As far as I know, it’s not needed for windows 10 or 11 as it loads a native driver for the nvme device, I have turned mine off and there doesn’t seem to be any downside to doing so. All I can say is try it and see.
Our test team has not been able to reproduce this issue:
“No audible crackling in either VR or headphones when graphical settings are set to Ultra. Tested in multiple aircraft including the Cessna 172 G1000. The only audio popping occurred while the Sim was loading, either during initial load or before the last couple seconds of a free flight. Issue did not reproduce during any flight either in VR or on desktop.”
If there are further reproduction steps you’d like to share for this issue, please feel free and can test further cases.
It would be interesting to know what your test system specs are and what windows 11 settings are used, whether virtualization is active as well as whether hags and memory integrity is turned on or not too on the system.
I resolved this issue completely by disabling ‘Precision Boost Overdrive’ in the BIOS for my 7800x3D.
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I have a 9900x and just recently turned on Precision Boost Overdrive and I am experiencing a crackling popping I wasn’t experiencing before in the sim. I do believe dgvrnsky is correct on this
It is 100% AMD CPUs problem… Specialy if PBO is enabled.
Did the test team focus on AMD-s?
Problem will also get worse if multiple sound devices are installed.
All this does not manifest in other games. So it is something specific with AMD platform and MSFS.
How can we make reproduction steps it if just ocucueres on every flight. Only thing I can note is that it happens more on more demanding scenarions. Lot of traffic for example in complex aircraft.
It’s not just AMD CPU’s, I’ve had it on my Intel/Nvidia System too.
I didn’t experience any audio stuttering.
Nope.
- MSI MPG X870E Carbon WIFI - BIOS 1A3
- Virtualization - disabled
- Re-size bar - enabled
- PSU MSI MEG Ai1300P
- Ryzen 7 9800X3D
- AIO Arctic Liquid Freezer III 360
- 64GB Ram CL26 DDR5 6000 2x32GB G.Skill
- MSI MAG 271QPX E2
- Gigabyte RTX 4090 Gaming OC / 566.14
- USB HUB
- Logitech X56 H.O.T.A.S
- VKB Gladiator NXT Evo Space Combat Edition
- Honeycomb Alpha Flight Controls XPC Yoke
- Logitech Flight Rudder Pedals
- Airbus EFIS Winwing
- Airbus FCU Winwing
- Boeing 737 MCP Core Flight
- Boeing 737 EFIS Panel Core Flight
- Boeing FMC/PFP 3N Winwing
- Thrustmaster T300 RS racing wheel
- Sound Blaster X5
- 4xNVMe // 4TB for MSFS2022/2024
- 1xSSD
- 1xHDD
- Windows 11 PRO 23H2
Good for you—but repeatedly saying “I don’t have this problem” doesn’t help anyone and adds nothing to the discussion. The issue is likely tied to variables like server load or location, so your experience isn’t universal. If you’re not contributing to solving it, maybe just skip replying.
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So I have something different to the original poster and others here. Not using VR. Not getting crackling audio. What I am getting is complete stutters in any audio playing on my PC, not just the sim audio, when the main thread time goes too high. So if I’m watching Twitch while flying, my Twitch audio (and video) will stutter. If I’m playing Spotify while flying, my Spotify audio will stutter, along with my sim audio and video. This happens on any audio device including the motherboard sound, USB sound adapters, and wireless headsets.
This is not something I ever saw on 2020, no matter how stuttery it got. The sim audio might drop out when the sim stuttered, yes, but it never affected other audio playing.
I’m trying the various solutions presented on this thread. I disabled the AMI Native NVMe Driver Support; I will try turning off Precision Boost Overdrive. I suspect these are workarounds, though, if they work at all. I suspect the problem is in the sim main thread blocking DMA callbacks somehow.
The repro steps are difficult, though: this doesn’t happen all the time when the main thread spikes. Generally I have to drive the sim to the point where the main thread time is solid red on the FPS display before it starts to happen. That generally requires highly complex scenery and lots of multiplayer traffic.
What I will say is that I never noticed this before SU1. Since SU1 it’s become a regular occurrence.
If the issue cannot be reproduced internally, I’d suggest trying the Zurich Discovery Flight (under Activities) during peak hours—typically evenings or weekends. The problem appears to be streaming-related and is likely triggered when too many users are requesting the same content simultaneously. Server latency on the user’s side may also play a role.
From my own testing, this is not related to hardware, operating system, or other external factors. I’ve reproduced the issue on both Intel and AMD setups, with Windows 10 and 11, across multiple driver versions and BIOS configurations. The only consistent factor has been flying in a busy area at a busy time. That’s where the issue reliably shows up.
Good for you!
But then again.. your platform Virtualization features are disabled. that is not default settings, and I want full featureset of my expensive platform.
Sharing my experience supports what the Devs and CM have noted - that this issue is currently hard, if not impossible, to reproduce.
I’ve deliberately tried to induce the audio stuttering on two different systems: Windows 10 Pro 22H2 and Windows 11 Pro 23H2. On my Windows 11 setup, memory integrity is disabled because I turned off virtualization in the BIOS (I only enable it when I need to run a virtual machine). I also tested on two different routers and two separate internet connections to rule out network issues. Additionally, I won’t be upgrading to Windows 11 Pro 24H2, as it’s not well-suited for gaming. My hardware configuration, system setup might help others consider different factors when troubleshooting this issue.
Once again, I’m including my MSFS settings in a spoiler below—the exact ones I used when trying to trigger the audio stuttering—just in case they’re useful to others.
If anyone has questions about my setup, feel free to ask - I’m happy to help.
It’s neither polite nor constructive to suggest that someone should refrain from sharing their input.
I always tweak mine BIOS settings to suit my needs (like gaming without stuttering) - that’s the whole point of having a customizable platform.
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Well said.
Can I ask @TenPatrol, what makes 24h2 not suitable for gaming specifically?
Certainly. For example, issues like reduced performance in games, stuttering, and other similar problems have been reported. Of course, this doesn’t affect all configurations—but it’s something I personally noticed some time ago.
If you’re interested in discussing Windows 11 24H2 in more detail, you’re welcome to share your thoughts in the thread I’ve linked below.
https://forums.flightsimulator.com/t/windows-11-24h2-and-msfs-observations-insights-issues-and-tips/657704