Audio popping issue

The problems(which didn't exist before endwalker) are obviously tied to that stupid spatial audio pack that NOBODY asked for. If you can't make it work properly, get rid of it. Don't jerk us around trying to put the blame on people's hardware.

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Originally Posted by Zhexos

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Thank you very much for the update. This seems to be almost identical language to what we saw from a Japanese community rep the other day, and the wording of "the next patch" is identical to one of Soken's recent tweets about the issue. I sincerely hope this does not mean patch 6.1, as that is months away.

I am VERY strongly urging you to try to get a Lodestone post made about this. Tweets, emails from support, and posts from community managers are only seen by so many people (the thread's already gone onto another page and most people won't click back to find your post). This issue has not been listed in the official patch notes as a known issue since 6.01, which made it worse for many of us. The discrepancy between what we're seeing on these channels of communication and what we're seeing on Lodestone is the most distressing thing about this situation, especially when Square Enix is making the frankly insulting decision to advertise sound equipment rather than addressing this longstanding audio bug.

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Originally Posted by Darthgummibear

The problems(which didn't exist before endwalker) are obviously tied to that stupid spatial audio pack that NOBODY asked for. If you can't make it work properly, get rid of it. Don't jerk us around trying to put the blame on people's hardware.

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They are specifically NOT blaming people's hardware here. This is an explicit admission that the game itself is at fault: "We discovered an anomaly in the calculation process within FFXIV's game sound driver where the number of digits is not being adjusted correctly."

Absolutely relieved there's a response and that they were able to identify the cause. This explains why nothing we tried on our end had any success with fixing it.

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Originally Posted by Zhexos

Our current plans are to conduct pattern tests and release an additional fix in the next patch.

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Thank you very much for finally giving us an official answer on the problem and let us know that you guys are working on it, that's a relieve.

When the problem is solved, properly tested and the fix ready, it would be good for it to be released as a hotfix, because waiting months until the next patch to finally be able to play is sad.

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Originally Posted by Nommers

Thank you very much for the update. This seems to be almost identical language to what we saw from a Japanese community rep the other day, and the wording of "the next patch" is identical to one of Soken's recent tweets about the issue. I sincerely hope this does not mean patch 6.1, as that is months away.

I am VERY strongly urging you to try to get a Lodestone post made about this. Tweets, emails from support, and posts from community managers are only seen by so many people (the thread's already gone onto another page and most people won't click back to find your post). This issue has not been listed in the official patch notes as a known issue since 6.01, which made it worse for many of us. The discrepancy between what we're seeing on these channels of communication and what we're seeing on Lodestone is the most distressing thing about this situation, especially when Square Enix is making the frankly insulting decision to advertise sound equipment rather than addressing this longstanding audio bug.



They are specifically NOT blaming people's hardware here. This is an explicit admission that the game itself is at fault: "We discovered an anomaly in the calculation process within FFXIV's game sound driver where the number of digits is not being adjusted correctly."

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My bad, I must have been reading one of the earlier statements and missed that one.

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Originally Posted by Zhexos

we were able to reproduce [the issue] on our end.

Our current plans are to conduct pattern tests and release an additional fix in the next patch.

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All I needed to hear! Very thanks.

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Originally Posted by XenophineEX

okay windows + r, then dxdiag

I'm running direct x 12

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Hey XenophineEX, i just wanted to clarify a few mistakes on your part in regards to DirectX.

You do have Direct3D 12 as a maximum where the application and Hardware make use of and support it, however FFXIV is entirely Direct3D 11, there is no promotion of the game to Direct3D 12 by the operating system or display drivers (Square Enix might adopt D3D12 eventually if the work involved is justified by performance increase)
Windows 10 includes the API's for 12 as D3D12.dll/D3D12core.dll, 11.x and 10.x as D3D11.dll(D3D10.dll is just a stub), 9 as D3D9.dll, 8 as D3D8.dll and D3D7 and earlier API's that were established through the DDraw runtime (Ddraw.dll and D3DImm.dll).

However, where you said

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Originally Posted by XenophineEX

no... it will run on whatever dx version you have installed unless directed otherwise

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Is incorrect, and perpetuates significant confusion for end users when they come across posts like this anywhere on the internet.

DXDiag will report that the system has DirectX 12 even though a Direct3D 10 gpu is present if you managed to somehow force drivers onto windows 10.

An application must be intentionally targeted to a Direct3D version and feature level when written, you can of course create a D3D12 device that has only D3D 11 features, but SE have not done this, infact they don't even target 11.1, retaining compatibility with windows 7 for the foreseeable future.

Anyway, with that out of the way....

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Originally Posted by Zhexos

Greetings,

Thanks again to everyone who submitted detailed information regarding the ongoing sound-related issue. Rest assured, the bug reports that were moved to the Duplicate Bug section have been also passed down and have been helpful in our investigation.

While it has taken some time to narrow down the conditions of the issue, we were able to reproduce it on our end.

We discovered an anomaly in the calculation process within FFXIV's game sound driver where the number of digits is not being adjusted correctly. Due to this, some CPUs with certain characteristics are unable to keep up with the calculation processes and have a high possibility of encountering the issue.

As mentioned previously, we noticed this primarily occurs on older CPU models that are around 10 years old, but have also confirmed cases on some of the latest CPU models.

We are continuing to investigate the matter and are working on a resolution to ensure that CPUs with these characteristics will be able to handle these processes correctly. Our current plans are to conduct pattern tests and release an additional fix in the next patch.

We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience as we work towards resolving this issue.

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Zhexos, not to undermine you but the idea of Digits adjustment doesn't make any literal sense, can you clarify with the sound team if Audio Channels is the more literal translation?

It makes a great deal of sense if Channels are not being pruned when no longer within distance of being heard, on weaker cpu's you can stand in the dead center of the cloud of darkness chamber when everyone has left and cpu will be increased if you face at the exit or to the left and right of it, but not towards where you entered the room.

Glad they managed to find the culprit and we even have a potential timeline now. Really hoping next patch isn't 6.1 though ><
As a side note after enabling hpc and disabling amd power saving options for my cpu in bios i feel like i started encountering less stuttering. Trial 2 still stutters a lot but for example i spend almost 3 hours in p1s yesterday with no stuttering at all.

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Originally Posted by Faafetai

I have not had the audio stuttering bug yet, but I am still in post shadowbringers and fear it will become an issue in the future. I decided to post on this thread due to another issue that is directly related to this one, which is all of the sound does not sound as it use to. Every sound is washed out and lowered, I am assuming this is due to making preparations for those wishing to purchase simulated spatial audio. I will never purchase this 'feature' offered, and would like for all of my sounds to be returned to normal. It is most notable in the music sounding far away in every dungeon I am assuming to make it feel as though the audio is coming from far away from your characters sounds that are being produced. It is horrible if you do not wear headphones, and I will not be made to purchase something to fix these issues either.(that is if they fix it only for those who purchase their product and not for everyone else who is playing the game) I will just end my subscription.

Some of the sound changes are okay but some sound as if you have the treble booster on max setting. I can't fix this as I could on a radio or something through audacity when mixing music. I think the term is tinny, like a tin can. Many sounds just sound way to far away despite them being made by your own character with a camera right behind when just going through a dungeon. I am unsure if I am explaining this well, but it is a issue that is common when listening to remastered music from the 50s, 60s, and 70s. Some just sound way off, and it makes it hard to hear certain instruments. The biggest most notable I could give would be listen to The Twinning music on youtube, than go into the Twinning and you will hear how off it sounds at least to me. I tend to be a bit sensitive to some of the changes in sound. It does however sound normal in say Ishgard when just relaxing and sitting down listening to the music.

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Yeah, this is what bothers me the most, actually. This problem may be fixable, but even without this problem, the audio itself is still wrong. However, I don't have that same problem you do with the music, so that's weird, although the music is somehow a bit different for me and the sound effects are a little too "distant" for me too though probably not as much as you. Guess it makes sense that wrong audio would manifest slightly differently for each person.

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Originally Posted by HeavenlyBrush

Glad they managed to find the culprit and we even have a potential timeline now. Really hoping next patch isn't 6.1 though ><
As a side note after enabling hpc and disabling amd power saving options for my cpu in bios i feel like i started encountering less stuttering. Trial 2 still stutters a lot but for example i spend almost 3 hours in p1s yesterday with no stuttering at all.

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Oddly, I've had no stuttering at all in the First or Second Circle even with Listening Position at 60. And I'm the one with the 12+ year old CPU. Can't explain it.

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Originally Posted by Teiren

Oddly, I've had no stuttering at all in the First or Second Circle even with Listening Position at 60. And I'm the one with the 12+ year old CPU. Can't explain it.

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I think at this point there are just some sound effects or areas that are affected way worse than others. For example EW trial 2 both normal and extreme have issues for me and holminster switch is just unbearable during the 1 by 1 trash packs section before final boss. If some specific sound effects or combinations of sound effects ON TOP of older cpus were causing issues i think it would explain why it took so long to pinpoint the culprit.