Sound not working properly

Age of Empires II: DE II - Report a Bug
1

:play_button: GAME INFORMATION

:backhand_index_pointing_down: These details are CRITICAL; DO NOT skip them or your issue may not be reviewed.

  • GAME BUILD #: 21925283
  • GAME PLATFORM: Steam
  • OPERATING SYSTEM: Windows 11

:play_button: ISSUE EXPERIENCED

:backhand_index_pointing_down: DESCRIBE THE ISSUE IN DETAIL (below). LIMIT TO ONE BUG PER THREAD.

My game’s sounds aren’t working. Everytime I try to load a game, it sounds like wind blowing in my earphones.

:play_button: FREQUENCY OF ISSUE

:backhand_index_pointing_down: How often does the issue occur? CHOSE ONE; DELETE THE REST !

  • 100% of the time / matches I play (ALWAYS)

:play_button: REPRODUCTION STEPS

:backhand_index_pointing_down: List CLEAR and DETAILED STEPS we can take to reproduce the issue ourselves… Be descriptiv e!

Here’s the steps to reproduce the issue:

  1. Start the game with wireless earphones activated.

  2. Listen to the sound.

:play_button: EXPECTED RESULT

:backhand_index_pointing_down: What was SUPPOSED to happen if the bug you encountered were not prese nt?

The sound playing normally.

:play_button: IMAGE

:backhand_index_pointing_down: ALWAYS attach a PICTURE (.jpg, .png, .gif) or VIDEO (.mp4, YouTube link) that highlights the prob lem.

:play_button: GAME FILES (SAVE / RECORDING)

:backhand_index_pointing_down: Attach a SAVE GAME (.aoe2spgame) or GAME RECORDING (.aoe2record) of the match where you encountered the issue. Link it below if using an external file ser vice.

3 Likes
2

Ah, Same here.

What device do you use? I’m using Samsung Galaxy Buds 2. I thought it was the matter of my device.

If your device is not the same one of mine, I think the audio chatting mode is the major cause.

3

I’m using a Sony one. I found that turning off handsfree telephony resolves the issue.

4

I also have this issue using Sony WH 1000XM4. This issue is related to the new voice integration in the game, which forces the headphones or earbuds to turn on the microphone, which makes Windows switch to hands-free mode. Sadly turning off Voice Chat in Settings does NOT fix this issue, which I had hoped would solve the problem since that indicates the mic is not needed at all.

Unlike @mmlhoe disabling hands-free telephony in Windows settings also does not work for me, as the sound cuts out and crackles completely as soon as you start up AOE. When I am running music in the background (Spotify) the cutting in/out of the audio also affects Spotify.

Please fix this, devs - this makes the game literally unplayable for me since I cannot use any sound.

1 Like
5

sadly turning off Voice Chat in Settings does NOT fix this issue

Yes, it doesn’t matter that you’ve disabled in game afterwards because when Windows detects a program trying to use hands free voice, it elevates the device priority so that it becomes the primary device used, which will either make playback (the audio you hear) fully muted or sound like garbage. Since it has already altered a Windows setting the game’s settings don’t really matter at that point.

1 Like
6

Disabling voice chat *does* fix this problem but the catch is that you must first select a different device for the mic and output before you disable. If you leave the mic or output assigned to your bluetooth device and disable voice chat then the issue persists. You don’t need to restart - audio quality will go back to normal right away. Verified with Apple Airpods Pro (latest generation).

3 Likes
7

For me, to fix the new sound bugs i did 3 steps:

1 - In windows configs, turn off hands free voice to have your bluetooth audio back.
2 - In windows configs, disable microphone access to desktop apps so you don’t get your audio leaked.
3 - In aoe2 configs, disable voice chat, so you don’t hear other players leaked audios.

10

Nah, it DOES NOT WORK.

If the game is restarted, all the problem occurs again. It could be a temporal expedient, it cannot be the solution.

1 Like
11

This is already being tracked. Thanks for the report.

13

This worked for me too, and it still ok after a game restart. First i had disable hands free voice and that works too, but i lost the ability to check my bluetooth device battery level, so now i tried this other option.

14

Today the patch notes said the following, but i didn’t see any fix:

”Fixed an issue that would cause Voice Chat to default to On when launching.”

Bug1: The microphone is still being leaked even if you turn off voice chat in game options.
Bug2: The bluetooh audio is still bugged.

1 Like
15

After today’s patch, the issue is somewhat strangely fixed.

The bug occurs after launching the game. After select option-sound tap, the bug fixed.

When restart the game, it happens again, and I had to repeat the step.

Should I repeat this step every time to play AOE2? What a mess…

16

Same here.

Before it was working normally.
It IS working normally everywhere outside off game.
But inside of game everything is wrong, I can hear sounds, but they are just horrible.

And the moment I close game, everything is going back to normal. I mean, When I’m start program sound is wrong even outside off game, like Twitch stream and everything.

From my previous problems, it looks like it sort of using headphone speakers as micro and other way around? It’s hard to describe, but something is wrong because those headphones have microphone (that I’m not using).

Sorry for my bad English.

1 Like
17

I noticed today that, despite Voice Chat being disabled in Options → Audio, that AoEII DE is taking control of my microphone (I noticed because it defaulted to my webcam microphone and the LED lit up on the webcam).

AoE II DE Version: 101.103.38580.0 (#169652) 22006676