Client loses sound randomly

[Riardon]

Hello! Thank you for your reply.

Based on the information provided, we have come to the conclusion that a complete reinstall of the game may be necessary. Please uninstall Final Fantasy XIV from your computer. Make sure to delete any remaining FFXIV files from your computer, including any potential files in your ‘Documents’ folder. Then reinstall the game from scratch. If you need a digital version of this, it can be found here: http://www.finalfantasyxiv.com/playersdownload/na/. Any updates or expansions will be downloaded to your computer once logged into the appropriate account.

Hope to be of assistance.

I can try that but removing data from the Documents folder also deletes the HUDs I've made in game. Can I copy-paste them again after the reinstall?

[drebbe]

Any change in system audio can cause this issue due to a bug in SE's Audio implementation. These things can cause this issue:

1.) Removal or Addition of a sound device.
2.) Changing the default Audio Device.
3.) Driver Crash / Driver reload.
4.) Unplugging USB Headset.

Now for the programming side of it:

They are using XAudio for their backend and not properly handing IXAudio2EngineCallback::OnCriticalError() since they are specifying the default audio device with parameter szDeviceId of IXAudio2::CreateMasteringVoice.

from Microsoft's msdn:

If you provide the ID of a specific device in the szDeviceId parameter to IXAudio2::CreateMasteringVoice or use the XAUDIO2_NO_VIRTUAL_AUDIO_CLIENT flag, then a critical error will occur and OnCriticalError is raised if the underlying WASAPI rendering device becomes unavailable. This can occur when a headset or speaker is unplugged or when a USB audio device is removed, for example. Once a critical error has occurred, audio processing stops and all further calls to XAudio2 fail. The only way to recover in this situation is to release the XAudio2 instance and create a new one.

If you specified NULL or szDeviceId parameter to IXAudio2::CreateMasteringVoice, then the system uses a Virtual Audio Client to represent the audio endpoint. In this case, if the underlying WASAPI rendering device becomes unavailable, the system automatically selects a new audio rendering device for rendering, audio processing continues, and OnCriticalError is not raised.

SE could literally fix this with three lines of code.

[Riardon]

Today I tried to reinstall the game from scratch. Complete uninstall and removal of all data and folders in My Documents folder.
The game crashed again within 3 hours of game play with the same error message as I posted earlier.
Can you please forward the issue to the developers? Seems the game has some serious audio engine issues.
Can't even launch Discord without losing the in-game sound again.
It's so frustrating.

EDIT: Using Firefox browser also causes XIV to lose sound in game. Chrome doesn't.

[Einmimiria]

Thank you for the update Riardon,

I have a few additional questions regarding your issue:

1) Does the audio drop only when you use ALT+TAB? Or does it happen at random?
2) Are these crashes caused by the same thing? Only when using ALT+TAB? Do you notice any pattern to them otherwise?
3) What kind of audio device are you using? Are you using speakers through a 3.5mm jack? Or perhaps a USB device?
4) In the bottom right corner of your desktop, you will find the system tray. Click on the volume control and select Playback Devices. How many options do you have and have you tried switching between any of them?
5) Do you have any other sound devices on your PC (i.e. microphones, headphones, etc.)?
6) Have you installed any programs that may utilize the sound drivers such as sound mixing or recording software?

I understand this is a frustrating issue. We are having trouble replicating the issue on our side so if you can give a step by step description of what leads to the error, we may be able to better find a resolution.

We hope we can be of assistance in helping you enjoy the exciting world of Final Fantasy XIV!

[Riardon]

Thank you for the update Riardon,

I have a few additional questions regarding your issue:

1) Does the audio drop only when you use ALT+TAB? Or does it happen at random?
2) Are these crashes caused by the same thing? Only when using ALT+TAB? Do you notice any pattern to them otherwise?
3) What kind of audio device are you using? Are you using speakers through a 3.5mm jack? Or perhaps a USB device?
4) In the bottom right corner of your desktop, you will find the system tray. Click on the volume control and select Playback Devices. How many options do you have and have you tried switching between any of them?
5) Do you have any other sound devices on your PC (i.e. microphones, headphones, etc.)?
6) Have you installed any programs that may utilize the sound drivers such as sound mixing or recording software?


We hope we can be of assistance in helping you enjoy the exciting world of Final Fantasy XIV!

1) It drops randomly. Sometimes in-game during a dungeon or boss fight and sometimes when returning back to game after ALT+TAB.
2) I can't really tell. Seems like something breaks the audio engine of the game but what I cannot tell
3) I'm using my on board audio. My motherboard is Gigabyte Z370 Gaming 7 (Realtek® ALC1220 codec & ESS9018Q2C chip)
4) I have disabled everything else and now I have only 2 devices. Speakers High Definition Audio Device and 2nd Speakers Audio Device (the 2nd is the motherboard's front panel IO).
5) I have a headset connect to the front panel IO. XIV doesn't allow for on the fly switching of audio output device. The game is using the default playback device as set by Windows. In order to change it a restart of the client is required.
6) No. My Desktop PC is boring. No programs or overlays are installed. Nvidia's GeForce Experience overlay is also disabled. No Fraps, DPS meters, MSI Afterburners or anything else is running while XIV runs. I have only a browser open and ALT+TAB between that and XIV. The sound drop issue happens even when not ALT+TAB. Specific programs cause it to drop the sound when launched such as Discord. This is why I use Skype atm. Firefox browser also causes it to drop the sound though I cannot tell when. Using Chrome or Edge seems mostly OK but again I cannot tell because it happens at random. Most of the times the game does not crash with an error message. It just loses sound.
Again this issue is very old. I had this with my old PC since 2.0 launched but it wasn't so frequent.

[drebbe]

1) It drops randomly. Sometimes in-game during a dungeon or boss fight and sometimes when returning back to game after ALT+TAB.
2) I can't really tell. Seems like something breaks the audio engine of the game but what I cannot tell
3) I'm using my on board audio. My motherboard is Gigabyte Z370 Gaming 7 (Realtek® ALC1220 codec & ESS9018Q2C chip)
4) I have disabled everything else and now I have only 2 devices. Speakers High Definition Audio Device and 2nd Speakers Audio Device (the 2nd is the motherboard's front panel IO).
5) I have a headset connect to the front panel IO. XIV doesn't allow for on the fly switching of audio output device. The game is using the default playback device as set by Windows. In order to change it a restart of the client is required.
6) No. My Desktop PC is boring. No programs or overlays are installed. Nvidia's GeForce Experience overlay is also disabled. No Fraps, DPS meters, MSI Afterburners or anything else is running while XIV runs. I have only a browser open and ALT+TAB between that and XIV. The sound drop issue happens even when not ALT+TAB. Specific programs cause it to drop the sound when launched such as Discord. This is why I use Skype atm. Firefox browser also causes it to drop the sound though I cannot tell when. Using Chrome or Edge seems mostly OK but again I cannot tell because it happens at random. Most of the times the game does not crash with an error message. It just loses sound.
Again this issue is very old. I had this with my old PC since 2.0 launched but it wasn't so frequent.

Gigabyte Z370 Gaming 7 looks like it has an issue with the sound card intermittently dropping out causing the driver to reload which would explain how you are exposing FFXIV's audio bug. Looks like some people solved the problem by turning off Crystal Voice but others had to completely disable it and use another sound card.

Shut your computer off completely and let it sit for about a minute and then turn it back on. I bet that will prolong how long it takes for audio to stop working which leads me to believe its a hardware issue with the motherboard.


edit: you should be able to see if this is the case by disabling the onboard sound system in the bios and using HDMI audio output on your video card. If the problem goes away you isolated your problem.

edit2: The above looks like its for the Z270 not yours. Seems like gigabyte has a lot of audio issues lately. You can try downloading different drivers and see if that fixes your problem: https://www.tenforums.com/drivers-ha...r-version.html

[Riardon]

Gigabyte Z370 Gaming 7 looks like it has an issue with the sound card intermittently dropping out causing the driver to reload which would explain how you are exposing FFXIV's audio bug. Looks like some people solved the problem by turning off Crystal Voice but others had to completely disable it and use another sound card.

Shut your computer off completely and let it sit for about a minute and then turn it back on. I bet that will prolong how long it takes for audio to stop working which leads me to believe its a hardware issue with the motherboard.


edit: you should be able to see if this is the case by disabling the onboard sound system in the bios and using HDMI audio output on your video card. If the problem goes away you isolated your problem.

edit2: The above looks like its for the Z270 not yours. Seems like gigabyte has a lot of audio issues lately. You can try downloading different drivers and see if that fixes your problem: https://www.tenforums.com/drivers-ha...r-version.html

I had the same issue with my old PC as well. An i5 2500K system I had for 6 years. It wasn't that frequent but it was there and kept happening.
I don't have any crystal voice feature turned on. This sound problem happens only with FFXIV.
All other games and application does not exhibit this. Witcher 3, Sims 4, Overwatch, Black Desert, Divinity Original Sin 2.

[Riardon]

Today I tried uninstalling and reinstalling the latest audio drivers from my motherboards vendor. Also disabled Windows' 10 Game Mode and disabled "full screen optimisations" so the game ran in the old classic "Full Screen" mode. Browsing through Firefox caused game to lose sound again. After this I have nothing else to try. I couldn't run the game to a more "stock like out of the box scenario". The game just drops sound out of the blue and this happens only to this game. There must be something wrong in the background with the game's audio engine that I can't see. The only scenario that I can somehow replicate or create the circumstances for this to manifest is by browsing websites with Firefox and ALT+TAB between Firefox and XIV.

[Riardon]

My audio setup is 2.1 desktop speakers which I use most of time. They are set as default output device in playback devices.
I also have a headset which is new. I use it mostly during the night. When I plug the headset I set it as the default playback device in playback devices menu.
Most of the time I'm with the 2.1 speakers which are my primary audio output device.
I have open XIV and Firefox. Only these 2 nothing else. Suddenly XIV loses sound and goes mute. If I restart it then sound is back. Firefox keeps playing audio from videos. Music still goes on. So it's not like sound dies system wide. It's only XIV that does this.
Some other times it's only XIV that runs. And while in game in a dungeon sound stops. Just like that.
The whole thing is kinda random so I don't know what causes this.
Sometimes it happens when I alt+tab between browser and the game and sometimes while in game.
Same issue I had with my older PC since 2.0 launched. It's an old issue. I just took it on the forums now because it happens more frequently than before but it's still the same issue as I described.

[drebbe]

My audio setup is 2.1 desktop speakers which I use most of time. They are set as default output device in playback devices.
I also have a headset which is new. I use it mostly during the night. When I plug the headset I set it as the default playback device in playback devices menu.
Most of the time I'm with the 2.1 speakers which are my primary audio output device.
I have open XIV and Firefox. Only these 2 nothing else. Suddenly XIV loses sound and goes mute. If I restart it then sound is back. Firefox keeps playing audio from videos. Music still goes on. So it's not like sound dies system wide. It's only XIV that does this.
Some other times it's only XIV that runs. And while in game in a dungeon sound stops. Just like that.
The whole thing is kinda random so I don't know what causes this.
Sometimes it happens when I alt+tab between browser and the game and sometimes while in game.
Same issue I had with my older PC since 2.0 launched. It's an old issue. I just took it on the forums now because it happens more frequently than before but it's still the same issue as I described.

The reason I asked if you re-used most of your stuff is because if your analog connections are finicky it can cause windows to see a disconnect / reconnect and reset your default audio device. This would cause FFXIV to experience this issue but most other applications should recover (I've seen other applications fail if it happens enough times though). If you have an LCD with speakers and its hooked up through HDMI you should try disabling everything else (onboard audio through bios, everything else through device manager) and see if you still have the issue. If it stops happening you can narrow it down to either your hardware (including the sound card) or the sound card driver.