Static-like noise on IOS

Hi.

I have encountered a problem with audio while developing for IOS. There is a clicking/staticy noise appearing quite regularly. The same sounds/music play without a problem on PC. It was checked on few IOS devices, with the same result.

My first guess was it had something to do with the buffer(similar sound artifacts appear when there are problems with either size or cleaning/reloading), so i tried adjusting it’s size on IOS, but it resulted in either breaking some of the sounds completetly or straight up crashing the app.

Any help with this matter would be appreciated.

What OS version(s) are on the devices?

Hi Josh.

The devices we checked it on had 8.3 installed. The whole projects is 8.0+.

Hi ,

Can you attach the build output and the device crash to this thread as txt files?

Thanks!

Heya.

I downloaded , but i have a question. Since last update of the engine i think, are polluted with messages like those attached below. They repeat tens of times, so currently are barely readable. Do you know how to disable this? If i was able to do so, i’d remove thousands of lines of unnesecary clutter.

[link text][1]

44522-metalspam.txt (19.7 KB)

Can you test on a pre 8.3 device? Some things changed in 8.3 with threading that affects sound, but we hadn’t seen it in UE4, only UE3.

Sorry about that. The only way now to disable the is to remove the in the code, or to run a Shipping build. I’ll add a bug to remove the unless desired.

I’m attaching from the game, along with some additional info: I checked the game on 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, on iPad Air 2 and mini 3. Pretty much the same result on each one.

And about adjusting buffer size: At first i tried doing something with MONO_PCM_BUFFER size and samples, but it only affects PC, so i tried looking into IOSAudioBuffer.cpp and played around with BufferSize, but i’m not sure it is the right approach, because it seems to work in a different way.

below are for unaltered source code.

44819-log.txt (168 KB)

Hi guys.

Any new ideas on how to approach this problem?

Hi ,

Do you mind updating to the most recent release to see if you’re still experiencing this issue?

Thanks!

Hi.

I’m during a transition right now, I’ll let you know when we get the project running.

Hi ,

We’re gonna mark this resolved until you’re able to try with the newest version. If when you get to test you are still seeing this problem with the latest, post here and we’ll continue our investigation of your issue.

Thanks!

Hi.

Unfortunately problem persists in 4.8.1. I’m quite sure now that it has something to do with the buffer and not sounds themselves. I tried changing the sound files, disabling some of the sounds etc. The clicks still appear, and the more sounds are active, the more often it bugs out.

Also, whenever a sound hasn’t been used for a few seconds, and then it is played, the static appears every time without fail.

Have you tried any of our samples? Are these sounds marked as streaming or anything like that? Are all sounds that misbehave stereo?

I can’t see how the not playing for awhile thing could make a difference.

Josh

Sounds are not marked as streaming, and majority of them are mono, including those, that are problematic. I’m currently in the process of replacing them one by one and checking for exact spots that are making this noise. Still, what’s most interesting, is that everything is fine on PC, while IOS version is broken.

I’m going to make an Android build soon and check it out there.

Hi , are you still experiencing this issue? Were you able to reproduce on an Android device?

Hi.

We have tracked down specific sounds which were making those noises and are in the process of replacing them. I’m not exactly sure why those issues happen only on IOS, because on windows everything is fine.

Didn’t have a to test it on Android yet, because of launching problems in recent versions of UE.

Hi guys, just a final update.

I checked the sounds on Android - no problem there. This is really weird, but i was only able to reproduce this on IOS devices. Anyway, like i said, it’s just few sounds, so we’ll replace them.

I’m experiencing this as well. On UE4.8, iOS 8.2. Lots of static on almost all sounds, and clipping/cutting off of some sounds (footsteps played via anim notifies, for instance.)

I’ve been experiencing this problem since UE3 and it seems as though it’s never been resolved.

Hi mrgrimm01,

As discovered, this does not appear to be a problem with UE4 directly, in as much as we can’t reproduce it internally by any method. If you’ve been experiencing it since UE3 you may need to re-evaluate your development sound processes, especially if you’re only able to reproduce this on a selection of devices or one platform vs another.

Good luck!