Intense Audio stuttering, popping, crackling since EA 6.0
Date & Time: 23.12.2021
Frequency: Always. Since 03.12.2021, the 6.0 Update. Worsened after 6.01 patch.
World name: Diabolos
Character name: Jizu Nhayarin
Party or solo: Both affected
Steps:
1. Log into the game
2. First showing usually during loading screens the music tears
3. Start combat or be in crowded area
4. Increases in intensity and frequency when playing with other players/doing more intense actions than standing still in an instanced room
Tried the following things:
1. Updated every Driver and installed every Windows update available. No change.
2. Verified the FF14 files through the Launcher. No change.
3. Reduced my Audio Settings to 16bit, 44100 Hz. No change.
(This has been my setting since the 4th as the community found this to be a possible fix.)
4. Ran the game in DX9. No change, but now it seems more laggy and I get screen tearing.
5. Closed every background process. No change.
6. Monitored CPU usage, no spikes before or during Sound issues. Never overworked.
7. Changed the "Listening Position" to 100. Reduced the frequency of occurence.
(This has been my setting since the 4th as the community found this to be a possible fix.)
8. Muted System Sounds In-Game. No change.
9. Turned down other Players Sound. No change.
(This has been my setting since the 4th as the community found this to be a possible fix.)
10. Reduced the amount of other Players Showing to minimal. No change.
(This has been my setting since the 4th as the community found this to be a possible fix.)
11. Reduced graphics options severly. No change.
(This has been my setting since the 4th as the community found this to be a possible fix.)
12. Muted and unmuted all sound in different scenarios. No change.
13. Used every sound device available to me. No change.
14. Avoided playing with other players in this MMO as much as possible.
These steps made the sound Issues reduce from 100% of the time to a possible 40% of the time, given I avoid other players. Which is kind of hard in an MMO.. Not to mention not fun.
BUT
Since the 6.01 patch, all of these steps are useless. It's all the way back at 100%.
Connection Specs
- Type of internet connection/provider: Lan Cable directly to the router. Willy.tel.
■ PC Specs
CPU: AMD FX-8350 8-Core 4.0GHz
GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 3GB
RAM: 16GB
Mainboard: GA-990FXA-UD3
Windows 10 Pro 64bit
-=-=-=-=-=-=- System Information -=-=-=-=-=-=-
SYSTEM_OS Windows 10 Pro 64-Bit-Version (6.2, Build 9200) (19041.vb_release.191206-1406)
SYSTEM_CPU AMD FX(tm)-8350 Eight-Core Processor (8 CPUs), ~4.0GHz
SYSTEM_CORE_NUM SYSTEM_CORE_LOGIC 8 SYSTEM_CORE_PHYSICS 4
SYSTEM_BIOS Award Modular BIOS v6.00PG
SYSTEM_LANGUAGE Deutsch (Gebietsschema: Deutsch)
SYSTEM_MEMORY 16381.211MB
SYSTEM_VIRTUAL_MEMORY 134217727.875MB
SYSTEM_PAGE_FILE 20762.313MB
SYSTEM_STORAGE C:\ SYSTEM_HARDDISK_DRIVE SYSTEM_TOTALDISC_SPACE 166.681GB SYSTEM_FREEDISC_SPACE 70.220GB
SYSTEM_STORAGE D:\ SYSTEM_HARDDISK_DRIVE SYSTEM_TOTALDISC_SPACE 465.759GB SYSTEM_FREEDISC_SPACE 62.114GB
SYSTEM_DIRECTX_VERSION DirectX 12
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DEVICE \\.\DISPLAY1
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_CHIP NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_MAKER NVIDIA
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_VRAM 2988.000 MB
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_SHARED_VRAM 8190.605 MB
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DAC Integrated RAMDAC
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DISPLAY_MODE 1920 x 1200 (32 bit) (59Hz)
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DRIVER C:\WINDOWS\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\nv_dispi.inf_amd64_0bc9105c62ca22fb\nvldumdx.dll,C:\WINDOWS\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\nv_dispi.inf_amd64_0bc9105c62ca22fb\nvldumdx.dll,C:\WINDOWS\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\nv_dispi.inf_amd64_0bc9105c62ca22fb\nvldumdx.dll,C:\WINDOWS\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\nv_dispi.inf_amd64_0bc9105c62ca22fb\nvldumdx.dll
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DRIVER_VERSION 30.00.0014.9729
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DRIVER_DATE 12/15/2021 01:00:00
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DRIVER_LANGUAGE Englisch
3.0
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_PIXEL_SHADER 3.0
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_VERTEX_TEXTURE SYSTEM_SUPPORT
SYSTEM_SOUND Lautsprecher (High Definition Audio Device)
SYSTEM_SOUND_DEVICE_ID {512922F7-FB4A-4B61-ABFF-0D3640E66A3A}
SYSTEM_SOUND_DEVICE_NAME HdAudio.sys
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_VERSION 10.0.19041.264
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_LANGUAGE Englisch
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_DATE 5/9/2020 01:00:00
SYSTEM_INPUT {6F1D2B60-D5A0-11CF-BFC7444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME Maus
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 3 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 5 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {6F1D2B61-D5A0-11CF-BFC7444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME Tastatur
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 128 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {B32769F0-520C-11E8-8001444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME Wacom Tablet
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 3 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {B327DF20-520C-11E8-8002444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME Wacom Tablet
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 2 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {367219E0-520D-11E8-8003444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME Wacom Tablet
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 11 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 6 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {14DF35D0-2254-11E8-8004444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME Game Mouse
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 24 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {14DFAB00-2254-11E8-8005444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME Game Mouse
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {14DFD210-2254-11E8-8006444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME Game Mouse
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {14DFD210-2254-11E8-8007444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME Game Mouse
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {00DE92E0-BAF2-11EA-8001444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME USB Keyboard
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 1301 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
I've been asked in a Thread regarding this issue to provide a bug report. Maybe this helps.
(https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...g-issue/page40 by Sicycre)
I've been very patient, it's been almost a month and there has been barely any recognition on your end to this issue.
At this point I am to believe it is hardly a Player-sided thing, as many more tech-savvy community members went as far as reinstalling windows, installing the game on their SSD and making sure even the BIOS is up-to-date on their high-end PCs, yet the issue persists.
I want to stress the fact that my PC has no issue whatsoever running any other Video Game I own. Regardless of graphical, sound or CPU intensive usage (even Modded Minecraft doesn't lag).
This is not meant to be personal attack as I am aware there is more than plenty of Staff trying to resolve the issue, but in the bigger picture I feel extremely ignored and the issue undermined.
It took SE until the 7th to put the audio issue on the list of "known issues". That's a long time for an issue, consistently on the front page of the Tech Support Forums.
I am willing to stay patient until the next patch, which I believe will be on the 04.01.2022.
After that I will look into how to recieve a refund on at least the 2 out of the 3 months of subscripton I paid for at the end of November.
The game is absolutely not fun to play this way.
As much as the current 2 weeks of free playtime reumbursement is kind, it hasn't been given in response to the sound issue. The servers are becoming more stable, and further reimbursement isn't likely to happen.
So if it's going to be like this for the unforseeable future, with little official response and no actual fix, I payed for a broken product.