Snes9x 1.53 Sound Crackling

If you're having problems with Snes9x, or think you've found a bug, this is the place to be.
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Spooniest
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Snes9x 1.53 Sound Crackling

Post by Spooniest »

I'm getting some intermittent pops in the sound whenever the buffer length is reached. Allow me to explain. The longer I set the buffer length (64 ms, 96 ms, etc.), the longer between sound hiccups. They never do go away, however.

Is there a fix for this?
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SparroHawc
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Post by SparroHawc »

I know there was an echo buffer fix not too long ago - try the most recent test build here: http://download.sessionclan.de/overfien ... 122011.zip
Spooniest
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Post by Spooniest »

Ok, I tried it. No difference, still having sound hiccups.
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OV2
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Post by OV2 »

Have you enabled sound sync? Try lowering the input rate.
SparroHawc
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Post by SparroHawc »

To clarify OV2's comment a little, try going into Sound Settings and bring the Input Rate down by 100 or so, and make sure the 'Synchronize with sound core' option is checked.
Spooniest
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Post by Spooniest »

Tried it, no effect. Shields are down to 57%!

Does this have anything to do with it being the 32 bit version of the program that I'm running on my desktop? Because I don't get these hiccups when I run the 64 bit version on my laptop.
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odditude
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Post by odditude »

specs?

also, have you tried killing bg processes to see if something else is interfering?
Spooniest
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Post by Spooniest »

It's a Gateway 842GM, and I just got this guy installed on it today.

I wouldn't know which processes to start with, honestly.
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the_randomizer
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Post by the_randomizer »

Try the integrated sound card (it has one built in), and if the crackling goes away, you know what the problem was. You should be able to switch on the integrated audio in the BIOS.
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Spooniest
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Post by Spooniest »

Holy shit. I NEVER in a million years would have guessed that having the Output Image Processing set to "TV Mode" was what was causing the problem. I turned it to "None" and the problem went away completely.

This issue is resolved...except that I like TV Mode...oh well.

EDIT 1: Further info.

There were still traces of sound popping until I disabled the "Hi Resolution Support" and "Blend Hi Res Images" options as well. If I had to make a caveman-like guess, I'd say the Hi Res engine is bumping up against the sound emulation...

This is in the Win32 version of the program, mind you.

EDIT 2: Even further info.

After switching the Output Method to OpenGL (which I can now do with no video problems, due to replacing my graphics card), the Output Image Processing and Hi Res options can be re-enabled with no further sound issues.

Swish!
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SparroHawc
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Post by SparroHawc »

Ahhh, that explains a lot.

What it sounds like to me is that your computer can't keep up normal emulation speed while using the filters without OpenGL picking up the slack. Then when your sound buffer runs out and the system emulation hasn't quite caught up, you get a slight gap between the end of the buffer and the start of the next buffer sample.

Since the OpenGL settings let the graphics card handle some of the image processing, it gives your CPU a bit more breathing room, and voila, you're emulating at full speed.
djclogan
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Re:

Post by djclogan »

SparroHawc wrote:To clarify OV2's comment a little, try going into Sound Settings and bring the Input Rate down by 100 or so, and make sure the 'Synchronize with sound core' option is checked.
this worked for me. running on ubuntu 14.04 with nvidia gtx 660ti and i7 3770-K 8GB
Elmo_San
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Re: Snes9x 1.53 Sound Crackling

Post by Elmo_San »

Hi! I also had a very similar hiccup. With the x64 version of Snes9X freshly unzipped, I immediately loaded a Mortal Kombat ROM, and suddenly could NOT escape the cries of what seemed to be a very agitated Geiger counter. After flailing around with a handful of settings from the Sound column, whether I was making the clicks more rapid or slowing them to a near metronome pace, I ventured into the Video column.

Nothing I did had any significant impact.
I suck.
Now, five and a half years since this thread was last alive, I humbly beseech thee -- here are my specs, please help!

OS Name Microsoft Windows 10 Home
Version 10.0.18363 Build 18363
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name LAPTOP-U9PQU8MG
System Manufacturer HP
System Model HP Pavilion Notebook
System Type x64-based PC
System SKU X3T20UA#ABA
Processor AMD A12-9700P RADEON R7, 10 COMPUTE CORES 4C+6G, 2500 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date American Megatrends Inc. F.23, 9/22/2016
SMBIOS Version 2.8
Embedded Controller Version 81.21
BIOS Mode UEFI
BaseBoard Manufacturer HP
BaseBoard Product 81FD
BaseBoard Version 81.21
Platform Role Mobile
Secure Boot State On
PCR7 Configuration Elevation Required to View
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS
System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "10.0.18362.752"
User Name LAPTOP-U9PQU8MG\Forrest
Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 8.00 GB
Total Physical Memory 7.45 GB
Available Physical Memory 4.07 GB
Total Virtual Memory 8.64 GB
Available Virtual Memory 4.80 GB
Page File Space 1.19 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys
Kernel DMA Protection Off
Virtualization-based security Not enabled
Device Encryption Support Elevation Required to View
Hyper-V - VM Monitor Mode Extensions Yes
Hyper-V - Second Level Address Translation Extensions Yes
Hyper-V - Virtualization Enabled in Firmware No
Hyper-V - Data Execution Protection Yes
Raptor007
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Re: Snes9x 1.53/1.60 Sound Crackling

Post by Raptor007 »

Just ran into the same in SNES9X 1.60 X64, and this thread was one of the first search results, so I'm posting a little more help for anyone else looking.

On my laptop, changing to DirectDraw mode (not Direct3D or OpenGL) made a big improvement. It's a dual-GPU (Intel UHD 630 / Nvidia RTX 2070) and I've noticed anytime it decides the Intel GPU is good enough for a job that requires hardware acceleration, it performs poorly.

An even most reliable fix for me was also in the video menu: allow automatic frame skipping (at most 2). This helped with all 3 video modes, but I opted to stick with DirectDraw.

I'm able to use filters like TV Mode without issue.

It would be nice for SNES9X to somehow decouple uneven video framerates from audio stutters. None of the sound settings, including Input Rate and Synchronize with Sound Core, seemed to have any effect on this problem. I had to tackle it entirely though video settings.
Typharius
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Re: Snes9x 1.53 Sound Crackling

Post by Typharius »

I had audio crackling on my PC using it, until I changed video output to D3D, then it completely went away.
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