Sound Issues

MinotaurXXX · April 2014

I play and randomly lose types of sound for periods of time. Usually footsteps/voices and takes a relog to fix. All my drivers are up to date and I never have this issue in other games.

ZOS_Bill · April 2014

Hi @MinotaurXXX‌

Since your audio drivers are up to date, you may want to check and make sure that this isn't related to a drop in game performance. In game you can use the command /fps to see the current framerate. If the framerate is dropping when sound goes away, it could indicate an issue with the computer loosing performance.

There could also be damaged sound files, which a repair may fix. Use the Repair option to download the missing files:

Start The Elder Scrolls Online launcher
Click on Game Option on top of the News section, and click on the option for Repair.
Allow the launcher to examine all the files for the game. This will take some time.
If any files are found to have problems, the launcher will re-download those files.

You may also want to try refreshing the PC's Audio:

Exit the game
Right click on the "Speaker" icon in the bottom right corner of the system tray. (Please note that the Speaker Icon may get hidden in the Notification Area. To find it, simply click on the "Up-arrow" Icon in the bottom right corner of the system tray)
Choose "Play Back Devices" from the drop down menu, and then right click in the window and select "Show Disabled Devices".
Right click on the actual device, and select "Disable".
Click Apply, and then right click the device again and select Enable
Press apply, and relaunch the game

Please let us know if any of the above helps, or you are noticing a FPS drop when the audio goes out.

lee.vanderlipub17_ESO · April 2014

I'm having the exact same issue. I never had this during beta and it only recently cropped up after the last patch. When I'm in Vulkhel Guard around the blacksmith/clothier area I will loose dialog with NPC's and then loose all my footsteps, horse sounds, pretty much everything except music. It's getting extremely frustrating and hope that they acknowledge this bug soon because it really screws up the ESO immersion. I love the game and would just like this taken care of

I've gone so far as to uninstall the beta client and reinstall the retail client. I've done multiple repairs and have made damn sure all my drivers are updated... This has to be something on their end.

Other threads... This needs to get fixed

forums.elderscrollsonline.com/discussion/67866/sound-just-randomly-disappears-sometimes#latest

forums.elderscrollsonline.com/discussion/61486/dialouges-missing-voice-overs#latest

MinotaurXXX · April 2014

Thank you for the suggestions but that did not work. Same issue. Voice dialog and footsteps randomly stop working. Other sound effects work properly. Requires game restart to fix. I have seen plenty of posts on the forums of the same issue. Not sure what else I can do. There is no frame spike lag at all. I run the game on ultra and have no lag.

KriHavok · May 2014

I experience this a lot too, been happening since launch...

C0deM0nkey_ESO · May 2014

Same issue here. Horse noises, running sounds, footsteps, dialogue with NPCs disappear for periods. If I keep playing 10-15 more minutes, or go to different areas of the map, the sounds always return. That tells me it's not my computer or drivers as it doesn't require a reboot or restart of the game client for the sound to come back.

Sound card: Sound Blaster X-FI titanium, using the latest drivers available for it on Creative's site.

Strontium-Dog · May 2014

I get this also since launch tho maybe worse since second week. Its voices and things like the "yah" when you sprint with horse or the whistle for summoning. Other sounds are there . Eventually I can get vendor voices back and its ok.
In AD main city Valhek(sp) theres a line i can cross over back and forth and this doesnt happen then happens.
Drivers up to date fairly new sound card and no issues elsewhere.

Dexter · May 2014

I had the same issue using the build in Realtek Audio on my MB. Installing the latest Realtek High Definition Audio driver (Version R2.73 from 11.11.2013) seems to have solved it and I'm sound issue free ever since.
My Windows 8.1 system told me its drivers are up-to-date before I installed the latest version. So you may not rely on the information the device manager is giving you when the system is checking for newer driver version automatically.

MinotaurXXX · May 2014

Thanks Dexter I just updated it manually. Ill see if that fixes it. and ill update you guys on here.

saiten · September 2014

Ive had this issue since the latest big patch, and Im fairly certain it is not driver or hardware related. Previously I ran it with Realtek HD audio, then I installed my Creative X-Fi to see if it solved the problem. It did not.

The game has been repaired, so the audio files isnt missing either.

My framerate is very high (100 fps+), so that isn't the problem either.

Footsteps, player "grunts", various spells, horse/hoofs are always whats missing. Sometimes they play fine, then suddenly they don't. Sometimes it's enough to just activate another program/process and flip back to the game and the sounds is lost.

I'd suggest you guys look into the audio engine a bit more, beacuse there is something you do that other games don't. If other games run fine with the audio card and drivers I use, so should ESO.

The ammount of bugs in this game is simply staggering. latest patch actually broke more things than it fixed.

ZOS_GaryA · September 2014

Hey there @saiten,

We are currently looking into the intermittent sound issues that have occurred after patch 1.4. We appreciate your patience while these are investigated and a fix is found.

KeplerMG · December 2015

I've always had this problem. Has a fix been found?

Pajoonk · March 2016

ZOS_GaryA wrote: »

Hey there @saiten,

We are currently looking into the intermittent sound issues that have occurred after patch 1.4. We appreciate your patience while these are investigated and a fix is found.

Have you resolved this issue already?

I had this problem today, not to mention more frequent sound lag, or obviously missing sounds (i.ex. rain sound that you can hear in one moment but can't just after few seconds and than can hear again...).

maboleth · March 2016

^ Err... this post was originally from 2014.

Phinix1 · March 2016

ZOS_GaryA wrote: »

We are currently looking into the ... sound issues that have occurred after patch ... We appreciate your patience while these are investigated and a fix is found.

OK, I'm sorry but...

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Nice 2014 thread necro. Maybe whatever they did to fix it last time it broke could be applied again some time this week now that they've broken it again?

Pajoonk · March 2016

I aspire to be master necromancer, never thought I will achieve it on forums faster than in game ;-)

Seriously though, it's not funny. Completely takes immersion and fun out of game.
None of the fixes (disable additional audio devices, restart audio etc.) work.
The fact that this problem is present or reappears since 2014 is abysmal.

I believe it broke after last patch, but can't be sure cause I had the game for only day or two before it was applied.
I should mention that I run 64bit client. Info about my hardware is in attachment.

Please Zenimax put this bug to its final rest.

Brightxdawn · March 2016

The sound issues are still here? When will this be resolved??????????????

Göttermutter · March 2016

sound was always a problem on modern sound cards and let me guess, it is for sure a treiber problem! *g*
sounds for modern cards are all right at moment on the 32 clients, not on the 64 bit client, dont use it!

Aektann · March 2016

Göttermutter wrote: »

sound was always a problem on modern sound cards and let me guess, it is for sure a treiber problem! *g*
sounds for modern cards are all right at moment on the 32 clients, not on the 64 bit client, dont use it!

Sounds broken on both clients, not only on the 64 bit.

Pajoonk · March 2016

Göttermutter wrote: »

sound was always a problem on modern sound cards and let me guess, it is for sure a treiber problem! *g*
sounds for modern cards are all right at moment on the 32 clients, not on the 64 bit client, dont use it!

People report same problems on 32-bit version. Besides performance hit on 32-bit is too big to justify switching.