Severe Audio Popping and Stuttering Since 6.0 Early Access

[miragedive]

Date & Time: From 3rd Dec 2021 10am GMT to present (23rd Dec 2021, 07:51GMT)
Frequency: Constant from 3rd Dec 2021. As of 1st Dec 2021 (before maintenance), the issue was completely nonexistent.
World name: Phoenix
Character name: Delilah Morrow
Retainer name: N/A
NPC name: N/A
Monster name: N/A
Class/Level: DRG90, SCH90, PLD90, GSM87, SMN90, DNC87, MIN81
Party or solo: Solo, and in all parties
In-game time: All
Area and coordinates: All zones and areas, including city states, open world zones, dungeons, raids, and instanced areas.
Housing: N/A
Steps:
1. I first checked my drivers and updated them as necessary. I had installed the Immerse Gamepack for FFXIV on release, so applying it as a fix wasn't really an option. I tried switching it off, but when I noticed it didn't make any change, I switched it back on and continued with it.
2. I then adjusted my ingame and PC sound settings to reduce CPU load, as my task manager brought up that the Audio Device Graph Isolation process was experiencing surges in CPU usage (up to 90%) during these lapses of stuttering. Also worth noting is that reducing graphics settings to the bare minimum (despite my usual graphics settings yielding 15k on the benchmark, and 10k on maximum) does mitigate this slightly, or rather makes it infrequent enough for me to be able to get through a raid.
3. I also tried using different headphones, not using headphones at all, using an HDMI connection to my TV, etc, to confirm that this was unrelated to my hardware.
4. I ran other games on my PC to check if this is a hardware issue, and the issue only pops up on Final Fantasy XIV as far as I'm aware, and has only started with Endwalker Early Access. It is, however, worth noting that this issue pops up for the sound of other games if FFXIV is running in the background, even if it's only the title screen or login queue.
5. I also adjusted the power management and Nvidia Control Panel settings to favour performance, but this also did nothing to help.
6. Following the release of 6.01, I went through the processes outlined in Patch Notes, but this did nothing to solve the issue.
7. Running the game on dx9 did help with the audio stuttering issue, but at the expense of graphics quality (inevitable and expected), and FPS when using the same graphics settings as on dx11 (e.g. High (Desktop) on dx11 yields FPS 90-100, on dx11 yields 30-40). I do not plan on doing this consistently because it just looks and feels painful to play.
8. I adjusted my PC performance settings and noticed that higher fan usage does slightly reduce the issue. If the PC gets too hot or CPU is throttled, even if only FFXIV is running, the issue gets significantly worse.
9. I tried both with Mouse & Keyboard, and with gamepad (I normally use gamepad). The issue persists in either case.
10. I tried checking it at different points of the day and different places to check if there's any correlation. At times with minimal server load (queues of 0-50 at login), the issue is definitely there. However, the issue gets much worse at times with high server load (queues of 2500+ at login). The issue is also equally as bad across all zones and instances, including solo instances, but becomes unbearable in places with a high player count (Old Sharlayan aetheryte, Limsa Lominsa aetheryte, etc.)


Connection Specs
- Type of internet connection/provider: Wi-Fi and Ethernet/Orange
- Modem maker/model number: TPLink, model unknown

■ PC Specs

To obtain the system information, open the FFXIV launcher and select Config → System Information → Display.

-=-=-=-=- System Information -=-=-=-=-
SYSTEM_OS Windows 10 Home 64-bit (6.2, Build 9200) (19041.vb_release.191206-1406)
SYSTEM_CPU Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-9750H CPU @ 2.60GHz (12 CPUs), ~2.6GHz
SYSTEM_CORE_NUM SYSTEM_CORE_LOGIC 12 SYSTEM_CORE_PHYSICS 6
SYSTEM_BIOS F.08
SYSTEM_LANGUAGE English (Regional Setting: English)
SYSTEM_MEMORY 32645.152MB
SYSTEM_VIRTUAL_MEMORY 134217727.875MB
SYSTEM_PAGE_FILE 37509.152MB
SYSTEM_STORAGE C:\ SYSTEM_HARDDISK_DRIVE SYSTEM_TOTALDISC_SPACE 952.937GB SYSTEM_FREEDISC_SPACE 286.117GB
SYSTEM_DIRECTX_VERSION DirectX 12
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 with Max-Q Design
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DEVICE \\.\DISPLAY1
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_CHIP NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 with Max-Q Design
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_MAKER NVIDIA
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_VRAM 8010.000 MB
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_SHARED_VRAM 16322.576 MB
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DAC Integrated RAMDAC
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DISPLAY_MODE 1920 x 1080 (32 bit) (144Hz)
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DRIVER C:\WINDOWS\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\nvhmsi.inf_amd64_30764b528e78c243\nvldumdx.dll,C:\WINDOWS\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\nvhmsi.inf_amd64_30764b528e78c243\nvldumdx.dll,C:\WINDOWS\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\nvhmsi.inf_amd64_30764b528e78c243\nvldumdx.dll,C:\WINDOWS\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\nvhmsi.inf_amd64_30764b528e78c243\nvldumdx.dll
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DRIVER_VERSION 30.00.0014.7284
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DRIVER_DATE 12/6/2021 02:00:00
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DRIVER_LANGUAGE English
3.0
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_PIXEL_SHADER 3.0
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_VERTEX_TEXTURE SYSTEM_SUPPORT
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 with Max-Q Design
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DEVICE \\.\DISPLAY2
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_CHIP NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 with Max-Q Design
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_MAKER NVIDIA
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_VRAM 8010.000 MB
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_SHARED_VRAM 16322.576 MB
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DAC Integrated RAMDAC
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DISPLAY_MODE 1920 x 1080 (32 bit) (60Hz)
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DRIVER C:\WINDOWS\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\nvhmsi.inf_amd64_30764b528e78c243\nvldumdx.dll,C:\WINDOWS\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\nvhmsi.inf_amd64_30764b528e78c243\nvldumdx.dll,C:\WINDOWS\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\nvhmsi.inf_amd64_30764b528e78c243\nvldumdx.dll,C:\WINDOWS\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\nvhmsi.inf_amd64_30764b528e78c243\nvldumdx.dll
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DRIVER_VERSION 30.00.0014.7284
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DRIVER_DATE 12/6/2021 02:00:00
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DRIVER_LANGUAGE English
3.0
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_PIXEL_SHADER 3.0
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_VERTEX_TEXTURE SYSTEM_SUPPORT
SYSTEM_SOUND Headphones (AirPods Pro Stereo)
SYSTEM_SOUND_DEVICE_ID {B16F6FFE-612F-4A5A-AD9A-04EEDB52D571}
SYSTEM_SOUND_DEVICE_NAME BthA2dp.sys
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_VERSION 10.0.19041.1
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_LANGUAGE English
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_DATE 12/6/2019 02:00:00
SYSTEM_SOUND Headset (AirPods Pro Hands-Free AG Audio)
SYSTEM_SOUND_DEVICE_ID {803ACC99-4AD0-47F7-A4B3-6A9552E1ECD0}
SYSTEM_SOUND_DEVICE_NAME BthHfAud.sys
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_VERSION 10.0.19041.1266
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_LANGUAGE English
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_DATE 9/27/2021 02:00:00
SYSTEM_SOUND Speaker (Realtek(R) Audio)
SYSTEM_SOUND_DEVICE_ID {56EE8E35-01B0-4A41-9AD7-DB66C8615CAA}
SYSTEM_SOUND_DEVICE_NAME RTKVHD64.sys
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_VERSION 6.0.8757.1
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_LANGUAGE English
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_DATE 7/17/2019 02:00:00
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 {CC4F5390-81FA-11EB-8001444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME HP Gaming Keyboard
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {CC4FA1B0-81FA-11EB-8002444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME HP Gaming Keyboard
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {CC503DF0-81FA-11EB-8005444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME HIDI2C Device
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {CC506500-81FA-11EB-8007444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME HIDI2C Device
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {CC50B320-81FA-11EB-8009444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME HIDI2C Device
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {CC510140-81FA-11EB-800C444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME HIDI2C Device
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {CC517670-81FA-11EB-800F444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME HIDI2C Device
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {CC519D80-81FA-11EB-8011444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME HIDI2C Device
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {CC51EBA0-81FA-11EB-8012444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME HP Gaming Keyboard
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 2048 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {CC5239C0-81FA-11EB-8013444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME HP Gaming Keyboard
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {CC5260D0-81FA-11EB-8014444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME HP Gaming Keyboard
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 1 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0


-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-


Laptop Model Name: HP Omen X 2S
Laptop Model Number: 15-dg0004ne

Gamepad Manufacturer: Sony
Gamepad Model Name: DualSense
Gamepad Part Number: N/A


------------------------------------------------------

Additional Comments: I really appreciate the Square Enix team's dedication to finding a solution for this issue. I have considered doing a full reinstall of the game for the possibility of it being a faulty install, but I've avoided doing this for now. I really hope this issue gets fixed soon! Thank you for all your hard work!

[PonifiedBeast]

Having the same exact issue as well, tried everything from steps above on my end but to no avail.

[miragedive]

Additional info based on Zhexos's reply:

N.B. There seems to be an assumption that this is only for CPU's older than 10 years old. As outlined above, my CPU is less than 3 years old, so I highly doubt this is the case.

What are your Character and Object Quantity current set to?
Normal
What other applications do you have running in the background while playing FFXIV?
By default I have Discord, MS Edge, and Omen Gaming Hub running, but I've also tried closing these apps and the issue persists.
Is your audio device set as the Default Device? (Yes/No)
Yes
Would the issue persist when playing the game in DirectX 9?
As explained above, it does reduce the sound issue but at the expense of severely bad graphics and frame drops.
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
Does the issue persist when the Listening Position is set closer to the Character? (Yes/No)
Yes
Please copy/paste your system information.
Already present above!