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Bug Reports & Support / Audio Popping / Crackling OpenAL issue
« on: October 02, 2021, 09:55:14 AM »
I've been having an audio issue since I started playing again for the 0.95 release. Some sounds are distorted with a popping / crackling noise. It only happens to some sounds, not everything. I hear it sometimes when travelling in hyperspace. The most noticeable one though are engines. Every engine sound, no matter the hull size / tech, seems to have the problem. It's very noticeable at the start of battles because the engine sounds are pretty much all you here.
I found a few threads that I assume were the same issue. This led me to the OpenAL clue.
Crackling/Static sounds in Music?
Crackling + popping audio (win 7 laptop)
Static/Crackling sounds in the music
I tried each older version of the game until 0.6a-RC4. This version doesn't have the issue. Using these older OpenAL dlls with the latest game version solves the problem. I should note that I was just using old exes I still had. I'm not certain the exact release that updated the dlls. Here's a video demonstrating the problem:
For anyone with the same issue that finds this post, you can download an older version such as 0.6.1a-RC2 to get the dlls that fixed the problem for me. Use 7zip to open the exe and copy OpenAL32.dll and OpenAL64.dll from \starsector-core\native\windows and overwrite the existing dlls in the same path in your current install folder.
OpenAL32.dll (MD5: c82c388f3e106ca01a6a20d04e802b97)
OpenAL64.dll (MD5: b1fddfe2bfdb7d54ebf35ca8e3d11ef7)
Now I'm 99% certain that I didn't have this issue in the past on any of the older releases that now have the problem. I've used a dedicated sound card for probably the last decade because of poor audio quality and issues with integrated in the past. However, last year I upgraded my cpu and decided to try out integrated again because it was supposed to be high quality. I'm using my MSI Z490 UNIFY motherboard's integrated Realtek ALC1220 audio with the 6.0.8991.1 driver. I've had zero issues with any game, media player, music player, etc. until now. I've played a lot of different games with this setup, including other games using OpenAL. I can only assume that the issue has something to do with Realtek. Surely it can't be that simple though because I'm sure the vast majority of people are using integrated audio, many being Realtek. I'd expect way more posts about the problem if it was widespread.
So my questions now are why is this happening and what is the actual cause? What exactly has changed in the newer OpenAL dlls? Are there any downsides to me using these older dlls? I tested the new vs old dlls on 0.95a-RC15 with both versions running so I could quickly switch between windows and compare... and they sound identical (aside for the popping issue with the new dlls). At least playing around in the simulation with various weapons and ships I couldn't tell any difference.
I found a few threads that I assume were the same issue. This led me to the OpenAL clue.
Crackling/Static sounds in Music?
Crackling + popping audio (win 7 laptop)
Static/Crackling sounds in the music
I tried each older version of the game until 0.6a-RC4. This version doesn't have the issue. Using these older OpenAL dlls with the latest game version solves the problem. I should note that I was just using old exes I still had. I'm not certain the exact release that updated the dlls. Here's a video demonstrating the problem:
For anyone with the same issue that finds this post, you can download an older version such as 0.6.1a-RC2 to get the dlls that fixed the problem for me. Use 7zip to open the exe and copy OpenAL32.dll and OpenAL64.dll from \starsector-core\native\windows and overwrite the existing dlls in the same path in your current install folder.
OpenAL32.dll (MD5: c82c388f3e106ca01a6a20d04e802b97)
OpenAL64.dll (MD5: b1fddfe2bfdb7d54ebf35ca8e3d11ef7)
Now I'm 99% certain that I didn't have this issue in the past on any of the older releases that now have the problem. I've used a dedicated sound card for probably the last decade because of poor audio quality and issues with integrated in the past. However, last year I upgraded my cpu and decided to try out integrated again because it was supposed to be high quality. I'm using my MSI Z490 UNIFY motherboard's integrated Realtek ALC1220 audio with the 6.0.8991.1 driver. I've had zero issues with any game, media player, music player, etc. until now. I've played a lot of different games with this setup, including other games using OpenAL. I can only assume that the issue has something to do with Realtek. Surely it can't be that simple though because I'm sure the vast majority of people are using integrated audio, many being Realtek. I'd expect way more posts about the problem if it was widespread.
So my questions now are why is this happening and what is the actual cause? What exactly has changed in the newer OpenAL dlls? Are there any downsides to me using these older dlls? I tested the new vs old dlls on 0.95a-RC15 with both versions running so I could quickly switch between windows and compare... and they sound identical (aside for the popping issue with the new dlls). At least playing around in the simulation with various weapons and ships I couldn't tell any difference.
