Stutter on landing and on unpaved runway

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Lewis - A2A
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Re: Stutter on landing and on unpaved runway

Post by Lewis - A2A »

Hello Ralf,

just to confirm, can I ask how you checked the drivers for your onboard audio are all up to date?

thanks,
Lewis
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RALF9636
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Re: Stutter on landing and on unpaved runway

Post by RALF9636 »

Device-Manager - Sound Controller - Update Driver - Search automatically

Result: "The best drivers are already installed."

That was the result with both the onboard "High Definition Audio" and the "NVIDIA High Definition Audio".

The stutters occur with both sound devices. I tried them both.

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Nick - A2A
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Re: Stutter on landing and on unpaved runway

Post by Nick - A2A »

Hi Ralf,

Probably best to obtain the manufacturer's drivers rather than relying on Windows.

The onboard audio chipset on most modern motherboard is a Realtek device. You should be able to get the drivers either from the website of your PC system manufacturer (if it was a prebuilt system) or from the motherboard vendor (if it was a self-build).

Similarly for the NVIDIA drivers, download the latest drivers for your card direct from NVIDA website rather than from Microsoft.

To be honest, the drivers which Microsoft supply for Realtek chipsets seem to be pretty good, but it's always worth getting drivers from the device vendor if you can.

Thanks,
Nick
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RALF9636
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Re: Stutter on landing and on unpaved runway

Post by RALF9636 »

I understand that you need to rule these things out first.

I installed the latest NVIDIA driver 441.87 just a few days ago. The described stutters are there with all my audio devices.

I have absolutely no sound issues on my system, not with P3D or with any other application running on my system. It is just the A2A Cub when bouncing on the ground. This is not about an outdated sound driver.

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TymK
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Re: Stutter on landing and on unpaved runway

Post by TymK »

Hi,

Just to confirm Ralf's observations, I've actually had this issue with the Cub since the FSX times, but I was using an old X-Fi soundcard with unofficial drivers, so I always put it down to problems with Creative Labs' OpenAL implementation. However, the issue still occurs under P3D with a newer card (SB ZXr, latest certified drivers) and with the onboard Realtek. As Ralf said, I understand you need to rule out driver issues, but it's not that.

From my observation, it's not about a card's ability to play (multiple) WAV files, but rather about too many separate uncompressed files being loaded at once (there are dozens of WAVs for the various creaking sounds). In fact, in FSX, I would sometimes get a blue screen in the Cub in heavy weather (turbulence) as the many "squeak'n'creak" WAVs began to be loaded and played at once (which, at that time, I narrowed down to the X-Fi's problematic X-RAM being overfilled).

Like the OP, I get no sound issues whatsoever in any games or applications, and none in the other A2A Accu-Sim planes, so the only differences that I'd suggest looking at are:
- the use of 400+ separate WAV files rather than a single PAK file (as is the case with the rest of the A2A GA fleet); and
- the fact that multiple files seem to be played simultaneously (for me, the issue is most noticeable when touching down on tundra tires and when being tossed around by turbulence).

Best regards,
Tym

RALF9636
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Re: Stutter on landing and on unpaved runway

Post by RALF9636 »

Thanks for chiming in, Tym.

I think your assumption is correct the problem is that a plethora of files is played at the same time.

In my search to isolate a single problematic soundfile I deactivated all the wav files in groups one by one. I didn't find a single file that's causing the issue but it is related to the first 80 files (which apparently are the "squeak'n'creak" sounds). I found that the stutters decreased the more files I had deactivated of these first 80, no matter which ones (so apparently less files playing simultaneously).
Last edited by RALF9636 on 28 Jan 2020, 12:42, edited 2 times in total.

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Nick - A2A
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Re: Stutter on landing and on unpaved runway

Post by Nick - A2A »

Thanks for the additional info guys.

One thing that puzzles me a bit is why a few users seem prone to this issue whereas the majority apparently don't. Do you have any other add-ons playing ambient sounds when you encounter these stutters?

As I say, we're still looking into this issue, but unable to reproduce it at present. If anyone else reading this has similar issues, please do chime in too.

Thanks,
Nick
A2A Simulations Inc.

RALF9636
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Re: Stutter on landing and on unpaved runway

Post by RALF9636 »

Nick - A2A wrote: 28 Jan 2020, 12:29 Do you have any other add-ons playing ambient sounds when you encounter these stutters?
Negative. As I said before I had deactivated all my addons for testing this issue and I also tried at a remote airfield far from any of my scenery addons.

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Lewis - A2A
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Re: Stutter on landing and on unpaved runway

Post by Lewis - A2A »

Hello,

sorry to loop around but just want to make sure you are updated. Can you please go to your motherboard manufactures website and grab the latest drivers. The windows driver update system isnt an update so much as a get things booted up and running system. It should not be used to check if things are updated.

To correctly update you will need to grab the relevant drivers from the brands website for the model you have.

Tym, please understand that the files are essentially the same, the non packaged versions are just that and are technically easier to access. Its like accessing a file directly against going through zipped files to access the files within, so it shouldnt be that.

thanks,
Lewis - A2A
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TymK
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Re: Stutter on landing and on unpaved runway

Post by TymK »

Hi Lewis,

All updated and patched up here manually, I never trust Windows Update when it comes to HW drivers...

Nick, I've been trying to figure out what could be different about my system or P3D installation, but I'm really out of ideas.

The issue is 100% reproducible in my sim, the best way to test it is to put the Cub on tundra wheels in a flat field that is not designated as runway and start accelerating, preferably looking a bit to the side so you have a point of reference (like trees passing by). Whenever there is a stronger accumulation of the tire sounds, there's a slight 'jump' as if several frames were skipped. Once in the air, it becomes butter smooth.

Regards,
Tym

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Nick - A2A
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Re: Stutter on landing and on unpaved runway

Post by Nick - A2A »

Thanks Tym - we're continuing to investigate this on our end.

Nick
A2A Simulations Inc.

RALF9636
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Re: Stutter on landing and on unpaved runway

Post by RALF9636 »

I just installed the latest audio driver for my ROG STRIX Z370-F Gaming mainboard from the manufactorer's site.

The stutters are still there, the same as before.

It is exactly like Tym described.

As a workaround I removed most of the similar sounding wav-files before 83.wav. I only kept 1,5,15,21,24,32,41,48,50,60,65,70,74. That reduced the stutters on the ground significantly and I still have some of the sounds.

One more observation: The Floats version is fine. No stutters when taxiing on water and only minimal on touchdown.

Hook
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Re: Stutter on landing and on unpaved runway

Post by Hook »

This sounds a lot like a "too many sounds being played at once" problem that people have reported in other situations. This would explain why it affects only the Cub and why it doesn't affect everyone as it would depend on the sound hardware and drivers.

It may also be affected by what device you're using to play the sounds. If you're not using "default audio device" or similar for all your sounds, try that and see if it makes a difference. We've seen problems when someone is trying to play sounds through a headset or other device.

Hook

RALF9636
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Re: Stutter on landing and on unpaved runway

Post by RALF9636 »

RALF9636 wrote: 28 Jan 2020, 08:34
... with both the onboard "High Definition Audio" and the "NVIDIA High Definition Audio".

The stutters occur with both sound devices. I tried them both.

RALF9636
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Re: Stutter on landing and on unpaved runway

Post by RALF9636 »

As long as A2A does not find a solution for this issue, to completely get rid of the stutters on ground I removed all the files 1.wav to 99.wav and activated AccuFeel for the Cub, so AccuFeel now provides the missing sound - without inducing stutters.

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