Complete Audio Crash

BF6 Full Audio Crash

Hey everyone,

I’ve been dealing with a **persistent and fully reproducible system-wide audio crash** in *Battlefield 6*.  
After about **1–2 minutes of gameplay**, there’s a short **audio glitch/pop**, and then **all sound stops completely** — not only in the game, but across Windows.  
From that moment, Windows can’t output any sound at all, and I have to **reboot my PC** to get it back.

# 🧠 My setup

* **•Audio interface: Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 (tested 3rd & 4th Gen)**
* •Driver: Focusrite USB ASIO (latest version 4.120.11)
* •Routing: VoiceMeeter + OBS (for streaming)
* •OS: Windows 11 (22H2)
* •Battlefield 6: Latest release (issue also occurred in beta)

# ⚙️ What I’ve already tried

* •Updated Focusrite drivers and firmware
*  Switched between ASIO, WDM, and WASAPI drivers in VoiceMeeter
*  Forced all devices (VoiceMeeter + Focusrite) to 48 kHz sample rate
*  Disabled Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos
*  Disabled Exclusive Mode on all playback devices — no sound at all
*  Re-enabled Exclusive Mode — sound works, but crash returns
*  Forced Battlefield output to “VoiceMeeter Input (VB-Audio VAIO)” instead of default
*  Tried launch options: -dx11 and -nosounddevicechange
*  Increased and decreased buffer sizes (128 → 512 samples)
*  Verified issue persists even with OBS and Discord closed

# 🔍 Symptoms

• Works fine for 1–2 minutes of gameplay

• A single audio pop/crackle, then total silence

• Sound devices disappear from Windows control panel

• VoiceMeeter shows red “Device Lost” on Focusrite ASIO

• Replugging the interface or restarting the audio engine does not help

• Only a full reboot restores functionality

# 🧩Osservation

• Happens only in Battlefield 6 (no issues in other DX12/DX11 titles)

• Same behavior was reported back in Battlefield 2042 with Focusrite hardware

• Possibly linked to EA Anti-Cheat (kernel-level interference with audio drivers)

• Appears right when Frostbite engine switches or reinitializes output devices

• Occurs on both DirectX 11 and 12, with or without audio spatialization

 

It seems the **Frostbite engine** is trying to change audio format or re-initialize the device dynamically, conflicting with **ASIO / exclusive-mode drivers**.  
This also happened in *Battlefield 2042*, but here it’s even worse — it kills the whole Windows audio stack until reboot.

# 💡 What would help

* Option to **disable device re-initialization / format switching** in game
* A toggle to **force stereo 48 kHz shared mode**
* Confirmation if EA Anti-Cheat or the new audio engine is interfering with USB driver stacks

Is anyone else with a USB audio interface (Focusrite, Behringer, MOTU, etc.) experiencing this?  
Any workaround other than rebooting every time would be greatly appreciated.

[CM: Moved from BF6 IT forums to EN. Please post in the right language boards]