The Sounds page controls MAIRA’s sound effects system (short/looping WAV effects that MAIRA plays based on simulator state and MAIRA’s internal steering effects).
Every effect has a Test button on the right of its section. Press it to hear that sound at its current volume and pitch without having to reproduce the condition on track.
Every effect also has the same two knobs. Volume is that effect’s own level, on top of the master volume. Pitch shifts the sound up or down from how the WAV was recorded — it reads OFF when the sound plays at its natural pitch, and goes down to -75% or up to +100% from there. It is a quick way to make a shared sound file feel different for a different car, or simply to move an effect out of the way of the engine note.
Custom sound files
MAIRA loads WAVs from your documents folder:
Documents\MAIRA\Sounds\Effects\<sound key>.wav
It also supports user overrides:
Documents\MAIRA\Sounds\Effects\<sound key>_custom.wav
If a _custom.wav exists, MAIRA will use it instead of the default for that sound key. MAIRA can also load custom sounds while the app is running if you just drop them into that folder.
Sound keys you can override:
- click
- abs_engaged
- wheel_lock
- wheel_spin
- understeer
- oversteer
- seat_of_pants
- brake_throttle_warning
- ffb_clipping
- recording_started
- recording_stopped
Output device
Selects which audio output device MAIRA’s sound effects play through. This is independent of your normal Windows default device, so you can route MAIRA’s effects to a specific headset, speaker set, or DAC.
Default: [Default Windows sound device]
Master
Master switch and global volume multiplier for the whole Sounds system.
If this is off, none of the sound effects will play (even if individual effects are enabled).
Allow sounds during replays
When off, MAIRA suppresses all effects except Click while a replay is playing back. Turn this on if you want the effects to keep playing during replays.
Default: ON, 75% volume, Allow sounds during replays OFF
Click
This is a short “UI feedback” click sound that MAIRA plays when certain mapped actions fire.
Default: ON, 75% volume, Pitch OFF
Looping effects
Everything from ABS engaged down to FFB clipping is a looping effect. In addition to their Volume and Pitch knobs, each looping effect exposes two extra knobs:
- Loop start (ms) — where in the WAV file the loop region begins
- Loop end (ms) — where in the WAV file the loop region ends
These define the portion of the WAV that repeats while the effect is active, which lets you trim out a lead-in or tail so only the sustained part loops cleanly. Leave both at the default of 0 to loop the whole file.
Default: Loop start 0 ms, Loop end 0 ms (use the whole file)
ABS engaged
Plays a looping sound while ABS is active. If Fade is enabled, the effect volume scales with brake pedal position.
Fade
When enabled, the ABS effect volume scales with how hard you are pressing the brake pedal instead of playing at a constant level.
Default: OFF, 75% volume, Pitch OFF, Fade OFF
Wheel lock
Plays a looping sound when MAIRA detects braking lockup based on RPM vs wheel-speed relationship. If fade is enabled, the effect volume scales with brake pedal position.
Default: OFF, 75% volume, Pitch OFF, 85% sensitivity, Fade ON
Wheel spin
Plays a looping sound when MAIRA detects wheelspin based on RPM vs wheel-speed relationship. If fade is enabled, the effect volume scales with throttle pedal position.
Default: OFF, 75% volume, Pitch OFF, 85% sensitivity, Fade ON
Understeer
Plays a looping sound based on MAIRA’s understeer effect magnitude.
Default: OFF, 75% volume, Pitch OFF
Oversteer
Same concept as understeer, but for oversteer.
Default: OFF, 75% volume, Pitch OFF
Seat-of-pants
Plays a looping sound based on MAIRA’s seat-of-pants effect magnitude.
Default: OFF, 75% volume, Pitch OFF
Brake + throttle warning
Plays a looping warning sound whenever the brake and throttle are pressed at the same time. This is measured from the raw pedal inputs — what your feet are actually doing — so throttle or brake applied by the simulator’s driving aids won’t set it off. To avoid false warnings, it also only triggers when you are off pit road and moving (above a low speed threshold), so it won’t nag you while sitting in the pits.
Default: OFF, 75% volume, Pitch OFF
FFB clipping
Plays a looping sound whenever your racing wheel force feedback is clipping — that is, whenever the force MAIRA wants to send has hit the ceiling set by your Max force. It is a handy audible cue that detail is being lost at the top of the signal, and it is the same condition the Graph page flashes red for.
Default: OFF, 75% volume, Pitch OFF
Recording started
A short beep that plays the moment an FFB recording starts, so you know the recorder caught your button press without having to look away from the road.
This is a one-shot sound, not a loop, so it has no loop start or loop end knobs.
Default: ON, 75% volume, Pitch OFF
Recording stopped
The matching beep for when a recording ends — whether you stopped it yourself, the five minute buffer filled up, or MAIRA stopped it for you because you completed a lap or left the track.
Give this one a different pitch from the started beep and you can tell the two apart with your eyes on the corner ahead.
Default: ON, 75% volume, Pitch OFF