Greetings and 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.
- 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.
- Disable DirectX 11. In the config section of the FINAL FANTASY XIV launcher there should be a section for DirectX 11 Support, please try disabling this option to switch to DirectX 9 instead.
- 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.

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!