Good morning! Thank you for posting in the Final Fantasy XIV Technical Support Forums.

There are a few situations that may be causing the error you are describing. Please try the following troubleshooting methods in order to resolve the issue:

- Check if your audio is playing to the audio device(s) connected and playing to the audio device(s) that you prefer such as speakers or headphones.
- Run the audio troubleshooter, in the search box on the taskbar please search and run the audio troubleshooter.
- Update your Windows Operating System using Windows Update. Make sure to install any optional updates as these aren't installed automatically.
- Update the device drivers (including graphics and sound), if the drivers are up to date please uninstall and reinstall the drivers instead.
- If possible, please try using different earphones, headphones, and/or speakers
- You may want to try plugging the audio output into different ports (both front and back) to see if one of them recognizes the speaker/headphones/earphones and allows you to use it within the game.
- Disable all programs/overlays running in the background (including Discord).
- Change the Equalizer Mode to Standard rather than custom.
- Try running FINAL FANTASY XIV as an administrator, if you use Steam this would mean running Steam as admin.
- Change 'Listening Position' to 100. Navigate to the 'System Configuration' in-game, select 'Sound Settings', towards the top select the previously mentioned setting.
- Disable all other device drivers, leaving the mouse, keyboard, and audio device as the only devices active.
- Please try switching between Fullscreen mode and Borderless Windowed mode, if you are currently using one please try switching to the other.
- Cap FPS, if the FPS in-game is not yet capped please try capping it.
- Reset System Settings, also in the config section of the FINAL FANTASY XIV launcher, there should be an option for 'Reset System Settings', please try resetting the settings.
- Also if possible, please try using a different console and/or device (this will let you know if it is specifically a settings/hardware issue or just the FINAL FANTASY XIV program issue)
- Remove any mods or injectors from the game or system (Reshade, Nvidia Freestyle, etc.). Also, remove any custom configurations made using driver-level programs (Nvidia Control Panel, Radeon Crimson).
- Perform a clean boot by doing the following: Open the Task Manager and select the 'Start Up' Tab. disable everything here and restart the PC.

Should the issue still persist after attempting all the listed troubleshooting, we advise that you reinstall the game (make sure to remove or rename the 'Final Fantasy XIV' folder in the 'My Documents' > 'My Games' folder).

We recommend that the game be installed on the C: drive, as installing it on any drive that is not the default may cause more problems.

Thank you once again for visiting the Final Fantasy XIV Technical Support Forums!