Terrible audio issue

[aro230]

This is a complex one, so please bear with me.

From time to time I come across a delay between the action and the appropriate sound (like firing a gun, reloading or sometimes even interacting with a NPC). I've been told it is an issue of playing the game on an SSD, but it is not, cause the game behaves similarly on a HDD for me. I even contacted Bethesda Support but after trying out a lot of various steps, I could not fix it.

Any help will be highly appreciated, my specs are: i7-9700k, GTX 1060 6GB, 16GB of RAM. I've been trying to solve this for over a year, but I got nothing. This is how it looks like in action:

https://youtu.be/RzYAIu7ht18

And here is someone else's clip, in which a similar delay (of the sniper rifle shot) happens at around 0:33

https://youtu.be/SFc7_namp2Y

I tried lots and lots of solutions but the lag is still there

[meheezen]

its a known issue with XAudio2_7.dll, part of directX.

try reinstalling directX
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=8109

it also might be a issue with the amount of concurrent audio streams, try upgrading your sound card drivers (windows update often "updates" drivers to a broken/limited version)

[aro230]

Originally posted by meheezen:

its a known issue with XAudio2_7.dll, part of directX.

try reinstalling directX
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=8109

it also might be a issue with the amount of concurrent audio streams, try upgrading your sound card drivers (windows update often "updates" drivers to a broken/limited version)

I have done both because Bethesda also advised me to do so, but to no effect. I wish I could learn what the exact cause of the issue is...

[=EGC= kansasterry]

The audio being out of sync with the animations issue has also been reported if the fps exceeds 60 or when script heavy mods cause a longer delay in the game engines processing of script commands.

[aro230]

Originally posted by =EGC= kansasterry:

The audio being out of sync with the animations issue has also been reported if the fps exceeds 60 or when script heavy mods cause a longer delay in the game engines processing of script commands.

I have also heard that might be it but my framerate never goes over 60 and I don't use any mods at all...

[=EGC= kansasterry]

Originally posted by aro230:

Originally posted by =EGC= kansasterry:

The audio being out of sync with the animations issue has also been reported if the fps exceeds 60 or when script heavy mods cause a longer delay in the game engines processing of script commands.

I have also heard that might be it but my framerate never goes over 60 and I don't use any mods at all...

The only other thing I can think of is the possibility that something in the game settings may need to be reduced. I had to set the two shadow settings down a level (settings advanced from the launcher) in my game to remove a periodic pause the game did passing through certain areas

[aro230]

Originally posted by =EGC= kansasterry:

Originally posted by aro230:

I have also heard that might be it but my framerate never goes over 60 and I don't use any mods at all...

The only other thing I can think of is the possibility that something in the game settings may need to be reduced. I had to set the two shadow settings down a level (settings advanced from the launcher) in my game to remove a periodic pause the game did passing through certain areas

Alright, I will try different quality options then, thanks

[=EGC= kansasterry]

I just remembered a thread from some time back though it was a no audio issue the cause was the bitrate windows had set the audio playback device to use causing the issue.

This could be another issue caused by the incorrect bitrate for the audio playback in fallout 4 as well.

[aro230]

Originally posted by =EGC= kansasterry:

I just remembered a thread from some time back though it was a no audio issue the cause was the bitrate windows had set the audio playback device to use causing the issue.

This could be another issue caused by the incorrect bitrate for the audio playback in fallout 4 as well.

I've also heard about something like this but I don't know where I could even start with that

[=EGC= kansasterry]

Originally posted by aro230:

Originally posted by =EGC= kansasterry:

I just remembered a thread from some time back though it was a no audio issue the cause was the bitrate windows had set the audio playback device to use causing the issue.

This could be another issue caused by the incorrect bitrate for the audio playback in fallout 4 as well.

I've also heard about something like this but I don't know where I could even start with that

I think at least in windows 10 we open audio devices select the one we are using then select properties and then the advanced tab.

This should then have a drop down selection for the audio format.

I am nor sure what one the game would want though mine seems to work at 16bit or dvd quality.

[xybolt]

Originally posted by =EGC= kansasterry:

The audio being out of sync with the animations issue has also been reported if the fps exceeds 60 or when script heavy mods cause a longer delay in the game engines processing of script commands.

you're basically saying this each time someone is having issues ...

Originally posted by aro230:

Originally posted by =EGC= kansasterry:

...the cause was the bitrate windows had set...

I've also heard about something like this but I don't know where I could even start with that

He's talking about bit depth (bit rate is something different).

If you examine the window task bar, you will find a speaker icon as a "system tray". Right mouse click it to select "sounds" (translate it if your OS is not in English). A little window will pop open with various tabs, the first one, "playback" will give you a list of devices the system can play sound from. Select yours, click "properties" to open another pop up window. In "advanced" tab, there is "default format" where you can select various options that combines bit depth and sample rate. It has been a solution for some people that using the "DVD quality" (16 bit, 48000Hz) fixes their sound issue. You can try that.

Still, it is hard to figure out why you have a delay in audio. It may be a problem in the streaming or not. I do have some small questions;
1. does it occur with other weapons?
2. Do you have mods installed? If so, are there some that does something with the sound ingame?
3. any custom sound tweaks?
4. model of your sound system. Could be that it's not in sync with the sound output from the application.

[aro230]

Originally posted by xybolt:

Originally posted by =EGC= kansasterry:

The audio being out of sync with the animations issue has also been reported if the fps exceeds 60 or when script heavy mods cause a longer delay in the game engines processing of script commands.

you're basically saying this each time someone is having issues ...

Originally posted by aro230:

I've also heard about something like this but I don't know where I could even start with that

He's talking about bit depth (bit rate is something different).

If you examine the window task bar, you will find a speaker icon as a "system tray". Right mouse click it to select "sounds" (translate it if your OS is not in English). A little window will pop open with various tabs, the first one, "playback" will give you a list of devices the system can play sound from. Select yours, click "properties" to open another pop up window. In "advanced" tab, there is "default format" where you can select various options that combines bit depth and sample rate. It has been a solution for some people that using the "DVD quality" (16 bit, 48000Hz) fixes their sound issue. You can try that.

Still, it is hard to figure out why you have a delay in audio. It may be a problem in the streaming or not. I do have some small questions;
1. does it occur with other weapons?
2. Do you have mods installed? If so, are there some that does something with the sound ingame?
3. any custom sound tweaks?
4. model of your sound system. Could be that it's not in sync with the sound output from the application.

I remember changing the bit depth you are talking about but it didn't help.

1. Yep, I tried triggering the delay and it occured with the 10mm pistol, plasma gun, double barrel shotgun, combat rifle, assault rifle and a few more
2. No mods installed at all
3. I've never messed with FO4's files or tweaked anything
4. You mean the audio devices I have? I use headphones but in the Sound tab they are classified as speakers (Realtek High Definition Audio) because I also have those.

Thing is, I'm pretty sure the issue started appearing after I switched from a HDD to an SSD. Though after some testing, the delay still happens on the latter. But I don't recall having that problem beforehand.

I can list you all the steps I've taken that were provided by Bethesda (because they also helped me a lot, but to no effect). I've tried many things but I still have no idea what the cause is.

[meheezen]

did you ever try creating a new configuration file? (moving/deleting the ini files in the save directory and letting the game create a new one)?

you may also want to try removing the current audio device (from device manager) and letting windows re-install the driver

[aro230]

Originally posted by meheezen:

did you ever try creating a new configuration file? (moving/deleting the ini files in the save directory and letting the game create a new one)?

you may also want to try removing the current audio device (from device manager) and letting windows re-install the driver

I'll try your second advice, cause I don't wanna mess with the files

[meheezen]

^thats why i suggested you move the ini files, so you can go back it it doesnt work.

You did not tell us how you moved your data from your HD to the SSD, so my guess right now is either you messed up drivers or broken configuration

[aro230]

Originally posted by meheezen:

^thats why i suggested you move the ini files, so you can go back it it doesnt work.

You did not tell us how you moved your data from your HD to the SSD, so my guess right now is either you messed up drivers or broken configuration

I didn't know there are different ways of moving the data from my HDD to an SSD, I just followed some straightforward guides on the internet. I did it in the most simple way possible with the use of a program, no special gimmicks or procedures.

I don't think I've messed up anything because Fallout 4 is the only game that has this issue. No other game in my library suffers from this delay. But I migrated the data to an SSD just once in my life, so there is most likely quite a lot of stuff I don't know or remember. If you need some more info from me about my hardware or anything, please feel free to tell me. I appreciate every single answer and to be honest, I'm sick and tired of trying to fix the issue and this actually might be the time I finally find a solution