Forza 4 audio crackle

  • Thread starter Thread starter Killer46
  • 13 comments
  • 5,756 views
Killer46

Killer46

(Banned)
Messages
414
This is a problem that plagued me for some time. It was particularly bad when going over rumble strips like the last chicane on Catalunya however, I do believe I found the problem.

At first I uninstalled the game. This seemed to work but it's not always ideal.

After a while of terrible load times I decided to look for other solutions when I realised I had the master volume pumped up all the way to 20. Knowing that sometimes increasing a volume output of certain devices could lead to poor sound quality, I decided to set it back to the standard 10.

Now? I can't hear any crackle with the game installed and with the bass boost on my headphones enabled (which leads to extra crackling!).

So, if you get the dreaded crackle, should check if you have your master volume turned up.
 
I am going to try this out. Do you happen to have PX21's?

Although, this has happened to me on both my trittons and PX21's.
 
I already run the in-game volume at 10 and have the pops&crackles with the game installed.

Lowering in-game volume only lowers the intensity of the pops&crackles (it also tends to reduce saturation, which occurs with some heavy engine sounds).

Also, that's not the only audio problem occurring when installed, music randomly "slows down" and low frequencies are inconsistent.

I have tried pretty much everything that came to my mind (which is a lot of stuff, including trying pretty much every dashboard setting available) and so far nothing works (except uninstalling the game). I suspect it is an issue with CPU scheduling. When running from hard drive (or USB drive, I tried) for some reason data access simply use more CPU cycles, and the game is already using all the CPU power available (and for some reason it's the audio processing that takes the hit).

Also, this problem very much resemble the problem we already had in PGR4, which use the same sound engine (so maybe it's not just a matter of available CPU power but a matter of strict scheduling).

Nothing we can do I'm afraid. Turn10 didn't fix it (I suspect it is not so easy to fix unless you willingly lower audio quality), and maybe MS could fix it with a dashboard update, but so far we'll just have to live with it.
 
ImaRobot
I am going to try this out. Do you happen to have PX21's?

Although, this has happened to me on both my trittons and PX21's.
Click to expand...

I use TB x41s

HBK
I already run the in-game volume at 10 and have the pops&crackles with the game installed.

Lowering in-game volume only lowers the intensity of the pops&crackles (it also tends to reduce saturation, which occurs with some heavy engine sounds).

Also, that's not the only audio problem occurring when installed, music randomly "slows down" and low frequencies are inconsistent.

I have tried pretty much everything that came to my mind (which is a lot of stuff, including trying pretty much every dashboard setting available) and so far nothing works (except uninstalling the game). I suspect it is an issue with CPU scheduling. When running from hard drive (or USB drive, I tried) for some reason data access simply use more CPU cycles, and the game is already using all the CPU power available (and for some reason it's the audio processing that takes the hit).

Also, this problem very much resemble the problem we already had in PGR4, which use the same sound engine (so maybe it's not just a matter of available CPU power but a matter of strict scheduling).

Nothing we can do I'm afraid. Turn10 didn't fix it (I suspect it is not so easy to fix unless you willingly lower audio quality), and maybe MS could fix it with a dashboard update, but so far we'll just have to live with it.
Click to expand...

You've done a lot of research.

Oddly, since I changed the settings, i get no pop and crackle at all. Could it be because I've only been racing offline? I might have to see if it's online only.
 
I get plenty of pops & crackles offline.

But I think there are two separate audio issues.

The first one whose occurrences can be greatly lowered by lowering ingame volume, which consist mainly of engine sound microglitches, looking like short bursts of white noise.

The second one that seem to only occur when the game is installed, which consist of random (and somewhat low volume) static noises (extremely short "ticks" which heavily resemble sound clipping).

There are some other issues with the audio when installed like random slowdowns in music playback (ingame music) and limitations in low frequencies processing (flimsy bass, most noticeably in music but also in sound engines). I would suspect both are tied to the second issue as they do not occur at all when the game is not installed. But they may be two other separate issues as well.
 
Whats weird is that they will happen on Catalunya 100% of the time, but hardly anywhere else.
 
ImaRobot
Whats weird is that they will happen on Catalunya 100% of the time, but hardly anywhere else.
Click to expand...

That's where I tested and I got no crackle.

But since going online, it's started again but only in online races.

Could be because the opponent cars are closer.

Damn it, time to uninstall again :'(
 
I've not had any issues with pops, or any other strange noises. Every time I swap over from GT5, I just think my god this sounds sooo good.
 
Testing in progress (dashboard update, so who knows). My usual Camaro on Catalunya test seem to be okay. Maybe I'm just tired and can't hear it, or it doesn't trigger today. I'll see with more extensive testing.
 
I'm definitely unable to reproduce the glitch, so either I'm deaf tonight, or the dashboard update DID change something. More testing tomorrow.
 
It's definitely still there, but it seems to happen on a much, much lower scale, which make it within acceptable limits.
 
You guys are on the right track, speaker popping and crackle are a good sign of your output or input being overdriven. By high levels out or by bass. Bass is a killer for speakers.
 

Latest Posts

Back