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sipos
Founder
Founder

Crackling audio when Stadia controller is on WiFi.

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I'm experiencing very crackly audio (hard to hear what is happening) when using headphones and only when the controller is on WiFi (sound from the Chromecast is fine and sound from the 3.5mm jack on the headphones is fine when the controller is connected to my phone by USB C).

I have tried on two different internet connections, one of them with ridiculously good WiFi that nobody else was using and insanely low latency (with plenty of bandwidth) and another less good, and with two sets of headphones.

I have reported it via feedback, but not got any sort of reply or acknowledgement.

34 Kudos
Best Response
ChrisFromGoogle
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hi all -- sorry to hear of your troubles. Please reach out to our Support Team in order to receive additional help.

View Best Response in original post

0 Kudos
102 Replies
Figs
Community Member

Do you get it all the time? Yesterday I noticed that in my setup the audio sometimes was OK, but every now and then it would crackle.

I start to wonder if this is an audio code issue where the quality goes down in order to adjust to the Internet link. 

 

 

0 Kudos
sipos
Founder
Founder

@FigsI get it constantly. I doubt it is a codec issue for me, as I get it even when playing at 1080p on an internet link and WiFi that can sustain >100Mbps bi-directional with <1ms latency and no packet loss (almost literally, there will be entire days between when a test packet is lost with our monitoring, ~0.00000001% packet loss).

1 Kudo
Figs
Community Member

I also thinking about this further and I have not noticed such audio crackling while playing on my pc. This certainly seems to be hardware related :disappointed_face:

1 Kudo
sipos
Founder
Founder
@Figs I have not played much on anything other than the Chromecast (well, not played much at all, but I have at least spent quite a while on Stadia on the Chromecast trying to debug this). It is constant and pretty bad on the Chromecast for me. It is at least not there the very limited amount I have tried it on my phone.
1 Kudo
sipos
Founder
Founder

@Figs After trying it on my phone a bit more, I can tell I do get glitchy crackly sound sometimes, but it is occasional, and short lived, rather than constant.

1 Kudo
sipos
Founder
Founder

So, I spoke to support again. They had said that I would get a reply from someone higher up in the support team, and I got an email, referencing my case, asking me to submit feedback (it wasn't even clear if it was feedback about the handling of the case, or feedback about the Stadia experience in the app, or what, the email didn't even make sense), so I wanted to make sure that wasn't them closing the case.

The agent this time said that this is a know firmware issue, and that I would have to wait for a firmware update to fix it, but that there is no time frame for that yet.

Edit: I was annoyed whne I wrote the next bit. I'm still experiencing unbelievably bad customer service from Google, but I don't really think any differently about the concept/theoretical potential of Stadia. I do however worry that it may never succeed because of the terrible customer service Google has meaning that they can never get enough people on board. I've been waiting weeks for a related issue to be solved by Google customer supoort. To be absolutely honest, I am losing faith in the whole idea of Stadia, or Google's ability to deliver it anyway, and am not planning to buy any more games right now. I might see if I can get a refund for the ones I have purchased if this doesn't get sorted soon, since I haven't been able to meaningfully play anything on Stadia - all of my play time has been trying combinations of things to see whether it works OK. I can't currently play in an even vaguely acceptable way on any platform except for my desktop computer, but I can play all of the games on Stadia on that anyway, and buy them for less off of Steam, so I have no interest in doing that and there is no point to Stadia right now for me. This audio issue isn't the only issue I have - I have terrible input lag on my Chromebook, even when connected to a ridiculously high bandwidth, low latency, highly reliable internet connection at work (but same at home too).

If this can't work for someone like me with multiple bits of Google hardware the best internet connection you could really wish for for this (well, many people have more bandwidth, but there is plenty of bandwidth and the more important properties are the ridiculously low latency and basically non-existent packet loss, and the amazing WiFi connection, all carefully monitored to check for issues, and basically unused by anything else when I am trying Stadia), I don't have faith Google will ever get it to work satisfactorily. Maybe someone else will get game streaming working better, but Google just doesn't have the culture required to release reliable stuff and make it work properly, or the will to apply it to this anyway, I don't think. It is a shame, because I think they probably have the best network of anyone to deliver this kind of thing.

2 Kudos
Figs
Community Member
Thanks for sharing your experience. For me I am only hearing sound issues through the stadia controller, on my pc and tv I have no issues. About your chromebook experience, I activated the GPU hardware acceleration on chrome and it sorted out several issues I had playing on my laptop (7 years old Asus running Ubuntu 19.10). Overall I am quite impressed with stadia, but I do agree we bought in on a beta. Hopefully our feedback will shape the product towards a better direction.
0 Kudos
cle
Community Member

That is actually a discgrace. Very annoying problem and it is going to be fixed at some undefined point in the future...

1 Kudo
Starbuck
Community Member

I have exactly the same issue. I’ve avoided for a couple of weeks by just playing on TV but have now purchased Boarderlands 3 and want to play with friends so I need the heads set to work. Has anyone found a fix or confirmed it is hardware?

1 Kudo
sipos
Founder
Founder

@Starbuck Support told me that it is firmware, so should be fixable with a firmware update for the controllers, but it is not software, so changing your setup likely won't help. No ETA as far as I know on the firmware fix.

1 Kudo
Same problem here to with all my games so far. Destiny2 borderlands 3 grid rage 2 Tomb raider. Just waiting for firmware fix.
1 Kudo
Kaittoo
Stadia Player
Stadia Player

Same here i am so pissed, the problem is some software think so they should at least try to fix it!

0 Kudos
Figs
Community Member

Yesterday I was playing for the 1st time with the headphone connected to my controller and I was also experiencing the same issue. The crackling wasn't always that bad but I think it was masked out due to the action scenes.

 

My setup, founder's controller, Google Wi-Fi with gaming optimization turned on, 1 meter away from the router with line of sight, 3.5 mm sennheiser headset and controller with fully charged battery. 

0 Kudos
TallJake
Founder
Founder

This is affecting me as well, on both TV+CC and Chrome Browser via MBP. I tried multiple pairs of headphones, I tried a factory reset of the controller, and I tried connecting to 2.4 GHz Wifi. None of these measures addressed the issue. I've sent feedback in the app.

0 Kudos
Whito
Stadia Player
Stadia Player
Same here
1 Kudo
Vegasdodger
Community Member

Likewise. Same here.

1 Kudo
Tobix
Founder
Founder

Likewise. Same here. ... :expressionless_face: :disappointed_face:

1 Kudo
Endgegner
Stadia Player
Stadia Player

Wow Google. We are waiting for a solution for more than 3 months (!) now. Nothing happens.

 

2 Kudos
Figs
Community Member

Btw all, my problem went away. I have playing on a chromecast ultra I bought a few months ago, though. Sound has been good with no crackling sound on it.

0 Kudos
Endgegner
Stadia Player
Stadia Player

So, you had crackling issues with the original stadia controller audio jack and the original stadia chromecast ultra - but with another chromecast ultra you bought by yourself, the audio problem with headphones connected to your stadia controller was gone?

0 Kudos
Figs
Community Member

Hi, 

That is correct. I started playing more with the new chromecast I bought separately. At the moment, I don't have any sound quality issue when playing with any of them.

I didn't really do anything special, so either it was a server side fix or network related.

Cheers,

0 Kudos
Endgegner
Stadia Player
Stadia Player

Thanks for your input. Okay so this is really strange. I still have the problem (=only while trying to use headphones connected to the controller. The "normal" sound on tv, pc and mac via loudspeakers works well.). :confused_face:

Thank you anyway. Maybe I can try to find another Chromecast Ultra for testing ...

0 Kudos
giglamps
Founder
Founder

Hi - any news meanwhile? I have the same issue too. Recently it was fine for one whole evening. My impression was that it has to do with controllers state of charge though. But yesterday controller was fully charged and the crackling came back. No other issues. Sound via tv and surround is impressing even via bluetooth headphones.

Update - contacted support today and did a factory reset on my controller (https://support.google.com/stadia/answer/9584135?hl=en). Support told me that's the only way to get latest controller firmware. And - crackling is gone - Tadaaa.

Update - once the controller was off und switched on again problem came back :loudly_crying_face:. Found out it's fully reproducible at least. Contacted support again and also stressed this as an community issue. Will see - suspecting it might be connected to Founders edition :thinking_face:.

Update 04/20/20 - seems to be a founders edition issue - Google support is going to send a replacement bundle.

Update 04/24/20 - got a new founders bundle yesterday - no change :grimacing_face:.

3 Kudos
Endgegner
Stadia Player
Stadia Player

@giglamps 

I have the Premiere Edition and the same problem as most of you guys with the Founders Edition (the only difference is the controller's color I think).

But you are saying that - right after resetting the controller - the issue has gone UNTIL you restart the controller (off/on)?

@all

I'm afraid it's not only an hardware issue, as it seems that most of the players do not have it. So maybe it has something to do with the connection itself (in terms of 2.4 GHz vs 5 GHz / wifi vs. cable / 50 MBit/s vs. 100 or more MBit/s / closed ports / or problems with special or old router types), that the controller can't manage to recieve sounds correctly.

Support told me I should try to connect my TV not via wifi but via cable to the router, and try again. I did, but the issue stays.

########

It may help that everyone of us gives the following information to detect similarities - I'm going to start :winking_face: :

Router: FRITZ!Box 7390 (pretty old)

Max. provider speed: 50 Mbit/s

Playing on: TV

Connected via: Wifi 5 GHz (both controller and TV)

Chromecast Ultra

 

0 Kudos
Endgegner
Stadia Player
Stadia Player

@giglamps 

I have the Premiere Edition and the same issue as most of you guys with Founder Editions (the only difference is the controller's color I think).

But you are saying that the issue has gone when resetting the controller, UNTIL restart (off/on)?

@all

I'm afraid it's not just an hardware issue of the controller, but a problem with the connectivity itself (in terms of 2.4 GHz vs. 5 GHz / wifi vs. cable / 50 MBit/s vs. 100 MBit/s or more / closed router ports / or older routers) - so that the controller can' recieve the sound properly.

Support told me I should try to connect my TV not via wifi but via cable to the router, and try again (don't know why I should do that, as the connection comes with the Chromecast Ultra's wifi, not with the TV's wifi). Anyway, I tried, issue stays.

#######

It may help when everyone gives the following information so we can detect similarities - I'm going to start :winking_face: :
 
Router: FRITZ!Box 7390 (pretty old)

Connected via: Wifi 5 GHz (both controller and Chromecast Ultra)

Max. provider speed: 50 MBit/s

Playing on: TV

Chromecast Ultra

#######

Btw, I would appreciate if some of the guys from @stadia support would join this thread instead of being in stealth mode all the time! :€

1 Kudo
giglamps
Founder
Founder

Update 05/01/20 - tried different scenarios in a frieds environment - same here, althought hi didn't even realized it. Unfortunately controller resetting worked reproducable for one day only. Yesterday - sound was brilliant w/o any changes on my side. Today - just tried for this post, crackling is back. So meanwhile I think, that it is rather a server-session then a client- or hardware-configuration issue.

As I urged support to get their job done, they told me, quote: "officially known issue as of 26th April 2020 to be solved by future update". At least something after all...

By the way - controller has usb-c connector an build in bluetooth "to be activated later on" according to google store. May be that will allow wireless headsets faster then they get this 3,5mm-jack issue solved. Time will tell...

@Endgegner too many parameters in my opinion - FttH 200 MBit Fritzbox 7490, dual band mesh-wlan with band steering activ, Chromecast 1 GHz LAN-wired playing on TV,  

0 Kudos
Birnie
Community Member

Come on Google let's get this fixed.......

2 Kudos
artdias90
Founder
Founder

@giglamps I'm also with a Fritzbox, I had a lot of stress with this too. Today I experimented removing the Wired network from the CCU and the problem was gone for good.

 

Router: FRITZ!Box 7490

Connected via: Wifi 5 GHz / setup CCU on 5ghz then wired

Max. provider speed: 50 MBit/s

Playing on: TV

 

If you are trying to fix this, please do try to use the same cable with a ethernet-port on a laptop, and play on chrome with stadia controller. It worked for me , so the cables are fine i would say. I tend to think its a chromecast problem

 

Things that i've tried so far:

- Join preview program on Chromecast Ultra to get the latest Firmware update 1.50 -> did not solve

- Isolate your ethernet cable completely and use a S/FTP cable -> did not solve 

- factory reset everything -> did not solve (longer than 1 day)

- turn off 2.4ghz, or any wifi repeater while setup ccu and controller -> did not solve

0 Kudos
giglamps
Founder
Founder

First - sorry for delay - good news, as of today Stadia is supporting usb-c headsets, didn't try that yet but could work possibly better.

Second - found another workaround, keep ccu wired - starting the game FIRST and THEN connecting headset - problems solved at least for me. Hope, that will work for you as well. 

0 Kudos
artdias90
Founder
Founder

I am waiting for 1 year for a solution, lol

0 Kudos