89 replies to this topic

[japes]

Hey everyone,

I have been having this issue for a few patches, and it's currently what is stopping me from uploading MWO content on a regular basis. It's certainly worse on some maps in more cases, but seems fairly random. I noticed it on the Victor 9S Bam NGNG video that Sean released a few weeks ago (although I felt he tried to cover up the obvious crackling with louder music than he typically uses - he also ignored any followup) and a couple of people mentioned having similar problems.

It is mostly noticeable at the beginning of matches when 'Mechs are all walking off together and there's a lot of stomping going on, but it's also random throughout the match when certain weapons fire - but randomly, it's not always when PPC's fire etc.

After posting about this issue on reddit I'm certainly not the only one with the issue.

Running an ASUS Xonar Essence STX, on which I've tried stable release, beta, and third party drivers to no avail. The STX is being run through a Mackie VLZ3 Mixer into Audiotechnica AD-700X headphones, but the issue occurs with and without the mixer present. MWO is the only title that I'm having sound issues with.

Other relevant hardware:

3770K, GTX680, Z77 Sabretooth, 16GB Corsair Vengeance, Corsair HX1050. MWO is running off an OCZ Vertex II, and OS on a OCZ Vertex IV.

I have tried multiple release versions of the ASUS Xonar STX driver, beta drivers, and third party drivers, and all suffer from the same issue. The client really needs sound hardware options.

Example video:



Hopefully either someone has a solution for me, or this can be patched immediately, but so far tweets to the relevant developers have also been ignored.

Edited by Egomane, 15 September 2013 - 02:30 AM.
Title edited on user request

[Goose]

As a wild-assed guess, got to the Advanced tab of your Speakers Properties and run the test for all the settings in the drop-down …

[Rasc4l]

I have the same issue. Not a big deal but slightly annoying. Haven't noticed really elsewhere than in the beginning when there's a lot of overlapping sounds.

[japes]

Rasc4l, on 15 September 2013 - 01:58 AM, said:

I have the same issue. Not a big deal but slightly annoying. Haven't noticed really elsewhere than in the beginning when there's a lot of overlapping sounds.

Please share your sound hardware setup.

[Rasc4l]

japes, on 15 September 2013 - 02:00 AM, said:

Please share your sound hardware setup.

My MB is Asustek maximus iv gene-z/gen3. According to this, the soundchip is some cheap version of Creative's X-Fi 2:

http://www.asus.com/...S_IV_GENEZGEN3/

[Smitti]

I get the same issue, on two different pcs, either using onboard (Realtek), sound cards (xonar dx on one and xonar dg on the other) and USB headphones (corsair 1500, experience popping on both machines with the same set of headphones)

When the popping is really prominent both machines also suffer a frame rate stutter with each pop/crackle. Also get sound effects 'disappear' on occasion.

Pc#1:
Intel i7 950
Gigabyte X58a-ud3r motherboard
16gb Kingston DDR3
Ati Radeon 5870
Xonar DG audio card
1000watt PSU
Logitech X530 5.1 speakers

Pc#2
Intel i5 3470
ASRock Z77 pro4-m motherboard
16 gb corsair DDR3 @ 1600mhz
Nvidia GTX 660/770
Xonar DX audio card
Corsair hx650 PSU
Logitech z506 5.1 speakers

As I said, get the same popping on either machine regardless if I use the on board audio, sound card or USB headset. The issue only appeared for me a few patches ago.

Edited by Smittiferous, 15 September 2013 - 04:00 AM.

[Gremlich Johns]

Smittiferous, on 15 September 2013 - 03:56 AM, said:

As I said, get the same popping on either machine regardless if I use the on board audio, sound card or USB headset. The issue only appeared for me a few patches ago.

get a micro plug headset to use (you know, the normal kind that you plug into a micro rca port) and ditch the usb headset

[Loc Nar]

OP, run the MWO client fixing tool if you haven't already done so. It sounds like the work of corrupted files in your MWO client somewhere.

[1Sascha]

Rasc4l, on 15 September 2013 - 01:58 AM, said:

I have the same issue. Not a big deal but slightly annoying. Haven't noticed really elsewhere than in the beginning when there's a lot of overlapping sounds.

Yeah, getting those crackles myself. Not really a show-stopper, but annoying.

Asus Z87-Plus, onboard sound. Realtek ALC892, 8-channel HD-audio


S.

[japes]

Loc Nar, on 15 September 2013 - 10:16 AM, said:

OP, run the MWO client fixing tool if you haven't already done so. It sounds like the work of corrupted files in your MWO client somewhere.

Have done so previously to no avail. Ran the repairer, still occurred, full reinstall, still occuring.

[Dazc]

Gremlich Johns, on 15 September 2013 - 08:47 AM, said:

get a micro plug headset to use (you know, the normal kind that you plug into a micro rca port) and ditch the usb headset

I agree with this, if you are using a USB headset the audio is on a lower priority bus than the PCI Express bus and will pop as it tries to catch up.
Occasionally have noticed increased popping as the bus becomes saturated due to graphics or other calculations.
Ditch USB headset and try some standard speakers.
Hope this helps.

[Grimmnyr]

These audio artifacts are caused by server lag for the most part.

[japes]

Dazc, on 15 September 2013 - 08:42 PM, said:

I agree with this, if you are using a USB headset the audio is on a lower priority bus than the PCI Express bus and will pop as it tries to catch up.
Occasionally have noticed increased popping as the bus becomes saturated due to graphics or other calculations.
Ditch USB headset and try some standard speakers.
Hope this helps.

Doesn't help the plethora of people having issues on decent quality sound setups through 3.5mm and 1/4" setups.

[1Sascha]

Quote

get a micro plug headset to use (you know, the normal kind that you plug into a micro rca port) and ditch the usb headset

Maybe so, but I'm already using a regular "walkman-plug" (3.5mm jack) Plantronics-headset and I'm still getting the crackles.

I have it plugged into the audio-sockets on the MB, not into my case's front audio connectors, BTW.


S.

[Sanken]

I got the same problem as well. Got it a few patches back I belive. It usally helps if I restart the client, but it comes back after 2-5 matches.

System specs:
MSI Z87-G45 MLB - I use the onboard Realtek card.
i7 4770
8 GB Ram
MSI Nvidia 770
Win 8(Pro) 64bit

Tried the default win driver. And 3 different audio drivers from MSI. No difference.

I use digital coax connected to a surround reciver. But that only gets me stereo on MWO.
I also tried using headset with minijack. No difference. Get same bug on both outputs. So they are not the issue.

But somehow I tend to get the bug more often if I have a browser up and running
(more so if the browser windows have flash in it). Happens on IE, FF and Chrome

Edited by Sanken, 16 September 2013 - 03:42 PM.

[japes]

Sanken, on 16 September 2013 - 03:04 PM, said:

But somehow I tend to get the bug more often if I have a browser up and running
(more so if the browser windows have flash in it). Happens on IE, FF and Chrome

Interesting, might test this tonight. I've generally always got streams open for chat in the background.

[Smitti]

Gremlich Johns, on 15 September 2013 - 08:47 AM, said:

get a micro plug headset to use (you know, the normal kind that you plug into a micro rca port) and ditch the usb headset

Dazc, on 15 September 2013 - 08:42 PM, said:

I agree with this, if you are using a USB headset the audio is on a lower priority bus than the PCI Express bus and will pop as it tries to catch up.
Occasionally have noticed increased popping as the bus becomes saturated due to graphics or other calculations.
Ditch USB headset and try some standard speakers.
Hope this helps.

Same issue using sennheiser hd201 headphones with a 3.5mm mini jack.

As stated in my post, I get the popping audio using any of the plethora of output configuration options I have on multiple computers. If it's a hardware issue, it's a flaming broad one. And it only appeared a few patches ago, a hardware problem would have appeared immediately.

[Gremlich Johns]

Okay, if it does not work - to use a regular connection headset, my other suggestion is to change your rig to what I have - a creative labs extreme gamer sound card. I have no issues with cruddy sound listening to anything, whether music, movies or games.

Have you decreased your PCI latency for your sound? Disable sound enhancements?

Of course, there are loads of players who do not have the popping issue, whether using usb or mini-plug.

(I used a Vertex II SSD for a month, then it died. I don't use SSDs because of that reason. haven't even installed the replacement Vertex II - currently acting as a paper weight.)

I found this, it might help: http://www.native-in...udio+Processing

Edited by Gremlich Johns, 17 September 2013 - 03:43 PM.

[japes]

Gremlich Johns, on 17 September 2013 - 03:40 PM, said:

Okay, if it does not work - to use a regular connection headset, my other suggestion is to change your rig to what I have - a creative labs extreme gamer sound card. I have no issues with cruddy sound listening to anything, whether music, movies or games.

Have you decreased your PCI latency for your sound? Disable sound enhancements?

Of course, there are loads of players who do not have the popping issue, whether using usb or mini-plug.

(I used a Vertex II SSD for a month, then it died. I don't use SSDs because of that reason. haven't even installed the replacement Vertex II - currently acting as a paper weight.)

I found this, it might help: http://www.native-in...udio+Processing

No offence, but your grasp on the functionality of hardware is questionable, highlighted by how you concluded your post with the SSD's. I'm not going to downgrade my audio setup (especially not to anything Creative) on the gamble that it may fix an issue myself and many others are having with only a single game. I'll repeat: We are not having issues with sound quality in anything other than MechWarrior Online. Nothing else.

Anyone have any news on what it's like with this 'release' patch?

Edited by japes, 17 September 2013 - 07:53 PM.

[1Sascha]

Some more anecdotal stuff:

Talked to some of my TS-buddies about this yesterday, and all five of them were getting these crackles. Most have onboard-sound, but one guy uses an additional, high quality soundcard *and* onboard sound. He runs games on the card and TS on the MB's solution.

Yesterday's patch did not cure any of this for me BTW.


S.