Snes9x Sound Crackling Issues -- Please Help!

Raks · Post by **Raks** » Wed Dec 08, 2010 9:28 pm

Some specs: I'm using the most up-to-date version of Snes9x (1.52 fix 4), running Windows 7 Home Premium, and using on-board audio (VIA High Definition Audio up-to-date).

The problem: I am having sound crackling issues in Snes9x. On a related note, I have the exact same issues in both Bsnes and Zsnes.

Some games work fine, with no crackling, like Super Mario World. Some games will only crackle at certain points: at the end of a match in Super Street Fighter 2 -- when points are tallied -- or the background music for Blanka's stage in Street Fighter 2 Turbo. Finally, some games will have nonstop crackling, like Super Ghouls 'N Ghosts. Every game seems to be different, which only makes the problem more difficult to troubleshoot.

What I've tried: I have increased and decreased the sound Input Rate. I haven't been able to find a sweet spot, but 31926 seems to work the best. My monitor's refresh rate is 60Hz.

I have tried every different Sound Driver, and have stuck with Snes9x Direct Sound, as it seems to work the best. I have also changed the buffer length to every option for every different Sound Driver. It is currently set to 64 ms.

The playback rate is set to 32Khz (SNES). Any other playback rate produces worse crackling, except for 8 Khz, which actually eliminates all crackling (the only fix I've found for Super Ghouls 'N Ghosts), but produces terrible sound.

I have toggled 16 bit playback and Sound Sync to no avail. I have also tried running the emulator with and without vertical sync.

Lastly, I have played around with the sampling rate for the on-board audio, which is currently set to 24 bit 48000 Hz.

As you can see, I am at my wits' end as to what the problem could be. I am planning to buy a new sound card, but have my doubts that it will make any difference. I would greatly appreciate any help anyone could offer.

Thanks!

Camo_Yoshi · Post by **Camo_Yoshi** » Sat Dec 11, 2010 5:08 am

I'm about 80% certain that it is the onboard audio; a dedicated soundcard will help a LOT with this. Plus VIA's audio chipsets are pretty crappy.

Seems the best out there are Realtek's or IDT...

sanjuro · Post by **sanjuro** » Fri Jan 07, 2011 10:29 am

I have these crackling sounds too, I've had them with every single version of Snes9x; better get used to it! It happens only with this emulator, although I've had big sound problems with Gens too, but it was always temporary.