Game sounds are late to start in Atari RA cores - Sound is in-sync after game sounds actually do start.

[myklejay]

Hello All,

I’m having strange sound issue that seems to only be happening to the following Atari cores: 2600 (Stella), 800XL (Atari800), and 7800 (Pro System). I have been scouring multiple forums for weeks without any useful info, and have tried any and all RA settings regarding sound and video sync without any favorable results.

Below are a few details regarding the issue:

• If I have Retroarch notifications turned on at game launch (eg) core re-map, controller info etc., I can see that the sound on some of the games will only start after the notifications being displayed by RA are complete and no longer on screen.

• if sound doesn’t start immediately at game launch, or after several seconds into the game, sound will usually start once a specific trigger is executed, for example flying over a fuel-up in "River Raid" (Atari 2600) will start all game sounds, but shooting a ship beforehand won’t trigger the game sound to start.

Another example would be getting an artifact, flair, TNT, oxygen etc. on "Spelunker" (Atari 800XL), will trigger all game sounds to start, but walking, jumping or moving the elevator will not trigger game sound to start.

One more example is "Choplifter" (Atari 7800) there is no game sound until rescuing a person, but sometimes sound will start itself several seconds into the game…

• As you can see, the problem is very sporadic and different on each title, and even when starting the same game right after exiting it, will have different results. Even stranger is some titles do not exhibit the issue at all, some have the issue some times, but not others…

• The issue happens when games are launched in: launcbox, BigBox, and directly through Retroarch. 

• The issue happens when in full screen and while windowed.

• The issue doesn’t seem to be affecting any of my other 20 platforms, and I'm using a mix of RA cores and standalone emulators.

• I’ve tried several HDMI cables and HDMI ports on the TV without change.

System is an Atari VCS 800, with 32GB ram, and a fresh windows 10 install on a 2TB internal M.2 ssd. All system drivers, RA cores and lunchbox are up to date, and everything else is working flawlessly. I remember all sounds working properly early on in my build, but I cant put my finger on when the problem started, possibly after adding shaders, and tweaking cores to work more efficiently with the shaders. 

These Atari core sound issues are driving me mad, hopefully someone has a few suggestions!

Thanks all!

Edited March 30, 2021 by myklejay