No Sound Sims 4 Solution 2021
I FINALLY FIGURED THIS OUT, so I had to share here!
TLDR; For months, I haven't had any sound on Sims 4 on my MSI GE62VR 7RF Apache Pro. The culprit was the Nahimic 2 software, which is incompatible with Origin.
I've lost sound in the past (usually after an update), but after updating the game and/or my drivers, the sound would return. Sometime in October 2020, it just stopped permanently. I've spent countless hours reading through all of the blogs and threads and tried everything (except completely wiping my computer) from clearing Orgin's cache, deleting sims config files, never used the '-nosound' hack, learning python to read through the exception files, uninstalling/reinstalling Orgin and the Sims, repair after repair, launching through Origin vs desktop, updating drivers, firewall, settings, permissions, running troubleshooting tests, etc. After testing SimCity, Chrome, and Windows Media Player, I was convinced that it was specific to Sims 4 and that somehow my computer was too outdated to handle it- I was just about to get a new computer.
Then something weird happened. There was a windows update notification to the effect of 'your version of Windows will no longer be supported, update now', so I scheduled it, then failed to keep my computer plugged in so it didn't install. The next day when I got the notification stating that it didn't install because the computer wasn't on or didn't have sufficient battery power, I immediately thought - uh oh - because my computer's battery is completely dead and only runs whiled plugged in, and I was concerned that the update wouldn't be successful. I did the update anyway without backing up my computer 🥳, and sure enough, the next time I turn it on, the MSI loading screen says 'Undoing changes done to your computer'. When it's finished loading, I open the Sims 4 and - THE SOUND WAS BACK!
I was so excited, I didn't even feel like trying to figure out what was different. The next day however, when I booted up my computer there was a Windows message saying 'Getting windows ready', then when I loaded the Sims, the sound was gone again!
But this proved that my computer is perfectly capable of playing the audio- HOPE WAS NOT LOST!
I spent the last two days troubleshooting what could possibly have been different between the two times my computer loaded. I found out that Sims plays sound if I connect my computer to my TV via an HDMI, so it was specific to the Realtek Audio Driver, which checked out perfectly and was also capable of playing audio. By order of deductive reasoning, it had to be Origin somehow. So I did more searching and happened across this thread:
https://answers.ea.com/t5/EA-General-Questions/No-Sound-in-Origin-Games/td-p/6835396
It was Nahimic 2! I uninstalled the program, restarted my computer, launched sims - and THE SOUND IS BACK! I didn't even have to uninstall/reinstall any drivers.
I sincerely hope this works for some of you!
