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SimmerChase's avatar
SimmerChase
5 years ago

Re: Sims 4 audio crackling and popping (PC)

Hello all! I figured out the problem myself... FINALLY!  So I was having this problem for a long time and fixed it by accident.  So if you have Windows 10, here's the problem & fix..  

We MUST enable Windows Sonic for Headphones so that it tricks your computer into using those codex to process the sound.  (Windows Sonic Spatial Sound is free to use) I turned my audio all the way up to Studio Quality 192000 hz and it sounds crystal clear and perfect, but it helped all the different frequency options so go with what works on your PC.  

What you'd need to do is open up your audio properties, by right clicking on the audio icon on your Windows Task bar, it looks like a little speaker icon.  From there, you'd choose "Spatial Sound with Windows Sonic" and hover over that, to be able to then click the option "Windows Sonic for Headphones".  It'll still play the sound from whatever speakers you have setup on your PC.

What causes this:  It seems for some reason those of us with higher end spec computers and audio (my Dell XPS 27 for instance has 4 speakers, a subwoofer and 2 radiators) have problems with the way audio is processed in the background, so by shifting that to Windows Sonic it corrected the issue.  I haven't had any lag or other issues arise from this.

7 Replies

  • Ublekk's avatar
    Ublekk
    5 years ago

    I just got a new laptop for Christmas and it's having the same issues, only it's with my laptop speakers and I don't have any other speakers to use. I can only use Windows Sonic when my headphones are on and it doesn't fix my laptop's speaker at all. Do you have any idea how to help? It's to the point that every time I launch the game all my sounds are replaced with popping and it's very frustrating.

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    5 years ago

    @Ublekk  Try disabling GCU Bridge, which should show up in the Task Manager, before you play.  I don't think this should have any negative impact on how your computer runs, but if it does, just reboot and the process will restart automatically.

    If that doesn't help, let Windows look for updates to your audio and sound device drivers.  Hit Windows key-X, select the Device Manager, open the Audio section, click on each entry in turn, and click the green and black Update button at the top of the screen.  Repeat for the Sound section.  Restart your computer before playing.

  • Ublekk's avatar
    Ublekk
    5 years ago

    I opened task manager and it said I didn't have any programs running. I looked to update the audio and sound, but it said everything was up to date for everything I tried. At that time, an update was available for my computer and I did that, after that, the game worked for the rest of the day, but I just tried to play it again and It's doing the cracking sound AGAIN. I even looked for any optional updates and used one, but it did nothing for the game. Is there anything else I could try?

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    5 years ago

    @Ublekk  Is it possible that some application (like GCU Bridge) is only opening when you launch the game?  I've never used it myself, so I don't know enough about how it works.  At any rate, you can load the game to the Main Menu, put it in windowed or windowed fullscreen mode, and alt-tab back to the Task Manager to have a look.

  • Gentalmanbotch's avatar
    Gentalmanbotch
    5 years ago
    @SimmerChase You're actually a genius, I had just purchased the razer kraken tournament and was having the same issue while I was playing battlefront 2. the audio was working fine when I was watching videos but as soon as I launched a game it would cause the sound to lag. After searching the web I was unable to find any solution to my issue, thus leaving me to contact razer support. they were of no help because the solution they had provided me with was to change the default audio device to the headset-Game, which solved the issue but the sound was immensely quieter than with THC as the default device. Unsatisfied with tech support I decided to look across the web hopefully finding a solution that was appropriate, thus leading me to this thread. So I thank you for resolving my issue and I hope that anyone else who is having this issue will be able to find this solution.

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