and volume sliders to properly exist in Skyrim. Something that had been bothering me for years up until Engine Fixes came along.
Doodlezoid – For taking me up on my proposal and bringing to life Sound Record Distributor. The framework shows incredible potential, and I'm so happy to have a tool like this available for mod authors and users-alike who may have felt intimidated by installing audio mods in the past.
FREQUENTLY ANTICIPATED QUESTIONS AKA PLEASE READ THE STICKY BEFORE COMMENTING
Q: Is it safe to update? Is this compatible with Anniversary Edition? A: Yes, and yes. As of 3.9.0, all AE content can be patched regardless of what you own!
Q: Do patches still work? A: Yes! All patches are backwards compatible with the latest version.
Q: LOOT is saying I need a patch that is no longer available on this page. A: The LOOT master list is going off of outdated information. As of 3.9.0, these patches are not nessecary.
Q: With Sound Record Distributor, does this mean I no longer need patches? A:No! You still need patches! However, it means you will need a lot less – check out below! If you have a simple patch, it's okay to keep it. Having it in your load order won't break anything.
Q: Is Audio Overhaul for Skyrim modular now? A: No, you cannot pick and choose which sounds you'd like to use. It is strongly unadvised you tweak the "_SRD" files (even if you know what you're doing). If you think you notice an error, please reach out and I will fix it as soon as possible.
Q: Will there be a Bethesda.net or Xbox release? May I port the mod? A: No. There are currently no plans for a console release at this time. See "Permissions and Credits" tab on the main page for more information.
Q: Why am I seeing "$" (Dollar Signs) when I open up the audio settings menu? A: It is possible you are either not using SKSE64 or you are using an unsupported language. Please download the compatibility patch for non-SKSE64 users in the Miscellaneous Files tab.
Q: I'm not getting footsteps on a certain surface. A: Certain meshes don't have the correct havok material flags defined in the mesh itself. This can result in the wrong impact sounds (like footsteps) from being played or none being played at all. This is not an issue with Audio Overhaul for Skyrim, but with the vanilla game itself and certain meshes introduced by mods. Unofficial Material Fix by Elzee and Immersive Sounds Compendium by lazygecko are strongly recommended.
SOUND RECORD DISTRIBUTOR WHAT IS ACTUALLY BEING DISTRIBUTED
With Sound Record Distributor, sounds are distributed to records at runtime. "Runtime" means "when the game starts". Here is a non-exhaustive list of what is currently being distributed by Sound Record Distributor, in greater detail.
Dagger Impact Sounds: In vanilla Skyrim, daggers use the same sounds as one-handed swords. Audio Overhaul for Skyrim addresses this by adding in new sounds for daggers to use. With Sound Record Distributor, these sounds are automatically distributed to daggers instead of having to manually edit the weapon record itself.
Region Sounds: In Skyrim, both weather probability and regional sounds are handled by one record. This meant in the past, you would have to have a plugin resolving any conflicts between Audio Overhaul for Skyrim and your weather mod of choice. With Sound Record Distributor, these sounds are now injected into the region records at runtime.
Interior Weather: The feature that added interior weather sounds has been stripped in the more recent releases of Audio Overhaul for Skyrim, and instead serves as a simple replacer for the interior rain file sound in the vanilla game. This means that mods that add their own interior rain sounds will take priority. Interior sounds still remain, and when you're in interiors you will hear house creaks and wind from outside under certain conditions. This is patched into interior region records at runtime, similar to other exterior and interior regions noted above.
Magic Sounds: In previous versions of Audio Overhaul for Skyrim the records attached to magic effects were clones of projectile and explosion records. As of 4.0.0, a majority of these changes have been consolidated into projectile and explosion records. Those records are then assigned their sounds on runtime, minimizing the need for almost all patches.
If it is not in this list, it likely needs to still be patched.
Continue reading to see what is on the compatibility master list.
COMPATIBILITY MASTER LIST NON-EXHAUSTIVE LIST – FEEL FREE TO CTRL + F HERE TOO
Audio Overhaul and Sound Record Descriptor distributes sounds to specific records at runtime. Runtime means "when the game starts". When the game starts, this mod will overwrite the subrecord its pointed to. You still need patches – and download them if you are unsure! If you have old patches in, nothing bad will happen. They will mostly just be redundant.
Built-in Support means Audio Overhaul for Skyrim supports any new magic effects, regions, and weapons added by the listed mods. That means if a mod listed here adds a new weapon or new spell, you can reasonably expect that weapon or spell to include Audio Overhaul for Skyrim's new sounds for consistency. Almost all mods will still work fine without built-in support, and most don't need it.
If you have a suggestion for support, leave it down in the comments below.
As of 3.9.0, Audio Overhaul for Skyrim is compatible with most weather mods. No patching to account for weather mods is strictly necessary.
UNRECOMMENDED or UNSUPPORTED Lucidity Sound FX NPC Dialogue Audio Enhancer Reverb and Ambiance Overhaul Sounds of Skyrim Sounds of Skyrim – Civilization Sounds of Skyrim – Dungeons Sounds of Skyrim – The Wilds True 3D Sound for Headphones ‡
NOTES † If Audio Overhaul for Skyrim detects that you have Regional Sounds Expansionor Reverb Interior Sounds Expansion installed, the corresponding modules will be disabled and no incompatible records will be distributed by Audio Overhaul for Skyrim. Both mods were created from the beginning to play friendly with Audio Overhaul for Skyrim, and will play nicely with its changes.
‡ T3DSH is unsupported due to difficult to trace compatibility issues and abrupt CTDs, as well as a drastic shift in how sound is perceived in-game. AOS's soundscape was meticulously balanced for use in the audio engine Bethesda chose to ship with the game. Skyrim, contrary to popular belief, already has built in HRTF, and certain sounds are meant to be processed through certain channels. This, along with an overall increase in loudness and the rearrangement of sound categories, I cannot recommend the plugin. In regard to reported CTDs, what T3DSH does on a straight technical is slightly beyond my skillset and available time. You are free to use it, but no support will be offered from myself.
FOR MOD AUTHORS BUILDING SUPPORT FOR AOS 3.9.0+ RIGHT INTO YOUR MOD WITH NO PLUGIN REQUIRED.
If you're a mod author, adding support for Audio Overhaul for Skyrim using Sound Record Distributor is an incredibly easy and frictionless process. Simply package your mod with an SRD file and it will automatically distribute any sounds you want from this plugin to yours without any need for an additional plugin or having to update the patch for any update.
Let's say you release a mod that adds a unique dagger. In vanilla Skyrim, daggers and one-handed swords share the same impact sounds with no distinction between the two. You can package a .yaml file along with your mod and format it like this.
# Audio Overhaul Skyrim.esp|05B6EA is WPNzBlade1HandSmallImpactSet # Skyrim.esm|03CED9 is WPNBlade1HandSmallDrawSD # Skyrim.esm|03CEDB is WPNBlade1HandSmallSheatheSD
If both Sound Record Distributor and Audio Overhaul for Skyrim are installed, these forms will automatically be injected into the designated record at runtime with no manual patching involved. Due to the nature of the example given, there are virtually no risks of incompatibility and is highly recommended.
No permission is required to ship these files along with your mod and more examples will be given as this project further develops.
Is the recommended volume settings on the original AOS2 still apply in SE version? If not, what are your recommended volume settings for each category?
is it possible to have both this and immersive sounds compendium, but have this mods sounds for magic take precedence over ISC's? i REALLY love the sound for the summoning spells for AOS, but still want to continue using ISC if possible
Hello, I'm using SOS now but really want change that to your MOD However I ve already got 2000 esps in my load order, and it's very difficult to recognize whitch one will require a patch with your MOD, since SOS needs too many patches, I'm really worrying about if I get enough patches to get your MOD work properly.
Hi Dylan, this isn't exactly related to your mod, i was hoping someone with experience, working with sound records could help.
Been working on a mod to revamp NPC shout users, however i'm have a strange bug where the "Krah Diin" and "Ro Dah" magic effect sounds, i placed in Hakon's frost breath & and unrelenting force shouts, play when a dragon is around. Even though Hakon isn't actually there.
its so strange and only happens with those two. When i remove the wav file or disable those records, everything is fine.
And the records are only being referenced by the shout spells. nothing else.
Thanks for the mod! Its been a must-have ever since it first came out.
I noticed that the Silver Armor from Creation Club doesn't have the running and sprinting armor sound on it. I can hear a faint footstep, but the clear sound that other armors make (like the vanilla steel) is not there. It also happens with other modded armors, like Wind Ruler from 4thUnknown.
Do you know how I could add it to an armor set through XEdit, or even Sound Record distributor?
Anyone got a clue how I can stop the landing sound (when jumping) from playing early? Or multiple times, if I'm jumping/falling from a high place. Could be a conflict with another mod but... I've no idea which. Tested with/without various weather, armour, and audio mods to no result...
I don't know off the top of my head but I'm guessing this sound is tied to the keyframe trigger in the jump animation. That would not be an issue with this mod, unfortunately. Depending on how bad this is it could be a Skyrim thing, a mod thing, or more rarely a performance thing (sounds playing later due to low priority and CPU overload). I can look into this on my end as well but this might be the most I can help.
Yeaaaah sorry but this s#*! aint working anymore, address lib versions just dont work, tried them all, dll errors all over, to much work and time to figure it out, not worth my time : / Im guessing todd changed something. used to work fine
So apparently you dont need any of the mods / plugins that this mod says you need for this mod to work. Witch is nice since those mods need other mods that need other mods and plugins and half of those are out of date and not working and teh other half causes dll not loading bugs : ) modding is fun....
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1870 comments
WITH REGARDS TO 1.6.1130
Hello. Good news, Engine Fixes is (mostly) working on the latest update of Skyrim.
You do not need to disable SaveAddedSoundCategories. I have no idea why people are saying this.
Sound Record Distributor is also working and does not need an update.
Here's to surviving another Skyrim update. And happy holidays! 🥂
INTRODUCTION – TOO LONG; DIDN'T READ
SURE, WHY NOT. BUT PLEASE CONSIDER READING THE WHOLE THING.
Audio Overhaul for Skyrim adds thousands of magic, weapon, ambient, and more sounds to your game.
It is strongly recommended that you load Audio Overhaul for Skyrim very early in your load order.
Non-SKSE, Epic Games Store, and Xbox Games Pass users should download Version 3.4.3.
As a reminder: I am not David Jegutidse. I am just the current maintainer and developer of AOS.
This port and all subsequent updates have been made with his permission and blessings.
NEWS
LAST UPDATED NOVEMBER 7TH 2022
Update 4.0.0 is here – Finally, the cloned projectile and explosion records have been condensed into vanilla records. What does this mean? With Sound Record Distributor, nothing (from the user). All necessary projectile and explosion records will have sounds added to them on runtime, relieving a massive burden on users, mod authors, and patch makers. For most users, no action is necessary on your part. For mod authors and patch makers, I've left all of the old "_AOS" records in and your patches are still fine to use.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED MODS
LAST UPDATED NOVEMBER 7TH 2022
Unofficial Material Fix – Ensures the correct material sound plays when walking over or impacting surfaces.
Immersive Sounds Compendium – A dramatic and extensively customizable sound overhaul.
Audio Overhaul - Immersive Sounds Integration – An intelligently-made integration of both mods.
Regional Sounds Expansion – An extensive, standalone regional sound overhaul for towns, dungeons, and open-world.
Reverb Interior Sounds Expansion – A thoughtful, vanilla-friendly remodel of the base game reverb, interior sounds, and more.
ADDITIONAL RECOGNITION
FROM THE CURRENT MAINTAINER, DYLAN JAMES
David Jegutidse – For letting a guy you didn't really even know take over maintaining and supporting Audio Overhaul for Skyrim 2. I know it took a few years, but I'd like to think I held true to a lot of my original promises. And I'm so happy hundreds of thousands of people get to experience this classic project now and long into the future!
aers – For fixing the sound category bug for me back in 2018, allowing custom sound categories and volume sliders to properly exist in Skyrim. Something that had been bothering me for years up until Engine Fixes came along.
Doodlezoid – For taking me up on my proposal and bringing to life Sound Record Distributor. The framework shows incredible potential, and I'm so happy to have a tool like this available for mod authors and users-alike who may have felt intimidated by installing audio mods in the past.
FREQUENTLY ANTICIPATED QUESTIONS
AKA PLEASE READ THE STICKY BEFORE COMMENTING
Q: Is it safe to update? Is this compatible with Anniversary Edition?
A: Yes, and yes. As of 3.9.0, all AE content can be patched regardless of what you own!
Q: Is 3.9.0 compatible with Audio Overhaul - Immersive Sounds Integration?
A: Yes! The 3.9.0 release is compatible!
Q: Do patches still work?
A: Yes! All patches are backwards compatible with the latest version.
Q: LOOT is saying I need a patch that is no longer available on this page.
A: The LOOT master list is going off of outdated information. As of 3.9.0, these patches are not nessecary.
Q: With Sound Record Distributor, does this mean I no longer need patches?
A: No! You still need patches! However, it means you will need a lot less – check out below!
If you have a simple patch, it's okay to keep it. Having it in your load order won't break anything.
Q: Is Audio Overhaul for Skyrim modular now?
A: No, you cannot pick and choose which sounds you'd like to use. It is strongly unadvised you tweak the "_SRD" files (even if you know what you're doing). If you think you notice an error, please reach out and I will fix it as soon as possible.
Q: Will there be a Bethesda.net or Xbox release? May I port the mod?
A: No. There are currently no plans for a console release at this time.
See "Permissions and Credits" tab on the main page for more information.
Q: Why am I seeing "$" (Dollar Signs) when I open up the audio settings menu?
A: It is possible you are either not using SKSE64 or you are using an unsupported language. Please download the compatibility patch for non-SKSE64 users in the Miscellaneous Files tab.
Q: I'm not getting footsteps on a certain surface.
A: Certain meshes don't have the correct havok material flags defined in the mesh itself. This can result in the wrong impact sounds (like footsteps) from being played or none being played at all. This is not an issue with Audio Overhaul for Skyrim, but with the vanilla game itself and certain meshes introduced by mods. Unofficial Material Fix by Elzee and Immersive Sounds Compendium by lazygecko are strongly recommended.
SOUND RECORD DISTRIBUTOR
WHAT IS ACTUALLY BEING DISTRIBUTED
With Sound Record Distributor, sounds are distributed to records at runtime. "Runtime" means "when the game starts".
Here is a non-exhaustive list of what is currently being distributed by Sound Record Distributor, in greater detail.
If it is not in this list, it likely needs to still be patched.
Continue reading to see what is on the compatibility master list.
LOAD ORDER GUIDANCE
IN WHAT ORDER DO I PUT THE PLUGINS
[Base Game Content]
Audio Overhaul Skyrim.esp
Immersive Sounds - Compendium.esp
AOS_ISC_Integration.esp
Regional Sounds Expansion.esp
Reverb Interior Sounds Expansion.esp
[Everything Else – Weather Mods]
[Patches]
COMPATIBILITY MASTER LIST
NON-EXHAUSTIVE LIST – FEEL FREE TO CTRL + F HERE TOO
Audio Overhaul and Sound Record Descriptor distributes sounds to specific records at runtime. Runtime means "when the game starts". When the game starts, this mod will overwrite the subrecord its pointed to. You still need patches – and download them if you are unsure! If you have old patches in, nothing bad will happen. They will mostly just be redundant.
Built-in Support means Audio Overhaul for Skyrim supports any new magic effects, regions, and weapons added by the listed mods. That means if a mod listed here adds a new weapon or new spell, you can reasonably expect that weapon or spell to include Audio Overhaul for Skyrim's new sounds for consistency. Almost all mods will still work fine without built-in support, and most don't need it.
If you have a suggestion for support, leave it down in the comments below.
ENDORSED, SUPPORTED, RECOMMENDED
Unofficial High Definition Audio
Unofficial Material Fix
Immersive Sounds Compendium
Audio Overhaul - Immersive Sounds Integration
Regional Sounds Expansion †
Reverb Interior Sounds Expansion †
BUILT-IN SUPPORT
Creation Club: Bittercup
Creation Club: Fishing
Creation Club: Necromantic Grimoire
Creation Club: Saints & Seducers
Creation Club: Arcane Accessories
Creation Club: Staff of Sheogorath
Beyond Skyrim: Bruma
Beyond Skyrim: Wares of Tamriel
Beyond Skyrim: Morrowind – Bonemold Pack
Wyrmstooth
BUILT-IN SUPPORT (MAGIC)
Mysticism
BUILT-IN SUPPORT (WEAPONS)
Destructible Display Cases
ESO Imports
Hunterborn
Immersive Weapons
Lore Weapon Expansion
Royal Armory – New Artifacts
Reforging To The Masses
NO-CONFLICT or COMPATIBLE MODS
Pure Waters
Realistic Water Two
Simplicity of Seas
Water for ENB
As of 3.9.0, Audio Overhaul for Skyrim is compatible with most weather mods.
No patching to account for weather mods is strictly necessary.
UNRECOMMENDED or UNSUPPORTED
Lucidity Sound FX
NPC Dialogue Audio Enhancer
Reverb and Ambiance Overhaul
Sounds of Skyrim
Sounds of Skyrim – Civilization
Sounds of Skyrim – Dungeons
Sounds of Skyrim – The Wilds
True 3D Sound for Headphones ‡
NOTES
† If Audio Overhaul for Skyrim detects that you have Regional Sounds Expansion or Reverb Interior Sounds Expansion installed, the corresponding modules will be disabled and no incompatible records will be distributed by Audio Overhaul for Skyrim. Both mods were created from the beginning to play friendly with Audio Overhaul for Skyrim, and will play nicely with its changes.
‡ T3DSH is unsupported due to difficult to trace compatibility issues and abrupt CTDs, as well as a drastic shift in how sound is perceived in-game. AOS's soundscape was meticulously balanced for use in the audio engine Bethesda chose to ship with the game. Skyrim, contrary to popular belief, already has built in HRTF, and certain sounds are meant to be processed through certain channels. This, along with an overall increase in loudness and the rearrangement of sound categories, I cannot recommend the plugin. In regard to reported CTDs, what T3DSH does on a straight technical is slightly beyond my skillset and available time. You are free to use it, but no support will be offered from myself.
FOR MOD AUTHORS
BUILDING SUPPORT FOR AOS 3.9.0+ RIGHT INTO YOUR MOD WITH NO PLUGIN REQUIRED.
If you're a mod author, adding support for Audio Overhaul for Skyrim using Sound Record Distributor is an incredibly easy and frictionless process. Simply package your mod with an SRD file and it will automatically distribute any sounds you want from this plugin to yours without any need for an additional plugin or having to update the patch for any update.
Let's say you release a mod that adds a unique dagger. In vanilla Skyrim, daggers and one-handed swords share the same impact sounds with no distinction between the two. You can package a .yaml file along with your mod and format it like this.
# Audio Overhaul Skyrim.esp|05B6EA is WPNzBlade1HandSmallImpactSet
# Skyrim.esm|03CED9 is WPNBlade1HandSmallDrawSD
# Skyrim.esm|03CEDB is WPNBlade1HandSmallSheatheSD
Requirements:
- Audio Overhaul Skyrim.esp
- CoolDaggerMod.esp
Weapons:
- Form: CoolDaggerMod.esp|801
Impact Data Set: Audio Overhaul Skyrim.esp|05B6EA
Equip: Skyrim.esm|03CED9
Unequip: Skyrim.esm|03CEDB
If both Sound Record Distributor and Audio Overhaul for Skyrim are installed, these forms will automatically be injected into the designated record at runtime with no manual patching involved. Due to the nature of the example given, there are virtually no risks of incompatibility and is highly recommended.
No permission is required to ship these files along with your mod and more examples will be given as this project further develops.
I've disabled mods a few at a time, and the moment I re-enabled this, crash on launch. It gets to the Bethesda logo, but then immediately crashes..
Oddly though the Crash logger gives a generic error relating to form ID FormID: 0x00000014
However I ve already got 2000 esps in my load order, and it's very difficult to recognize whitch one will require a patch with your MOD,
since SOS needs too many patches, I'm really worrying about if I get enough patches to get your MOD work properly.
Been working on a mod to revamp NPC shout users, however i'm have a strange bug where the "Krah Diin" and "Ro Dah" magic effect sounds, i placed in Hakon's frost breath & and unrelenting force shouts, play when a dragon is around. Even though Hakon isn't actually there.
its so strange and only happens with those two. When i remove the wav file or disable those records, everything is fine.
And the records are only being referenced by the shout spells. nothing else.
Any hints you could give me will be appreciated
I noticed that the Silver Armor from Creation Club doesn't have the running and sprinting armor sound on it. I can hear a faint footstep, but the clear sound that other armors make (like the vanilla steel) is not there. It also happens with other modded armors, like Wind Ruler from 4thUnknown.
Do you know how I could add it to an armor set through XEdit, or even Sound Record distributor?
Thanks again!