Audio popping issue

[Teiren]

To add my voice to this, I'm going to copy/paste what I wrote in another thread because this one's bigger, and it's always better to consolidate threads.


The only audio issues I had since 6.0 and before 6.0.1 were as follows:
- Something a little weird with the bass, I think, but not terrible.
- Absolutely no combo sound (not low volume, actually no sound).
- Other people's action volume low, although still audible.
- Combat voices of both PCs and NPCs much louder than they should be. Even the unvoiced sound effect volumes of some NPCs' auto-attack (such as Midgardsormr) or getting hit (such as The Griffin) are strangely high.
- Money sound when buying/selling items considerably loud.

I had no audio stuttering problem of any kind at any time before 6.0.1. Now, after 6.0.1, I'm having the same stuttering problem as countless others during combat with normal settings. I also always get it for a few seconds upon logging into an inn room, oddly enough. Changing bit rate and/or hz does nothing at all, nor muting & unmuting Master Volume or muting Ambient Sounds. I never get an FPS drop during it.

The only thing that seems to affect it is setting Listening Position to 100 (not even 95, but 100), and even then it's not a 100% fix; stuttering can still crop up sometimes but much less often then. However, such a setting is naturally uncomfortable and not a solution. Moving camera around so you don't see as many things also seems to affect it. With 6.0.1, I do hear the weaponskill combo sound again, but it's a little quieter than it should be, which implies the intrinsic root cause of the issue is not dealt with.

It seems what someone said in a Reddit thread is the key: It has to do with how many objects are between you and your target or the source. ALL signs point to the awful Spatial Audio as the cause, or more specifically, the engine being changed to support it. It all feels at least a tiny bit weird and just off, honestly, even when it is working.

Please, for the love of god, get rid of Spatial Audio so you can go back to 5.5 sound engine. The game is ruined at its BEST time. To say this is not good is the biggest understatement one could make about FFXIV. If nothing else, please undo whatever was done in 6.0.1 because that only made it worse, or in my case, actually added the stuttering when I had none anywhere before. I'm begging you.


And my second post from the other thread:

To follow up, I'm happy to say that two times now, I've not gotten any audio stuttering whatsoever in the final dungeon of Endwalker. However, I did get it in the second-to-last dungeon of Endwalker, The Weeping City of Mhach, The Final Steps of Faith, and Alphascape 2.0. I really can't explain it. I originally assumed I got no stuttering in the final dungeon because the environment there may have slightly less simultaenous objects than other dungeons, but Final Steps of Faith and Alphascape 2.0 are just as relatively sparse. I really don't get it.

Please. Just go back to 5.5's sound engine. Please.

[Maeklos]

To follow up, I'm happy to say that two times now, I've not gotten any audio stuttering whatsoever in the final dungeon of Endwalker. However, I did get it in the second-to-last dungeon of Endwalker, The Weeping City of Mhach, The Final Steps of Faith, and Alphascape 2.0. I really can't explain it. I originally assumed I got no stuttering in the final dungeon because the environment there may have slightly less simultaenous objects than other dungeons, but Final Steps of Faith and Alphascape 2.0 are just as relatively sparse. I really don't get it.

Please. Just go back to 5.5's sound engine. Please.

Yeah. I swapped to another character that I've been futzing around on with a friend (playing through the ARR story with them since they've come over as a Trial, but they're on hiatus now because of the queues). I've been standing in DPS queues as a level 53 Samurai, so getting some pretty basic dungeons/trials. Leviathan had no issues. Ifrit had no issues. Then I hop on my chocobo to ride to a FATE and as soon as I got on my chocobo, the sound broke and is now completely borked.

It seems as if everything is fine until -something happens- and then that just completely screws up the sound. Occasionally, it will fix itself (temporarily), but often it won't. So.... <shrugs>