All (and only) Unity Engine games no sound

[Takashiwolf]

So I just recently got a new computer, an Alienware R4, and I’ve noticed something interesting. Overall I’ve had pretty much no issues with it, other than Killers current crummy WiFi drivers, but there is something else I have noticed occurring. I began noting some of my games have no sound at all when running them. They function and perform fine, but no audio whatsoever, no matter the game or system settings on it. What’s strange is how all my other programs, applications, and 95% of the rest of my games have flawless audio. I dug in deeper on the games I have tried that have no sound (Cities Skylines, Endless Legend, Sunless Sea, Dear Ester Landmark edition, SuperHot) and made the correlation these are all Unity Engine based.

So I’m not really sure what to do, since everything else is working fine, and I’ve never had an issue like this pertaining just to one graphics engine before. Endless Legend at least gives me the error ‘failed to initialize the sound system’ while the other games all claim everything is hunky dory nothing wrong happening.

All drivers are current, both RealTek and Nvidia sound drivers. Any suggestions?


Update April 2019:

I’m surprised this is getting comments all these years later, but I may as well update everyone:

Everything has since been resolved. I wish I could place an exact solution, but it was probably a mixture of both Unity, sound driver, and video driver updates. All Unity engine games now run fine with all sound included. Obviously not complaining, but this was one of the more bizarre issues I’ve had with gaming, and glad it’s now fixed. Thank you everyone however for possible solutions, I’m happy the Steam community supports one another.

[Jsvenne]

Had the same problem. Everything works fine on my new pc, but no sound on games with Unity engine. I found the cause: Asus Sonic Studio 3. Disabled it, and sound is back.

[Whitty]

Jsvenne, you are an ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ saint.

[Undead Aquila]

do any of you have problems with what sounds like audio stutter, where there is random breakage in the audio. it happens every now and again. I have tried everything and i'm still having the same issues. any help would be great.

[CyberVibes]

Could be a hardware or a software issue in your case, what are your system specs?
Go to the top menu in Steam , select Help, then select System Information and copy and paste the info that appears in the box into your next post.

[Undead Aquila]

Computer Information:
Manufacturer: System manufacturer
Model: System Product Name
Form Factor: Desktop
No Touch Input Detected

Processor Information:
CPU Vendor: GenuineIntel
CPU Brand: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8700K CPU @ 3.70GHz
CPU Family: 0x6
CPU Model: 0x9e
CPU Stepping: 0xa
CPU Type: 0x0
Speed: 3696 Mhz
12 logical processors
6 physical processors
HyperThreading: Supported
FCMOV: Supported
SSE2: Supported
SSE3: Supported
SSSE3: Supported
SSE4a: Unsupported
SSE41: Supported
SSE42: Supported
AES: Supported
AVX: Supported
CMPXCHG16B: Supported
LAHF/SAHF: Supported
PrefetchW: Unsupported

Operating System Version:
Windows 10 (64 bit)
NTFS: Supported
Crypto Provider Codes: Supported 311 0x0 0x0 0x0

Video Card:
Driver: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080
DirectX Driver Name: nvldumd.dll
Driver Version: 25.21.14.1634
DirectX Driver Version: 25.21.14.1634
Driver Date: 10 10 2018
OpenGL Version: 4.6
Desktop Color Depth: 32 bits per pixel
Monitor Refresh Rate: 60 Hz
DirectX Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080
VendorID: 0x10de
DeviceID: 0x1b80
Revision: 0xa1
Number of Monitors: 1
Number of Logical Video Cards: 1
No SLI or Crossfire Detected
Primary Display Resolution: 1360 x 768
Desktop Resolution: 1360 x 768
Primary Display Size: 27.56" x 15.35" (31.54" diag)
70.0cm x 39.0cm (80.1cm diag)
Primary Bus: PCI Express 16x
Primary VRAM: 8191 MB
Supported MSAA Modes: 2x 4x 8x

Sound card:
Audio device: Realtek Digital Output (Realtek

Memory:
RAM: 16313 Mb

Miscellaneous:
UI Language: English
Media Type: DVD
Total Hard Disk Space Available: 1420404 Mb
Largest Free Hard Disk Block: 724254 Mb
OS Install Date: Jan 01 1970
Game Controller: XInput Controller #1 detected
VR Headset: None detected

That's all of it.

[Undead Aquila]

CPU: Intel Core i7-8700K
GPU: EVGA GTX 1080 FTW
SSD: Samsung 960 Evo NVMe PCIe M.2 250GB
RAM: Corsair Vengeance RGB DDR4 2666 C16 2x8GB
MBD: Asus ROG STRIX Z370-E GAMING

extra info if it helps

[CyberVibes]

Ok your systems not bad how many mods and assets are you running?

What's your motherboard make and model? and are you using HDMi or 3.5mm jack for your audio?

[Undead Aquila]

I'm playing the game without mods.
This is my motherbaord "Asus ROG STRIX Z370-E GAMING"
i'm using realtek digital audio output, optical cable. but i also have a sound blaster z which does the exact same thing. that's what's confusing at first i thougt it was my audio but it doesn't matter what audio output i use it still does the same.

[CyberVibes]

You'll need to disable one of those audio cards, CS is pinicky about sound and video cards especially when theres two drivers existing.

[Undead Aquila]

I have already done this multiple time and i still get the same problem. I have disabled nvidia audio drivers while having only the motherboard sound enabled. disabled both motherboard and nvidia audio while my sound blaster z was installed same problem. seems like it doesn't matter what i do the audio stutters no matter what.

[MarkJohnson]

Did you change the audio quality? 16-bit is default sometime and can have issues. make sure 24-bit is enabled. or lower to 16bit if that's the issue?

Personally, I'd uninstall all of the audio software and driver and reboot and let windows update put in legacy drivers and you should be fine.

But I think installing the two sound devices may have caused a conflict and screwed up some config file.

I have roughly the same MB without issues. The X470-F. It's the same sound chipset, but for AMD. Asus makes their own chipsets, and this one they use Realtek, but add their own utility on the chipset for better control.

But I know Unity has issues with older 16-bit sound cards. But soundblaster may be the root of your evil. It has some funky drivers and chipsets as well.

If you're going to use the soundblaster, make sure you other sound devices are disabled in the BIOS of your motherboard. Also, don't install video card audio drivers either.

Maybe check windows audio mixer. it may be trying to use another audio device as well.

[CyberVibes]

Also remove the creative soundblaster drivers and software.

[Undead Aquila]

ok let me uninstall all drivers and try what you have suggested. will let you know what happens. also i have tried different audio formats again without any improvement.

[Undead Aquila]

okay so i had uninstalled everything and then let windows update install the drivers. still the same problem. If i can rememeber kerbal space program also did the exact same thing. so haven't got a clue as in to what's happening. but thanks for the suggestions. really appreciate it

[CyberVibes]

Just to check, have you updated your chipset drivers, and try the audio driver here:
https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/ROG-STRIX-Z370-E-GAMING/HelpDesk_Download/