November 2020
@NodrogJRB It's entirely possible that the Razer software isn't getting along with Sims 4 overall right now. You could look for software updates, or report the issue on the Razer forums, but other than that, I'm not sure there's much you can do on your end, at least not now.
December 2020
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.
January 2021 - last edited January 2021
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.
January 2021
@Ublekk Please run a dxdiag and attach it to a post.
https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/
January 2021
@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.
January 2021
January 2021
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?
January 2021
@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.
February 2021
Using your screenshot you seem to use a razor kraken headset like me I noticed once I changed my audio back to the basic audio without any razor upgrades like the surround sound or THX special the audio is fine, so any attachments to your headsets sound causes this popping a crackling effect.