All audio stopped working

[- PAR -]

Hi, for some strange reason once I start playing all audio stops.
It was working fine until yesterday. The main menu has music to begin with and when I enter the campaign there is sound for a split second (portal sound at prison) then silence. No music or audio.
Going back to the main menu after this there is still silence but If I change some audio values I can get the main menu music playing again, but no luck for the actual game.

I have tried validating the files, and checking my drivers were up to date. I even tried reinstalling the game. Nothing is fixing it.

Does anyone know how to fix it?

[powbam]

FYI - there has been a number of audio related issues reported very recently and the factor that seems to be linking them all together are the latest Win10 updates FYI (and potentially those updates in relation to Realtek drivers in particular).

[ForTheEmperor!]

I'm having the same problem but its like a ringing sound

[- PAR -]

There was a Win10 update yesterday. So that is the likely cause.
Do you know of a way to fix the issue caused by the update?
The driver in question I think is the IDT high def audio codec. I tried to use another driver 'high def audio device' but that stopped all audio for everything...
Will look into it more tomorrow.

[ForTheEmperor!]

Originally posted by powbam:

FYI - there has been a number of audio related issues reported very recently and the factor that seems to be linking them all together are the latest Win10 updates FYI (and potentially those updates in relation to Realtek drivers in particular).

Well, at least I'm not alone. I had guessed it was the Win10 update, as like OP, I checked up on EVERYTHING else I could think of, and am coming up aces.
I'll do some digging when I have the patience. Thanks guys

[SorenK]

You might have already done this, but maybe for other people who haven't tried this, you will also have to change the sound options in the Grim Dawn menu to correspond to the correct output device. The options may have done this automatically, but there are cases where it won't.

[IFIYGD]

Originally posted by - PAR -:

There was a Win10 update yesterday. So that is the likely cause.
Do you know of a way to fix the issue caused by the update?
The driver in question I think is the IDT high def audio codec. I tried to use another driver 'high def audio device' but that stopped all audio for everything...
Will look into it more tomorrow.

Did you reboot your computer after re-installing any of the drivers? Windows 10 is a bit fussy, you seems to need to restart after any and all updates and installations. Try uninstalling any old drivers, then downloading and installing a fresh driver. I had partial loss of sound in some games and apps, total loss of sound in others after the latest Windows 10 update (Version 1903). Reinstalling the Realtek and installing the latest NVIDIA Game ready drivers update (which had both graphics and audio file updates in it), and rebooting (hard reboot) solved it for me. Some articles online also mention a possible issue with the Lenovo Vantage app, and recommend uninstalling it, but that seems to have more to do with turning everything orange>red than with sound, mainly on Lenovo laptops. The NVIDIA update, of course will only apply if you have an NVIDIA GPU.

[- PAR -]

So I have tried everything and still the issue remains. It is only this game with the problem. It must need an update or something with the issue being so peculiar.

[madrigal]

I have a different sound issue but didn't want to start a new thread. This started today, maybe yesterday but I didn't notice since I only played for about 20 minutes. When I talk to NPC vendors and smugglers the sound sometimes comes through the speakers and sometimes through the monitor (very low volume). Sometimes I only get one speaker, sometimes both. All other audio plays consistently through both speakers. So far main NPC's like Capt Bourbon aren't affected but that might just be random.
The monitor (ASUS MG278Q) is new, installed last week. Windows sound is set for speakers. I tried in-game settings of "Primary Sound Driver" and "Speakers (Realtek)" and get the same behavior on both settings. I installed the latest NVIDIA drivers when I installed the monitor, but that shouldn't matter since I'm not using it for sound. Windows restarted itself after updating so shouldn't be that. I will check for Realtek driver updates. If it is not something in the game, I suspect something on my aging motherboard, but so far have no issues with any other apps.
It's not game-breaking but is kind of bizarre.
When I get a new computer I might take the advice to buy a sound card, but that isn't going to happen any time soon unless this once craps out completely.

[SorenK]

Originally posted by madrigal:

Windows restarted itself after updating so shouldn't be that.

Not sure what you mean by this. I uninstalled the latest WIndows update and my sound went back to normal. Updating Realtek drivers didn't work.

[IFIYGD]

Originally posted by SorenK:

Originally posted by madrigal:

Windows restarted itself after updating so shouldn't be that.

Not sure what you mean by this. I uninstalled the latest WIndows update and my sound went back to normal. Updating Realtek drivers didn't work.

And I did not uninstall the latest Windows 10 update, and did update my Realtek drivers, and rebooted. And that did work for me. What works for one, may not work for another, since the few people talking about it here are statistically very unlikely to have the exact same HW and SW components in their computer build.

[SorenK]

Originally posted by IFIYGD:

Originally posted by SorenK:

Not sure what you mean by this. I uninstalled the latest WIndows update and my sound went back to normal. Updating Realtek drivers didn't work.

And I did not uninstall the latest Windows 10 update, and did update my Realtek drivers, and rebooted. And that did work for me. What works for one, may not work for another, since the few people talking about it here are statistically very unlikely to have the exact same HW and SW components in their computer build.

So you are saying it wasn't the Windows update that caused your problem? Why did you update your Realtek drivers in the first place? I got the impression that the person I was replying thought that the Windows update had nothing to do with the sound problem since he was worried about his motherboard.

[IFIYGD]

Originally posted by SorenK:

Originally posted by IFIYGD:

And I did not uninstall the latest Windows 10 update, and did update my Realtek drivers, and rebooted. And that did work for me. What works for one, may not work for another, since the few people talking about it here are statistically very unlikely to have the exact same HW and SW components in their computer build.

So you are saying it wasn't the Windows update that caused your problem? Why did you update your Realtek drivers in the first place? I got the impression that the person I was replying thought that the Windows update had nothing to do with the sound problem since he was worried about his motherboard.

For me it was most likely the windows 10 1903 update that caused the issue. My solution for the issues wa different than yours. So... the other poster's solution may be different than both of ours. And yes, it could be a HW issue in their case. it could be any number of factors that are diffeent with their configuration. How difficult is that to understand? The update may have affected their unique configuration differently than it affected yours, or mine. Because... Different manes just that.

It could be something as simple as setting sound to 16 bit DVD quality instead of the default 24 bit studio quality. That solution has worked for some people reporting the issue on this and a number of other games. It isn't just GD that people have had loss of audio or changes in audio with since the update. Other games have been affected as well.

[SorenK]

Originally posted by IFIYGD:

Originally posted by SorenK:

So you are saying it wasn't the Windows update that caused your problem? Why did you update your Realtek drivers in the first place? I got the impression that the person I was replying thought that the Windows update had nothing to do with the sound problem since he was worried about his motherboard.

For me it was most likely the windows 10 1903 update that caused the issue. My solution for the issues wa different than yours. So... the other poster's solution may be different than both of ours. And yes, it could be a HW issue in their case. it could be any number of factors that are diffeent with their configuration. How difficult is that to understand? The update may have affected their unique configuration differently than it affected yours, or mine. Because... Different manes just that.

It could be something as simple as setting sound to 16 bit DVD quality instead of the default 24 bit studio quality. That solution has worked for some people reporting the issue on this and a number of other games. It isn't just GD that people have had loss of audio or changes in audio with since the update. Other games have been affected as well.

Chill out. I was just asking a question. I wasn't being confrontational.

I was trying to help the guy out. No need to be rude.

[madrigal]

I discovered my issue with NPC dialog is an in-game stereo issue and depends on which direction my character approaches the NPC. So it doesn't have anything to do with my hardware. Totally different issue than OP. I apologize if I derailed the discussion.

If anyone is interested, the NPC behavior is like this: If my character is east of the NPC and I initiate dialog, sound comes out of the right speaker. If he's north or south, sound is balanced between both speakers. If he's west, sound is out of left speaker. If the character is close to the NPC, the dialog is loud. If he's far away, it's quiet. It makes sense in a weird sort of way, but it never did this before.

[SorenK]

Originally posted by madrigal:

I discovered my issue with NPC dialog is an in-game stereo issue and depends on which direction my character approaches the NPC. So it doesn't have anything to do with my hardware. Totally different issue than OP. I apologize if I derailed the discussion.

If anyone is interested, the NPC behavior is like this: If my character is east of the NPC and I initiate dialog, sound comes out of the right speaker. If he's north or south, sound is balanced between both speakers. If he's west, sound is out of left speaker. If the character is close to the NPC, the dialog is loud. If he's far away, it's quiet. It makes sense in a weird sort of way, but it never did this before.

My issue was similar. I had no sound, or very low sound, in certain directions, but sound in others. When I uninstalled the windows update, my sound went back to normal. But there may be other solutions IF the windows update is causing the problem. I don't see how it could be otherwise, though.
There have been reports of other games having problems with audio after the windows update, some not having sound, and issues like ours. It isn't just Grim Dawn.

https://www.windowslatest.com/2019/09/12/windows-10-kb4515384-audio-issues/