Audio popping issue

[Nommers]

Greetings,

First, I'd like to thank everyone who has submitted a bug report on this matter as we continue our investigation on the audio issue.

Just to clarify, my previous post regarding CPUs that are older than 10 years is one of the possible causes that we have confirmed from the investigation and it is still possible to occur with other CPUs. I apologize if my message wasn't clear on that part.

As we are still investigating the matter, if you are still experiencing the issue, we ask you to please try the steps we provided in my previous post if you haven't done so and then submit a bug report along with your system information as this information will help us investigate further.

Thank you for your cooperation.

With all due respect, no "investigation" is required. We know what the issue is - the new spatial audio system. Nobody asked for it. Please let us roll back to 5.55/benchmark audio. It's been over three weeks, this is ridiculous.

EDIT: Nice job deleting a post from someone who was trying to fix it, that's a good look.

[Maeklos]

Documents -> My Games -> FINAL FANTASY XIV - A Realm Reborn -> FFXIV.cfg
There's also a FFXIV_BOOT.cfg config file here, too.
Opening the base FFXIV.cfg has some options I'm going to play around with:

<Move Operation>
Is3DAudio 0
BattleEffect 1
BGEffect 1
ColorThemeType 1
SystemMouseOperationSoftOn 0
SystemMouseOperationTrajectory 1
SystemMouseOperationCursorScaling 0
HardwareCursorSize 0
UiAssetType 0
FellowshipShowNewNotice 1

I'm going to set the Is3DAudio to 1 and see if that makes any difference.

[GorthRedsteel]

Documents -> My Games -> FINAL FANTASY XIV - A Realm Reborn -> FFXIV.cfg
There's also a FFXIV_BOOT.cfg config file here, too.
Opening the base FFXIV.cfg has some options I'm going to play around with:



I'm going to set the Is3DAudio to 1 and see if that makes any difference.

Keep us updated mate! Could you drop your discord/any means of contacting you in case jannies get butthurt?

[polyphanes]

I'm going to set the Is3DAudio to 1 and see if that makes any difference.

I believe that's just the system configuration setting to turn on the Immerse Gamepack; I just flipped it, and the only thing I've noticed is that the setting (which was on when I logged out) is set to the opposite (now off). Otherwise, it's all the same.

It looks like many of those flags and options in that config file just store the settings saved in the in-game system configuration dialog.

[Maeklos]

No worries, changing that doesn't do anything. Both of the *.cfg files are only things that you can change in-game. They don't have the actual game system configurations in them at all. There's nothing in the Steam folder for Final Fantasy that looks like a system config, either. So, it's going to take someone who actually knows their way around file systems to dig into it and find that audio channel setting.

[Tokavo]

The problem still persists((((

[Sarhina]

Just bit the bullet and downloaded that Trial Embody thing they were advertising. It SEEMS to be working, but bar the lack of audio stuttering I'm not really seeing an improvement of sound quality, so you would be getting it to fix a problem they created.

[Nommers]

And that's 700 posts in the thread. My experience with this game up until 6.0 has been nothing short of immaculate. It always seemed like YoshiP and the team were on top of issues and always made announcements about problems, which were quickly sorted out. I'd never seen a team so willing to acknowledge problems in their own game, and it was a huge breath of fresh air in today's hellscape of a videogame industry.

However, the apparently lackadaisical response to this audio stutter BS is quickly burning through my (frankly enormous) mountain of goodwill. It's been a beautiful journey and I'm very glad I was able to finish EW MSQ before 6.01 made all of this even worse, but if this isn't fixed in 6.05 I'll be unsubbing, and it will be quite some time before I look back.

I'll keep banging this drum - PLEASE give us the option to roll back to 5.55 or benchmark audio (y'know, the benchmark that told me I'd be able to play the game without these issues). EDIT: And for the love of god, SAY SOMETHING ON LODESTONE.

If anyone from Embody is looking at this thread, no, I will not download Immerse on the off-chance it fixes a problem Immerse's inclusion in the game caused (apparently it doesn't even fix it for most people who try), and no, you cannot have my ear pics.

EDIT: Aside from the absurd post count, I'm pretty sure this thread just got 800 views in the last hour. This is a PROBLEM, Squeenix, FIX IT.

[Grimno]

Just bit the bullet and downloaded that Trial Embody thing they were advertising. It SEEMS to be working, but bar the lack of audio stuttering I'm not really seeing an improvement of sound quality, so you would be getting it to fix a problem they created.

I downloaded the trial Embody as well a few days ago.
It doesn't get rid of the crackling 100% and the audio in combat and sound effects sound like crap now...
But I can do Trials/Dungeons/Raids without popping, though going inside my house makes it sound like the game is dying and there's slowdown/choppy music when loading between zones but stops as soon as I portal in.

It's not a solution.
Honestly if people can do for FFXIV what they're doing for FF7 Remake on PC, I'm all here for it.
6.01 ended up making it worst for many, and made many who were fine now experience issues.
I'm legit worried for 6.05 now.
Like I'm actually scared 6.05 is going to make it even worst somehow.

I feel like despite having options, I have zero options.

I could buy a new computer sure, but we've seen 2019 models having issues, so what if I buy a new PC and the issue exists there too? I'd be screwed then for FFXIV.
I have a PS5, but they're having their own issues so I can't just spend money on a keyboard/mouse/headphone setup, hook up the PS5 to my television, and play from there. Because it too could have issues!
Every corner I turn, there is no guarantee!

[Elliah-Seraheart]

(...)

Is there a way to reduce bit depth or straight up compress the audio before it reaches the output, reduce the amount of calls made, or increase buffer size/ introduce a buffer? The only information on something that would be able to do that I found online, would be an ASIO driver. Do you think this would be a temporary solution for people suffering? Unfortunately I could not find a working Realtek ASIO driver to test this out. All the ASIO drivers are tied to specific audio recording or editing software - and do not function as a standalone "funnel" for audio on a system, similar to a VAC.