# Bioshock and No sound? WTF?



## JC316 (Jan 15, 2009)

Sound was working in Bioshock with my 2600xt's, the only thing that I changed was my video card and now, I have no in game sound. I have menu sound, but once I load a game I have nothing. Any help?


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## Kursah (Jan 15, 2009)

You have EAX enabled? That kills the sound in the game with some onboard sound chips...a buddy of mine lost sound w/his onboard on an Asus P5Q-E when he enabled EAX in the game...dunno if that's youre issue or not but it's worth a shot to recommend it!


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## JC316 (Jan 15, 2009)

Kursah said:


> You have EAX enabled? That kills the sound in the game with some onboard sound chips...a buddy of mine lost sound w/his onboard on an Asus P5Q-E when he enabled EAX in the game...dunno if that's youre issue or not but it's worth a shot to recommend it!



Nope, no EAX.


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## ASRockIQ (Jan 15, 2009)

try reinstalling the game?


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## SundM001 (Jan 15, 2009)

I had a similar problem. By the way, are you on Vista? Run in Windows XP compatibility mode if you are.


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## JC316 (Jan 15, 2009)

SundM001 said:


> I had a similar problem. By the way, are you on Vista? Run in Windows XP compatibility mode if you are.



Tried that too. I will reinstall as a last resort. I may delete the config folder too, see if that will fix it.


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## oli_ramsay (Jan 15, 2009)

JC316 said:


> Tried that too. I will reinstall as a last resort. I may delete the config folder too, see if that will fix it.



I had this issue too, I believe you have to run the game in compatibility mode for XP SP2.


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## Gilletter (Jan 15, 2009)

I'm currently running Bioshock without any issues on Vista 64 without checking anything for compatability...


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## JC316 (Jan 15, 2009)

Gilletter said:


> I'm currently running Bioshock without any issues on Vista 64 without checking anything for compatability...



I get the Nvidia, 2k Games sounds. Then I get to the menu and I hear splashing, but I am not getting sound for clicking the buttons, nor in game. It's only bioshock too as Portal plays fine. I have tried running in XP mode, but it doesn't help.


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## oli_ramsay (Jan 15, 2009)

Gilletter said:


> I'm currently running Bioshock without any issues on Vista 64 without checking anything for compatability...



Strange 

Here's a more detailed description of the fix though:

http://doubleparity.net/2007/08/bioshock-no-sound


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## JC316 (Jan 15, 2009)

Got it. The main steam .exe had to be set to compatibility mode, not just the shortcut.


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## Kursah (Jan 15, 2009)

Odd...I've never needed compatability mode for Bioshock in x86 or x64 Vista, have yet to try it on 7, but on Vista it ran great, and the DX10 performance was awesome to say the least. Great game, glad you got it working!


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## karnak (Jan 15, 2009)

JC316 said:


> Got it. The main steam .exe had to be set to compatibility mode, not just the shortcut.



Sweet thanks.  It took me a second I tried vista mode first, but XP mode works.  Anyone else noticing a performance boost in games in Windows 7?


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## ogui (Apr 19, 2010)

*Bioshock 1 Sound Problem Fix in Windows 7*

To fix the sound problem in Bioshock 1 under Windows 7, all you need to do is to ENABLE "Stereo Mix" in the Sound 

Settings of Windows 7. 

*Step-by-Step Solution:*

*1. Access your system Sound Recording Settings*
In your status bar, right-click on the sound/speaker and select "Recording devices".
OR
(Alternatively, access the setting by click on Windows "Start Menu" > "Control Panel" > "Hardware and Sound" > click on link "Manage audio devices" under section "Sound"  > click on the tab named "Recording" )







*2. Enable Stereo Mix (see screenshot)*
Right click in the list of "recording device" where you should see "Microphone", "Line in", maybe "CD Audio".
In the context menu, Tick the line called "Show Disabled Devices".
Now you should seed "Stereo Mix" as a new Device.
Right click on Stereo Mix and click on the first option of the context menu "Enable".

*3. Disable Microphone, LineIn, CD*Audio*
There was an echo / reverb effect going on in the game which wasn't related to the in-game Reverb setting (OFF). I think the windows recording settings where creating feedback loop, so I disabled Microphone, LineIn and CD Audio and voilà! Problem was gone.


This is it, Bioshock should work.
You can also take the time to review the options in "Stereo Mix Properties", for example I set Default Format to 

2 channel, 16bit, 48000 Hz (DVD Quality) in the advanced tab, just enforce quality.

*Description of the Problem:*

Once a game is loaded, there is no sound at all in Bioshock 1.
When I start Bioshock 1 under Windows 7, I can ear the background music in the main game menu, but there's no "on click" sound effect when clicking on the menu entries. That's a sign that the sound will not work after loading a game, not point wasting further time.

*Summary of things that didn't work for me:*

 Using compatibility mode ( 2000, XP SP2 or SP3) does not work ( game freezes at menu)
 Installing Rapture3D drivers doesn't change anything
 Reinstalling latest sound drivers or using Win7 native drivers is not necessary
 Pluging-in earphones or microphone into the linein/mike inputs didn't work for me
Hope this post will save you time to enjoy the game.

ogui


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## Mussels (Apr 19, 2010)

ogui's solution works, however it doesnt explain the problem.

The problem is that like the call of duty games, this game has twitchy audio - you may need to change teh bit rate from 24 bit to 16 (or vice versa) and you may need a microphone connected - ogui's solution above is a trick to fake windows into thinking theres a microphone, and thus the game.


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## TotalChaos (Apr 19, 2010)

I had that issue if I used the default windows audio drivers but after installing the realtek HD audio drivers it worked fine


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