Crackling sound making it unplayable
Title screen, Varric doing his monologue and character creation all play sound with no problem but the second I got to the first cutscene with my rook and then into Mintrathous the sound is constantl...
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See my new post below on this subject. I have discovered that the issue, for me at least, is the processor I am using. After updating my chipset drivers, my Realtek chipset drivers (from the motherboard website), and my BIOS, I have eliminated most, but not all, of the problem.
HUGE Edit: So, I decided to download the game on my husband's computer. It works absolutely fine on his. Major differences are that his computer has an older video card than mine (I have an AMD 7900XT and he has an AMD 6700XT) and the processor. He has an AMD Ryzen 7 3700 8 Cores, 16 Threads @3.6GHz, Zen2 and I have an Intel i-5 8600K 6 Cores, 6 Threads @3.6GHz, Coffee Lake. Sound is the same for both machines. His just works right after install with no messing around with the settings....mine just doesn't after spending hours messing with the settings. What are the processor types of the others here having a problem? The DX Diags that have been placed below - of the 3, 2 of them are Intel i5s and one's an old 4 core Ryzen. I am going to try to update my BIOS and see if I have any luck. If not - I'm off to buy a new MOBO and CPU (I've wanted one for a while anyway).
So, I've been having this issue since launch. Everything is fine until the very end of the first cut scene where the audio starts to crack and pop a little, then I get out to the street and it's absolutely terrible. Unplayable. I've tried all of the fixes and they don't work. What I did realize, though, is that the sound is popping while I'm looking into the city or down at the street. If I turn my character around and look up, the sound evens out and I hear no issues. If I walk while looking up, the sound is a lot better. As soon as I look at down it starts to spit, pop, and stutter. I have tried running the game at the lowest possible video settings and that hasn't helped. The only other thing I have noticed is that my processor is pegged. It's a little down on the list of acceptable CPUs, but it is on the list, and I have more than enough ram and GPU power (my GPU is only running at 50%). I have tried making the game take CPU priority. So, I'm now going back to wondering if there is a graphics issue causing my sound issue. Still searching for the solution. I would really like to play this game.
HUGE Edit: So, I decided to download the game on my husband's computer. It works absolutely fine on his. Major differences are that his computer has an older video card than mine (I have an AMD 7900XT and he has an AMD 6700XT) and the processor. He has an AMD Ryzen 7 3700 8 Cores, 16 Threads @3.6GHz, Zen2 and I have an Intel i-5 8600K 6 Cores, 6 Threads @3.6GHz, Coffee Lake. Sound is the same for both machines. His just works right after install with no messing around with the settings....mine just doesn't after spending hours messing with the settings. What are the processor types of the others here having a problem?
Adding on to my thoughts from above. I think it's a bad shader or something along those lines. The stuttering performance doesn't happen when I look up at nothing in particular. If I look at the ground, the stuttering comes back. I have been able to make the game playable by setting my vsynch to 1/4. Sometimes I can get away with 1/3, but most of the time I need to be at 1/4. It doesn't seem to be related to how good I set my graphics though. I am working on changing my settings based on the CPU usage (like I turned single strand hair physics and such). Will continue to test.
Testing continues: Taking off strand hair physics seems to have helped a lot. Dropped my CPU usage down and I'm not having as many issues. Could be where I am, though. Will continue to monitor.
Ok, it's not necessarily when I'm looking up....it appears to be when I'm not looking at the back of my character. If I swing my camera around to look at the front of my character when the sound starts to stutter, the stutter stops. Not sure what that means. Will continue to monitor.
