Sound slows down and gets distorted and stutters. No issue from HW up till 6.0 maintenance, and continuing after 6.0.1.
I've tried many things to get to the root of it, and none of them fixed it, but a handful have some effect. I'll show what has affected it (but did not fix), but I don't remember the long list of things that didn't have any effect. There are no settings that remove the issue entirely that I've found, many trials and 4-8+ player content still cause the issue even with the best settings.
Video, showing how it's affected with different settings and angles:
https://youtu.be/PRMlailxpm4
Summary: Limiting FPS and object quantity has no noticeable effect. Muting and unmuting ambient sounds has a significant effect, but does not fix the issue completely. Same with listening position, but ambient sounds affects it somewhat more. Also, the angle of the camera immediately affects it, but you need a steeper angle with listening position at camera.
With both ambient sounds muted, and listening position at camera, the effect is even worse, even though the visuals are fine.
Note: My FPS are lower than normal because of limiting to 30fps for recording, but the sound issue is the same even with 60fps. I forgot to show it, but disabling visual effects doesn't change anything, the sound lags in the same ways even without seeing the spell effects. Ambient sounds volume at 0 has the same effect as muting.
Although rare, sometimes at a low angle, the issue will happen without spells (audible in the music), but STOP happening when a spell is cast. Weird because usually spells only make it worse. I'm not sure which combination of settings had this, but I could probably find it again if wanted.
Video, showing it happening even with the best settings (ambient unmuted, listening position at character):
https://youtu.be/t0zLfvj9VYE (Spoiler: Last normal raid of Stormblood, as sage.)
Summary: The issue comes and goes at various points. I don't know why.
Note: The sound is the same even at higher FPS when not recording. If ambient is muted, it will stutter the entire time without stopping. (In some empty locations with no actions used, it may stop stuttering so you can hear the music, but stutters again if anyone nearby uses actions.)
Date & Time: 11:36 PM 12/23/2021
Frequency: Always
World name: Ultros
Character name: Aero Renarria
Class: Any, some actions may be worse than others
Area and coordinates: Anywhere, but worse in combat, especially with more players
What are your Character and Object Quantity current set to?
Normally maximum, minimum has no effect.
What other applications do you have running in the background while playing FFXIV?
Issue persists even with nothing else running, does not seem to be affected.
Is your audio device set as the Default Device?
Yes, and all others are disabled and unplugged.
Would the issue persist when playing the game in DirectX 9?
Yes, but less.
If you use a gamepad, does the issue persist when you unplug the gamepad?
Yes, gamepad is unplugged.
Does the issue persist when you have the in-game Equalizer Mode set to Standard?
Yes.
Does the issue persist when the Listening Position is set closer to the Character?
Yes, but it affects the issue.
In summary, the things that affect (but do not fix) the issue that I know of:
1. Unmuting ambient sounds
2. Current camera angle (weird, see first video)
3. Listening position
4. Switching to DX9
5. Turning "Maximum CPU state" down exaggerates the effect much, much more than it affects FPS or anything else. (this: https://i.ibb.co/X5cQJV2/cpu.png)
Things that did not affect it for me, but did for some people:
1. Changing equalizer
2. Limiting FPS in settings
-=-=-=-=-=-=- System Information -=-=-=-=-=-=-
SYSTEM_OS Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit (6.1, Build 7601) Service Pack 1 (7601.win7sp1_ldr_escrow.200102-1707)
SYSTEM_CPU AMD FX(tm)-8350 Eight-Core Processor (8 CPUs), ~4.0GHz
SYSTEM_CORE_NUM SYSTEM_CORE_LOGIC 8 SYSTEM_CORE_PHYSICS 4
SYSTEM_BIOS BIOS Date: 09/26/13 13:47:03 Ver: 04.06.05
SYSTEM_LANGUAGE English (Regional Setting: English)
SYSTEM_MEMORY 16333.473MB
SYSTEM_VIRTUAL_MEMORY 8388607.875MB
SYSTEM_PAGE_FILE 32665.090MB
SYSTEM_STORAGE C:\ SYSTEM_HARDDISK_DRIVE SYSTEM_TOTALDISC_SPACE 223.471GB SYSTEM_FREEDISC_SPACE 46.754GB
SYSTEM_STORAGE X:\ SYSTEM_HARDDISK_DRIVE SYSTEM_TOTALDISC_SPACE 1863.015GB SYSTEM_FREEDISC_SPACE 972.942GB
SYSTEM_STORAGE Z:\ SYSTEM_HARDDISK_DRIVE SYSTEM_TOTALDISC_SPACE 1863.015GB SYSTEM_FREEDISC_SPACE 979.683GB
SYSTEM_DIRECTX_VERSION DirectX 11
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS AMD Radeon R9 200 Series
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DEVICE \\.\DISPLAY1
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_CHIP AMD Radeon Graphics Processor (0x6810)
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_MAKER Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_VRAM 2024.988 MB
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_SHARED_VRAM 3840.000 MB
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DAC Internal DAC(400MHz)
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DISPLAY_MODE 1920 x 1080 (32 bit) (59Hz)
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DRIVER aticfx64.dll,aticfx64.dll,aticfx64.dll,amdxc64.dll,aticfx32,aticfx32,aticfx32,amdxc32,atiumd64.dll,atidxx64.dll,atidxx64.dll,atiumdag,atidxx32,atidxx32,atiumdva,atiumd6a.cap,atitmm64.dll
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DRIVER_VERSION 27.20.12029.1000
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DRIVER_DATE 9/9/2020 10:31:06 PM
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DRIVER_LANGUAGE English
3.0
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_PIXEL_SHADER 3.0
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_VERTEX_TEXTURE SYSTEM_SUPPORT
SYSTEM_SOUND Speakers (Realtek High Definition Audio)
SYSTEM_SOUND_DEVICE_ID {857D8C7C-AB68-4073-993D-3A928DEDAB53}
SYSTEM_SOUND_DEVICE_NAME RTKVHD64.sys
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_VERSION 6.00.0001.7534
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_LANGUAGE English
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_DATE 6/15/2015 4:58:08 AM
SYSTEM_INPUT {6F1D2B60-D5A0-11CF-BFC7444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME Mouse
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 3 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 5 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {6F1D2B61-D5A0-11CF-BFC7444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME Keyboard
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 128 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {1C3FDA20-FC3E-11EA-8004444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME Pentablet HID
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 5 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 5 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {1D65BC80-FC3E-11EA-8007444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME Pentablet HID
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {675B37A0-C5C2-11EA-8001444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME USB Keyboard
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 3 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {675DA8A0-C5C2-11EA-8002444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME USB Keyboard
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 19 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {675DA8A0-C5C2-11EA-8003444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME USB Keyboard
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {675DA8A0-C5C2-11EA-8006444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME Gaming Mouse
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 573 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {675DA8A0-C5C2-11EA-8007444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME Gaming Mouse
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {675DA8A0-C5C2-11EA-8008444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME Gaming Mouse
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {675DA8A0-C5C2-11EA-8009444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME 21.5 inch PenDisplay
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 5 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 4 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {675DA8A0-C5C2-11EA-800A444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME 21.5 inch PenDisplay
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {675DA8A0-C5C2-11EA-800B444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME 21.5 inch PenDisplay
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-