Audio stuttering since Endwalker

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Date & Time: 12-23-21
Frequency: Frequent
World name: Coeurl
Character name: Kehda'li Tayuun
Retainer name:
NPC name:
Monster name:
Class/Level:
Party or solo: Both
In-game time:
Area and coordinates:
Housing:
Steps:
1. severe audio stuttering of music, sound effects and system effects, combined with a slight lag of these sounds, occurs in combat, when other players are in combat, when crafting, when gathering, when idling in main areas, in private housing, or in instanced areas, when underwater, in loading screens, during cutscenes; none of this occurred before the release of Endwalker early access; certain duties, such as Smileton, consistently have much worse stuttering than others, such as Stigma Dreamscape, which works nearly perfectly
2. Turning the camera to face my character stops the stuttering, even when there are still many characters on screen with many combat skills going off
3. Set listening position to 100
4. Set equalizer to standard
5. Set all sounds to 100
6. Muted ambient sounds
7. Unmuted ambient sounds
8. Reduced all graphics settings
9. Limited FPS to 60
10. Restarted game
11. Set priority of game to 'High' in task manager
12. Disabled USB selective suspend setting
13. Confirmed computer was on 'High Performance' power setting
14. Switched processor scheduling to 'Background Services'
15. Exited all other programs
16. Set sound settings to 16 bit, 44100 Hz
17. Confirmed sound drivers were up to date
18. Switched to DX9
19. Confirmed no gamepads were connected to computer
20. Disabled unused audio output devices

The only one of these steps that had any effect at all was setting listening position to 100. With this setting, turning the camera to face my character stops the stuttering. When this setting is at anything other than 100 or close to 100, turning the camera to face my character does not stop the stuttering. Again, turning the camera to face my character stops the stuttering even when there are dozens of players and npc mobs on screen with combat skills going off. When the stuttering happens, I monitor FPS, which does not dip even a single frame.

Connection Specs
- Type of internet connection/provider: AT&T
- Modem maker/model number: no idea

■ PC Specs

To obtain the system information, open the FFXIV launcher and select Config → System Information → Display.

-=-=-=-=- System Information -=-=-=-=-

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-


SYSTEM_OS Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (6.1, Build 7601) Service Pack 1 (7601.win7sp1_ldr_escrow.200102-1707)
SYSTEM_CPU AMD FX(tm)-4100 Quad-Core Processor (4 CPUs), ~3.6GHz
SYSTEM_CORE_NUM SYSTEM_CORE_LOGIC 4 SYSTEM_CORE_PHYSICS 2
SYSTEM_BIOS Award Modular BIOS v6.00PG
SYSTEM_LANGUAGE English (Regional Setting: English)
SYSTEM_MEMORY 8189.555MB
SYSTEM_VIRTUAL_MEMORY 8388607.875MB
SYSTEM_PAGE_FILE 16377.254MB
SYSTEM_STORAGE C:\ SYSTEM_HARDDISK_DRIVE SYSTEM_TOTALDISC_SPACE 931.413GB SYSTEM_FREEDISC_SPACE 527.110GB
SYSTEM_STORAGE Q:\ SYSTEM_HARDDISK_DRIVE SYSTEM_TOTALDISC_SPACE 931.413GB SYSTEM_FREEDISC_SPACE 527.110GB
SYSTEM_DIRECTX_VERSION DirectX 11
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DEVICE \\.\DISPLAY1
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_CHIP NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_MAKER NVIDIA
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_VRAM 3992.375 MB
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_SHARED_VRAM 3838.777 MB
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DAC Integrated RAMDAC
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DISPLAY_MODE 1600 x 900 (32 bit) (60Hz)
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DRIVER nvd3dumx.dll,nvwgf2umx.dll,nvwgf2umx.dll,nvd3dum,nvwgf2um,nvwgf2um
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DRIVER_VERSION 30.00.0014.7196
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DRIVER_DATE 8/29/2021 12:33:06 AM
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DRIVER_LANGUAGE English
3.0
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_PIXEL_SHADER 3.0
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_VERTEX_TEXTURE SYSTEM_SUPPORT
SYSTEM_SOUND Speakers (High Definition Audio Device)
SYSTEM_SOUND_DEVICE_ID {3FB72595-F71F-4B1E-97F3-2B50385ECF58}
SYSTEM_SOUND_DEVICE_NAME HdAudio.sys
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_VERSION 6.01.7601.24519
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_LANGUAGE English
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_DATE 8/26/2019 8:34:01 PM
SYSTEM_INPUT {6F1D2B60-D5A0-11CF-BFC7444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME Mouse
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 3 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 8 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {6F1D2B61-D5A0-11CF-BFC7444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME Keyboard
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 128 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {C1B69550-29E9-11EC-8003444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME USB Keyboard
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 1301 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {DD1E4880-A9DF-11E7-8001444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME USB Receiver
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 767 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {DD446E20-A9DF-11E7-8002444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME USB Receiver
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 3 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {DD446E20-A9DF-11E7-8003444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME USB Receiver
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {DD446E20-A9DF-11E7-8004444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME USB Receiver
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {DD45F4C0-A9DF-11E7-8005444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME USB Receiver
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {69A973A0-5DFE-11E9-8001444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME USB Receiver
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0

UPDATE

This user tested the visual alerts option, and found that the audio distortion was reflected in the visual alert provided by the game.

I tested this in two ways.

1) The music frequently lags and stutters during loading screens. As no other sound effects occur during loading screens, I monitored the visual alert while changing areas. Whenever the audio bug occurred, and the music lagged and slowed down, the visual alert ALSO slowed down, in time with the lagging music that I was hearing.

2) Audio stuttering and lagging of crafting sound effects often occurs when my character is facing away from the camera while I'm alone in my own house. I tested this by going into my house and using the same crafting skill over and over, and alternating between facing away from the camera, which frequently causes audio stuttering and lag, and facing towards the camera, which fixes the audio stuttering and lag. Whenever audio stutter and lag occurred with the crafting skill, the equalizer bars would display the sound effect as being louder and lasting longer than in instances when the audio bug did not occur, and matched up precisely in time with what I was hearing. The equalizer bar was also 'spikier' when the sound bug occurred, which I suspect reflected the stuttering sound. In addition, occasionally the sound 'echoes,' by which I mean that part of the sound effect repeats itself after the actual sound effect in a loud, stuttery fashion. This echo was reflected in the equalizer bar by a larger-than-normal spike at the end of the sound effect that normally doesn't occur.

I then muted the master sound in the FFXIV sound options. When using the crafting skill while facing away from the camera, the equalizer bar, on average, displayed the sound effects as being louder, lasting longer, and 'spikier' compared to when I used the skill while facing the camera. As the sound was muted, I could not tell whether the sound bug had occurred, but it was fairly clear from the reaction of the equalizer bar alone of when it had.

This is crazy, yet another thread on these issues and still nothing fixed.... sad SE....sad.

I've been having the same issues since 6.01 (dunno why it started for me there) and it has been very annoying when raiding, sometimes it causes some FPS drops as well. Hope they fix this issue soon.