cracking sound throughout the game (GC2/GC2DA)

from GalCiv2 Forums
Hi,
I've been reading this forum for quite a while and could not find any answers to my problem so I decided to write. I've installed vista on my laptop and cannot really play GC2 anymore as I have problem with sound. it's OK during the intro, however once in the main menu cracking and poping starts and then during the game or while in options it intensifies unbearably. you can download a mp3 with the sound here: WWW Link
(i know the quality is mediocre, but you can clearly hear what i'm talking about)

my debug file is also available here:WWW Link

processor is Intel Core 2 Duo T5500 / 1.66 GHz
2GB of RAM and NVIDIA GeForce Go 7300 with (according to vista) 399 MB of graphic memory
audio is integrated (AC'97 compliant)

i'm not a computer geek, just use it for work and fun, so if you need anything else, let me know.

thanks in advance,
Michael
5,436 views 8 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Try messing with the sound controls in GCII or if that was recorded by an external device and you still experience this problem while not on GCII, check your speakers and bass and treble controls.

Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I got the same problem on my laptop. It happens in almost every game I keep running for a long time and if I Alt-Tab in and out of the game many times. I don't think GC2 is to blame, rather the low quality audio hardware and drivers.
Siege of Centauri
Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Microsoft changed the sound driver model in Vista and as a result the sound quality on some configurations has suffered. There's not really anything I'm aware of that can be done with the game itself to remedy this, but your sound card/chipset manufacturer may have updated drivers that resolve this, so your best bet is to check out their website.
Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
well, the problem happens to be only with gc2 and it's from the start of the game so it makes it not playable, unless i turn the sound off which is not the long term solution.

I just reinstalled everything on my laptop recently and the sound driver is the only one available on asus website for my model. (it's from 2006 so it may be outdated, but there is nothing newer so far)

Thanks for your help anyway. I think I will just have to wait for soundmax to come up with something designed specifically for vista as the everything that is out there is for xp but works with vista as well so i assume it's just a lottery, for some it works ok for some it does not.

cheers,
Michael
Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Perhaps you can find out what chipset your audio device uses and download a more recent driver from their site. Asus is the motherboard manufacturer and probably didn't make the sounds card chipset. If you can find the chipset and get a more recent version, it could fix the issues.

Good Luck.
Reply #6 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Mine does this too sometimes, and also with different games. I'm thinking it's crappy hardware - the headphones whine too. It's a Realtek HD audio device, running under XP SP2 and Vista x64.
Reply #7 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Well, mine is soundmax and analog devices sends you back to asus page for drivers, so i assume i've got the newest one available. I chceckd when the cracking occurs and it happen when "event music (or sound, don't remember)" option is checked, once turned off, most of the cracking is gone, however once a window opens, say, the technology tree, there is couple cracks and that's all. there are no issues with background music, it plays fine. I guess I will have to wait and see if there are going to be new drivers for the sound

take care and thanks for all the help,

michael
Reply #8 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I have a Realtek HD sound codec. I get crackles when the CPU is heavlily loaded. However, this makes sense to me since these audio codecs are processor reliant. If the CPU is at 100% utilization, sound will suffer. In the old days, sound was handled by an add-on card that had local processing. Now, motherboards always come with a codec chip on-board. Even newer add-on cards use codecs that rely heavily on the CPU. I liked the old add-on cards better.