RetroArch latest stable sound cracking/popping

RetroArch General
#1

Running in Windows.

I’m running the Retroarch x64 latest stable build, and there is a sound cracking issue that happens randomly. I’ve experienced the problem in the latest Mednafen PSX core.

It happens in every part of any game I’m playing, the sound randomly cracks/pops. I haven’t had this issue with the previous stable build (1.0.0.2) running the latest Mednafen PSX core. The cracking issue also happened in a nightly build (June 27).

I’ve tried turning VSync on/off, using Hard GPU Sync, adjusting the Refresh Rate… Setting audio delay to the maximum doesn’t help, and it quite frankly just delays the cracking.

When I first boot the game, the cracking is at its worst. When I switch video drivers and back (gl -> d3d -> gl) in the middle of play (and toggling fullscreen to refresh the driver each step), the cracking issue is reduced, but not completely gone.

I’ve tried using different sound drivers, but only dsound and sdl2 are working, and they both result in the same cracking.

The only options that are pretty different from the previous build is the Refresh Rate and audio options, which I feel are causing the issue.

The only reason I want to use the latest is for the newly supported keyboard binds and built-in fullscreen adjustment. The fullscreen adjust isn’t relieving any cracking issues.

So… any ideas? What’s up?

#2

I seem to be having the same issue. Retroarch was fine until 1.2 :confused:

#3

If you’re getting audio crackling, it’s almost always caused by sub-60 fps framerate dips. I believe some recent updates to mednafen-psx negatively affected performance, so if you were borderline before, you’ll likely get drops now. You could try using an older build of the core with the updated RA build to see if that’s what’s causing it.

For reference, turning on Hard GPU Sync will make the issue worse, as it increases the CPU load.

#4

Turning off Limit Maximum Run Speed in the Frame Throttle settings seems to resolve the issue. The menu runs too fast now until I activate mednafen-psx core. Everything runs smooth 60 FPS.

[QUOTE=hunterk;25505]If you’re getting audio crackling, it’s almost always caused by sub-69 fps framerate dips. I believe some recent updates to mednafen-psx negatively affected performance, so if you were borderline before, you’ll likely get drops now. You could try using an older build of the core with the updated RA build to see if that’s what’s causing it.

For reference, turning on Hard GPU Sync will make the issue worse, as it increases the CPU load.[/QUOTE]

I have the same issue with the older core in latest RA, but turning off Limit Maximum Run Speed resolved it. I know the Hard GPU Sync has a performance hit, but another user with the issue said it helped them, but that was in RA 0.9

#5

I have same Issue since the new releases, including 1.2.2 version : sound crackling in Mame, Yabause core and Mednafen PSX core that crash or have bugs. First I though it was because of bioses, but I use the same bios pack that always worked fine in last version (1.0.0.2).

#6

We’ll need logs to know what’s going on.

#7

So, I put on Verbosity in Loggin option and I put it in level 1 (info). And then, what should I do to get the log file ? Thanks

#8

Put it back to zero/debug and launch from a command line with --verbose. It will print any errors to the console.

Note: this isn’t going to be helpful for crackling audio but should tell you/us why it’s crashing. <- Edited this to actually make sense, lol

#9

Thanks, I will try. Now I have crash only when I close content on Yabause core. I m on windows 64 and on the last version 1.2.2

#10

[QUOTE=hostile1975;25778]Thanks, I will try. Now I have crash only when I close content on Yabause core. I m on windows 64 and on the last version 1.2.2[/QUOTE] Yay, I’m not the only one with that crash! :stuck_out_tongue:

I mentioned this issue on #retroarch a few days ago and provided a verbose log and windows crash log. But Twinaphex said you’d need a GDB stacktrace to properly debug the problem. Which I don’t know how to do. hunterk couldn’t reproduce the crash on Linux either.

#11

Thanks for your answer. I dont know either how to provide this to Twinaphex. For info, on the 1.2 version from the 6 of July, there is no bug and you can close content on Yabause core without crash.