Audio echo and stutter:
Since the release of Endwalker most sounds will echo and stutter, both in and out of combat. It also happens during loading screens. If it happens while a character is speaking in a cutscene, it will stutter and echo for a few seconds then continue on, before the voice clip is cut off suddenly, as if the clip was told to stop x seconds after it started, and didn't account for the first few words to take almost 3 times to deliver due to the echo and stutter.

ISP:
Spectrum

Type of Internet Connection:
I believe CATV, it's a wired connection but not DSL or fiber

Internet Connection Speed:
260 Mbps

Date & Time:
Started around December 7th, 2021. Has persisted since then.

Frequency:
Always (Can take a few minutes to start sometimes, but has happened within 10 minutes of logging in every time I've logged in since Endwalkers released.)

World:
Balmung

Character Name@Home World:
Nonoliri Cocoliri@Balmung

Retainer Name:
None

NPC Name:
None/multiple. Happens during combat with anything and during cutscenes, but also when not interacting with anyone.

Monster Name:
None/multiple. Happens during combat with anything and during cutscenes, but also when not interacting with anyone.

Class/Level:
White Mage 80-84, Warrior 80-82, Red Mage 80-81, Paladin 80

Party or Solo:
Soloe, party of 3, party of 4, party of 8.

Race:
Lalafell M, Roegadyn M

In-Game Time:
Has happened at essentially all times.

Area and Coordinates:
Occurs everywhere. In dungeons, in loading screens, in cutscenes. In the Crystal Tower raids, in Heavensward dungeons, in residential housing areas, at the Gold Saucer, in major cities, etc.

Housing:
Plot 5, Ward 16, Mists

Steps:
The issue usually happens in combat, in loading screens, in cutscenes, in dungeons, and in cities. It can happen as I use the door to try to enter my FC estate, when I use spells or abilities or even just swap targets in combat, when I'm walking around the major cities, or just watching a cutscene. I have tried multiple fixes, including but not limited to: lowering the bitrate and Hz on my audio device, updating my drivers, changing my listening position, changing the sound equalizer, running the audio through a virtual cable and sound mixer, playing in DX9, lowering my graphical settings, doing a repair of the game files from the launcher, and even muting all sounds other than system sounds (even when the only sound not muted was system sound, the sound of me swapping targets or activating an ability still on cooldown played echo-y, stuttering sound effects.)

I was also told to post this information along with my system specs from a community manager in the technical support forums.

What are your Character and Object Quantity current set to?
Normally Maximum, but the issue persists even if set to Minimum.

What other applications do you have running in the background while playing FFXIV?
Google Chrome and Discord. (Also have attempted with Voicemeeter.)

Is your audio device set as the Default Device? (Yes/No)
Yes (Also have tried as No, making a virtual audio mixer my default device.)

Would the issue persist when playing the game in DirectX 9?
Yes, the issue persists when playing in DirectX 9.

If you use a gamepad, does the issue persist when you unplug the gamepad? (Yes/No)
Yes.

Does the issue persist when you have the in-game Equalizer Mode set to Standard? (Yes/No)
Yes (It was set to Standard originally, and I tried swapping it to all other settings and back with no change.)

Does the issue persist when the Listening Position is set closer to the Character? (Yes/No)
Yes (I normally play with it split evenly between the camera and character, but have swapped it to 100 towards the character in an attempt to fix it, with seemingly no change.)


-=-=-=-=-=-=- System Information -=-=-=-=-=-=-

SYSTEM_OS Windows 7 Professional 64-bit (6.1, Build 7601) Service Pack 1 (7601.win7sp1_ldr_escrow.190220-1800)
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: 12/02/14 09:55:40 Ver: 21.01
SYSTEM_LANGUAGE English (Regional Setting: English)
SYSTEM_MEMORY 16366.117MB
SYSTEM_VIRTUAL_MEMORY 8388607.875MB
SYSTEM_PAGE_FILE 32730.375MB
SYSTEM_STORAGE C:\ SYSTEM_HARDDISK_DRIVE SYSTEM_TOTALDISC_SPACE 238.376GB SYSTEM_FREEDISC_SPACE 19.110GB
SYSTEM_STORAGE E:\ SYSTEM_HARDDISK_DRIVE SYSTEM_TOTALDISC_SPACE 931.511GB SYSTEM_FREEDISC_SPACE 406.664GB
SYSTEM_STORAGE F:\ SYSTEM_HARDDISK_DRIVE SYSTEM_TOTALDISC_SPACE 0.098GB SYSTEM_FREEDISC_SPACE 0.055GB
SYSTEM_STORAGE G:\ SYSTEM_HARDDISK_DRIVE SYSTEM_TOTALDISC_SPACE 0.098GB SYSTEM_FREEDISC_SPACE 0.055GB
SYSTEM_STORAGE H:\ SYSTEM_HARDDISK_DRIVE SYSTEM_TOTALDISC_SPACE 931.414GB SYSTEM_FREEDISC_SPACE 228.413GB
SYSTEM_DIRECTX_VERSION DirectX 11
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DEVICE \\.\DISPLAY1
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_CHIP NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_MAKER NVIDIA
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_VRAM 1960.625 MB
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_SHARED_VRAM 7927.059 MB
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DAC Integrated RAMDAC
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DISPLAY_MODE 1920 x 1080 (32 bit) (60Hz)
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DRIVER nvd3dumx.dll,nvwgf2umx.dll,nvwgf2umx.dll,nvd3dum,nvwgf2um,nvwgf2um
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DRIVER_VERSION 30.00.0014.7212
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DRIVER_DATE 9/15/2021 9:41:26 PM
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DRIVER_LANGUAGE English
3.0
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_PIXEL_SHADER 3.0
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_VERTEX_TEXTURE SYSTEM_SUPPORT
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DEVICE \\.\DISPLAY2
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_CHIP NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_MAKER NVIDIA
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_VRAM 1960.625 MB
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_SHARED_VRAM 7927.059 MB
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DAC Integrated RAMDAC
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DISPLAY_MODE 1680 x 1050 (32 bit) (60Hz)
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DRIVER nvd3dumx.dll,nvwgf2umx.dll,nvwgf2umx.dll,nvd3dum,nvwgf2um,nvwgf2um
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DRIVER_VERSION 30.00.0014.7212
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DRIVER_DATE 9/15/2021 9:41:26 PM
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DRIVER_LANGUAGE English
3.0
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_PIXEL_SHADER 3.0
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_VERTEX_TEXTURE SYSTEM_SUPPORT
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DEVICE \\.\DISPLAY3
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_CHIP NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_MAKER NVIDIA
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_VRAM 1960.625 MB
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_SHARED_VRAM 7927.059 MB
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DAC Integrated RAMDAC
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DISPLAY_MODE 1360 x 768 (32 bit) (60Hz)
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DRIVER nvd3dumx.dll,nvwgf2umx.dll,nvwgf2umx.dll,nvd3dum,nvwgf2um,nvwgf2um
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DRIVER_VERSION 30.00.0014.7212
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DRIVER_DATE 9/15/2021 9:41:26 PM
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DRIVER_LANGUAGE English
3.0
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_PIXEL_SHADER 3.0
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_VERTEX_TEXTURE SYSTEM_SUPPORT
SYSTEM_SOUND VoiceMeeter Input (VB-Audio VoiceMeeter VAIO)
SYSTEM_SOUND_DEVICE_ID {A308079C-D190-46E2-A5B3-B3E1FAB3FAD8}
SYSTEM_SOUND_DEVICE_NAME vbaudio_vmvaio64_win7.sys
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_VERSION 6.01.7600.16385
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_LANGUAGE English
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_DATE 12/22/2021 5:38:50 PM
SYSTEM_SOUND Speakers (High Definition Audio Device)
SYSTEM_SOUND_DEVICE_ID {11C414E5-4366-4082-AC57-ED0994A0BA62}
SYSTEM_SOUND_DEVICE_NAME HdAudio.sys
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_VERSION 6.01.7601.17514
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_LANGUAGE English
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_DATE 11/20/2010 10:23:47 PM
SYSTEM_SOUND Digital Audio (S/PDIF) (High Definition Audio Device)
SYSTEM_SOUND_DEVICE_ID {93558712-3FE3-4CBF-8BD0-2CC8E51DFC21}
SYSTEM_SOUND_DEVICE_NAME HdAudio.sys
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_VERSION 6.01.7601.17514
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_LANGUAGE English
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_DATE 11/20/2010 10:23:47 PM
SYSTEM_SOUND Digital Audio (HDMI) (High Definition Audio Device)
SYSTEM_SOUND_DEVICE_ID {A9843AA4-4F63-4CB0-ADCD-08B2332F5ADE}
SYSTEM_SOUND_DEVICE_NAME HdAudio.sys
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_VERSION 6.01.7601.17514
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_LANGUAGE English
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_DATE 11/20/2010 10:23:47 PM
SYSTEM_SOUND ELEFW195 (NVIDIA High Definition Audio)
SYSTEM_SOUND_DEVICE_ID {CBD8AF05-9807-4404-AE98-9F111B91275F}
SYSTEM_SOUND_DEVICE_NAME nvhda64v.sys
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_VERSION 1.03.0038.0060
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_LANGUAGE English
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_DATE 6/8/2021 10:42:54 PM
SYSTEM_SOUND CABLE Input (VB-Audio Virtual Cable)
SYSTEM_SOUND_DEVICE_ID {F59E5D83-3D62-4A03-9B4E-0B6C3CEFE539}
SYSTEM_SOUND_DEVICE_NAME vbaudio_cable64_win7.sys
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_VERSION 6.01.7600.16385
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_LANGUAGE English
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_DATE 9/2/2014 5:01:16 PM
SYSTEM_INPUT {6F1D2B60-D5A0-11CF-BFC7444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME Mouse
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 3 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 8 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 {82950790-4F7D-11E6-8001444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME Gaming Keyboard G105
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 7 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {3B3DAA80-E8F8-11E7-8001444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME Blue Snowball
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 1 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {9E6CEFF0-4045-11E7-8001444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME Blackweb Gaming Mouse
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 897 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {9F256A80-4045-11E7-8002444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME Blackweb Gaming Mouse
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0