I’ve been going mad trying to sort this out thinking it might be a hardware issue but I’m only experiencing the problem on TSW2 so I think the game might be the cause of the noise. While playing the game, at random (*not so random maybe) times there will be a lot of crackling sounds. These are not sounds that are being distorted, they are separate digital audio artefacts. They are barely noticeable when using headphones through the controller but they are definitely still there. The issue is more pronounced when the sound is output through my TV, where an extra layer of processing of the sound leads to the crackles becoming quite loud. * To my ears, it sounds like the crackles occur when new sounds are starting or old sounds stopping, so they occur when switching from internal to external camera or when approaching a station or other area with ambient sound effects. It appears that the sounds are starting playing from non zero points on the sound waves, causing a tiny click, that then gets amplified for the TV audio during the DA conversion more than in the controller headphone processing. It could be something else but I’m at a loss to what it could be. This doesn’t appear to happen on other games. Has anyone else had this issue on PS5 or elsewhere? DTG are already talking of changing the audio system for TSW2 and I was wondering if this is another symptom of the poor audio processing that leads to distortion on xbox and poor looping. TrainSim-Matt I’m tagging you in this because you have been talking of audio issues on the live streams. Is this a known issue? EDIT - Resolved - See post #10 for details. It was the PS5 settings being unhelpful and not the game, and after finding from this thread that it wasn’t a game issue I tried many things before stumbling through trial and error something that worked.
The audio system change i'm referring to is a specific one for the Xbox so would have no impact here at all. Not aware of this issue - so anyone else experiencing, it please make yourself known and ideally can you share some recordings of it? Thanks!
I‘m with matjamca here, stujoy. Haven‘t noticed anything like you describe. May I ask if you checked any other games to make sure the issue is TSW related?
It happens every time I play so it’s not an infrequent thing. I’m currently having to play on headphones as the crackling through the TV is off putting. I don’t reckon most people would even notice it through headphones but the issue I’m having through the TV is an amplified version of the same clicks, or so I believe. I’m seeing if anyone else is experiencing it before trying to go further with other investigations like using a different TV. I will do that anyway I reckon just for my own sanity. I can also connect other sources to my new TV but it’s going to be a pain. I don’t play other games but when my partner plays neither of us have have heard the same noises and I’ve played the game that came with the PS5 that shows off the controller capabilities through both headphones and the TV speakers and it didn’t occur on that either. This is why I’m thinking it’s the game that is the source of the crackles but it may well be that somewhere in the HDMI output chain (output, cable, TV input) this is getting amplified and that may be on my system only but will only happen if those tiny audio defects are present in the game. The crackles are definitely there in the headphones direct from the controller and only on TSW2 as far as I can tell so far. More investigations to do if nobody else is hearing it.
Hi Stujoy, I was driving Dresden Nahverkehr this morning inside a 146. I noticed those sounds, too. Very strange. I'll investigate a little further. Playing also on PS5.
For me, there is this really annoying cracking sound on the MBTA F40ph-3c. It seems to have something to do with audio looping. You can hear it when you drive above 25mph, with the throttle being at least in notch 6. I'm also on Ps5.
This I noticed as well. It doesn‘t happen on other trains for me and opening the windows gets rid of it.
I have noticed a crackle for the Boston F40 when idling- the loop crackles at regular intervals- it is juuuust audible but quite distracting. Haven't noticed anything new on other routes or locos which all seem to be behaving as before for me (just the various loops that have always not quite worked such as various aws alarms and horns) ps5
Issue Solved It was the audio settings on the PS5 that resolved this issue. Because I was outputting the sound through my TV, I had mistakenly, like you would, set the Audio Output to TV on the PS5. What I should have done was set it to AV Amplifier and change the output from 7.1 to 2 channels. This has cured the audio crackling I was experiencing. Who would have thought that setting the audio output to TV, a setting that no Google search gave any indications of people having issues with, but setting it to something different, where Google searches indicate lots of people having issues through their AV equipment would make the audio work properly through a TV. At no point anywhere had I found any indication that the PS5 output setting TV might not work well with a TV. The almost imperceptible sounds from the game probably have nothing to do with this after all and as that wasn’t the issue I was concerned with I am now happy again. So, there you go, try all the settings on all the devices, not just the ones the names imply are the right ones to use.
Happy to hear you‘ve resolved the issue. To my shame, I have to admit that I thought one of these settings were the issue but didn‘t bring it up since you were sure it only happened in TSW. I had random audio crackling when switching to my new 4k TV, but these also happened in the PS5 menu and in other games. Long story short, sorry for not bringing up these settings anyways, stujoy
Don’t worry about it. I actually did get a crackle in the main menu by flicking quickly between menu options just before I set about having a third or fourth go at messing with the settings, so at that point I started to think it wasn’t actually the game. It is strange that I never encountered it on other games but my testing with those wasn’t extensive. I really should have tried those settings earlier but my Google searches didn’t flag that up as an issue other than people had problems with the AV setting on soundbars etc, and with two new pieces of hardware involved both with settings I hadn’t come across before I was troubleshooting badly. The little crackles in the headphones threw me on to the path that it could be the game as the route cause hence this this thread. A red herring. You would think I would know better after being a sound technician for many years but I always fell foul when trying to connect digital things together even when I did that for a living. Connecting things with IP addresses was also a nightmare for me but give me 32 analogue sound sources and a mixing desk and I was in my element. I’m afraid tech developed faster that I did and that continues to be the case. I also don’t believe people have 7.1 ears but that’s an entirely different gripe
I've been experiencing crackling with my pulse 3D headset on PS5 on three routes so far; Luzern-Sursee, IOW 2022 and the Clinchfield railroad. It is happening whilst accelerating, seemingly the sounds of the traction motors/engines are becoming distorted and crackling. I would greatly appreciate anyone who might be able to say what's going on here and whether it's an issue with the game or the PS5. Thanks
