Audio Problems with HL2

[SpeedDemon]

It would appear to be that I, along with many other people are having Audio problems with HL2. Only after 4 hours I have been able to track down a bunch of people who seem to be having a similar issue.

While playing whenever you turn around a corner and there is a new sound or somebody new starts talking or you come into a room and a gun is shot, the game will pause for a second as if it has to take a second to load the sound file off of the HD. This make no sense to me why this should be happening unless I didn't have enough RAM, but I was under the assumption that 1GB would be enough to play this game.

Here are my system specs:
Athlon XP 2.5GHz
1GB RAM
80GB SATA HD
nForce 2 mobo w/ SoundStorm audio
ATI Radeon 9700 Pro

It would help if other people having the same problem could state their problem and the specs of their computers. Hopefully someone from Valve will see this.

 

[Cortic]

Yo!

Ok so im getting the audio problems too. Now if i was a nobody i would have assumed like everyone else ur audio problems were due to a ****house onboard sound card (no offence)... But why do i get the same thing when i got an Audigy 2?!?!?!?!?!

Hmm... Why oh why is hl2 bugged to the max?

Back to WOW for me...

 

[SpeedDemon]

I think that I may have found somewhat of a fix, now I've been playing for 5.5 hours and I'm etremely tired so I'll have to get back to this later. I think that by turning off my McAfee Anti-virus though the problem went away. I also defragged about a quarter of my HD and then got bored of waiting. I'm going to pass out now even though I'm high on Rockstar .

BTW, for anyone who has no experience with nVidia SoundStorm onboard audio, it's actually very nice I and prefer it over Audigy because I play my computer games on my Home Theater and it really makes it nice because it encodes all the audio into dolby digital which can be ran over a single Coaxial S/PDIF connection to the receiver which makes for great surround sound with EAX and other 3D sound formats.

The problem may still be there because the area of the game I was playing was pretty small once I loaded it back up, I'm just too tired to keep playing. See you guys on the flipside.

 

[Shadow-warrior]

Same problem here - anything like a new sound or someone starts shooting and the stutter to 1 frame per second for a few seconds then bounce straight back to 30-50

Audigy 2 here with latest drivers

 

[BogginHarry]

I've the same problem, and yes it only happens when you turn the corner into a bigger area. Since the game's loading resources on the fly (afaik), when you get to a new area there's so much stuff its preloading that it makes the game and sound stutter for a second.

Audigy here.

 

[jrob8604]

i also have the same problem

i dont have a high end sound card, but like many others with high end cards it seems to be having the same problem.. I encounter most of the chopiness at the beginning of the game when there was a scripted event like every second. I kinda messed with my video settings and noticed if the testure detail was turned down to medium that it wouldn't be as bad, but it still happened some times.. I can run everything high and i will get smooth fps but for some reason when ever i land on like 5 crates and they smash i seem to lag.

I got a 9800 pro

 

[webBear1000]

I think that I may have found somewhat of a fix, now I've been playing for 5.5 hours and I'm etremely tired so I'll have to get back to this later. I think that by turning off my McAfee Anti-virus though the problem went away. I also defragged about a quarter of my HD and then got bored of waiting.

Thanks for the info. I'll turn off my anti-virus software (after disconecting, of course) and defrag when I get home from work.

I'm starting to think that the working day will never end though

 

[SpeedDemon]

I don't think that it has anything to do with Video settings. I tried turning my video settings way down and it didn't do anything to fix the problem for me earlier when I was first experimenting with it. I even tried messing with the SQ settings and that didn't change it either. I think that there is some bug in how it's loading sounds, hopefully Valve can fix this extremely annoying bug quickly. I shouldn't have to disable my Anti-virus just to play a game, I don't have to do it with any of my other games so there is no excuse why I should have to do it with HL2.

 

[jrob8604]

its quite anoying... when i got in tha warp machine at the beginning it stuttared quit a bit. I hope valve fixes this and it isn't a hardware issue. Im thinking bout getting more ram so i dont have to deal with these long load times

 

[SpeedDemon]

Do you think that more ram would really help anything though. I have 1GB of RAM and load times still suck. I think the only thing that would really help load times would be getting a 10,000RPM SATA WD Raptor HD or a 15,000RPM SCSI HD. The 15,000RPM is obviously going to make a huge difference but you definitely pay for the performance.

 

[xtremepenguin]

i also have these stutters. i never used to have them when i played cs source but suddenly got them after updating my radeon drivers, i think they are the problem

 

[xtremepenguin]

on another forum it seems everyone with an audigy2 is having thse problems, and that having an uber fast hard drive makes no difference at all.

 

[Defiler]

When I had 512MB of RAM DOOM3 did this to me. WHen I got 1Gig it cleared it up. I'm sure it's a glitch and Valve will fix it.

 

[Prime]

I sure as hell hope they do, It happens to me in CS:S, too

 

[Rellik Restam]

Yep its a sound issue.

Its easy to fix but the solution is always a poor one.. You have to go into your audio slider dx bar and bring it all the way down to no hardware acceleration.. Creative devices have sucked for years.. I own an audigy 2... This should be happening for you in all fps that have large texutres.. for me it even happens in cs some times when I shoot a window then immediatley jump through it to break it. (This only happens in office becuase of the shattering glass.) The only solution may be to either buy another gig of ram or get another sound card..(Im not even sure the extra gig would help.) If you notice sometimes the xbox even has this problem... Anyone have a real solution?

 

[Disposition]

Having the same problem with a audigy 2! everything in the game looks great and runs on all hight settings yet it has this sound glitch which i personally think is ruining the game for me, it doesnt matter what video settings i have it still does it.

Im not prepared to play the game until this is resolved.

where is this audio slider dx bar?

cheers

 

[Defiler]

OK. So, anyone that has an M-Audio Revolution or nForce Soundstorm or otherwise having this issue 'cus I have a hard time believing it's limited to only Creative.

 

[JinkyWilliams]

I can't help any right now beyond stating that I do indeed have this issue as well.

2.66GHz P4, 1 GB RAM, Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB 4xAGP SB Audigy 2.

I have this issue in Counter-Strike as well.

Just downloaded the latest drivers from SoundBlaster and ATI. The ATI drivers are nice. I got some good frame improvements in the stress test. But as has been said, in the game, whenever there is a new sound, it seems to have to load it on the fly instead of buffering it before-hand.

Is there any sound_prebuffer=1 option or something like that that you can do in the console?

I'm glad I'm not the only one with this problem.

Will post if I find out more.

 

[Sie]

Well, I have both an Audigy 2 and a M-Audio Audiophile 2496 - the problem is still there regardless of what card the game uses. I've tried numerous solutions so far, including the ones in this thread, to no avail.

 

[Kabal]

I have the same problem. And I dont have an audigy.. using soundstorm here (Abit NF7-S mb)

 

[DiscoStu]

I have an Audigy 2 and am esperiencing the same Problems, had Probs with FarCry too

 

[DiscoStu]

I have an Audigy 2 and am esperiencing the same Problems, had Probs with FarCry too :frown:

 

[bat210]

You just can't blame it all on the sound cards or any other hardware. i didn't have any sound issues with any other games i played before. it is something that has to be fixed by valve and i won't continue to play hl2 until they do it.

 

[maximus0402]

a lot of solutions for these types of problems are always answered usually with:

go to your sound hardware acceleration and turn it down (all the way to the left)....I am at work but can someone do this and see if it helps??

Plus I have a gig of dual channel ddr 400 ram so that is not it as others have stated....I have a soundblaster live 5.1, but if I switch to the nforce integrated sound on my nforce2 motherboard will this help instead of using the SB live 5.1 pci slot??

 

[Sie]

Turning off Hardware Acceleration does not help. This is clearly a problem with the game and I just hope Valve give us a solution to it sooner rather than later.

 

[webBear1000]

Found this on the steampowered ...Solution? ... Gonna give those suggestions a try when I get home.

 

[XcLuDeD]

anyone experienced this problem b4?
when u fire ur pistol at the enemy....sometimes the gunshots will sound abit distorted.....?

i feel this is a isolated case to me....i play music or other games...no distortion at all.....

 

[Ruben]

I have this problem aswell. I have an Abit Motherboard; NF7-S v.2. Nforce2 Soundstorm Audio onboard. The game stutters, and its not a framerate issue or other performance issue because i have turned everything to lowest and i still have this problem. Game stutters during sound loading, for instance when i enter a new room, shots are fired, cans dropped to the ground, shattered glass etc. etc.

It is definately a sound issue. And seeing as many people have this problem, even with Audigy2 card,s it seems to me to be a game engine issue. The nForce Soundstorm is a very good sound chip! And it performs excellent in other games.

 

[CastleBravo]

It would appear to be that I, along with many other people are having Audio problems with HL2. Only after 4 hours I have been able to track down a bunch of people who seem to be having a similar issue.

While playing whenever you turn around a corner and there is a new sound or somebody new starts talking or you come into a room and a gun is shot, the game will pause for a second as if it has to take a second to load the sound file off of the HD. This make no sense to me why this should be happening unless I didn't have enough RAM, but I was under the assumption that 1GB would be enough to play this game.

Here are my system specs:
Athlon XP 2.5GHz
1GB RAM
80GB SATA HD
nForce 2 mobo w/ SoundStorm audio
ATI Radeon 9700 Pro

It would help if other people having the same problem could state their problem and the specs of their computers. Hopefully someone from Valve will see this.

I have the EXACT same problem with the following system:

Athlon 64 3500+
Asus A8V Deluxe Rev2 motherboard w/ 1009.2 BIOS
Realtek AC97 onboard audio w/current A3.57 drivers (downloaded them today from Asus)
1GB OCZ EL Platinum Rev2 PC3200 RAM
BFG 6800 GT OC using 65.73 Forceware drivers
WD 120GB 7,200 RPM HD, defragged right before playing HL2
Clean Windows XP install with SP-2 and all other updates, SP-2 firewall and security center disabled
Fresh virus scan using Symantec Anti-Virus & current defs from LiveUpdate. Real-Time AV monitor turned off. All sypware/adware removed with Spybot Search & Destroy using current definitions.

As a side note, this system scores about 120 frames per second on the Source Stress Test at 1280x960 4xAA 8xAF & maximum detail settings. 69,000+ on Aquamark 3. No sound problems with anything else (e.g. Doom 3). Anti-virus software is disabled & turning off hardware acceleration didn't seem to do anything. So I'm pretty sure it isn't a hardware performance issue.

 

[wooglie]

I have the same problem
Abit NF-s v2 Soundstorm audio card.
AMD Athlon XP 3200+
1 Gig 3200 DD RAM

 

[wasted]

i have the VERY same bug, and also a Audigy2 (the NX external version)

can you guys confirm that the problem is much worse with 7.1 settings than just "2 speaker" ?

btw, i posted about this issue on a german forum, and well this problem seems to be pretty common

and it's really annoying...

i will check out the hardware accelaration stuff, but since somebody already posted it doesnt help, i dont have much hope...

already player 4 chapters with this stuttering, damn, i'm ruining my pleasure

 

[Shadow-warrior]

already player 4 chapters with this stuttering, damn, i'm ruining my pleasure

Know what you mean, I'm pressing on through the game but this stuttering is taking some of the shine off it

 

[CanopuS]

Same problem. Onboard soundcard (pants AC97)
Does anyone else find that constant music makes for a choppier performance whilst its running? (Like in the train-station just after getting the crowbar)
Ta

 

[Rick Ellis]

Try:

snd_async_fullyasync 1

See if it's any better. It might de-sync some of the dialog, but it should remove the stuttering.

Rick
Valve

 

[sgupta]

And another...

Whoops - Double Post Deleted.

 

[sgupta]

And another...

Count me as one who has this sound problem too (another Audigy 2 user). Game looks AWESOME, but I'm not going to play until this is resolved. For me, it's one of those "too-annoying-to-play-with" issues (breaks the continuity way too much for my taste), so I'll wait until it's resolved.

BTW, I always disable VirusScan (though rarely the firewall) for games, so it isn't that, at least for me. I also played just a little bit with graphics, but the game's darn smooth EXCEPT for these sound stutters. Everything else (including Doom 3) runs great.

Asus P4T-E
2.6 GHz Pentium 4
400 MHz FSB
1 GB RDRAM
GeForce 6800 Ultra 256MB
Sound Blaster Audigy 2

 

[maximus0402]

Try:

snd_async_fullyasync 1

See if it's any better. It might de-sync some of the dialog, but it should remove the stuttering.

Rick
Valve

does this permanatly change the game to this??? or just during that current session?? and what do I do to change it back to default??

on a side note, alot of people including me have top systems and this still happens, are you guys looking into it or is it a pure sound hardware issue that can't be fixed with a patch?

and I dont have a audigy, I have a soundblaster live 5.1

 

[Rick Ellis]

Use snd_async_fullyasync 0 to turn it back off.

We're looking into the problem, but it would help to know if this solves it for you.

Thanks,
Rick
Valve

 

[Sie]

Try:

snd_async_fullyasync 1

See if it's any better. It might de-sync some of the dialog, but it should remove the stuttering.

Rick
Valve

Tried this earlier and it didn't seem to cure the problem. I then turned it back off again with snd_async_fullyasync 0 and again, still the problem persists. I've also completely removed all traces of my Audigy2 soundcard from my pc and I'm using my Audiophile card now and the problem is still there.

I'm now about to transfer the game files to my other PC and log into steam from there as I have a feeling it could be damaged game files. Doubt it though.

My reasoning though is that the stuttering in G-Man's speech at the beginning of the game occures at the same points every time.

 

[maximus0402]

Use snd_async_fullyasync 0 to turn it back off.

We're looking into the problem, but it would help to know if this solves it for you.

Thanks,
Rick
Valve

Thanks rick!!

This below was posted by natural selection mod author will this improve audio?? I think its a given that everyone needs to defrag hardrives, but what about the launch options and putting in heap size of half your ram:

Seriously, once the creative drivers are installed properly, the cards are bullet proof. I'd recomend the audigy2 zs, can pick one up for about 40 quid.

So far as the sound problems are concerned;

HL2's sounds are all 16bit stereo 44000Hz, a lot larger than HL1's files, then you have the capability of your system and sound card to play these files whilst streaming them off the disk, all the while, the rest of the game is taking your system resources.

I HIGHLY recommend defragging your hard drives, even after installing the game as well. Personally, i use Diskeeper 9, i've found it to work exceptionally and improve hdd access no end. (google for this program, there is a free 30 day trial for it)

Also, make sure your sound drivers are as up to date as possible, they are one of the least updated drivers on anyones system.

Getting the game to load as much of its self into memory as possible also helps a lot; to do this, right click on Half-Life 2 in steam and select properties, then click launch options, put in "-heapsize 256000" without the quote marks. For the number, choose half your total system memory, in the examples case, its for a system with 512megs ram, you should use 512000 for systems with a gig of ram.

you can also try general system tweaks, do a google search for windows xp tweaking guide, there are plenty around, many with great advise for making sure your system is at the very least healthy before you start.
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