Crackling/Tearing Audio

[NukeJockey]

So I tested the in-home streaming this morning from my Desktop (i5 2500k, 8gb ram, 2x7950, windows 7) to an older laptop (i7 nehalem (cant remember exact chip), 8gb ram, AMD 5470 GPU running windows 7) and it worked without issue.

I then decided to install SteamOS on the laptop, which was painless, however, when it comes to streaming a game, the audio is all crackly and makes tearing noises. The sound works fine on the desktop and when starting up SteamOS, it only has issues when streaming.

I found one thread (in here) which linked to another thread (elsewhere) that mentioned changing the default sample rate in /etc/pulse/daemon.conf, so I edited it and rebooted, then tried again, this time the audio is just crackly, not nearly as bad, but far too annoying to actually play anything.

I've tried changing sampling rates and bit rates on the desktop machine as well as swapping between my SB XFI Titanium sound card and the realtek onboard sound for the output device on the desktop.

While google gave me a little luck at first, I've been unable to find any other suggested solutions, anyone come across this and resolved it?

If you need any other info, let me know.

Cheers.

[Dr. Allcome]

You could add...

export PULSE_LATENCY_MSEC=30

... to your "$HOME/.profile" file. But then it will affect any application you launch.

[iLoveCHiPS]

SOLUTION:
This may be old, but since this was the first result I found in Google maybe someone else can benefit from this. I fixed my audio issue by simply changing one sound setting. Go the control panel, into sounds, and then into the communication tab. Select the "Do nothing" setting

[Danger de Mort]

I had the same issue but a slightly different build, streaming from a Windows 7 PC to a AMD-powered Dell Zino running Ubuntu 14.04. In case it's useful to anyone, I tried a number of recommendations, both from here and in other threads specific to In-Home Streaming, but the only fix that worked for me was a suggestion found in discussion about a similar bug[github.com] in SteamOS.

In short, open Terminal and do this:

sudo nano /etc/pulse/default.pa

Look for this line:

load-module module-udev-detect

Change it to this:

load-module module-udev-detect tsched=0

Press Ctrl - X to exit, then Y to save your changes, and Enter to save to the same file. Restart your computer and see how it works!

[Dr. Allcome]

引用自 samuelfine：

load-module module-udev-detect tsched=0

Press Ctrl - X to exit, then Y to save your changes, and Enter to save to the same file. Restart your computer and see how it works!

I tried this before but it only helps if your audio driver has bugs. Unfortunately it didn't work for me. The only solution I could find that really worked for me is the PULSE_LATENCY_MSEC environment variable. I have played hundreds of hours since and never had an issue with sound anymore.

[Malem]

This helped me 100%
Asus m51va notebook with ubuntu 12.04.

引用自 samuelfine：

I had the same issue but a slightly different build, streaming from a Windows 7 PC to a AMD-powered Dell Zino running Ubuntu 14.04. In case it's useful to anyone, I tried a number of recommendations, both from here and in other threads specific to In-Home Streaming, but the only fix that worked for me was a suggestion found in discussion about a similar bug[github.com] in SteamOS.

In short, open Terminal and do this:

sudo nano /etc/pulse/default.pa

Look for this line:

load-module module-udev-detect

Change it to this:

load-module module-udev-detect tsched=0

Press Ctrl - X to exit, then Y to save your changes, and Enter to save to the same file. Restart your computer and see how it works!

[Vincent van Glock]

FIXED FOR ME.

Streaming from W8.1 64bit (FX 8350 octa-core 4.0 Ghz) to Ubuntu 14.04 64bit (AM1 Athlon 2350 quad-core 2.05 Ghz).

Tested with Portal 2 and that paint mod for it.

引用自 samuelfine：

I had the same issue but a slightly different build, streaming from a Windows 7 PC to a AMD-powered Dell Zino running Ubuntu 14.04. In case it's useful to anyone, I tried a number of recommendations, both from here and in other threads specific to In-Home Streaming, but the only fix that worked for me was a suggestion found in discussion about a similar bug[github.com] in SteamOS.

In short, open Terminal and do this:

sudo nano /etc/pulse/default.pa

Look for this line:

load-module module-udev-detect

Change it to this:

load-module module-udev-detect tsched=0

Press Ctrl - X to exit, then Y to save your changes, and Enter to save to the same file. Restart your computer and see how it works!

[Gazook]

What about streaming from PC to Mac? I'm also having audio problems...

[fragnetic]

This is the solution for me. Thnx!!

I just bought my 360 wireless controller, so now i can really enjoy steam streaming :)

my specs: Asrock AM1B-itx mobo, athlon 5350, 4gb mem and ubuntu 14.04(xbmc, steam,...)

引用自 samuelfine：

I had the same issue but a slightly different build, streaming from a Windows 7 PC to a AMD-powered Dell Zino running Ubuntu 14.04. In case it's useful to anyone, I tried a number of recommendations, both from here and in other threads specific to In-Home Streaming, but the only fix that worked for me was a suggestion found in discussion about a similar bug[github.com] in SteamOS.

In short, open Terminal and do this:

sudo nano /etc/pulse/default.pa

Look for this line:

load-module module-udev-detect

Change it to this:

load-module module-udev-detect tsched=0

Press Ctrl - X to exit, then Y to save your changes, and Enter to save to the same file. Restart your computer and see how it works!

[Shinjo 01ㄨ]

Hi there,

this threat is little out of date. But is there any solution for this problem, yet? I ve the same issus like above, but non of the settings works for me.

Desktop: Win7 Client: SteamOS

[Swifty McVay]

I had audio crackling on my Win 8.1 client, fixed it by setting the HDMI device audio format (in the taskbar Playback devices) to 16bit 48000 Hz.

[Binuvyen]

This happened to me. Win7 host Win 8.1 client but I don't think that matters. The issue was that my host was sending 48000 Hz audio and my client was set to 44100 Hz. The mismatch was causing the popping and crackling. Setting both to the same value, whichever direction fixed the problem.

Edit - I was also able to recreate the issue on a second host by changing the format to mismatch.

[Shinjo 01ㄨ]

Wehere can i find the sampling value on SteamOS client? And how to set it, any recomendation?

[n00b saib0t]

Maybe in /etc/pulse/daemon.conf ?
Try uncommenting these lines and setting appropriate values.

; default-sample-format = s16le
; default-sample-rate = 44100
; alternate-sample-rate = 48000

Also the man page could contain some info

man pulse-daemon.conf

[Callak Skytower]

引用自 samuelfine：

I had the same issue but a slightly different build, streaming from a Windows 7 PC to a AMD-powered Dell Zino running Ubuntu 14.04. In case it's useful to anyone, I tried a number of recommendations, both from here and in other threads specific to In-Home Streaming, but the only fix that worked for me was a suggestion found in discussion about a similar bug[github.com] in SteamOS.

In short, open Terminal and do this:

sudo nano /etc/pulse/default.pa

Look for this line:

load-module module-udev-detect

Change it to this:

load-module module-udev-detect tsched=0

Press Ctrl - X to exit, then Y to save your changes, and Enter to save to the same file. Restart your computer and see how it works!

I had this same issue in Kubuntu Linux 14.04, and this "fix" fixed it for me, however, I had to revert back to the old setting because it screws up other software and games I use. I would like to request that Valve updates their sound system to support timer based mode instead of interrupt based mode so everything is running on the same page.

[earwaxntoast]

This issue just started for me. I'm streaming from a windows machine to another windows machine. I tried setting both sound cards to 44100 Hz, and that helped somewhat, but it still occurs, just more slowly.
The game starts out fine, but after some time, it will start to get more and more distorted, getting worse and worse until you restart the game.