Game Sounds messed up after update [January 2022]

Dear Zwift Community,
I did a couple of searches but haven’t found anything like this. It seems that with the last few updates, game sounds are played out a lot quieter than before, specially Ride on Sounds.

It was really loud as I started Zwifting in the middle of last year, especially during group rides. Now it just seems that the sound is less loud and often is also cut during playback as the next sound starts to play. It’s quite annoying and most noticable in group rides with lot of game sounds like given Ride-On’s or yelling “Ride On” or “I’m toast” from the riders. When I’m doing workouts and riding through the workout arch indicating the next workout step, normally you’d hear a countdown from the last 3 seconds downwards, followd by a sound when you ride through. I only can hear it sometimes, but most of the times it’s either to quiet or you even hear nothing at all.

If I change the Game Sound Volume Slider from max to the middle, I can barely hear the game sounds at all. The other Volume slider (I think it was environment) is to the max as well.

I didn’t change any drivers or made updates besides Zwift and regular Windows Updates. I’d appreciate any kind of help.

Kind regards and HNY,
Mike

Hi Mike, it’s nothing you’re doing wrong. There were a number of changes made to the in-game audio a month or so back and it’s pretty poor compared to before

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Yes, sound is terrible, and I do not understand why the change in sound has been done. Any idea?

I haven’t seen any public confirmation from Zwift, but there was a lot of feedback about the constant “ping” from Ride Ons in this thread:

It feels as though they may have removed that problem and caused others.
Since the “ping” of Ride Ons was reduced, I’ve noticed I can’t say “Ride On!” or “I’m toast!” when riding in a large group. It’s almost as if one sound gets stopped as soon as another starts, so instead of hearing both the “voice” sound and a Ride on “ping”, the voice sound gets cancelled by someone else giving a Ride On.

If you were doing a workout and there were lots of riders around you when you couldn’t hear the workout noises, that would support my theory, but it is just a theory.

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There are loads of issues with the audio in the last couple of updates. It’s getting annoying. Sounds stop and start, cancel each other, reverberate and so on. All pretty poor. One of those where I can’t understand why it hasn’t been noticed in testing.

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That is exactly what I’m also experiencing and guessing. Maybe the mute mutes other sounds as well and therefore cutting it completely off. Thats why it works most of the times during single rides or when theres not much rider around. But everything else contributes to the issue.

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The only thing I have noticed (was happening before the latest update) is a kind of strobing sound. Hard to describe but it almost sounds like a train going over tracks when just cycling along, it gets louder and quieter like oscillating all the time.

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I noticed this “train noise” while descending Alpe du Zwift this morning (on Windows 10 machine).

I also felt that in the Watopia Pier starting pen I could hear something which sounded a bit like jungle noise, and going up the Alpe I kept hearing distortion which sounded a bit like the drums you hear in Makuri.

I figured they’d be spotted and fixed quickly but I wonder if these sound issues are on Zwift’s radar? @shooj are you able to please make sure they’re on the radar?

I recognise a lot of people ride without sound, so this may be a relatively low priority.

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During the TDZ Stage 2 Shorter Ride in Innsbruck, coming out of the start pens was a constant buzz, until the riders thinned out a bit.
Occasionally, as someone would ride past me, it sounded like they had neglected to oil their drive chain for about 6 months - really noisy.
And, as someone has mentioned previously, the +XP “whoosh” is just downright annoying.

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Ride without sounds is like talk without words. These problems should have a high priority. Lets imagine that you want to introduce Zwift to someone new and for his/her question what happens with sounds you answer this is a problem in game that must be solved by turning volume down.

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I’d also like this to be fixed as soon as possible. I always ride with sound on - it makes the game more immersive for me. I’m not trying to justify why it is the way it is, just to give a possible reason why it might be. I know that in life, each of us will sometimes be in the majority and sometimes in the minority.

You’re right, you’re not the first person to say that but in the interests of balance I’m happy to say I have no problem with the new “whoosh” sound. It’s different to what it used to be and took a tiny bit of getting used to, but I have no preference for either.

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Anyone else notice the game sounds volume slider is now completely gone…

Hmmm. Just went in to check while still on the trainer. It’s still there on iPad (latest version of Zwift and iPadOS):

Not on windows 10

Also, dogs barking… on windows 10, fully updated.

Open Zwift, load a route, I used Makuri as it was already selected. Exit and trash can the ride to return to the main menu. Dogs are now continuously barking in the background.

:dog:

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That’s… barking mad! :wink:

By the way, I finally listened to the in-game sounds with earphones (first time since the January update).
This was in Neokyo. While the range of street sounds is really impressive — definitely reminds me of cycling around Kanazawa many moons ago — the new (?) chain/drivetrain sound is too much, IMO. (Especially when in a bunch and you can hear everyone’s tires and chains, etc.)
How realistic do we want to get? When will the squealing disc brake sounds be added?

Back on the main thread topic, the sounds of ride-ons and other triggerables still seem to be being suppressed or cut off halfway through when more than one occurs at the same time.

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I just checked today after the Update of Zwift, my Volume Slider is (still or again) there.

There seem to be some key sound issues here, which may or may not be related. Here are three I’ve spotted:

  1. As Roule said, sounds of Ride-ons and triggerables seem to be being suppressed or cut off halfway through when more than one occurs at the same time. To replicate this, join the C. Cadence pace partner on a Windows PC at a busy time of day and try saying “I’m Toast”, “Ride on” or “Hammertime!” You might manage it once or twice, but the constant rain of thumbs seems to stop some of your attempts to speak. Drop out of the bunch, and it seems to work ok.

  2. There’s an issue with how other Zwift cyclists sound. When in a pack with multiple other cyclists, the “cycling noise” sounds more like white noise - like a waterfall - instead of sounding like bicycles. The more cyclists there are, the louder it is and the worse it sounds. To replicate this, join any group ride with a big field (like the Tour de Zwift) on a Windows PC. I’ve now switched off my sound because of this bug.

  3. Other Zwift runners sound like cyclists. When you’re on a run and another runner passes you, they sound like a cyclist. To replicate this, join a run on the May Field (or other location with no actual cyclists nearby) and simply wait for someone to run past you. This error occurs on iPad and PC. I’ve got a video of this one if it helps; the other issues aren’t as easy to video as you really need to be moving to experience them.

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Me :slight_smile: Completely gone, but sound works.

@Paul_Rayner, are you able to use the game sounds volume slider on your windows PC, or is the only volume slider available the 3D world sounds?

Edit: just opened Zwift on my Win 10 laptop and both volume sliders were available. Must be something wrong with my other Zwift PC that I will have to investigate.

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