Guild Wars 2

this issue has not been resolved, it was started here in this thread, which is now closed :

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/bugs/Annoying-Sound-Bug

I posted over 7 months ago, please fix this, going on 9 months now, my ears are bleeding
when on vent with guildies. I’ve tested this with fresh install, XP, Win 7, and same issue.
used all the suggested tricks. from the previous thread.

I have also used several different computers, with the same issues, i had tried different audio
cards, everything from the onboard audio, the SB Live! series cards, same random clicking/popping
sounds, even with the audio settings down in-game, the sounds still happen.

I’ve played with no-firewall, no vent, no skype, no other applications running in the background,
and it still happens randomly.

The only temp fix was installing virtual audio cable and selecting that as my default audic device,
which disables my audio sound card, so i don’t have my ears in pain.

Why hasn’t this been fixed?

yes. “clicking and popping” randomlly.

this issue didn’t happen during beta, nor the first few months. I was under the impression that
the thread was also about the clicking sounds, i had posted with others about this issue for over
9 months,. and basically had to install another audio device to use that as the default, just to allow
myself to enjoy the game.

someone else had posted it on youtube last year :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkavVdhdPeo

it’s the same sound, sometimes it’s really really loud, and always has a echo effect, like a delay.

I have tried without success to remove this issue on several computers, with different soundcard
as mentioned before.

it also has been referred to as the “Gunshot sound-pop” issue

~thanks

ah i missed this thread, same issue i have currently :

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/bugs/Popping-noise-occuring-randomly

Yes, many of us have this issue, and it is so bad it has migrated out of the game to other instances on the computer. It is impossible to use headphones as the sound would then really hurt your ears or startle you out of your seat. Turning off all sound has no effect on this ‘bug’.

I’ve been having the same clicking/popping for months now.

Fortunately it’s incredibly infrequent, but adjusting ingame sound volume sliders don’t seem to affect it.

I’ve resorted to playing GW2 with my system volume always below 20%, and have for almost a year now.

I have also had this, and I know many, many people that have it too. It’s generally accepted as part of the game at this point. It used to happen a ton, and though it has been happening less over roughly the past few months, it still happens and is loud and a bit annoying.

Can confirm this it even happens when i got my audio muted ;_; it’s like a loud bang/popping noise the Youtube video link is what i’m hearing (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkavVdhdPeo)

yeah i’ve had this same bug too. it randomly happens every now and then. it sounds like small stone dropped in a well (or thats what i think it is). it will lower the games sound for a while and goes back up in 1-2 seconds.

I’ve had this too. I know I’ve had it about three times during the early stages of Jade Maw and twice(?) in CoF P1 at the Slave Driver if that helps. :S

Yea i experience this bug several times a day. It sounds like a Snare drum being hit with a little echo. Regardless of the fact Guild wars 2 Sounds are all turned off it still comes through the speakers.

sander.5830:

Can confirm this it even happens when i got my audio muted ;_; it’s like a loud bang/popping noise the Youtube video link is what i’m hearing (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkavVdhdPeo)

This is similar to what I’m hearing, but what I hear is always significantly louder than any other game sound.

Then again, it doesn’t always seem to be the exact same sound each time either.

Out of curiosity: how many of those who have the issue play in windowed fullscreen and/or tab in/out a lot? I seem to notice it more likely to happen after tabbing back in.

I like to play my own music via Pandora, Youtube, or even sometimes listen to podcasts, and often hear the sound on tabbing back into the game.

I’ve had this issue since launch. It’s a fair bet that almost every player in the game has experienced it at some point, which is why I wonder why it hasn’t been fixed yet.

The sound basically sounds like someone hitting a high-pitched drum really loud. Or like hitting a trashcan with a stick. And it always plays at max volume.

sander.5830:

Can confirm this it even happens when i got my audio muted ;_; it’s like a loud bang/popping noise the Youtube video link is what i’m hearing (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkavVdhdPeo)

This is the same sound that I hear, but for me it sounds as if it’s played at a higher pitch. It’s hard to record the sound while playing, since it randomly plays during combat like once or twice a day.

I have yet to meet a player who has not had this happen at least once.

This popping is the definition of random and can happen with full sound, no sound, while the game is minimized, and even shortly after the game has closed out. It is ambient in nature with a slight echo depending on the surroundings in the game or high pitch pop if the game is minimized. I have tried to cause it on purpose but no matter what I do it cannot be produced by the player. It happens in battles, running around maps, standing idle in cities, falling off cliffs, and just about everything between.

Good luck with those suffering from it more frequently and as always, good hunting!

It was an old sound recorded by them when they were making sounds in an old abandoned reactor silo there was a video on how they make the game’s sound and they made this exact bugged sound effect. I can’t find that exact video, but that sound was created “in house”.

I used to have this problem on my old rig – I moved a few months ago and it was damaged, and I’ve replaced it.

From old threads I seem to recall that this is actually a repeatable bug. A poster was able to reproduce it consistently. And it happens when stuff basically comes in processing range of your avatar. If it’s mid-sound, it’ll do this.

I don’t know why, but on the new rig it hasn’t done this to me at all. There may be a common factor in common builds (mine new one is pretty top-end) that is causing it.

I thought I was having this problem because I’m playing on a older laptop. It was really getting annoying, since the popping was becoming quite frequent, even when the game was on mute. I’ve been playing with my entire computer muted at this point to avoid it.

There must be more than one type of sound bug because I’m hearing one different from the one in that youtube video (which I have also heard a few times). Mine is just this fuzzy static noise that lasts 1 to 1.5 seconds but it’s also a lot louder than the game volume. It happened 3 times during the final boss (toxic hybrid) at the top of the tower of nightmares if that helps.

I am having the same exact issue, never had it before.. and it is getting really annoying to play GW2 with a popping sound and echo (depending on the surroundings in the game).

Is there a fix to this?

Same here, i seem to get it more in pve compared to wvw. It’s to the point where i usually play with the sound off.

I have been having this issue for months now and it happens only when I’m on GW2. I use a common headphone with onboard sound card, so nothing “special” here. Drivers are up-to-date and the only app that causes it is GW2. What was weird is I even heard it when GW2 was minimized and I had it set to mute sounds when minimized. So it wasn’t an “in-game environment” sound, like a shooting or something. It’s very random and happens either if I’m just standing somewhere selling my stuffs or if I’m in middle of a battle.

I’ve also been getting this audio bug. I installed the game about three weeks ago and the sound started occurring about two weeks ago. I have to keep my speakers at an extremely low volume (barely audible) to avoid damage to them or my ears.

Bump.

Still an issue.

Still causing me to rip my earbuds out.

Zorric.5704:

I have yet to meet a player who has not had this happen at least once.

Haven’t heard this sound ever (Win 7 x64, Nvidia GPU, Creative sound card). Maybe people who’re running into the issue could post their system specs to find something in common?

And are you absolutely sure it’s not some very common background process (like antivirus software, messengers etc) that pops out an invisible notification because it can’t show you a visual message?

Lishtenbird.2814:

Zorric.5704:

I have yet to meet a player who has not had this happen at least once.

Haven’t heard this sound ever (Win 7 x64, Nvidia GPU, Creative sound card). Maybe people who’re running into the issue could post their system specs to find something in common?

And are you absolutely sure it’s not some very common background process (like antivirus software, messengers etc) that pops out an invisible notification because it can’t show you a visual message?

I’ve had just as many people reporting the issue, as those that have no idea what I’m talking about.

It seems common, but not nearly as common as some would suggest.

Posted my specs in many older identical threads, threads that have been around since launch, but why not once more!

Win 7 Pro x64, AMD Phenom II X2, Geforce 9800 GT, Realtek HD Audio (onboard). I also at one point used a dedicated Creative sound card, and also had the issue.

It’s definitely not an intentional background process sound notification, because it ignores all volume settings aside from system (including GW2’s ingame volume slider. It still happens when master volume is set to 0) – not to mention it also never happens in other games or applications.

I still have this issue on a daily basis. One thing is important to note, is that it’s a sound that changes in pitch. It’s clearly a sound being played through Anet’s common battle-sound system, or what ever part of the sound alters the pitch of a sound randomly.

Relistened the youtube file (with eyes closed :p). Sounded like a fireworks sound to me – either from consumables, boxes of fun or guild rushes… May it be a sound which is actually being played somewhere in the map but due to a bug does not have its parameters set to a correct channel and plays for the whole map as its sound culling is bugged or even reversed? If so, does it play in, say, your home instance?

Halcyon.7352:

I’ve had just as many people reporting the issue, as those that have no idea what I’m talking about.

I’m not doubting your words, just providing feedback ^^

Halcyon.7352:

It’s definitely not an intentional background process sound notification, because it ignores all volume settings aside from system (including GW2’s ingame volume slider. It still happens when master volume is set to 0) – not to mention it also never happens in other games or applications.

Does it play when master volume is set to 0 and GW2 is set to mute sounds when minimized and GW2 is minimized?

If it doesn’t, that might be some sort of common background application conflicting with (specifically) GW2; if it does, then well, it must be terribly bugged as to ignore even the global mute (unless it simply zeros the master channel).

Either way, it’s weird why some people hear it and some don’t. It makes me think there should be a connection between the bug and software, but then people have tested it on different setups. It leaves either specific user settings combinations in options which people carry from machine to machine or… ehm… an item in inventory/on hero with an inherited bugged sound effect… Like, maybe, a box of fun which plays a sound of fireworks for a player which has the item instead of the player which triggered it on the other side of the map…

It’s definitely not software causing this. It’s a clear sound sample being played at a far too high volume, and you can even hear how GW2 changes the pitch of the sound dynamically. It doesn’t always sound exactly the same, even though it is the same sound sample.

I don’t think it’s a festive item, but some sort of battle sound. Because it often plays during intense battles.

I’ve been getting these wierd sounds as well. They seem like they should be some kind of notification. I use the system to mute GW2, they stop, but GW2 setting themselves have no impact (in fact, the quieter the master volume, the louder they seem to get).

Usually they’ve been loud enough to actually hurt my ears, even with system master volume on 20% and gw2 half that. Really annoying and I hope something is done soon.

I may have an idea where this sound is coming from, but it’s just a guess. Yesterday I was in Hoelbrak, and I happened to jump down a ledge. As I landed I heard this sound at the exact moment that I landed. Oddly enough, repeating the same jump did not repeat the sound. So maybe this weird sound is some how related to some of the landing sounds of the players?

Mad Queen Malafide.7512:

I may have an idea where this sound is coming from, but it’s just a guess. Yesterday I was in Hoelbrak, and I happened to jump down a ledge. As I landed I heard this sound at the exact moment that I landed. Oddly enough, repeating the same jump did not repeat the sound. So maybe this weird sound is some how related to some of the landing sounds of the players?

Don’t believe so, as I’ve experienced it in water (on the surface)

I have tried to record it but no success so far (no luck to catch it while recording), but yes, it happens at very random moments. Usually it happens after battles or another noisy moments, but I also have seen it happening when just opening and closing the Hero panel and World Map (I was checking suggested location for some achievements) while standing near a WP at a quiet area.

I will still try to record it then people can have a better idea.

bumping this thread, because the issue is still not resolved.

I’m still getting the clicking and popping, as it’s been going on a year now,
I’ve had this occur on three different computers, and it’s really crazy that
this hasn’t been fixed.

I’ve had the sound issues on XP, Windows 7 & 8 as stated on three separate
systems, with three different sound cards, on-board audio and it even happens
on usb audio. so how is this possible and there’s no fix?

sander.5830:

Can confirm this it even happens when i got my audio muted ;_; it’s like a loud bang/popping noise the Youtube video link is what i’m hearing (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkavVdhdPeo)

This is the exact sound I hear…still, after nearly two years. It happens in-game, anywhere, at any time, when the game is minimized, and even outside the game now, since playing GW2.

I wish the Audio team or QA would look into this, as it renders the game impossible to play with headphones because the sound is SOO loud and startling. Sigh.