Underwater Noise

Transen · 03-30-2007, 01:51 PM

Couldn't find anywhere where this had been posted so doing so here. Is anyone who is working on this game taking a look at that annoying popping, clicking, banging, and scratching noises that seem to take place whenever one goes underwater? It doesn't seem to happen when sound is set to "Miles Fast 2D Positional Sound" but if I try Dolby or any of the EAX sound formats, I get those sounds..which get progressively louder and more annoying. I have no idea why those sounds are even there. Can only guess it's armor being compressed by the pressure underwater but to hear the same sounds on my cloth-wearing alts? Here's a link to an example of what I'm talking about (using EAX 4): Underwater-noise.mp3

TheOrder20 · 03-30-2007, 09:39 PM

I'm hearing the same exact thing when i dive underwater.. dont know why.. creative drivers are up to date..

Jeenyous · 04-06-2007, 12:00 PM

Same. Must fix.

Malloc · 04-06-2007, 04:22 PM

Have the same problem also. There are also places in EoF where this happens. I notice it alot when in the Kelethin Bank.

darkavenger · 04-07-2007, 06:21 PM

Hello all, I am getting the same thing. However it is not just an underwater issue. I ran a lot of tests and made a lot of different hardware configurations with no change's. The popping happens indoors also, just not as noticeable. There is obviously an eax problem here. For me it seems to happen only in some areas of the game. I have a fae toon which it seems to happen with in the fae area the most. I have a wizard in qeynos, i went indoors with and underwater in the b shire area and there is no problem with sound. When i took him to bb the popping was real bad under the water in that area. I use a soundblaster audigy sound card and have tried a number of different drivers for and still the problem persists. I'm at a loss here, nothing left to try other then use another sound card. Just for the record, this is not the only game ive had sound popping with, but not to this extreme. So who's at fault here? I don't know if creative just sucks or its a combonation of both the game and soundblaster. I have a friend who has the audigy 2 card and he has no problems. What card are you all using?

TheOrder20 · 04-07-2007, 11:27 PM

I am using the Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS, and have been using it for a very long time, and it hasnt always done this, so it has to be somthing with EQ2, like a change or something.

darkavenger · 04-08-2007, 05:05 AM

My friend is using the exact card as you with no issues. Both him and my self have the same exact hardware other then our sound cards, him using the card you have and my self the audigy 1. Makes absolutely no sense to me. I would have to agree with you about the problem being on the eq end but the fact that this isnt happening to everyone using audigy tends to make me think maybe creative put out a bad batch of cards or something. hope i'm wrong and your right. I'm going to get to the bottom of this 1 way or another, its buggin me out, sound is to important to me. What I will do is swap cards with my wife's pc, using the older soundblaster live and see what happens then. or have my buddy bring his card over and see what happens. I would think if the issue stops after i useing my friends card it has to be some bum cards being sold. I'm wondering if updateing my mother board chipset drivers will have any effect.

Albrig · 04-10-2007, 06:14 AM

Cloth simulation Shadows Underwater sound effect What's next. The shattered Moon crashes into Norrath?

darkavenger · 04-10-2007, 05:49 PM

My update on the sound issue. Well i took my audigy out and popped in my wifes sb live card. Sound issue gone. I am still leaning on a bad batch of creative crap that does not agree with whatever sony did with their last update.

Bournville · 04-24-2007, 10:25 AM

I get more of a banging sound underwater. I have an Audigy 2 Value soundcard.

Transen · 05-21-2007, 06:49 AM

I myself am using a Soundblaster X-Fi sound card (comp built by Dell, payed extra to upgrade to that sound card). It sounds (forgive the pun) like a software problem to me. Whether it's on Sony's or Creative's end, I have no idea. I'm more interested in knowing whether or not this will ever be looked into or if it has, what was found out? I want to know whether or not if the EQ2 devs plan to look into it, have already looked into it, and more importantly, what's the plan if any?

cronar · 05-24-2007, 05:51 PM

I've noticed this myself.

Normally i run with headphones on, occasionally using speakers. Where i get trouble is when switching from game mode to music mode.

If i switch modes and change to 5.1's and forget to switch back to headphones before i shut down the pc, i find my sound card with compatibilty issues. (so when i turn the pc back on, it is in gaming mode, shows headphones, however in a deeper layer of the sound cards programining, it still has 5.1 mode from the entertainment interface).

Now this leads to why i posted this. If i take the time to make sure both modes match the speaker type, i don't get the odd popping noises underwater and in certain overland areas.

Might be rare, might not be connected, but ya never know. Oh, and there are new creative drivers out now. If you download them, it changes your interface, thus changing all of your settings. Don't forget to redo them.

Velsha · 05-24-2007, 05:52 PM

Me too.... just to add my voice.

Transen · 03-26-2009, 03:26 PM

Since there's been no answer, I did a little digging around myself:

http://support.creative.com/kb/show....aspx?sid=46913

In the end, I turned down the hardware acceleration on my sound card 1 notch and that fixed (or more specifically, disabled EAX options) for me. It's a temporary solution until I feel more confident about messing with bios settings and trying to figure out what dark ritual created the inner workings of my computer (need to get a hold of Dell support and find out why just about everything is listed on a pci bus).

Lethe5683 · 03-26-2009, 08:50 PM

I have the same problem unless I disable EAX. I think it's just a distortion of what is meant to be under water "ambience".

Transen · 03-27-2009, 02:44 AM

Lethe5683 wrote:

I have the same problem unless I disable EAX. I think it's just a distortion of what is meant to be under water "ambience".

Yeah, been thinking pretty much the same thing. Doesn't happen in all zones with water though. In the following link I think is as much of a good explanation as any as to why this happens:

http://forums.nvidia.com/lofiversio...php?t45363.html

While I don't think that all cases where people experiencing that noise will have a Nvidia motherboard, I think the explanation of what's going on could be applied to any system with a X-Fi sound card.

Excerpt from that link:

"A full technical description is detailed below, but in brief, the PCI bus data requests are not being serviced leading to "gaps" in the audio, resulting in sudden dropouts to no audio and back again which gives rise to what is perceived as crackling."

I would guess these gaps of silence are so short (like in miliseconds) that we would indeed percieve it as crackling/popping noise. Still no clue what causes that loud banging noise though.

Seeing as this kind of sound distortion doesn't happen in all zones with underwater areas (Kylong Plains doesn't seem to have a problem with that and yet it's not isolated to expansions as the problem does persist in Timorous Deep), I'm still left to wonder if the EQ2 dev team couldn't compare the differences between the 2 different areas and maybe even stop this from happening in the zones it currently does happen in..but then I'm not educated in such matters and really don't know what's involved.

Cub · 04-06-2009, 02:36 AM

I get popping and cracking every time with EAX 4 or 3 mode with my sound blaster X-fi 64mb with underwater and any low rumble like walking passed a monument in darklight wood. If i use software it is fine but also sound like junk compared to EAX and kills my 6.1 channel sound.

And it is only in this game every other game or APP i use EAX on works flawless and i always update the drivers. It has been like this since I started the game and played the TRial of isle back when ever that was, years ago.

I wish it would be fixed since it hurts my ears and makes swiming not fun. the bannging sound is nothing but pure bass on my speakers and hurts at high volmue so I have to turn it down when that comes on. So i guess it is the same problem.

03-30-2007, 01:51 PM	#1
Transen Loremaster Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 732	Couldn't find anywhere where this had been posted so doing so here. Is anyone who is working on this game taking a look at that annoying popping, clicking, banging, and scratching noises that seem to take place whenever one goes underwater? It doesn't seem to happen when sound is set to "Miles Fast 2D Positional Sound" but if I try Dolby or any of the EAX sound formats, I get those sounds..which get progressively louder and more annoying. I have no idea why those sounds are even there. Can only guess it's armor being compressed by the pressure underwater but to hear the same sounds on my cloth-wearing alts? Here's a link to an example of what I'm talking about (using EAX 4): Underwater-noise.mp3 __________________

04-06-2007, 04:22 PM	#4
Malloc Loremaster Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 50	Have the same problem also. There are also places in EoF where this happens. I notice it alot when in the Kelethin Bank. __________________

05-21-2007, 06:49 AM	#11
Transen Loremaster Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 732	I myself am using a Soundblaster X-Fi sound card (comp built by Dell, payed extra to upgrade to that sound card). It sounds (forgive the pun) like a software problem to me. Whether it's on Sony's or Creative's end, I have no idea. I'm more interested in knowing whether or not this will ever be looked into or if it has, what was found out? I want to know whether or not if the EQ2 devs plan to look into it, have already looked into it, and more importantly, what's the plan if any? __________________

05-24-2007, 05:51 PM	#12
cronar Loremaster Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 177	I've noticed this myself. Normally i run with headphones on, occasionally using speakers. Where i get trouble is when switching from game mode to music mode. If i switch modes and change to 5.1's and forget to switch back to headphones before i shut down the pc, i find my sound card with compatibilty issues. (so when i turn the pc back on, it is in gaming mode, shows headphones, however in a deeper layer of the sound cards programining, it still has 5.1 mode from the entertainment interface). Now this leads to why i posted this. If i take the time to make sure both modes match the speaker type, i don't get the odd popping noises underwater and in certain overland areas. Might be rare, might not be connected, but ya never know. Oh, and there are new creative drivers out now. If you download them, it changes your interface, thus changing all of your settings. Don't forget to redo them. __________________

03-26-2009, 03:26 PM	#14
Transen Loremaster Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 732	Since there's been no answer, I did a little digging around myself: http://support.creative.com/kb/show....aspx?sid=46913 In the end, I turned down the hardware acceleration on my sound card 1 notch and that fixed (or more specifically, disabled EAX options) for me. It's a temporary solution until I feel more confident about messing with bios settings and trying to figure out what dark ritual created the inner workings of my computer (need to get a hold of Dell support and find out why just about everything is listed on a pci bus). __________________

03-30-2007, 09:39 PM	#2
TheOrder20 Loremaster Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Utah Posts: 68	I'm hearing the same exact thing when i dive underwater.. dont know why.. creative drivers are up to date..

04-06-2007, 12:00 PM	#3
Jeenyous Loremaster Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 74	Same. Must fix.

04-07-2007, 06:21 PM	#5
darkavenger Newbie Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 7	Hello all, I am getting the same thing. However it is not just an underwater issue. I ran a lot of tests and made a lot of different hardware configurations with no change's. The popping happens indoors also, just not as noticeable. There is obviously an eax problem here. For me it seems to happen only in some areas of the game. I have a fae toon which it seems to happen with in the fae area the most. I have a wizard in qeynos, i went indoors with and underwater in the b shire area and there is no problem with sound. When i took him to bb the popping was real bad under the water in that area. I use a soundblaster audigy sound card and have tried a number of different drivers for and still the problem persists. I'm at a loss here, nothing left to try other then use another sound card. Just for the record, this is not the only game ive had sound popping with, but not to this extreme. So who's at fault here? I don't know if creative just sucks or its a combonation of both the game and soundblaster. I have a friend who has the audigy 2 card and he has no problems. What card are you all using?

04-07-2007, 11:27 PM	#6
TheOrder20 Loremaster Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Utah Posts: 68	I am using the Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS, and have been using it for a very long time, and it hasnt always done this, so it has to be somthing with EQ2, like a change or something.

04-08-2007, 05:05 AM	#7
darkavenger Newbie Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 7	My friend is using the exact card as you with no issues. Both him and my self have the same exact hardware other then our sound cards, him using the card you have and my self the audigy 1. Makes absolutely no sense to me. I would have to agree with you about the problem being on the eq end but the fact that this isnt happening to everyone using audigy tends to make me think maybe creative put out a bad batch of cards or something. hope i'm wrong and your right. I'm going to get to the bottom of this 1 way or another, its buggin me out, sound is to important to me. What I will do is swap cards with my wife's pc, using the older soundblaster live and see what happens then. or have my buddy bring his card over and see what happens. I would think if the issue stops after i useing my friends card it has to be some bum cards being sold. I'm wondering if updateing my mother board chipset drivers will have any effect.

04-10-2007, 06:14 AM	#8
Albrig General Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 245	Cloth simulation Shadows Underwater sound effect What's next. The shattered Moon crashes into Norrath?

04-10-2007, 05:49 PM	#9
darkavenger Newbie Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 7	My update on the sound issue. Well i took my audigy out and popped in my wifes sb live card. Sound issue gone. I am still leaning on a bad batch of creative crap that does not agree with whatever sony did with their last update.

04-24-2007, 10:25 AM	#10
Bournville Server: Lucan DLere Guild: Dragon Hunters Rank: Royal Guard Loremaster Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 162	I get more of a banging sound underwater. I have an Audigy 2 Value soundcard.

05-24-2007, 05:52 PM	#13
Velsha General Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Lucan D'Lere Posts: 139	Me too.... just to add my voice.

03-26-2009, 08:50 PM	#15
Lethe5683 Loremaster Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 5,351	I have the same problem unless I disable EAX. I think it's just a distortion of what is meant to be under water "ambience".

03-27-2009, 02:44 AM	#16
Transen Loremaster Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 732	Lethe5683 wrote: I have the same problem unless I disable EAX. I think it's just a distortion of what is meant to be under water "ambience". Yeah, been thinking pretty much the same thing. Doesn't happen in all zones with water though. In the following link I think is as much of a good explanation as any as to why this happens: http://forums.nvidia.com/lofiversio...php?t45363.html While I don't think that all cases where people experiencing that noise will have a Nvidia motherboard, I think the explanation of what's going on could be applied to any system with a X-Fi sound card. Excerpt from that link: "A full technical description is detailed below, but in brief, the PCI bus data requests are not being serviced leading to "gaps" in the audio, resulting in sudden dropouts to no audio and back again which gives rise to what is perceived as crackling." I would guess these gaps of silence are so short (like in miliseconds) that we would indeed percieve it as crackling/popping noise. Still no clue what causes that loud banging noise though. Seeing as this kind of sound distortion doesn't happen in all zones with underwater areas (Kylong Plains doesn't seem to have a problem with that and yet it's not isolated to expansions as the problem does persist in Timorous Deep), I'm still left to wonder if the EQ2 dev team couldn't compare the differences between the 2 different areas and maybe even stop this from happening in the zones it currently does happen in..but then I'm not educated in such matters and really don't know what's involved. __________________

04-06-2009, 02:36 AM	#17
Cub General Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 53	I get popping and cracking every time with EAX 4 or 3 mode with my sound blaster X-fi 64mb with underwater and any low rumble like walking passed a monument in darklight wood. If i use software it is fine but also sound like junk compared to EAX and kills my 6.1 channel sound. And it is only in this game every other game or APP i use EAX on works flawless and i always update the drivers. It has been like this since I started the game and played the TRial of isle back when ever that was, years ago. I wish it would be fixed since it hurts my ears and makes swiming not fun. the bannging sound is nothing but pure bass on my speakers and hurts at high volmue so I have to turn it down when that comes on. So i guess it is the same problem.