Stock Sound Effects vs. a Sound Designer: Which Should You Choose?

Stock sounds are so much cheaper than a sound designer and are available much faster than a sound designer’s work. We’ve all heard stock sounds in games, especially in UI, and the Wilhelm scream, so why get a sound designer? Surely you could learn how to design sounds yourself or task a composer to do it if you needed them in your game, right?

The acclaimed Chained Echoes, which credits 80 people, had a revered soundtrack but sparse SFX

When you view the idea of sound in your game as only needing a composer and some sounds to go along with your gameplay, the debate of SFX vs. a sound designer is understandable. However, if you want your player to be as good as your game as they can, be as engaged as they can, and have a memorable, emotional experience without alienating players who care about sound, stock won’t cut it. Let’s break down why:

The Soundscape will Not Sound Unified as a Whole

Stock sound effects can come from any source, have been recorded anywhere, have varying perspectives, varying quality, been recorded with varying equipment, and had much different effects processing on them. This makes it impossible to develop a cohesive soundscape with sound effects alone. There are also issues that will arise in implementing them, which is making them sound like they’re all coming from the same place and like they’re as close or far as they need to sound.

The time it may take you to get this all where you desire will likely not be worth it, or even possible, with the sound packs you’ve purchased.

A Sound Designer is more than a Repo of Stock Sounds

Sound designers are often misunderstood, and so is their workflow. They don’t just take their vast swaths of libraries and put the right sounds in-game; they use each of these sounds (we’ll call them source material) as “layers” that they then process in certain ways to create brand new sounds. Others record their own sounds in the studio or in the field.

This is what gives them the opportunity to create tailored audio for games and design based on the implementation required for that specific game, and use certain effects, layers, reverbs, and more to glue these sounds together.

Recording birds for Airborne Empire

Sounds will Lack Variation and the Appropriate Feel

One of the most obvious signs of sounds being stock or an afterthought is their lack of variations and appropriate context for playing. Take the beloved game Chain of Echoes’ sound design. While there are 50 different musical tracks in the game, there are just a few sound effects.

The whooshes the characters make when they step in to attack and retreat, along with their most common impact sound, can cause ear fatigue and be frustrating for players. Their composer is not a sound designer but was tasked with the design anyway, which leads us to our final point.

A Composer That Isn't a Sound Designer Will Not Cut It

On the indie level, especially with solo devs, the temptation to lump the composer and sound designer together is understandable. You only have so much money for audio, and it does often go to the composer for the sound designer since that role is typically more respected.

However, bad sound design will alienate many players and cause them to stop playing prematurely. Instead of paying that composer for two jobs, let them sub-contract a sound designer for the same amount of money or vice versa. This will give you two people who are passionate about their roles, you’ll be able to ship sooner, and your game will retain more players.

What If You Still Can't Afford Help?

There are some payment structures you can agree on with a sound designer, such as revenue share or profit share, that allow you to compensate them later without it being exploitative. There are also some who may pay different amounts for a demo that could help you secure funding to pay your team and the rest of the game. Consider a sound designer if you were leaning towards stock and thank yourself later.