TTS Voices crackling/popping only in Voice Attack [Solved]

[DarKheran]

EDIT: Somewhat solved my problem right as I went to post this trying one last thing I missed in my process of trying to fix the issue. I guess ill post anyways just incase someone else runs into this issue and gets as lost as me. According to Pfeil later in this thread I may have a sound driver issue, that or some OS issue derived from third party modifications at some point in the past. Either way, as a workaround I went to VA settings > Audio > and set Audio Output Type to Windows Media Components (a legacy workaround), apparently it installs with Integrated Components as the default (which should be preferable on most systems) and indeed the crackling/popping I was hearing is gone at least for my system. Despite having used VA several times before and not recalling ever choosing that setting manually, this fixes the issue in my specific case. As Pfeil has said however, Integrated Components should be enabled on most systems.


The Issue:
Theres a strange issue im having that I can't seem to get to the bottom of. Any TTS voice I use in Voice attack has a popping/crackling sound to it but only there. When I preview it in windows 10 system settings they sound perfectly fine. I should also point out that ive used voice attack multiple times on this system before and never had this issue. This is a completely new problem for me.

Things ive tried: I've uninstalled VA twice now, once a soft install/reinstall, the second time deleting as many traces of it I know of such as the %Appdata folders and whatnot. Ive uninstalled and reinstalled language packs, then uninstall all but the base english one and noticed even those are effected by it. Ive run a SFC scan to see if there was something wrong with the system, everything is verified/validated. Ive run in and out of administrator mode. Ive tried various settings in the VA settings such as changing the Speech Engine. I recorded a small sound sample of the problem and uploaded to youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjQsa_CWecA&feature=youtu.be The windows preview sounds fine, yet the VA preview has a crackling sound to it. Any help appreciated!

[Pfeil]

Have you checked whether your sound card drivers are up to date?

Integrated components uses a fairly common library (BASS), which is not known to cause issues (and, as you mention, it didn't before, so something must have changed on your machine; Windows may have updated a driver, for example).


Note that "Windows Media Components" has a few caveats (it's mainly still available for legacy reasons), including that each sound may produce a new entry in the volume mixer, which means the volume cannot be changed correctly, and more limited codec support (I.E. it can't play back as many audio file types).

[DarKheran]

Hmm.. Thanks for the response and more detailed information Pfeil. I will have to look into this when I get home after work. I do not have a dedicated sound card, so i assume you mean my motherboards onboard sound driver? Its not something I actively update, so maybe its a possibility. Would I just update this through the usual device manager method? Also I should note my motherboard is quite old now, a Gigabyte GA-X79-UP4. Its been through a few OS' and clean installs.

The only other possibility I could think of is I did at one point a few months ago install a third party program called "Equalizer APO" in order to boost gain on my mic which tends to be on the low side. Since then I have uninstalled this software however (perhaps there's something it changed despite this that is causing the issue?). Otherwise I've installed no other software pertaining to sound changes.

[Pfeil]

The sound card (a term used regardless of whether it's an actual add-in "card", or integrated into the motherboard) driver is one option.

Checking the manufacturer's website, they haven't distributed a new driver since 2015; However, Windows update can install drivers as well, and given that you're using a fairly generic Realtek setup, that may have occurred.
You can check the driver date through device manager; Right-click the sound device, choose "Properties", and look on the "Driver" tab.


If it's not a driver issue, it may be that your Windows installation has gotten misconfigured over time, including through Windows updates and third-party software, as you mention.

You could try repair-installing Windows using installation media, which should allow you to keep installed applications and user data, provided the correct option is chosen.

Making backups is still highly recommended, and you'd be doing that at your own risk, obviously.


If the "Windows Media Components" option suits your needs, you can of course keep using that, however it's not recommended for users where the "Integrated Components" option is working correctly.

[DarKheran]

Hmm I am of the philosophy that if it isn't broke don't fix it, or if the cure may end up worse than the problem itself don't bother variety so I think ill abstain for now given the fact that its fixed for now. Should it become an issue later ill pursue the base issue further. But I will modify my OP some in order to include some of the topics spoke about here. Thanks for the thorough explanations Pfeil. I am an on and off again VA user who usually doesn't run into too many issues, though I believe it was you who helped me with a previous issue as well, so thanks for all the help! Much appreciated!