Audio popping issue

[TankYoos]

Same issue. It first started with the music popping. I changed the equalizer to normal and it solved that. But it still does it for the battle music and i think abilities as well. Never had this problem prior to 6.0

[DaBigDorf]

Also having audio stuttering. mostly in combat.

[SleepyMoony]

hello i am also having this issue. it only happens when i am in combat, when someone near me is in combat, or someone uses a skill that might be used during combat. seems like only the bgm is getting effected though; turning it off has fixed the issue. In the meantime i'm manually playing area music on loop through youtube but that's not what i might call ideal.

earlier i also had an issue where VO wasn't playing, either in or out of cutscenes. it fixed when i restarted the game later, but i just muddled through it at the time because of queue times haha

update: moving my listening position all the way to "character" like @Elliah-Seraheart suggested fixed it, for now at least. Thanks!!

[Elliah-Seraheart]

hello i am also having this issue. it only happens when i am in combat, when someone near me is in combat, or someone uses a skill that might be used during combat. seems like only the bgm is getting effected though; turning it off has fixed the issue. In the meantime i'm manually playing area music on loop through youtube but that's not what i might call ideal.

earlier i also had an issue where VO wasn't playing, either in or out of cutscenes. it fixed when i restarted the game later, but i just muddled through it at the time because of queue times haha

update: moving my listening position all the way to "character" like @Elliah-Seraheart suggested fixed it, for now at least. Thanks!!

I've not yet heard of someone having these issue's exclusively with BGM. For me, and many others the issue happens with any sound. Be it BGM, Sound effects, Ambient or Voices. It's an absolute mess in dungeons - and makes cutscenes almost unwatchable.

That said, I am glad you resolved your issues somewhat. Pls still make sure to send in a bug report regardless. Mentioning the issue, your specs and the fix that worked for you might help them detect the underlying cause.

[lumielle_]

Hello there!

I have the same problem. Once I start fighting or people around me are fighting it becomes almost unbearable and I need to take off my headset.

I tried out different things:
Switched headsets, updated drivers and even reinstalled the whole game. It sadly changed nothing.

I have no issues while watching Videos or in TS, the problem only appears while playing FFXIV.

[Resheph]

The patch notes had a note that said the issue has been addressed. I am still having as many audio problems as before and following the advice to reduce my device's sample rate has had no effect. I came back just to play Shadowbringers and Endwlakers after a 4 year hiatus (we had a kid) and this is extremely disappointing. In the six years I played this game prior to having our daughter, I never had any issues with sound. W. T. F.

[RevanNight]

I have had the exact same issue here with what I refer to as massive echo like sound. It's a strobe type sound that is very loud and makes it impossible to enjoy the game. My problem also started at Endwalker launch and the new addition of Immerse Spacial Audio, which I think is the actual culprit. I do not have that enabled btw. Now today, after the supposed "fix" patch.. it is STILL bugged. I have tried everything I can to fix the issue on my end (which honestly, I shouldn't have to) to no avail. I really hope they get this fixed for real so I can get back to my favorite mmo. And yes I do have AMD FX-8370 Eight-Core Processor 4.00 GHz

[Resheph]

I have had my first play session without audio popping and stuttering since installing the game last week and I'm sharing what I did in hopes it helps someone else. What I was experiencing was only present after fully logging in but otherwise CONSTANT popping and stuttering which sounded just like the example in the first post of this thread, (but without end) and it would get worse even if I just targeted the door in my inn room.

The suggestion by SE to reduce sample rates and such on sound devices did NOT work, but it got me into googling for ideas on how to optimize my PC's sound. The below is cobbled from a few different guides on audio optimization. I hope it helps some others out and that the fix wasn't temporary on my end.

1. I'm currently playing in DX9 mode. Not sure if that matters but I wasn't about to log out and wait in the queue to test once I got it working tonight. I will test DX11 mode tomorrow. (It also works in DX9 so this is probably unnecessary)

2. Set processor scheduling to "Background services"

• In Control Panel select "System"
• Go to "Advanced system settings" and then the "Advanced" tab
• Click on "Settings.." under Performance to bring up the "Performance Options" window.
• Go to the "Advanced" tab and set processor scheduling as "Background Services"
• Click "Apply" then "OK"

3. High-Performance CUSTOM Power Plan (I was in Power Save settings prior to this)

• Open Control Panel and search for ‘Power Options'
• In the menu on the left, select ‘Create a power plan’.
• Select ‘High Performance’
• Give your plan a name: For example, ‘Audio Workstation’.
• Select ‘Never’ for both ‘Turn off the display’ and ‘Put the computer to sleep’
• Select ‘Create’
• You will now be on the Power Options page where your NEW custom power plan will be selected.
• Select 'Change Plan Settings' for your NEW custom power plan
• Open ‘Advanced power settings
• Expand ‘USB settings’
• Disable ‘USB Selective suspend’

4. While running FFXIV, change priority to high in Task Manager.

• Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to start Task Manager.
• Go to the Details tab, right-click the desired process, and choose Set priority and select any value that you want.
• When the confirmation dialog appears, select Change priority.

This also came with the added bonus of fixing what my FC homies were referring to as "taco bell drive through mic" on my end. Go figure.

FWIW I am running a nearly 12 year old Gateway FX 6860 with Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU, 8gb RAM, and upgraded to SDD + Refurbished: MSI Radeon RX 570. (So I should be able to run DX11).

Good luck folks. SE needs to put out some better guidance on fixing this issue than what they have provided so far. Reducing sample rates does nothing.

[minopoki]

I have had my first play session without audio popping and stuttering since installing the game last week and I'm sharing what I did in hopes it helps someone else. What I was experiencing was only present after fully logging in but otherwise CONSTANT popping and stuttering which sounded just like the example in the first post of this thread, (but without end) and it would get worse even if I just targeted the door in my inn room.

The suggestion by SE to reduce sample rates and such on sound devices did NOT work, but it got me into googling for ideas on how to optimize my PC's sound. The below is cobbled from a few different guides on audio optimization. I hope it helps some others out and that the fix wasn't temporary on my end.

Just tried that on DX11, didn't change a thing for me...
About to try DX9, then I'll update this.

EDIT:
Just tried DX9, and it seems better, but not solved completely. I could fight some FATEs, and not problem at all, but faced some stuttering when entering an inn.
The thing is usually this problem tend to worse the more time I play, so it doesn't look very promising in my case, I don't think I feel safe to continue MSQ and watch voiced cutscenes when there's still risk to the voices to be cut...
But thanks to the suggestion, Resheph.

Maybe if we combine this fix with other fixes previously suggested, we might me able to get it even better, but in the end, this is still an issue for SE to fix.


EDIT AGAIN:
Just as I wrote the above edit and went back to the game, the problem became bad again...