Distorted and clicking sound with AudioLink

Unreal Engine
1

Hi everyone,

I’m trying to route Unreal Engine audio into FMOD using AudioLink, but I’m running into audio distortion and constant clicking issues.

I’ve tested both approaches:

  • Routing audio from an Unreal Submix into AudioLink

  • Using the FMODAudioLinkComponent

In both cases, the result is distorted audio with continuous clicks.

What’s more confusing is that even Unreal audio that is not routed into FMOD (currently still playing natively in Unreal, though it will be moved to FMOD later) also sounds distorted once AudioLink is enabled.

This makes me think the issue might be related to a more global audio configuration rather than a specific routing setup.

Thanks in advance for your attention!

2

Hi,

A few questions:

  • What version of Unreal Engine are you using?
  • What version of the FMOD for Unreal plugin are you using?
  • What platforms do you observe this issue on?
  • Are you able to reproduce the issue in build as well as editor?
  • If you set FMOD’s logging level to “LEVEL_LOG” and enable API error logging, do you receive any errors or warnings in UE’s output log? Could I get you to post a log with these settings enabled so I can take a look?
3

Hi,
Sorry for the late response, we had to prioritize other critical tasks in the project and postpone the AudioLink tests.
Thanks for your patience. Below are the requested details:

  • Unreal Version: 5.7.3
  • FMOD Version: 2.03.11
  • Platform: Windows 10/11
  • Occurs in build: No (Editor only)
  • Log: UnrealLog.txt (2.2 MB)
4

Sorry for the delayed response myself!

I’m able to reproduce the issue you’re describing in editor, but it appears to be resolved by increasing the “Producer to Consumer Buffer Ratio” and “Initial Silence Fill Ratio” settings in Project settings → Plugins → FMOD Audiolink. This leads me to believe that the issue is likely due to the increased overhead the Unreal editor requires as opposed to a packaged build. I’d recommend increasing those settings and seeing whether they resolve the crackling issue in editor.