Sims 4 audio crackling and popping (PC)

by Nekotrapboy
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Original Post

Re: Sims 4 audio crackling and popping (PC)

@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.

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I don't work for EA. I'm just trying to help fellow players with their games.
Message 11 of 28 (2,154 Views)

Re: Sims 4 audio crackling and popping (PC)

★★ Novice

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.

Message 12 of 28 (2,109 Views)

Re: Sims 4 audio crackling and popping (PC)

[ Edited ]
★★ Novice

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.

Message 13 of 28 (2,035 Views)

Re: Sims 4 audio crackling and popping (PC)

@Ublekk  Please run a dxdiag and attach it to a post.

 

https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/

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I don't work for EA. I'm just trying to help fellow players with their games.
Message 14 of 28 (2,015 Views)

Re: Sims 4 audio crackling and popping (PC)

★★ Novice

here

Message 15 of 28 (2,019 Views)

Re: Sims 4 audio crackling and popping (PC)

@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.

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I don't work for EA. I'm just trying to help fellow players with their games.
Message 16 of 28 (2,021 Views)

Re: Sims 4 audio crackling and popping (PC)

★★★ Newbie
@NodrogJRB You are the ONLY person who has expressed the same problem I have. I think it's surround sound issues in general, as I have a Kraken and use a program for its surround sound. I have no idea how to fix it while keeping surround sound, but small price to pay to stop that insane noise on my youtube while playing sims.
Message 17 of 28 (2,013 Views)

Re: Sims 4 audio crackling and popping (PC)

★★ Novice

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?

Message 18 of 28 (2,001 Views)

Re: Sims 4 audio crackling and popping (PC)

@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.

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I don't work for EA. I'm just trying to help fellow players with their games.
Message 19 of 28 (2,000 Views)

Re: Sims 4 audio crackling and popping (PC)

★★ Novice

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.

Message 20 of 28 (1,867 Views)