Netplay causes massive audio crackle even though fps fairly stable

RetroArch
#1

Hey all. I’ve been exploring netplay with RetroArch and have ran into a very terrible audio issue. Essentially, the moment I connect with my friend, the audio starts to crackle quite noticeably! We’ve tried changing who is hosting. Both have 60+ download speed, 7+ upload. We both do twitch streaming so we know we have consistently stable internet connections. Here’s the kicker though, the moment we disconnect, it’s back to normal. Sound is perfect. This occurs for all games, using different cores, etc.

I’m at quite a loss as to what to do. I’ve tried messing with various settings regarding frame rate, taking vsync off and using freesync, turning audio_rate_control to false, changing audio frequency to something other than 48000.

I really like retroarch and I’d love to play with my buddies, but the audio crackle makes games unplayable.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I’m fairly tech savvy so I can do experiments if need be.

Thank you very much!

#2

Have you tried messing with any of the options in settings > network? Like adding a latency frame?

If none of that helps, you could also try increasing the value in settings > audio > dynamic audio rate control. The default is inaudible, but you can increase that number to reduce crackling, though you will start to hear the pitch warbling at very high settings.

#3

I’ve tried adjusting the Netplay Check Frames. I can’t recall if I messed with the “Input Latency Frames” I’ve tried a bunch of things late at night and we all know how that goes :smiley: Things get hazy after so many hours, haha. Is this something that both the host and client would need to do to see a change?

In regards to the dynamic audio rate control, I have adjusted that from .001 to 0.020 and none of theme achieved a bearable audio sound. The default value for it works perfectly fine when playing solo. Only when connected to another person does it all go to hell.

I’ll try adjusting the input frame latency to see if that remedies the problem and get back to you. And thank you very much for responding. I didn’t expect to get any response for at least a few days if any :smiley: Much appreciated.

#4

I tried changing the input latency frames trying all 0-15 options; none of them remedied the situation and resulted in roughly the same sound but worse input lag. Changing Dynamic audio rate control didn’t help and still results in audio crackling.

#5

Anyone else have any suggestions? I’m more than happy to try them all out and am open ears!