How to fix Frostpunk 2 Sound Crackle & Audio issues

Frostpunk 2, in all its bleak icy glory, has thrown the player into a world where the art of survival is all about building a city using strategies. However, despite the game's incredible graphics and addictive gameplay, thousands have faced one irritating problem in the form of crackling sounds that do not seem to go away. Audio distortion to the degree reported may interfere with gameplay and dampen any mood set by the game.

This issue has been reported by most, if not all, players of Frostpunk 2, as it may occur at any moment in the game, regardless of FPS or performance. Fortunately, there are some potential solutions you can apply to fix this very problem. Let's dive into them.

Frostpunk 2 Sound Crackle & Audio issues troubling players: How to fix it

While the Day 1 patch of Frostpunk 2 resolved some audio problems, the crackle may still be present for some individuals. So, if you are one of them, here are some potential fixes to fix it for you:

Check Game Integrity: Sometimes the problem may be from inside the corrupted game files. Steam has a tool that allows verifying the integrity of your game files.

Update Audio Drivers: It can be due to the old audio drivers into conflict with games. Check for the latest drivers through the manufacturer's website.

Audio Settings Change: Sometimes, changing something in the audio settings in the game works. You can try changing the sound volume, its quality, or the output device.

Disable Third-Party Software Interference: Disable any third-party applications dealing with audio enhancements or overlays because they might be interfering with the game's audio.

Reinstall Game: As a last resort, you can try uninstalling and reinstalling the game. Sometimes this fixes long-standing problems.

Lower settings

This is the temporary solution to fix sound crackling by reducing some of in-game settings, such as graphics quality. In order to do so, change Preset Option to Very Low or Low and also make sure that you are running the game in Fullscreen mode. Note that some visual quality degradation may be noticed.

Cap FPS, turn off Nahimic

For the possible sound problems, you could try to cap the game's framerate at 60 FPS. While Frostpunk has had problems with higher framerates in the past, that have sometimes created audio problems even on cutscenes. If you have Nahimic audio software present in your system then it may be behind the disturbing crackling sound coming from the speaker. You may want to try disabling Nahimic as it should help you resolve this sound issue.

Update Audio Drivers

Outdated audio drivers can eventually cause problems with sound, including crackling. To ensure the best possible audio performance, you should update your drivers. You can search for the latest drivers using Device Manager or by going to the website of your audio device manufacturer. Installation of the latest drivers may improve the quality or resolve any sound issues.

Audio Settings

If the above remedies also do not work, try changing your Windows audio settings. It may be that reducing the sample rate and bit depth will resolve crackling sounds. For this purpose, open your sound settings, highlight your playback device, right-click on it and tap Properties. On the Advanced tab, try lower settings, such as 16-bit, 44100 Hz instead of 24-bit, 48000 Hz.

Look for Background Applications

Oftentimes, background applications, especially those with sound, interfere with audio within the game. If you don't really need to use open programs, close them-especially programs such as Discord or other audio suites. Otherwise, you may need to disable or uninstall interfering applications such as Nahimic, which might be the cause of the problem.

Hopefully, these steps will help you overcome the problems with crackling sounds and dive deeper into Frostpunk 2.