Game keeps insisting on using the onboard audio

[RAMChYLD]

Ok, I did more testing and it turns out that my issue with the game audio happens even when OBS is not running. I didn't get a reply on my last post and it has since vanished into the depths of the forum, so I'm making a new post.

To recap:
1. Rig has Realtek onboard audio, connected to the integrated speakers of my monitor (monitor is old and only does VGA and DVI with separate Analog audio)
2. Rig also has a Steelseries Siberia 150 USB gaming headset.
3. If the default audio device is set to the headset, the game acts all wonky and outputs audio for a few seconds through the headset, then suddenly switches to the onboard audio for a few seconds, then switches back, etc. Issue repeats as long as game is running.

System information (after updated Radeon drivers):

Computer Information:
Manufacturer: System manufacturer
Model: System Product Name
Form Factor: Desktop
Touch Input Detected

Processor Information:
CPU Vendor: AuthenticAMD
CPU Brand: AMD Ryzen 7 2700X Eight-Core Processor
CPU Family: 0x17
CPU Model: 0x8
CPU Stepping: 0x2
CPU Type: 0x0
Speed: 3693 Mhz
16 logical processors
8 physical processors
HyperThreading: Supported
FCMOV: Supported
SSE2: Supported
SSE3: Supported
SSSE3: Supported
SSE4a: Supported
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: Radeon RX Vega
DirectX Driver Name: aticfx32.dll
Driver Version: 24.20.13011.1009
DirectX Driver Version: 24.20.13011.1009
Driver Date: 8 27 2018
OpenGL Version: 4.5
Desktop Color Depth: 32 bits per pixel
Monitor Refresh Rate: 59 Hz
DirectX Card: Radeon RX Vega
VendorID: 0x1002
DeviceID: 0x687f
Revision: 0xc1
Number of Monitors: 1
Number of Logical Video Cards: 1
No SLI or Crossfire Detected
Primary Display Resolution: 1920 x 1080
Desktop Resolution: 1920 x 1080
Primary Display Size: 20.08" x 11.02" (22.87" diag)
51.0cm x 28.0cm (58.1cm diag)
Primary Bus Type Not Detected
Primary VRAM Not Detected
Supported MSAA Modes: 2x 4x 8x

Sound card:
Audio device: Speakers (Realtek High Definiti

Memory:
RAM: 16320 Mb

Miscellaneous:
UI Language: English
Media Type: DVD
Total Hard Disk Space Available: 3224102 Mb
Largest Free Hard Disk Block: 2648600 Mb
OS Install Date: Jan 01 1970
Game Controller: XInput Controller #1 detected
VR Headset: None detected

Can someone please look into this? I need audio to consistently play through the USB headset while streaming the game since my mic is on the webcam, which is coincidently near the speakers on the monitor. Since OBS is already capturing game audio as-is, this creates an echo effect since the audio from the webcam and desktop capture isn't exactly in sync.

My current workaround is to use a separate older pair of analog headphones plugged into the front panel of the PC while streaming (thus intercepting the analog audio headed for the monitor), but I'd prefer it if I can use my USB headset instead- the analog phones have actually broke and has been glued back together, and is rather uncomfortable to wear since I can no longer adjust the headband because it's that part that broke.

[pezza dev]

Does this happen to any other games that use the unity game engine?

[RAMChYLD]

I'll check when I get home after work, thanks.

[RAMChYLD]

Hi,

I just played about 20 minutes of Subnautica (another game built using the Unity game engine) and I didn't get the audio issue at all. It seems to be happening only with Two Point Hospital.

[RAMChYLD]

Bump

Any of the devs working on this yet? Please look into it.

[hymerman]

Hey RAMChYLD! Sorry you're having these problems - this doesn't sound normal (ho ho). I'll order us a USB headset so we can try to reproduce the issue here.

In the meantime, here are a few things to try, both as workarounds and to give us more information:

• As well as setting the USB headset to the default audio device, try disabling the onboard audio device in Windows sound settings - does it get re-enabled on starting the game? Does it stick to the USB headset? If not, try disabling it in Device Manager, in the "Audio inputs and outputs" section. I have to do this to stop Windows randomly switching back to my nasty monitor speakers!
  
• Does the headset come with any kind of custom software or drivers? If so, and if it's not too much of a pain, could you try uninstalling those drivers to try with Windows' built-in support?
  
• It would be worth updating your Realtek HD Audio drivers - your motherboard manufacturer should have a download available.

I hope some of this helps - and I hope we can reproduce and fix the problem on our end!

[RAMChYLD]

Originally posted by hymerman:

As well as setting the USB headset to the default audio device, try disabling the onboard audio device in Windows sound settings - does it get re-enabled on starting the game? Does it stick to the USB headset? If not, try disabling it in Device Manager, in the "Audio inputs and outputs" section. I have to do this to stop Windows randomly switching back to my nasty monitor speakers!

Well, It doesn't seem to be working. I suspect this may work if I go ahead and turn off the HDMI audio device that the GPU installed as well (the GPU also presents a HDMI audio output interface in Device Manager), but I think it's too much work especially since I prefer to not use headphones or headsets at all when I'm not streaming. But the fact you mentioned that you have Windows randomly switching back to your monitor speakers tho, I think it may be a related issue- setting a audio output as the default should be enough to make the game use that output and not randomly switch away. Maybe you can try asking Unity Support (or the support desk of the company that is providing your audio middleware) why it's happening?

Originally posted by hymerman:

Does the headset come with any kind of custom software or drivers? If so, and if it's not too much of a pain, could you try uninstalling those drivers to try with Windows' built-in support?

Yes, it does. But because I also have a Steelseries keyboard and mouse, uninstalling the headset drivers would mean losing the mouse and keyboard drivers as well, which is a pain because of all the custom lighting profiles associated with the devices.

Originally posted by hymerman:

It would be worth updating your Realtek HD Audio drivers - your motherboard manufacturer should have a download available.

Well, I checked and Realtek hasn't had any new drivers out since last year and I'm running the latest drivers already (this computer was built just a few months ago).

[hymerman]

Originally posted by RAMChYLD:

Well, It doesn't seem to be working. I suspect this may work if I go ahead and turn off the HDMI audio device that the GPU installed as well (the GPU also presents a HDMI audio output interface in Device Manager), but I think it's too much work especially since I prefer to not use headphones or headsets at all when I'm not streaming. But the fact you mentioned that you have Windows randomly switching back to your monitor speakers tho, I think it may be a related issue- setting a audio output as the default should be enough to make the game use that output and not randomly switch away. Maybe you can try asking Unity Support (or the support desk of the company that is providing your audio middleware) why it's happening?

Sorry, I don't think I was clear - I am going to try to fix this (I ordered the same headset as you, and it arrives tomorrow), but in the meantime, those were some suggestions of things to try, to get you up and streaming again.

Did you try disabling the audio device or disabling via Device Manager? Those are two separate things - annoyingly Windows calls both of those things 'devices' ;) I don't mean as a permanent solution, it just might help you out until we can fix it. Also knowing whether this changes anything will give us more information, which will help with the fix.

I don't have problems with audio in the game - Windows itself just randomly chooses to switch to my monitor speakers sometimes, so perhaps it's a similar problem to yours. I have to disable the HDMI audio devices in device manager otherwise they keep re-enabling themselves, which is why I suggest trying that.

[RAMChYLD]

Ah, okay. I misunderstood.

Well, I tried disabling everything except the headset, and well, immediately after doing that, Two Point Hospital froze up the entire system while launching. When I hit reset, the entire Windows installation would now freeze up before it would even get into the desktop (locks up at the start up screen, the circle of dots stopped moving). I was lucky I was able to get into safe mode, enabling the devices back caused Windows to start working again. So yeah, whatever it was, it looks like an issue between the way Two Point Hospital initializes audio and Windows in my particular configuration.

Know what? After that scare, I think I'll just use the older headset, or maybe look into using one of those in-ear headphones as a temporary measure. Something on my computer apparently doesn't like it if I turn off everything except the USB headset.

[RAMChYLD]

Ok, I'm now convinced that something is definitely wrong with my PC now. I have had no issues with Subnautica when I tested it for a whole hour on Friday. However, when I decided to livestream Subnautica today, the issue started plaguing that game as well several minutes into the stream! I really don't know what gives anymore.

I think I'm going to do a full reformat and reinstall of Windows 10 once the 1809 update comes out. Maybe something's wonky with the 1803 version of Windows 10. In the meantime I'll install Two Point Hospital on my older PC and see if the issue persists.

EDIT: And it gets worse. I'm unable to replicate the issue on my older PC. It also has a Realtek audio chipset, and the issue is not happening.

[hymerman]

Hey again!

We've received the headset and tried it on a few PCs that each have different speaker/motherboard setups, with and without the Steelseries drivers... and I'm afraid to say it all works fine! No switching between audio outputs.

Reading about the issues you had with freezing up on boot, and with Subnautica, I'm inclined to say your system is a bit broken - sorry! A full reformat is a drastic but probably effective way to sort it out ;)

When I get random PC trouble like this, I like to do a full memory test with memtest86. Faulty RAM modules can cause all sorts of insane inconsistent issues, and it's best to be certain they're in good working order before pulling out your hair trying to diagnose anything!

Hope you get this sorted and can finally enjoy the game!

Thanks,
Ben

[RAMChYLD]

I would totally agree. I really don't know what gives with this PC, all the main parts are practically brand new. I suspect either the current AMD drivers are conflicting with other parts of the system (my older PC which did not have this issue is running a driver from July this year, I had not upgraded it compared to this machine) or as you said, the RAM is faulty, or at least not fully compatible with AMD Ryzen systems (the RAM I bought claimed to be optimized for Intel).

In any case, thanks for helping anyway. I will be back to streaming on my older PC from now on given how broken the system is at this time. Or at very least, continue using my workaround with analog headsets and hope the problem goes away with the next version of Windows.