Audio Problems - Unknown Cause

[Fernin]

I'm not sure what it is, but lately, the audio on Project 64 v 1.6 has been screwy. I tried switching to Zilmar's audio plugin, but it gave me the same screwed up sound. The sound sort of stutters, it repeats about a half second of sound endlessly. I haven't had this problem with any other program, so I don't think it's my sound card or drivers, but I copied the emulator to my other computer, and it worked perfectly on that one...

I have no idea what's going wrong with it, any thoughts?

Since I'm guessing they'll be needed, here's my laptop's specs...

Toshiba Satellite P205D
AMD Turion 64 bit Processor, 2.2 ghz
2 gb RAM
Vista Home Premium 32 bit OS
Realtek High Definition Audio, and ATI Function Driver for High Definition Audio

Edit: It's also worth noting that when I start up any game at all, it has no sound at all. It's when I load a save state that the sound kicks in.

[Gir489]

I had the same thing with my AMD Athlon 64.

Once I switched to a Core2 Quad Q6600, the problem went away.

I always thought it was my speakers.

EDIT: Mine's a desktop.

[Truth Unknown]

Fernin, is the volume on Jabo's DirectSound Plug-in (assuming it's the one used before zilmar's) turned down?


I had the same thing with my AMD Athlon 64.

Once I switched to a Core2 Quad Q6600, the problem went away.

I always thought it was my speakers.

EDIT: Mine's a desktop.

Not really helpful and suggests nothing.

[Fernin]

Jabo's is the one I'm using, and the volume is set at max. Turning the volume down doesn't fix the stuttering any, it just makes it quieter. ;)

[rswedlow]

This can be really bad question, but does sync game to audio help?
For zilmar's audio in the config there should be a pre-buffer slider which controls some frequency.

[Fernin]

Nope, checking Sync game to audio doesn't change anything. I fiddled with that slider, but it just gave me different pitches of stuttering sound.

[Truth Unknown]

Do you still have the problem with no sound when you start Emulation?

Also do you have any new applications that use sound while you use PJ64?

[Fernin]

Yes, I still have the problem with no sound when I start emulation. I also just went through loading different save states in a couple of games, sometimes I got no sound after loading, sometimes I got stuttering sound.

I don't have any new applications using sound, even if I test PJ64 all by itself, it does this.

Edit: I just deleted the emulator and downloaded a fresh copy, but that didn't change anything, unfortunately.

[Truth Unknown]

Do you have any power saving settings/modes on?

[Fernin]

No, I'm plugged in, I almost never use the battery.

[rswedlow]

I do have something for you to test.

Get Nemu64 from here.
http://forum.pj64-emu.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=93&d=1228708724

7Z compression handled by 7-Zip File Manager (http://www.7-zip.org)

First thing is whether this will even function for you. Since we have Windows Vista Nemu64 should be very sensitive to crash.

If you can start emulation though look around for an Option to change Audio configuration. Here are many options to experiment with--some of which won't take effect until game reset or the next initialization.

[Fernin]

Well, it functioned for me, and the audio worked fine. The graphics ranged from screwy to not there at all, and most games I tried didn't load, but the audio worked...

Hmm, adjust that to works... with errors. They are:

Audio Plugin Error: DirectSoundBuffer_Play
DirectSoundBuffer_Play: unknown error 2290679816

[rswedlow]

Those errors are, unique to the plug-in generally.
If audio works fine now without having the need to even touch the configuration then I guess there's not much information left to test.

Feel free to hit F9 and experiment with the options, see if anything can actually reproduce what happened on Project64, to signal info on how to apply a fix here.

Otherwise, if you want to get comfortable with Nemu64, hit F8 to change graphics plug-ins. Install plug-ins from the Project64\Plugin folder to Nemu64\Plugin to add more options here. This should restore the results of graphics emulation you had with Project64 if you have installed and set to use "Jabo's Direct3D8 1.6" (file: Project64\Plugin\Jabo_Direct3D8.dll).

[Fernin]

Well, I did some digging online and found an audio plugin that mostly works. It's called Azimer's Audio v0.20b. It works well with most games, it's a tiny bit staticy at times, but it's nothing really distracting. It does cause some slowdown in some games, though, like Banjo-Tooie and Donkey Kong 64, only run at about 40-45 frames per second, instead of the normal 60. Fiddling with the settings doesn't improve it any, or make it any worse. I'll keep checking various games and seeing which ones are slowed down by it.

[rswedlow]

If you use Project64 as long as it's version 1.6 you can just disable that Emulate/Simulate AI option in the config for that plug-in. In most games, you don't hear a difference, but there are cases where audio sounds better with the option off.

Switching from Jabo's DirectSound to Azimer's plug-ins should not be causing newly slow speeds, except for some games. Check again if you have that effect with the original plug-ins.

[Fernin]

...As I stated on the first page, with the original plug-ins, my sound is a stuttering half second of sound repeated on endless loop. That hasn't changed one bit since the start of this.

[rswedlow]

Switching from Jabo's DirectSound to Azimer's plug-ins should not be causing newly slow speeds, except for some games. Check again if you have that effect with the original plug-ins.

That means speed, not quality.
If changing to a different sound plug-in introduces speed issues that is highly unusual just so you know. This is asking you to check in terms of speed, not to restore stuttering.

All the more reference to this unusual report of inevitable stuttering with Jabo's DirectSound, to also have issues with speed when using Azimer's plug-in on your system

[Fernin]

Ah, sorry, didn't know what you meant. Prior to whatever caused this, I had full speed on all the games I mentioned, and even though the sound is screwy now, the rom still runs at the full 60 frames per second.

[rswedlow]

Have you tried re-installing or updating your sound drivers?
I haven't had this problem with any other program, so I don't think it's my sound card or drivers, but I copied the emulator to my other computer, and it worked perfectly on that one...
Different programs may use different ways to process sound, like two of the sound plug-ins you have tried in an emulator use different ways. If one has issues with stuttering where another has issues with speed I would be worried on maintenance of my sound drivers.

For now the only other possible cause I can think of is other software using your sound output (not necessarily playing audio but like accessing the drivers etc) to cause this intervention.