I downloaded the patch, removed -no sound from command line arguments and went in game online, opened my most recent save game for a few minutes and saved/exited. After removing the localthumbnail package and cache files, I did a repair. It ran the normal length of time, about 10 minutes. I pretty much do this same routine after every patch and when loading a new pack.
I decided to repeat the above process, just for good measure. Wish I hadn't done that. o.O The second repair was A LOT slower! The first 11 packs repaired a bit slow, but once it got to CL it bogged down taking 30 minutes just for that pack! I exited Origin at that point and restarted my computer. I had an idea that maybe my RAM needed to be refreshed.
Afterward, I opened Origin again to do another repair. That repair was the normal length of time. I think in my case most of my RAM was gone from playing the game all day/night beforehand. I think the reason it was so fast the first time and not the second is perhaps because Origin had used up most of whatever RAM was still available the first time.
Anyway, I opened Origin again, switching to offline mode and my game loaded normally, with sound. So glad to have the sound back, I missed it! It could just be my imagination or the fact I only played for a short time, but it seemed to look and play much better than ever before. Hopefully that's all still true when I play again in a little while.
