Audio Issues

[Rockbuddy9]

Hello! I just recently purchased the game due to horrendous audio issues, namely being obscene crackling. I have tried the following fixes:

Uninstalling and reinstalling OPENAL and opening the game with it installed, uninstalled and re-installed. I still get really bit-crunchy crackling and super loud audio regardless.
I had player STALKER ANOMALYand that fix copying the .dll improved it but removed most sounds from the listening experience (music, walking, everything but UI)
A user on steam suggested my hardware might be in not stereo mode upon checking it is incapable of not being on stereo.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Before asking, I have an i7 9700k, 2080ti, 32gb ddr4 3200mHz ram and I am using a crucial mx500 2tb ssd. I think my system specs are not the issue. I am willing to provide msinfo32 and other files, although in my experience
I already know that giving those basically means there is nothing to be done, as I have done this many times.

Thank you for the time and consideration.

[CBJ]

I don't know what you mean by "there is nothing to be done", but the very first thread at the top of the forum specifically asks people to provide a DXDiag and vulkaninfo, because it's almost impossible to help with problems like this without it. Not providing it straight away just delays our ability to give any kind of relevant answers.

Since other people are not generally experiencing this issue, it almost certainly does have something to do with your system, but it's more likely to be related to things like driver issues rather than your overall system specification. Again, this is information provided by the DXDiag, and without it we can't really help.

The fact that you had the Stalker mod that is known to break OpenAL is clearly a big clue here. At a guess something is still wrong with your OpenAL setup as a result of that, but guessing is pretty much all we can do without more information.

[Alan Phipps]

"I think my system specs are not the issue." Given that you are having a system device issue that the vast majority of players are not seeing, I would have to disagree that this problem does not lie somewhere in your system and settings. A link to your current DxDiag will quite likely help us a lot to try to track it down - we currently don't even know what OS you use.

Since you have identified one known applicable prior situation (the Stalker mod) that causes just this issue by resetting OpenAL to its own desires and then leaving it that way for all other use, I would suspect that your remedial actions or change of settings have not fully resolved it. If you ran the game with OpenAL uninstalled (the game needs it installed), yet can still hear the game (albeit badly) then some other generic/default sound device and driver has taken over and is not doing it well. A DxDiag could help us there too.


EDIT: Dang it CBJ, I know the interrupting phone call delayed my response submission but ...

[Rockbuddy9]

@CBJ virtually every single time I have given an msinfo32 I to a support team, regardless of for what, I either don't get a reply or a "sorry you're experiencing this issue, other people don't have this issue, therefore it is your system, case closed."
@Alan Phipps; after perusing the DXDIAG myself, it may be an interaction between nvidia audio and realtek, doubtful though, as that is hyper specific for this issue on top of knowing that another fix for this issue causes another issue, who knows anymore.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1R6l5k1 ... sp=sharing

[CBJ]

What you've provided there is not a DXDiag, it's an MSInfo export. Instructions on providing a DXDiag are linked from the first thread at the top of the forum. While the two do include similar information, it makes it much harder for us to spot differences from what's considered "normal" if it's not provided in the format requested.

And it may well be an issue with your system but, your experiences elsewhere notwithstanding, we don't generally just stop trying to help once we come to that conclusion. But we can only help further if you have plenty of information to work with.

[Rockbuddy9]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/112gltu ... sp=sharing

Yeah, I'm dumb

[Alan Phipps]

You can update your Nvidia graphics driver suite which will also update Vulkan and the Nvidia sound driver you use.

You seem to be having many crash issues with Nioh and I wonder if frequently leaving that game unexpectedly is leaving unwanted sound settings behind (assuming the Stalker mod issue is now history).

Perhaps an extreme test, but are you able to disable the Nvidia sound and connect, enable (and update if necessary) the onboard sound chipset and driver (usually Realtek but not always), and see if that has the same issues? Alternatively maybe try with USB headphones in front and then back sockets to see if they also both show the issue when using the default USB Audio driver enabled when plugging in.

[Rockbuddy9]

I've played almost 40 hours of Nioh without any crashes, why windows is reporting it, is beyond me, unless it is counting times I would ALT+F4.

Yeah, I'll try plugging in my headphones elsewhere and updating the NVIDIA drivers.

EDIT; I always keep everything other than my headphones disabled in the windows control panel for sound, do you mean disabling the sound in another way?

[z1ppeh]

Don't like stepping in to these kind of issues but I had exactly the same issue with my sound system and it was so silly.

Turned out to be a duff aux cable that was ever so slightly bent over a few years of use and probably me kicking it. It was causing the crackles and massively distorted sound signals to be recieved by the speakers.

On initial testing I just checked with my Airpods and another speaker system to see if sound was actually being 'sent' out from the drivers properly and as the clear signals was being recieved by everything else, it was the hardware. Replaced the aux cable and fixed.

Can also be lint or other assorted goodness inside the port stopping the jack connecting properly (know those jacks where you have to have them sitting at the 'perfect' angle to get them to send clear sound to both sides?)

[Alan Phipps]

@ z1ppeh: I suspect that sort of cable/connector issue would be evident in all channel-using sound uses and not just in OpenAL games such as X4.

@ Rockbuddy9: The safest and most lasting way of disabling unwanted sound devices and drivers (apart from USB which you just unplug) is in Control Panel, Hardware and Sound, Device Manager, Sound/Audio Devices (there may be 2 sound category entries such as Sound I/O and Sound Controllers - I tend to do both personally) : - right-click on a device in the list for a disable/enable pop-up. This action is totally and easily reversible.

Graphics suite updates tend to reload/update their sound drivers and so if you want to avoid using their sound, you may have to repeat this action after graphics driver updates.

[Rockbuddy9]

Don't like stepping in to these kind of issues but I had exactly the same issue with my sound system and it was so silly.

Turned out to be a duff aux cable that was ever so slightly bent over a few years of use and probably me kicking it. It was causing the crackles and massively distorted sound signals to be recieved by the speakers.

On initial testing I just checked with my Airpods and another speaker system to see if sound was actually being 'sent' out from the drivers properly and as the clear signals was being recieved by everything else, it was the hardware. Replaced the aux cable and fixed.

Can also be lint or other assorted goodness inside the port stopping the jack connecting properly (know those jacks where you have to have them sitting at the 'perfect' angle to get them to send clear sound to both sides?)

Not the case whatsoever, even if they are dirty or bent, the audio consistently is like this with only X4.

[Rockbuddy9]

@ Rockbuddy9: The safest and most lasting way of disabling unwanted sound devices and drivers (apart from USB which you just unplug) is in Control Panel, Hardware and Sound, Device Manager, Sound/Audio Devices (there may be 2 sound category entries such as Sound I/O and Sound Controllers - I tend to do both personally) : - right-click on a device in the list for a disable/enable pop-up. This action is totally and easily reversible.

Graphics suite updates tend to reload/update their sound drivers and so if you want to avoid using their sound, you may have to repeat this action after graphics driver updates.

Updated my drivers, fresh install, same issue as before. Swapped to a different audio solution (my focusrite one, I know it works because I can hear the intro sound) and I can't hear anything now. Going to try disabling some
drivers in DEVMAN.

Disabling audio drivers not in use causes the same old crackly audio with Focusrite.

Using NVIDIA HIGHDEF causes standard audio crackling and bit crushing

This is quite the pickle.

[Alan Phipps]

Clutching at straws here, but is it all likely that your sound system uses sound file conversion or reformatting by default? I ask because I recall in earlier X games, crackling/poor sound issues were worked-around for some players by converting the supplied game sound files from .mp3 to .wav or .wma format to better suit their systems with the then Windows Media Player and DirectSound. Now I am not at all suggesting that action for you with X4 and OpenAL, but just musing as the issue does seem to be fairly unique to, and consistent within, just your system and set up.

[Rockbuddy9]

I guess I just refund the game and call it a day then?

[CBJ]

We can continue to try and help you resolve the problem. My current thinking is that since your symptoms are so similar to the ones described in this thread and it's likely to be the same problem, then maybe you didn't quite follow the right steps to resolve it in the way the person in that thread did.

Another possibility to consider would be seeing whether using your motherboard's on-board sound might help. Most motherboards have some kind of Realtek sound device, and their drivers have proven to be pretty reliable over the years, often working where other devices don't.

[Rockbuddy9]

We can continue to try and help you resolve the problem. My current thinking is that since your symptoms are so similar to the ones described in this thread and it's likely to be the same problem, then maybe you didn't quite follow the right steps to resolve it in the way the person in that thread did.

Another possibility to consider would be seeing whether using your motherboard's on-board sound might help. Most motherboards have some kind of Realtek sound device, and their drivers have proven to be pretty reliable over the years, often working where other devices don't.

Uninstalling and reinstalling OPENAL and opening the game with it installed, uninstalled and re-installed. I still get really bit-crunchy crackling and super loud audio regardless.
I had player STALKER ANOMALYand that fix copying the .dll improved it but removed most sounds from the listening experience (music, walking, everything but UI)
A user on steam suggested my hardware might be in not stereo mode upon checking it is incapable of not being on stereo.

That thread is where I went to before posting to steam and being asked to then post on the forums here.

[CBJ]

Yes, I'm aware that you have seen that solution, but I'm wondering if you made a mistake while following the steps. Can you confirm exactly where you put the renamed DLL file and what you renamed it to?

An alternative solution proposed by another person was to use the openALconfig tool to reset the settings changed by the Stalker mod. That might be another option.

[Rockbuddy9]

Yes, I'm aware that you have seen that solution, but I'm wondering if you made a mistake while following the steps. Can you confirm exactly where you put the renamed DLL file and what you renamed it to?

An alternative solution proposed by another person was to use the openALconfig tool to reset the settings changed by the Stalker mod. That might be another option.

OpenAL config tool can't be found, when I look for it, I find the SDK for it but not the actual tool itself.

I copied the the one from stalker and renamed it to the OPENAL file titled "openal32.dll" (i found it by doing a *.dll search copied the stalker one over, renamed it to overwrite the original and did so twice to make sure there was no typo).

I just think that it's not going to work on my system honestly and the amount of hoops just to even try the game is kind of getting me to a point, it's fine that it's a rare bug. It is making the game unplayable and I think if I cannot find that tool and try that, I'll just refund it as it will not be fixed to no fault of the dev team.

[CBJ]

I copied the the one from stalker and renamed it to the OPENAL file titled "openal32.dll" (i found it by doing a *.dll search copied the stalker one over, renamed it to overwrite the original and did so twice to make sure there was no typo).

But where did you copy it to?

[Rockbuddy9]

I copied the the one from stalker and renamed it to the OPENAL file titled "openal32.dll" (i found it by doing a *.dll search copied the stalker one over, renamed it to overwrite the original and did so twice to make sure there was no typo).

But where did you copy it to?

Do a *.dll search in your X4 folder and look for the "openal.32.dll" right click that, show file location. That is what I did. Which is in the base folder of X4.