Audio popping issue

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Originally Posted by miragedive

Just did a test of it and while the issue is significantly mitigated, it's not entirely gone for me. I've been using Endwalker trial 2 in trust to test it, and while it started out perfect, a few seconds later it just went back to stuttering like before. I can probably work around it by killing my graphics settings and all that, but it's a shame. I also tried it without my dualsense connected, sadly no change.

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The patch notes said something about making sure dualshock 4 stuff is disabled? That might help.

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Originally Posted by ValStryder

The patch notes said something about making sure dualshock 4 stuff is disabled? That might help.

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I did! Disconnected my Dualsense entirely and switched to PC controls, but it didn't help

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Originally Posted by ValStryder

You didn't pay for sound quality, you paid for access to a service that allows you to play online with other people.

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Sound is part of the game.

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Originally Posted by ValStryder

They owned it, they fixed it, that should be enough.

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They didn't mention it for weeks. The last official stance we got before today was "It has been fixed.".

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Originally Posted by ValStryder

So if you bought a car and something on it turned out to be broken (unknown to you or the dealer at time of sale), are they obligated to discount the cost for you, or fix the problem for free?

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Yes.


I'm not sure why you're trying so hard to defend SE. I am all willing to be happy and I don't want to start a fight or anything, but as many have kept saying and should keep saying, SE is not your friend, they are a Company providing a Product. The comparisons to "other MMOs" is not an excuse for how SE has handled this issue.
I'm also not downplaying what SE has done so far, we all know and agree that usually SE is very connected to it's playerbase and keeps a high standard, I don't want to devalue that.

I'm glad it's been fixed for you and you can fully enjoy the game now, just bear in mind that this is a Product sold to you. It should be complete as advertised.

If there's nothing to be done about the sub lost, then there is nothing to be done. I won't stop playing or stay mad forever, I just thought I'd voice my discomfort.

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Originally Posted by miragedive

I did! Disconnected my Dualsense entirely and switched to PC controls, but it didn't help

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Right but did you disable the setting? (I dont know if the setting still engages if its disconnected, some settings be weird like that)

I would suggest a new Bug-Report with your System Data you can access through the Launcher. Since they now seem to have found the source of the issue maybe there's something specific about your setup IT can help with.

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Originally Posted by miragedive

Just did a test of it and while the issue is significantly mitigated, it's not entirely gone for me. I've been using Endwalker trial 2 in trust to test it, and while it started out perfect, a few seconds later it just went back to stuttering like before. I can probably work around it by killing my graphics settings and all that, but it's a shame. I also tried it without my dualsense connected, sadly no change.

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There's a new setting in System Configuration/Gamepad Settings, "Enable DualSense/DUALSHOCK 4 functionality." The patch notes recommended turning that off if the issues persist (it seems to be on by default). I'll try that trial myself later just to check but things seem fixed for me so far.

Regarding the issue of compensation, I certainly think it would be nice. Their communication during the entire TWO MONTHS this has been going on was dreadful. While I do think the benchmark provides a strong argument for false advertising, at this point I'd settle for an apology.

Out of curiosity, ValStryder, what do you think there is to be gained by being dismissive of people who are upset that they weren't able to play the game they paid for in the way the advertising led them to believe they'd be able to play it? Seeing anti-consumer attitudes from consumers throws me for a loop every time and it seems to happen more and more often lately.

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Originally Posted by Jizu

I would suggest a new Bug-Report with your System Data you can access through the Launcher. Since they now seem to have found the source of the issue maybe there's something specific about your setup IT can help with.

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I've posted one just now, and in the meantime I'm doing a full reinstall of the game. Patch data is currently downloading so I'll try the setting if it doesn't work, but as someone who physically cannot play without gamepad, it would be very frustrating. Hopefully the reinstall will fix it!

Sounds like its gone for me... but I won't believe it until after a week of no stutters

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Originally Posted by Jizu

Sound is part of the game.


They didn't mention it for weeks. The last official stance we got before today was "It has been fixed.".


Yes.


I'm not sure why you're trying so hard to defend SE. I am all willing to be happy and I don't want to start a fight or anything, but as many have kept saying and should keep saying, SE is not your friend, they are a Company providing a Product. The comparisons to "other MMOs" is not an excuse for how SE has handled this issue.
I'm also not downplaying what SE has done so far, we all know and agree that usually SE is very connected to it's playerbase and keeps a high standard, I don't want to devalue that.

I'm glad it's been fixed for you and you can fully enjoy the game now, just bear in mind that this is a Product sold to you. It should be complete as advertised.

If there's nothing to be done about the sub lost, then there is nothing to be done. I won't stop playing or stay mad forever, I just thought I'd voice my discomfort.

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When they last said something about it was when they confirmed that it was in fact a problem on their end, we just needed to wait for a patch for it to resolve. They had thought that the first patch had resolved it, but it was like a week later they realized it hadn't. We can't expect them to just keep giving passive updates "We're still working on it"

What I, and many, assumed was that it would come with 6.1 since it was likely to be a major fix, turns out it was more minor than we anticipated so they got it in a smaller patch.

I'm not trying to defend SE at all, I'm trying to point out how childish the massive amount of complaining people are doing is. I will say this, you say SE "isnt your friend" and to an extent you are correct, but SE has always maintained a close relationship with its player base even during all the crap since expansion launch (and especially during the peak of Covid, surprisingly). And yes I know you indicated that, I was just confirming with you on that. The simple fact on the whole is that we signed a contract (terms of service) to be allowed access to the service for a fee, but as with ANY constantly changing service, sometimes things go wonky and they agree to fix it, which was done. But game time compensation is only awarded for times when the service is completely inaccessible, excluding standard maintenance windows.

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Originally Posted by miragedive

I've posted one just now, and in the meantime I'm doing a full reinstall of the game. Patch data is currently downloading so I'll try the setting if it doesn't work, but as someone who physically cannot play without gamepad, it would be very frustrating. Hopefully the reinstall will fix it!

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mirage, as for my experience, when I was getting this problem before the patch, I noticed it could happen for 2 different reasons:
1 - performance, which could be mitigated by lowering graphical settings (also, although it's risky, I overclocked my CPU, which made most of the improvements)
2 - CPU throttling -- everytime my CPU got too hot (about 70°C), the system would lower its speed to avoid overheating and it would cause stuttering.

You might try to check for situation 2 by using a software like OpenHardwareMonitor, and paying attention to CPU temperature and speed values when stuttering happens (the ideal would be having 2 monitors, and checking OHM on the second one while playing the game).

You, or anyone still having this issue, might want to check some of these possibilities.

Also, if you want to post your system specs here, maybe we could try to figure out what might be the cause.

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Originally Posted by miragedive

I've posted one just now, and in the meantime I'm doing a full reinstall of the game. Patch data is currently downloading so I'll try the setting if it doesn't work, but as someone who physically cannot play without gamepad, it would be very frustrating. Hopefully the reinstall will fix it!

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You may have missed my post as it was on the very bottom of the last page, but there's a new setting in System Configuration/Gamepad Settings, "Enable DualSense/DUALSHOCK 4 functionality." The patch notes recommended turning that off if the issues persist (it seems to be on by default). I just did the trial myself and didn't have any issues (except dying a lot, I am incredibly rusty).

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Originally Posted by Nommers

You may have missed my post as it was on the very bottom of the last page, but there's a new setting in System Configuration/Gamepad Settings, "Enable DualSense/DUALSHOCK 4 functionality." The patch notes recommended turning that off if the issues persist (it seems to be on by default). I just did the trial myself and didn't have any issues (except dying a lot, I am incredibly rusty).

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They also said they're dependant on the functionality, so they may not have disabling it as a viable option, unfortunately.

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Originally Posted by ValStryder

They also said they're dependant on the functionality, so they may not have disabling it as a viable option, unfortunately.

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The in-game description of the option is "Compatible controllers can utilize rumble and playback of sound effects." It's possible disabling it may help, albeit at the cost of that functionality.

Logged in this morning to test it out. So far so good HOWEVER, I forgot to turn back to DX11 and I only had half hour to play. I'll be giving it a proper look and hear after work. I just need to remember to switch back to DX11.

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Originally Posted by Nommers

The in-game description of the option is "Compatible controllers can utilize rumble and playback of sound effects." It's possible disabling it may help, albeit at the cost of that functionality.

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My point was they could have a physical reason why they need the functionality. It's not our place to pry, but it is what I'm going to assume based on the post they made. Someone like you or I it could be "I've done it so long I cant do it otherwise." There are people who play this game that require stuff like that no questions asked. While you're right it may help, we can't assume that they simply can disable it and enjoy the game.

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Originally Posted by ValStryder

My point was they could have a physical reason why they need the functionality. It's not our place to pry, but it is what I'm going to assume based on the post they made. Someone like you or I it could be "I've done it so long I cant do it otherwise." There are people who play this game that require stuff like that no questions asked. While you're right it may help, we can't assume that they simply can disable it and enjoy the game.

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They said they couldn't play without a gamepad. My point was that the option DOESN'T disable the gamepad, just the gamepad's own audio output and rumble functionality. I suppose it's possible they use the gamepad for audio output, in which case I can see how that wouldn't be helpful.

I still get it HOWEVER it's gone much better now since it's not stuttering while in the big city like OS, but it happened when pulling mobs in the dungeon... I'm still have DX9 as an option so i might stick to that for now..

For now, i might want to give a try and report back with my bug report... I don't know what to say though since it's only "Intel Integrated Graphics" so yeah might be "yeah sir, your laptop is too potato", but again "This is not happening before EW release"

Yeah kinda back and forth and then probably just hoping they will not disabling DX9 for a long term now *fingercrossed

Finally fixed with the patch! No stutters at all so far. Managed to test it out in every game environment atm. EZ

I only tested it for a bit and so far, things are going smoothly, but all I really did was the MSQ roulette. I'll have more time to play test this later and will report back.

Improved slightly on PS5 but still remains really muffled or 'tinny' sadly nothing like the sound quality prior to Endwalker and the audio quality we were used to having.
As it is evidently something server side why can't audio output simply be reverted to Shadowbringers settings?

It is really fixed, thank you so much <3

https://i.imgur.com/qoPl0z7.png

Seems like my wifes audio is fixed. She is doing P4N right now where it always broke, and it sounds clear as day.

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Originally Posted by Interrossiter

Improved slightly on PS5 but still remains really muffled or 'tinny' sadly nothing like the sound quality prior to Endwalker and the audio quality we were used to having.
As it is evidently something server side why can't audio output simply be reverted to Shadowbringers settings?

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This was never a server-side issue. On PC at least, the new audio engine was using too many audio channels, which was basically clogging up people's systems and, in some incredibly specific hardware configurations, causing the sound to slow down and stutter like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDMf7c4qJJA I'm not sure what the issue is on PS5 that's causing audio to sound tinny - after this fix, I think my audio sounds as good as it ever did, if not better. Your issue may not be related. You might try disabling the "Enable DualSense/DUALSHOCK 4 functionality" option under System Configuration/Gamepad Settings (it doesn't disable your controller, just rumble and controller audio output) to see if that helps.

So, with SE claiming to "fix" the audio stuttering/crackling issue this in patch, decided to do test runs on different duties. Just to make sure it is fixed on MY end (even if it was SE's client doing the stuttering).

- Set "Listening Position" to 0 for this test, as it used to be 100 to help with crackling (it did little effect, but meh).
- I had all sounds activated, minus Performance, all at max 100 for this test.
- Dual Sense / DUALSHOCK 4 functionality was turned off for this test.
- Player combat effects turned off minus my own
- Was on healer role for MOST of these
- Some duties I unsynced and solo'd them to save time. However, even when I did this BEOFRE 6.08, there was still audio stuttering for a lot of them during combat/fight mechanics.

Below I will list the duties I did that have no audio crackling in (for me at least). Did a few in each expansion to be sure about it.

A Realm Reborn
- Titan Normal: Didn't experience anything, so safe to say it's good.
- Shiva Normal: Same as above.
- Sastasha (Hard): Nothing reported out of the ordinary.
- Snowcloak: No isuses during boss fights/mass pulls with audio. BGM didn't glitch out.

Heavensward
- Alexander: Soul of the Creator: No audio crackling. Did experience it before 6.08, but was crystal clear with BGM Intact.
- Ravana Normal: No audio glitching was heard!
- Sohm Al (Hard): No crackling was heard. Did have issues in big pulls with combat stuttering all over the place before 6.08.

Stormblood
- Emanation (Normal): Did experience stuttering before in this duty before 6.08 patch.. No crackling/stutter during combat; Audio was clear.
- Shisui of the Violent Tides: No audio crackling/stuttering at all. Had a bit before the 6.08 during boss fights mostly.
- Deltascape 4.0: Had audio crackling before 6.08, but now it's crystal clear! Didn't hear any radio static at all.

Shadowbringers
- Dying Grasp: No audio crackling/stuttering when I experienced it before 6.08.
- Eden's Promise: Eternity: No radio stutter at all.
- Dohn Mheg: No crackling was heard, which I experienced before 6.08 in big pulls mostly.

Endwalker
- Asphodelos: Fourth Circle: No audio crackling/stuttering during combat at all. This used to be a very bad duty to get through because of audio constantly cutting out. Glad to report I had no issues during this.
- Smileton: No combat stutter/crackling after 6.08, glad to report!
- 89 Trial: No stuttering/crackle at all! So happy about this one, because the music is NICE.

I feel they have fixed the audio stutter on my end, or at least, found what was affecting 'most' CPUs with this problem. Just wanted to report my findings for others to know about. Maybe do your own test runs to see if it's fixed for you.

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Originally Posted by Nommers

The in-game description of the option is "Compatible controllers can utilize rumble and playback of sound effects." It's possible disabling it may help, albeit at the cost of that functionality.

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Oh I think I misunderstood! I thought it would completely disable the controller! I don't mind playing without rumble/audio from the controller, even if it was nice! Once the reinstall is done I'll also remove that setting!! Thank you kindly!

When I get home I'm goimg to test more out.

The bad part for me is....
I've been running the Immersive Audio Pack for about a little over a month now and have gotten used to the audio this way.

When I loaded into a new zone and the loading screen didn't crackle... It felt weird.

I am glad to announce that it seems fixed to me too.
Ran a few roulettes with graphics set to maximum, no issues.

I just ran a Tower at Paradigm's Breach as a test since before the patch the audio would completely break down on all bosses, and it was literally unplayable if the audio was not mutted.

I'm happy to report that the issue has been fixed.

Status update: Tested after a complete reinstall and switching off DualSense functionality. It’s definitely far less common but the issue is there and my FPS dips to 34.

I ran msq trial 2 and got the stutter. Severely reduced in effect and harder to trigger, but still happens. Dual shock was turned off.

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Originally Posted by ValStryder

Not only that, they understood the mistake was theirs from the beginning, and they've now fixed it, if this was a certain rival MMO the response would have been "Get better hardware or deal with it forever"

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I'm perfectly happy that they finally fixed this (and will test it tonight when I can myself to confirm for me) but they absolutely did not understand the mistake was on their end from the beginning. We basically got the "get better hardware" type of response because they were blaming things on increased stress on old CPUs at first.

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Originally Posted by Au-ro

I ran msq trial 2 and got the stutter. Severely reduced in effect and harder to trigger, but still happens. Dual shock was turned off.

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Out of curiosity, what kind of CPU do you have? Looking at the three currently posted bug reports (incl mine), it seems to now be only on Intel CPUs, but I figured I'd ask you as well.

Unfortunately for me, this patch didn't really fix the audio issue, it just made it... different. I got my hopes up when I saw a bunch of people here saying the issue was fixed on their end, and I was even happier when I walked inside the buildings in Great Work, which had always triggered the stuttering for me before, and didn't experience any issues. But when I started doing my roulettes, the issue came up again, and it was especially bad in the alliance raid I did. The best way I can describe it is that the stuttering effect in particular is gone, but the audio becomes very scratchy, laggy, and--for lack of a better term--bass-boosted. What's more, adjusting the camera while in combat doesn't alleviate the issue like it did before.

I have AMD FX8350.
Just got on, turned everything up to test the audio. No crackle on zoning; no crackle in my house. Just did a couple 8 man roulettes and some FATEs in Thavnair and have not had any static yet. This is the first day of EW that I can actually enjoy the sound. Gonna probably do a new game+ or push an alt through EW MSQ just so I can hear it as it was supposed to be and actually play it without having a nervous breakdown. One thing I need to remember to do is back out and turn my system bitrate back up. I think I left it on CD quality after they suggested that weeks ago (gross).

AMD-FX8350 user here reporting.

Played for many hours today and performed several limit tests: reverted all the graphic settings back to how I used to play in ShB, activated DX11, high(desktop) and FPS limit on 60. Also had multiple apps running on background.

The audio crackling/stuttering appears to be completely gone. The "lagging" and random FPS drops that seemed to accompany it, also gone. Game is running as smoothly as it was on the day before 6.0 hit.

AMD FX6300 here, its fixed and everything is good again, thank you SE! Everything is good just like before 6.0 :p

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Originally Posted by Grimno

We need to stress test everything to make sure.
Someone run Alexander and The Fourth Circle.

Oh... and try a Hunt Train.
If it can now handle a Hunt Train, we should be golden.

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My sound has been stuttering and echoing and lagging since 6.0. I tried everything, running a virtual audio cable, DX9, lowering settings, changing listening position and the equalizer off and then back onto Standard, lowering the bitrate for my headphones, repairing the game files, just absolutely everything. Nothing ever worked, even the 6.05 patch that said it fixed it.

I ran World of Darkness today and noticed I wasn't getting it, so swapped all my settings back to normal (except for the virtual audio cable because I don't even know how to go about uninstalling that,) and it didn't come back. And to top it all off, I did a Hunt Train for 2 hours today with no stuttering. It seems like it's fixed for me at least, though I'm still worried about some people saying they're still having issues.

I plan to go back and rewatch a couple of cutscenes now that I can hear Soken's music in them and not just stuttering and dropped voice lines.

Right. After endless fiddling and fidgeting with the settings, I think I may have found a temporarily fix/reduction. I tested this right in the middle of when the sound was stuttering literally every 5 seconds and had three clean minutes of sound on trial 2 + no stuttering in The Goblet or Radz-at-Han after. All of these fixes are necessary, I tried switching from FullScreen back to Borderless and the stuttering came back. This is assuming you've applied the fixes suggested in patch notes.

1. Switch to Fullscreen Display
2. Ensure that FPS is capped 1/1 or uncapped
3. Go to System Configuration -> Sound Settings -> Wireless Controller Settings, and set Speaker sounds to None. I reduced volume to 0 and muted for good measure.
4. If you use a gamepad/controller to play, either play wirelessly, or if you connect via cable, disable the controller as a sound device in your Windows settings. To do this, connect your controller, go to Sound Settings -> Device Properties -> Additional device properties -> On the General window, right at the bottom, change Device Usage to "Don't use this device (disable)"

This combination seems to work for me so far, but I'll feed back over the course of the coming few days if the issue comes back or if the issue remains fixed like this. At the moment I have my graphics reduced to mitigate, but if the fix holds I'll gradually increase. Note that this worked with a listening position of 50.

Chiming in after not playing for nearly a month. Sound issues seem to be fixed for me. I finally resubbed to give it a shot and spent 10 minutes running in circles in the Rising Stones casting Dyskrasia II. Normally, the problem would trip after 3-4 casts at most. Now, almost 10 minutes and nothing.

Yay for getting it fixed!

Boo for them ostensibly blaming us rather than investigating the problem before casting aspersions.

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Originally Posted by rutilation

Unfortunately for me, this patch didn't really fix the audio issue, it just made it... different. I got my hopes up when I saw a bunch of people here saying the issue was fixed on their end, and I was even happier when I walked inside the buildings in Great Work, which had always triggered the stuttering for me before, and didn't experience any issues. But when I started doing my roulettes, the issue came up again, and it was especially bad in the alliance raid I did. The best way I can describe it is that the stuttering effect in particular is gone, but the audio becomes very scratchy, laggy, and--for lack of a better term--bass-boosted. What's more, adjusting the camera while in combat doesn't alleviate the issue like it did before.

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An update on this: since the problem seemed to have been fixed for most everyone else, I went looking for any possible issue that could have caused it on my end. Around the same time the audio bug cropped up for me, the dc jack on my laptop broke; it can power the computer, but it can't charge the battery. I overlooked it before because I couldn't imagine how the two could be related, and at the time I figured that the release of patch 6.05 had caused the problem. As it turns out, the faulty connection in there was causing the laptop to throttle the cpu--it was in a perpetual power-saving mode. Fiddling with the power settings couldn't fix it, but I downloaded throttlestop, unchecked the box labeled BD PROCHOT, and that fixed the issue for me completely.