Sound breaks my ear - HELP !!!!

[rogermorse]

I was feeling nostalgic this evening so I went back to L4D2 after a long break. While I was playing, my headphones started emitting a VERY LOUD noise (crackling) anticipated by literally an EXPLOSION of some kind sounded like a gun shot but it is just to explain how loud the noise was. The noise was so loud my ears still hurt. It was so loud I had to throw the headset away from my head and pull the cable off my pc.

This had already happened once, in L4d2, while I was messing around with map loading and console commands to grab the christmas gifts for that old achievement. I thought ok, I am messing with console commands and map loading, maybe it messed up something in the audio interface....doesn't matter.

But no, today I was playing normally a Versus and it suddenly happened again.

I had not played L4D2 for months, I played a lot of other games and never happened.

I am playing on a desktop pc with a Sound Blaster xtreme Z (the red one with red LED), virtual surround and AKG K550.

This problem happened ONLY with L4D2. I am afraid to go back in the game, the noise is really something that would scare everyone and also hurt everybody's ears.....

what is this ?????

[MyBooMStick]

Mayby Earmuff Would Help

[rogermorse]

very helpful. i'm doing a clean install of the game and i'll see

[Caramelpoptart]

Do you have any addons? maybe you set up the sound wrong in the options menu.

[rogermorse]

not really. i'm going to check again, i also did a clean install of the game (settings are stored in cloud but at least i know there will not be corrupt files)

lol that sound (noise) is so painful I am literally scared of booting up the game and play...I'll have to have fast reflexes to throw the headset away and unplug the cables :)

[rogermorse]

happened again :( after less than 30 minutes of playing. I want to specificate that the game doesn't crash...the game goes on but the sound is just going crazy. Even after this clean re-install. Since this is the only game that produces this error I think it is not hardware related. I was thinking of using another PCI-e slot but really l4d2 is the only game that does this.

[Caramelpoptart]

Have you tried turning down all your settings?
Also try changing the sound quality if you have not. if its on low right now, change to med/high and vice versa.
Oh and try recording it and uploading it to youtube

[Caramelpoptart]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VbsO8J4G0o
Is it like this?

[rogermorse]

the sound is more or less the same. white noise kind of.

problem is it is much louder than that, and it will never stop. i normally use in windows with my soundcard + headphones a volume not higher than 16. Higher than that and most games (or even youtube) will be way too loud. To express how loud the sound crash explodes in L4D2, take that 16 value and make it 100 (maximum volume). Every time I was afraid the headphones would crack....

Also, even if I exit the game, the noise stays. I checked that the first time, after that time I always unplugged the headphones, really afraid to damage them with that loud noise.

I'll try changing the sound quality and see if that happens again...playing without headphones (anyway I would be able to hear that noise a mile away....too too loud even without wearing the headset).

Anyway, since the sound is quite similar to this in the video...what are the steps to fix that? Again I repeat, it is not the same, because in my game if it happens IT DOESNT go away. Not even in windows. In the video it looks like it is triggered by some kind of movement.

[Caramelpoptart]

Yeah in the video that sound replaced footsteps. So maybe theres a specific sound / music thats causing it. Why it happens when the game closes, i cant even begin to guess.
Also, i had a similar-ish experience with oblivion, when i played it on an old laptop. every 10 minutes or so the screen would start freaking out like the screen was breaking, and sometimes when it happened the screen was just static. Whenever it happened all the noise in the game started bieng distorted and there was a high pitch electronic squealing sound. This happened because the graphics card didnt work with the games lighting system. So maybe the problem IS your computer not playing well with the game. Oh and try validating l4d2. that might help restore a lost sound that might be causing it.

[rogermorse]

i validated the files and nothing was find corrupted :(

[76561198077501146]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQBrn5UblIU&index=6&list=PL63UTtAzy8-EwYOkBgI7gHPXHCCq7lX5q

I have the problem too, this video shows the real sound noise peoples.

[ttv/mk_sandwich]

Nice necro.

[beanpole]

Consult an ear doctor

[ttv/mk_sandwich]

Originally posted by delta_:

Consult an ear doctor

I was going to advise they just use a sharp pencil as ear plugs. Then I remembered this is a necro and the OP is probably no longer playing the game.

[rogermorse]

Originally posted by KATHY RAIN RENA "Ka~ThyDie~Rain":

I have the problem too, this video shows the real sound noise peoples.

Yeah it is exactly that noise, and in the headphones it was so loud and sudden it always made me throw them off istantly. I am always afraid to play L4D2 since then....I play from time to time and am always tense, thinking about that awful noise that could come back at any time.