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Key points
- For the best audio playback, Windows 10 is recommended over Vista/7/8.x for clear and accurate sound due to improvements made in the audio subsystem, including a decrease in audio latency.[1][2][3][4]
Related articles
- Surround sound
- Sound card
Speaker setup
- Many games (XAudio2 ones on Windows XP being a notable exception)[5] use the speaker configuration reported by the operating system so having it set correctly is crucial.
Configure speaker layout (Windows)[citation needed]
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- Open Sounds in the Control Panel (
mmsys.cpl ).
- Ensure your output device is the default (marked with a tick )
- Click Configure.
- Choose your speaker layout and click on each speaker to ensure it is detected and positioned correctly.
- Adjust the speaker configuration as needed until it is correct.
- Click Next and follow the steps to save your new configuration.
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Issues fixed
Sound problems (cracking, delays, missing music/effects, etc.)
Set sound quality to 24 bit, 48000 Hz (Windows Vista and later)[6]
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- Open the Start screen/Start menu, type
mmsys.cpl and press Enter.
- Open the Default Device (marked with a tick ).
- Go to the Advanced tab.
- Change the Default Format box to
24 bit, 48000 Hz (Studio Quality) .
- Click Apply and close all windows.
- If the problem remains, repeat and choose
24 bit, 44100 Hz (Studio Quality) instead.
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Adjust hardware sound acceleration level (Windows XP and older)[7]
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- Press ⊞ Win+R, type
dxdiag and press ↵ Enter.
- Choose Yes if prompted.
- Go to the Sound tab.
- Adjust the Hardware Sound Acceleration Level slider and test the game. If it is not already at Full, try Full first.
- Setting the acceleration to Basic or No acceleration may affect advanced sound features in some games.
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No surround sound
Make sure OpenAL games aren't using outdated libraries[citation needed]
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- Navigate to <path-to-game>, where game executable is located
- Find
OpenAL32.dll and rename it
Notes
- Hypothesising OpenAL is already perfectly configured
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Verify DS and OAL games hardware buffers number[citation needed]
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- Download RightMark 3DSound
- Start RightMark3DSoundBench (aka CPU Utilization test)
- Note under the offended API node, the number of Hardware 3D Buffers available for the in use device.
- Check in game configuration files if number of "Buffers", "Channels" or "Voices" corresponds.
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Game volume decreases
Disable communications activity sound reduction[citation needed]
|
- Open the Start screen/Start menu, type
mmsys.cpl and press ↵ Enter.
- Go to the Communications tab.
- Choose Do nothing.
- Click OK to save your changes.
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Can't enable EAX
- Please refer to Restoring DirectSound hardware path for more information.
CD music not playing
CD-DA music (shows up as a music CD in media players)
Verify CD is in the "CD-ROM 0" drive
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- CD-DA music will only play in-game if the CD is in "CD-ROM 0".
- Open Disk Management.
- Windows 8: right click the Start corner, choose Disk Management.
- Vista and 7: open the Start menu, type
diskmgmt.msc , press Enter.
- Windows XP: press ⊞ Win+R, type
diskmgmt.msc , press Enter.
- When Disk Management opens, ensure that the drive you are using the game CD in is listed as "CD-ROM 0".
- If the drive is not "CD-ROM 0", remove the disc and insert it in that drive.
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Change drive ID order
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- If you are unable to insert your disc in "CD-ROM 0", e.g. if it is a virtual drive, do the following:
- In Disk Management, identify which drive is listed as "CD-ROM 0".
- Open Device Manager.
- Windows 8: right click the Start corner, choose Device Manager.
- Vista and 7: open the Start menu, type
devmgmt.msc and press ↵ Enter.
- Windows XP: press ⊞ Win+R, type
devmgmt.msc and press ↵ Enter.
- Expand the DVD/CD-ROM drives entry.
- Right-click the drive Disk Management listed as "CD-ROM 0", choose Disable, choose Yes.
- Right-click the drive you want to use for the game CD, choose Disable, choose Yes.
- Right-click again on the drive you want to use, choose Enable.
- Right-click again on the other drive, choose Enable.
- Return to Disk Management and the drive you want to use will now be listed as "CD-ROM 0".
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Non-CD-DA music (does not show up as a music CD in media players)
Verify drive letter is correct
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- Many games remember the drive letter the game was installed from even if you put the disc in a different drive.
- If you have multiple optical drives, try inserting the disc in a different drive.
- If possible, check the game's configuration files to see what drive letter it is expecting.
- Try reinstalling the game from the drive you want to use. This should make the game look to that drive letter instead.
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References