Audio popping issue

[Puss_Kat]

okay windows + r, then dxdiag

I'm running direct x 12

Hey XenophineEX, i just wanted to clarify a few mistakes on your part in regards to DirectX.

You do have Direct3D 12 as a maximum where the application and Hardware make use of and support it, however FFXIV is entirely Direct3D 11, there is no promotion of the game to Direct3D 12 by the operating system or display drivers (Square Enix might adopt D3D12 eventually if the work involved is justified by performance increase)
Windows 10 includes the API's for 12 as D3D12.dll/D3D12core.dll, 11.x and 10.x as D3D11.dll(D3D10.dll is just a stub), 9 as D3D9.dll, 8 as D3D8.dll and D3D7 and earlier API's that were established through the DDraw runtime (Ddraw.dll and D3DImm.dll).

However, where you said

no... it will run on whatever dx version you have installed unless directed otherwise

Is incorrect, and perpetuates significant confusion for end users when they come across posts like this anywhere on the internet.

DXDiag will report that the system has DirectX 12 even though a Direct3D 10 gpu is present if you managed to somehow force drivers onto windows 10.

An application must be intentionally targeted to a Direct3D version and feature level when written, you can of course create a D3D12 device that has only D3D 11 features, but SE have not done this, infact they don't even target 11.1, retaining compatibility with windows 7 for the foreseeable future.

Anyway, with that out of the way....

Greetings,

Thanks again to everyone who submitted detailed information regarding the ongoing sound-related issue. Rest assured, the bug reports that were moved to the Duplicate Bug section have been also passed down and have been helpful in our investigation.

While it has taken some time to narrow down the conditions of the issue, we were able to reproduce it on our end.

We discovered an anomaly in the calculation process within FFXIV's game sound driver where the number of digits is not being adjusted correctly. Due to this, some CPUs with certain characteristics are unable to keep up with the calculation processes and have a high possibility of encountering the issue.

As mentioned previously, we noticed this primarily occurs on older CPU models that are around 10 years old, but have also confirmed cases on some of the latest CPU models.

We are continuing to investigate the matter and are working on a resolution to ensure that CPUs with these characteristics will be able to handle these processes correctly. Our current plans are to conduct pattern tests and release an additional fix in the next patch.

We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience as we work towards resolving this issue.

Zhexos, not to undermine you but the idea of Digits adjustment doesn't make any literal sense, can you clarify with the sound team if Audio Channels is the more literal translation?

It makes a great deal of sense if Channels are not being pruned when no longer within distance of being heard, on weaker cpu's you can stand in the dead center of the cloud of darkness chamber when everyone has left and cpu will be increased if you face at the exit or to the left and right of it, but not towards where you entered the room.

[HeavenlyBrush]

Glad they managed to find the culprit and we even have a potential timeline now. Really hoping next patch isn't 6.1 though ><
As a side note after enabling hpc and disabling amd power saving options for my cpu in bios i feel like i started encountering less stuttering. Trial 2 still stutters a lot but for example i spend almost 3 hours in p1s yesterday with no stuttering at all.

[Teiren]

I have not had the audio stuttering bug yet, but I am still in post shadowbringers and fear it will become an issue in the future. I decided to post on this thread due to another issue that is directly related to this one, which is all of the sound does not sound as it use to. Every sound is washed out and lowered, I am assuming this is due to making preparations for those wishing to purchase simulated spatial audio. I will never purchase this 'feature' offered, and would like for all of my sounds to be returned to normal. It is most notable in the music sounding far away in every dungeon I am assuming to make it feel as though the audio is coming from far away from your characters sounds that are being produced. It is horrible if you do not wear headphones, and I will not be made to purchase something to fix these issues either.(that is if they fix it only for those who purchase their product and not for everyone else who is playing the game) I will just end my subscription.

Some of the sound changes are okay but some sound as if you have the treble booster on max setting. I can't fix this as I could on a radio or something through audacity when mixing music. I think the term is tinny, like a tin can. Many sounds just sound way to far away despite them being made by your own character with a camera right behind when just going through a dungeon. I am unsure if I am explaining this well, but it is a issue that is common when listening to remastered music from the 50s, 60s, and 70s. Some just sound way off, and it makes it hard to hear certain instruments. The biggest most notable I could give would be listen to The Twinning music on youtube, than go into the Twinning and you will hear how off it sounds at least to me. I tend to be a bit sensitive to some of the changes in sound. It does however sound normal in say Ishgard when just relaxing and sitting down listening to the music.

Yeah, this is what bothers me the most, actually. This problem may be fixable, but even without this problem, the audio itself is still wrong. However, I don't have that same problem you do with the music, so that's weird, although the music is somehow a bit different for me and the sound effects are a little too "distant" for me too though probably not as much as you. Guess it makes sense that wrong audio would manifest slightly differently for each person.

Glad they managed to find the culprit and we even have a potential timeline now. Really hoping next patch isn't 6.1 though ><
As a side note after enabling hpc and disabling amd power saving options for my cpu in bios i feel like i started encountering less stuttering. Trial 2 still stutters a lot but for example i spend almost 3 hours in p1s yesterday with no stuttering at all.

Oddly, I've had no stuttering at all in the First or Second Circle even with Listening Position at 60. And I'm the one with the 12+ year old CPU. Can't explain it.

[HeavenlyBrush]

Oddly, I've had no stuttering at all in the First or Second Circle even with Listening Position at 60. And I'm the one with the 12+ year old CPU. Can't explain it.

I think at this point there are just some sound effects or areas that are affected way worse than others. For example EW trial 2 both normal and extreme have issues for me and holminster switch is just unbearable during the 1 by 1 trash packs section before final boss. If some specific sound effects or combinations of sound effects ON TOP of older cpus were causing issues i think it would explain why it took so long to pinpoint the culprit.

[Scylia]

I also like to report my issues with audio popping.
This is very noticeable when flying around in Labyrinthos and seems to be tied to Ambient Sounds.
When I disabled Ambient Sounds, the issue went away.

DirectX 11
CPU: AMD Ryzen 3700x
GPU: RTX 3070
Immerse Audio installed but not enabled.

[Au-ro]

Thank for finally responding zhexos! Please tell us it's a hot fix patch.

[rojimboo]

I posted this on Reddit too in of the posts related to this, but thought it might be useful here too. But I'm glad there is a fix coming! So this might not be necessary even.

TLDR - Please try messing about with sample rates and WASAPI mode on Windows to see if it helps.

On Linux I fixed this with

winetricks -q sound=alsa

At first I suspected something to do with Pulseaudio in Wine and Linuxy things, but reading so many Windows users also having the issue the fault could lie elsewhere. By bypassing Pulseaudio and software resampling, the crackling stopped. I wonder if setting a global sample rate at 16-bit 44.1 khz on Windows would also fix it...if that's the sample rate that FFXIV uses? And WASAPI exclusive mode, because then there would be no resampling utilising CPU and messing about with things.

Anyways, I'm super happy the crackling and popping went away. It was driving me nuts.

[Zholi]

It's being targeted for the next hotfix, for those worried. This is based on my own reading in Japanese of the original post, not a machine translation.

[TojiSuzuhara]

was there a post on the japanese forum too then?

[Nommers]

It's being targeted for the next hotfix, for those worried. This is based on my own reading in Japanese of the original post, not a machine translation.

For those of us sweating bullets at the prospect of waiting until 6.1, could you explain what gives you this impression? The Japanese version of this portion of the text is:

ご迷惑をおかけして申し訳ございませんが、次回のパッチに向けてパターン検証を行った上で
追加の修正リリースを行いたいと考えておりますので、修正までもう少しお待ちいただければ幸いです。

Which DeepL translates as

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, but we would like to release an additional fix after we have verified the pattern for the next patch.
We would like to release an additional fix, so please wait a little longer for the fix.

In fact the Japanese version includes the phrase "次回のパッチ" which I believe is "jikai no pacchi," literally "next patch" (DISCLAIMER: I can't read kanji and even with how long Square is taking to fix this I don't think there's enough time for me to learn). Which is also exactly what the English version says. The second line is a little less clear to me - is it in there? It's not that I don't believe you, I'm just curious what about the Japanese text gives you the impression this is coming in a hotfix rather than a patch. Other than the absurdity of waiting two months, of course.

EDIT: Link to the original JP community rep post from a few days ago for those who missed it: https://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/...=1#post5797104