who we are
1996
SimAcoustics is a business that grew from the hobby of its founder; Mike Maarse. It was during the mid-1990s that, as a result of his passion for aviation and engine sound, Mike started modifying samples and sound configuration files for Microsoft Flight Simulator 95. It was a lot of fun using nothing but the most basic of tools (Notepad and Sound Recorder for the nostalgically inclined) to enhance the way aircraft sounded when flying them around the virtual skies.
Experiments continued and with every new release of Microsoft Flight Simulator, project complexity was increased and the results were improving. With the arrival of Flight Simulator 2002 on the scene, Mike started building complete sound packages. Some of these sound packages were also shared with the flight simulator community through popular websites such as AVSIM and flightsim.com.
The release of X-Plane 11 in 2016 sparked interest in building complete sound environments, mainly since the sim implemented a truly state-of-the-art sound system in the form of FMOD. As a result, in 2018 work commenced on the first FMOD sound package for X-Plane.
2019
Jumping to the beginning of 2019, SimAcoustics exists as a small digital sound studio that builds sound environments for modern flight simulator software. At the same time this service is also offered to flight simulator add-on developers looking to add high quality audio to their product.
what we do
past experience
Throughout the years we have been involved in multiple projects with engine types ranging from roaring radial piston engines to modern turbofans. Each project brought its own specific requirements and challenges to the table. With the desired level of realism ever increasing, most projects also included working on sound effects for cockpit controls and aural warning systems. All projects have one thing in common though, they were developed with passion for sound!
The listing below shows the aircraft types that we've worked on so far (last updated january 2024):
- Aérospatiale/BAC Concorde
- Airbus A300 Series
- Avro Vulcan B.2
- British Aerospace BAe 146
- Beechcraft King Air 350
- Bell 407
- Bell UH-1 Iroquois ("Huey")
- Boeing 737 Series
- Boeing 747 Series
- Cessna 150
- Cessna 172
- Cessna 310R
- Cessna 525 CitationJet Series
- Cessna T-50 Bobcat
- DeHavilland DHC-2 Beaver
- DeHavilland DHC-3 Otter
- DeHavilland DHC-3 Turbine Otter
- Douglas A-1H Skyraider
- Douglas DC-3 Dakota / C-47 Skytrain
- Fokker F28
- Fokker 70/100
- GippsAero GA-8 Airvan
- Lockheed Martin F-16C Fighting Falcon
- Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird
- MD Helicopters MD530F
- McDonnell Douglas DC-10 Series
- McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle
- McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom
- North American F-86 Sabre
- North American P-51 Mustang
- Northrop T-38A & T-38C Talon
- Piaggio P.149D
- Pilatus PC-6 Turbo Porter
- Pilatus PC-12 (Legacy, NG & NGX)
- Piper PA-28 Series
- Piper PA-30 Twin Comanche
- Piper PA-32 Saratoga
- Piper PA-38 Tomahawk
- Quest/Daher Kodiak 100
- Robin DR400
- Van's Aircraft Series (RV-7, -8, -10 and -14)
- Vought F4U Corsair
equipment
Sound waves flow through various bits of hardware and software before ending up in a flight simulator sound environment. Please see the listing below for a selection of the equipment used in the entire process.
Recording
- Austrian Audio CC8
- DPA 4017
- RØDE NT-SF1 (Ambisonics)
- RØDE NTG-3
- Sennheiser MKH416
- Sennheiser MKH8040ST (ORTF)
- Sennheiser MKH8060
- Sony PCM-D100
- Zoom F-series field recorders (F3/F6/F8)
And a load of various tripods and wind shielding equipment...
Editing
- GoldWave
- Reaper DAW
- Wavosaur
BUILD TOOLS
- Audiokinetic Wwise
- FS Sound Studio
- FMOD Studio
Workstation
- MSI MEG X570 Unify
- AMD 5950X
- Arctic Liquid Freezer II 360
- G.Skill 32GB DDR4 3600MHz
- NVidia GeForce RTX 4090
- Creative SoundBlaster ZxR
- Seasonic Prime Ultra 1000W Titanium