vent / TS / mumble?

[Deleted]

Hi,

Was curious to hear your thoughts around voice-communication technology as our vent subscription has just expired and we'll be setting something new up.

I'm not a techie, so you'll have to excuse my ignorance, but here is how I see things - would be very interested in hearing any opinions based on lag / pings / service providers, etc.

Ventrilo - probably most widely used (i.e. pugging too). Our past server did us very well and lag was next to zero.
Mumble - is this better technology? We tried it but found it took up a huge amount of memory vs. ventrilo (like 5-6x more)
Teamspeak - it keeps crashing my computer so I have shyed away from it - so any first hand experience would be great.

I would be looking for a solution that allows first for good communication (low lag, maybe a great auto voice-activation setting rather than push-to-talk) and second for common platform so that pug raids can join it when we do alt runs.

Also, any service providers that people could recommend would be great. We have raiders in the UK, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Holland and Portugal so likely a UK server.

If there is a thread up on this already, a link would be helpful.

Thank you

[Critcryin]

Mumble is top of the line. I'm not so sure about it taking up that much memory, but the lag is significantly less when compared to vent. Its not really noticeable, until you get used to Mumble, go back to vent, and hear everyone talk over each other. It does require a bit of set-up and tweaking in some cases, be warned. Also, the voice detection is of decent quality, you just have to adjust it in the settings to not pick up as much. There is also a built in volume attenuation, compared to vent where to have this you have to set it up manually.

The only downfall is its not as well known as vent, and many are not willing to download it for pugs.

[Elim Garak]

Why not just stick with the:

Our past server did us very well and lag was next to zero.

[vizzle]

Put up a poll.

I use Mumble in guild runs, it's just so much better than vent.

When I make pugs, most people don't have Mumble so I just tell everyone to get on vent as most people do have vent. However, Mumble >>>>>>>>>>> vent.

[Kennpai]

Skype! lol

Vent is the most widely used and easiest for pugs, Mumble is slowly becoming more and more popular, never used TS.

[w00faz]

Mumble is better.

1. Very little to no lag.
2. Noticeably higher voice quality.
3. Very customizable overlay.

[Hviske10ske]

My guild have changed to mumble aswell, and the sound is sooooo much better and the lag is little to none. I reallly like it, aswell as the more options it offers like overlay so yuo actually have an idea about who is talking while doing a 25man raid where you might not know all the voices inside out of all members. Then it just puts the name on the screen when that person talks, and it disapears again when he is done speaking. Also good way of identifying mouthbreathers and such.

A few ppl have had problems logging on to it, but after helping them out we have found out that it was mostly their own fault. You can also register your name so no one else can use that name of that server.

[Deleted]

Thanks Critcryin

ag666: only because it is a natural point where we can swap to another program and I've heard great things about mumble. Ventrilo works, and so does TS but we've never given any software other than Ventrilo a real shot. Only a few of us toyed around setting up mumble to hear the voice quality.

wow - fast replies. Not interested in a poll because I want people to write their views rather than just click a button and I have no idea why they select one over the other.

Keep it coming (that's what she said!) - has anyone found the set up of mumble to be too cumbersome for new users (i.e. if i force a pugged player to join mumble?)

[Deleted]

Only used Mumble a few times, i reckon its better than vent + TS but its not very popular. The good thing is that its free whereas vent/ts will have monthly costs to keep a server going. However, vent is my favorite purely because i'm more comfortable using it and as you say it's the most widely used by both guilds and pugs.

[Splenda]

My guild uses vent, but a handful of us including myself use mumble for privacy and because it's really friggin awesome.

[Critcryin]

The good thing is that its free whereas vent/ts will have monthly costs to keep a server going.

While it is free, this does require someone to run the server off of their own computer. Requirements for this is decent bandwidth, and constant uptime.

Option 2, of course, is to rent one. They are usually half the price of vent. I rent a 50 slot for $9 a month.

[Elim Garak]

I recommend to try them all and choose. Other people's opinions are just that - opinions.

[Deleted]

Critcryin - can I ask who hosts your mumble server?

[SmokeyIllidan]

We switched to Mumble back during WolK and it has been amazing. The only real problem you can run into is with pugs not having it, but we just make them download it, configure it, and in the end the pug ends up telling us how much he likes Mumble over Vent.

[Stingray]

Mumble's the best by far. Instant transmission, free (if you already have a server), nice overlays, most flexible configuration, etc.

[TrickieTK]

I like vent the best: push to talk is not that hard

I don't want to hear you chew
I don't want to hear your mouth breathe or listen to your hurricane fan
And I don't want to hear the TV/people behind you/any other background noise

Push button -> say words -> Release button

[Quackerano]

I like vent the best: push to talk is not that hard

Pretty much all gaming voice servers use PTT - 25 people sat in a channel will just be an awful lot of breathing otherwise...

Personally, Mumble is my favourite - the latency difference over Ventrilo is just ridiculous.

[SmokeyIllidan]

Mumble has Push To Talk, it also has instant communication (no lag like Vent, don't tell me your Vent doesn't lag, it does) as well as a feature that will lower any music/movie you are watching if someone speaks. Like to listen to your music loud? No problem, it'll lower it to about 50% while someone queues their mic, then back to normal when nobody's talking. I know it's everyone's personal opinion, but Vent truly offers nothing over Mumble.

[Elim Garak]

And not to mention that vent has voice detection mode too...

[w00faz]

I like vent the best: push to talk is not that hard

I don't want to hear you chew
I don't want to hear your mouth breathe or listen to your hurricane fan
And I don't want to hear the TV/people behind you/any other background noise

Push button -> say words -> Release button

Mumble also has p2t.. are you from the past?