Crackling Sound In BIOSHOCK

I just bought Bioshock today and the game is great. Except that there is an extremely annoying crackling sound throughout the game. Whenever you are in gameplay, there is this sort of popping sound that makes the game really unplayable.

This problem has happened to me before in Command and Conquer Tiberium wars.

Could someone please help me?

These are my system specs:

System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 8/24/2007, 16:26:02
Machine name: JERI
Operating System: Windows Vista™ Home Premium (6.0, Build 6000) (6000.vista_rtm.061101-2205)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: TOSHIBA
System Model: Satellite A130
BIOS: Ver 1.00PARTTBL0
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU T7200 @ 2.00GHz (2 CPUs), ~2.0GHz
Memory: 2046MB RAM
Page File: 684MB used, 3627MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 10
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 6.00.6000.16386 32bit Unicode

------------
DxDiag Notes
------------
Display Tab 1: No problems found.
Sound Tab 1: No problems found.
Input Tab: No problems found.

--------------------
DirectX Debug Levels
--------------------
Direct3D: 0/4 (retail)
DirectDraw: 0/4 (retail)
DirectInput: 0/5 (retail)
DirectMusic: 0/5 (retail)
DirectPlay: 0/9 (retail)
DirectSound: 0/5 (retail)
DirectShow: 0/6 (retail)

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce Go 7600
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce Go 7600
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0398&SUBSYS_FF001179&REV_A1
Display Memory: 520 MB
Dedicated Memory: 248 MB
Shared Memory: 271 MB
Current Mode: 1280 x 800 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor: Generic PnP Monitor
Driver Name: nvd3dum.dll
Driver Version: 7.15.0010.9754 (English)
DDI Version: 9Ex
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 12/19/2006 16:38:00, 3055616 bytes
WHQL Logo'd: Yes
WHQL Date Stamp:
Device Identifier: {D7B71E3E-40D8-11CF-D354-0ADF01C2CA35}
Vendor ID: 0x10DE
Device ID: 0x0398
SubSys ID: 0xFF001179
Revision ID: 0x00A1
Revision ID: 0x00A1
Video Accel: ModeMPEG2_A ModeMPEG2_C ModeVC1_B ModeVC1_A ModeWMV9_B ModeWMV9_A
DDraw Status: Enabled
D3D Status: Enabled
AGP Status: Enabled

-------------
Sound Devices
-------------
Description: Speakers (Realtek High Definition Audio)
Default Sound Playback: Yes
Default Voice Playback: Yes
Hardware ID: HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_10EC&DEV_0862&SUBSYS_11790104&REV_1000
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 100
Type: WDM
Driver Name: RTKVHDA.sys
Driver Version: 6.00.0001.5322 (English)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
WHQL Logo'd: Yes
Date and Size: 11/8/2006 22:09:24, 1647976 bytes
Other Files:
Driver Provider: Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
HW Accel Level: Basic
Cap Flags: 0xF1F
Min/Max Sample Rate: 100, 200000
Static/Strm HW Mix Bufs: 1, 0
Static/Strm HW 3D Bufs: 0, 0
HW Memory: 0
Voice Management: No
EAX(tm) 2.0 Listen/Src: No, No
I3DL2(tm) Listen/Src: No, No
Sensaura(tm) ZoomFX(tm): No

---------------------
Sound Capture Devices
---------------------
Description: Microphone (Realtek High Definition Audio)
Default Sound Capture: Yes
Default Voice Capture: Yes
Driver Name: RTKVHDA.sys
Driver Version: 6.00.0001.5322 (English)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Date and Size: 11/8/2006 22:09:24, 1647976 bytes
Cap Flags: 0x1
Format Flags: 0xFFFFF

-------------------
DirectInput Devices
-------------------
Device Name: Mouse
Attached: 1
Controller ID: n/a
Vendor/Product ID: n/a
FF Driver: n/a

Device Name: Keyboard
Attached: 1
Controller ID: n/a
Vendor/Product ID: n/a
FF Driver: n/a

Device Name: USB Keyboard
Attached: 1
Controller ID: 0x0
Vendor/Product ID: 0x0603, 0x00F1
FF Driver: n/a

Device Name: USB Keyboard
Attached: 1
Controller ID: 0x0
Vendor/Product ID: 0x0603, 0x00F1
FF Driver: n/a

Poll w/ Interrupt: No

 

I have all stock drivers, do you guys think that I should update my Video card drivers and/or my sound card drivers?

If so...how do I know which are the right ones? And is it just as easy as going to a site and hitting "download"?

Thanks

 

Samething happens to me. I get it in BF2 also. i thiought it was the speakers, but it was in my headphones also

 

Hm..it might be your audio drivers (I don't know if you can update those...I haven't found any new drivers from Realtek).

Have you done anything with Realtek HD Audio Manager? I think you have that right?

Try changing your Sound Effects I was messing around with that before and I got huge crackling from music I was listening 2 :/ but I just left it as "Room" and I have no crackling now.

 

I think i fixed it. I had the Bass up to high.

 

I have the same problem in BF2 under Win XP.

 

audio drivers or turn down sound hardware acceleration a notch

 

Okay. If i turned of headphone virtualization, perfect sound.

 

I have a whole bunch of options when i go to my sound options under speakers.

The options are under the "enhancements" tab:

disable all sound effects
immediate mode

and then under th sound effects:

Environment
Voice cancellation
Pitch shift
equalizer
virtual sound
loudness equalization

right now, for default, only the loudness equalization is on


And then of course there are many different audio settings, including living room, padded room, large room, parking lot, etc...


Does anyone know if there is anything in here that I could do to help?



I find it rather coincidental that this is the exact same sound that I experienced in C&C 3....


Please help

 

turn off loudness?

I just noticed I get that crackling too, but I only notice it on the main menu/when nothing else is in the background. But when I'm playing and I hear people/steps/gun shots you can't hear it.

best of luck figuring this out :/

 

Happens to me in CS:S sometimes... sometimes minimizing or restarting fixes it.... others it dont... its rele random, i havent found a surefire fix...
the game sounds all muffled rite? except over that muffled sound is that crackle!

 

Basically, yea.

Except for one thing. AND THIS IS BIG, because I just figured it out....

=When I turn down the graphic settings to medium, or really just a generally lower setting, the crackling stops almost completely (still some but very speratic)

=When I tried the same thing in command and conquer, the crackling stopped as well, I turned down the graphic settings a bit

So guys, please....what does this mean. How could turning down the graphics effect the sound. How could turning down the graphic settings to medium make the crackling noise stop?

Is this any sort of clue?



Thanks again in advance

 

Im thinking that the crackling occurs during cpu intensive tasks, and that everyone with the problem has software audio devices.

 

how would an improvement in sound wen lowering the gfx settings showing that its "CPU" intensive? and not necessarily about the software audio, considering my desktop has a creative sound blaster platinum audio2Zs card... specifically for gaming sound... and yet it still happens :-/

 

I solved my problem by downloading the latest OpenAL here. YMMV.

 

So i'm not too savy with computer, decent but not an expert. What is open AL? How does that work?

Thanks

 

openAL is a sound rendering driver that is probably going to be used more than Direct Sound since OpenAL can do hardware sound stuff (EAX) while Direct Sound can't in Vista :/.

It's just an alternative, but from what I've read most people are preferring openAL thanks to Vista and EAX.

 

Vista drivers in general are questionable. I had tons of issues running anything in Vista, even with my X-Fi card, audio was crackling. Switch to XP and problem solved.

Someone mentioned crackling audio in BF2 as well, but BF2 has audio issues in general too. It hates onboard audio.

Hopefully OpenAL fixes this soon though for everyone.

 

I was running BS in Vista when i forst got it and too had crackling in the sound, so i booted into XP and installed it and i didn't get and crackling at all, i also noticed the the frame rate was alot smoother.

 

So, if I want to keep Vista the only way (we know of) to stop the crackling is to download that open AL driver?

Please let me know how I do this. Do I just download and install, or do I have to uninstall my previous driver? If so how?

Thanks again guys

 

Or should I call Bioshock tech support? Or Toshiba, to ask which drivers?

 

Could someone please step me through how to install this openAL driver? I'm a huge noob and have never installed a driver b4.

Also, just in case this new driver screws up my system, is there anyway to "role back"?

Thanks again

 

Google openal, click on the OpenAL - Downloads link.

In there click on the OpenAL 1.1 Installer for Windows

In the website that you're taken to, on the bottom there's an attachment. oalinst.exe, download and run that.

you can't screw it up I think, it just installs and maybe restarts your computer

 

Actually, the OpenAL thing didn't really solve my problem - after playing some more, the crackling was still there.

However, something that does look very promising are the new Realtek HD Audio drivers. Download them here.

I'm pretty sure they've solved my crackling/stuttering sound problem. But I need to test them out some more to see if it's just a fluke or if the crackling is really gone.

 

They're mirror sites servers stink. Horrible download speeds.

 

So, using the REALTEK drivers, how do I install them? Do I uninstall my current drivers, or just go ahead and start clicking.

It would be awesome if someone could step me through downloading/installing the new realtek drivers.

Thanks in advance

 

I have an a8n5x motherboard with AC'97 onboard sound, I am having issues with crackling/stuttering sound in Vista Ultimate, My proccessor is only an athlon xp 3000+ but i have a Geforce 8800GTS vid card and 2 gigs of ram. I've tried the high definition drivers and the most updated ac'97 drivers, as well as eax and reverb on/off, i cannot get the stuttering to quick, It worked fine in windows xp.
I am havign a hard time trying to get the crackling to stop.

 

Joga, did the driver ever truly fix the problem?