Sound Cracking/Popping using Soundblaster PCIe Audio Card
Hello SE2 devs, I've been having this issue ever since I installed the game - If I have the game audio come out through my Soundblaster card I get this crackling and popping sounds almost constantly.
If I output the game sound through my monitor, the game audio comes out fine but if there's any sound coming from the game, then any sound coming through the soundblaster still cracks and pops. This includes videos from a web browser and things like that.
I tried to make a recording of this, however nothing gets captured while the game is running (Probably because I'm trying to capture it with the Soundblaster). I made a recording on my phone, however the website doesn't allow .m4a files - so I converted it to .mp3. Can confirm audio has not changed during conversion.
Some things to note - When the game is outputting through the monitor, it's a 50/50 on if it's normal or not, and this changes while playing. Narration, collisions, and using certain tools seem to cause it. When the game sound comes through the soundblaster It's 100% of the time if I'm playing something like music or a video in the background, and you'll hear for yourself what it sounds like with no audio besides the game.
PS: Yes, this is a re-upload of the feedback page I accidentally submitted.
I have the same bug
I updated all my drivers to the latest, including the soundblaster driver - no changes.
I updated all my drivers to the latest, including the soundblaster driver - no changes.
I'm using a Soundblaster Z SE if that helps
I'm using a Soundblaster Z SE if that helps
Wait a sound card in 2026 what type of professional audio work are you doing
Wait a sound card in 2026 what type of professional audio work are you doing
Thinking about it I had a similar problem with my Scarlett 4i4 while playing CPU or GPU intensive games like SE1. I'm assuming if there is not enough resources it will destabilize the connection and cause a desync. This would happen to me due to a combination of certain games and of my device not getting enough power. I managed to fix the issue by splitting my USBs power and data so I could independently power it instead of it requiring the USB bus to provide it. Given your using a sound card and I'm assuming its got a connection to the power supply so it my be due to the audio data being bottlenecked by the CPU or GPU given this game uses quite a bit.
P.S. idk if your audio card uses the GPU to process sound but my audio interface does with the ASIO protocol
Thinking about it I had a similar problem with my Scarlett 4i4 while playing CPU or GPU intensive games like SE1. I'm assuming if there is not enough resources it will destabilize the connection and cause a desync. This would happen to me due to a combination of certain games and of my device not getting enough power. I managed to fix the issue by splitting my USBs power and data so I could independently power it instead of it requiring the USB bus to provide it. Given your using a sound card and I'm assuming its got a connection to the power supply so it my be due to the audio data being bottlenecked by the CPU or GPU given this game uses quite a bit.
P.S. idk if your audio card uses the GPU to process sound but my audio interface does with the ASIO protocol
The audio card itself does all the processing when applicable (Some games only do software encoding, etc.), and I have the audio coming out through an optical cable.
It's powered through the PCIe slot, and it is PCIe gen 4, so I'd imagine the data throughput would be enough.
I've got an I9-12900K as far as a processor goes and I have a 1000W power supply.
The audio card itself does all the processing when applicable (Some games only do software encoding, etc.), and I have the audio coming out through an optical cable.
It's powered through the PCIe slot, and it is PCIe gen 4, so I'd imagine the data throughput would be enough.
I've got an I9-12900K as far as a processor goes and I have a 1000W power supply.
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