Sound stuttering when enabling vsync in MAME [SOLVED!]

[dekar24k]

Hi guys,

I am currently configuring everything on my cab and I am wondering whether I should enable vsync when I use the Wells Gardner D9800? I really hate tearing and therefore I've always enabled vsync, but I'm having a few issues with MameUI32 and Vsync enabled (sound stuttering mostly). Will disabling vsync cause tearing in side-scrollers or will it work fine with the D9800?

Thanks in advance for your input!

I'm using MameUI32 v.127.5 on an Intel C2D E7600 @ 3.06GHz, 2GB DDR2 memory, ArcadeVGA2, Wells Gardner D9800.

Added info 01/11/10:

I've tried the following with the following results:

Vsync disabled: No sound stuttering, but massive tearing in scrolling games

Vsync enabled: Smooth scrolling but occasional sound stuttering/repeating

Triple buffering: Smooth scrolling but occasional sound stuttering (same as vsync)

Sync to monitors refresh rate: Smooth scrolling, but sound stuttering as well

The only thing that doesn't cause the sound stuttering is if I disable vsync, but then all sidescrolling games are unplayable imho. The reason I got a 15khz monitor was because I wanted to have smooth scrolling, which is a must on a cab imho.

I'd really like some more input on this issue. Thanks.

[Jack Burton]

It depends on a lot of other factors relating to resolution and refresh rates.

Generally the closer you are to the the exact resolution of and refresh rate of a game then the less tearing you will see.

However, no matter how close you get you will get some manner of tearing.  It is the nature of emulation. 

You can try Triple buffering and see if you like it better than V-sync.  It makes the video stutter ever couple of seconds and I personally don't like it that much.

Personally I've come to believe that setting frame skip to automatically choose between 0 and 1 has helped tremendously.  When I have these settings I usually get nearly perfectly smooth gameplay and audio.

Frameskip 0 to 1
V-sync ON
Triple Buffering OFF

and for MAME32 I use sync to monitor refresh.  This will change the speed of the game on some titles but will reduce tearing. 

In MAME32 I use custom resolutions I've created using soft 15khz and the ADVV utility that comes with advancemame.  I highly recommend learning to to this if you are going to use an arcade monitor. 

[dekar24k]

It depends on a lot of other factors relating to resolution and refresh rates.

Generally the closer you are to the the exact resolution of and refresh rate of a game then the less tearing you will see.

However, no matter how close you get you will get some manner of tearing.  It is the nature of emulation. 

You can try Triple buffering and see if you like it better than V-sync.  It makes the video stutter ever couple of seconds and I personally don't like it that much.

Personally I've come to believe that setting frame skip to automatically choose between 0 and 1 has helped tremendously.  When I have these settings I usually get nearly perfectly smooth gameplay and audio.

Frameskip 0 to 1
V-sync ON
Triple Buffering OFF

and for MAME32 I use sync to monitor refresh.  This will change the speed of the game on some titles but will reduce tearing. 

In MAME32 I use custom resolutions I've created using soft 15khz and the ADVV utility that comes with advancemame.  I highly recommend learning to to this if you are going to use an arcade monitor. 

I'm using the ArcadeVGA2 gfx card so I don't need soft15khz. I've also used AVRes to set correct resolutions for every game in MAME. I'm very sensitive to stuttering/tearing and also framerate, so I'd rather avoid frameskipping at all costs. I'll do some experimenting tomorrow with different settings, way too tired to try anything now.

Thanks for helping btw!

[Jack Burton]

I don't think it actually frameskips at all when you set it to frameskip 1.  It is a strange quirk of emulators that I don't really have a good explanation for, but it seemed to be the magic switch when I set it.

Can you set specific refresh rates with AVRes?  This is separate from resolution. 

It's important to do so.  Many games do not run at 60.01 hz, they run at 59.7hz, or 57.9,hz or 53.9hz.  This will definitely help a lot if you set these games to run in their native refresh.

It is also beneficial run a game in it's exact resolution, and not the nearest neighbor.  For example, 384x224 looks better and runs better for a game with that resolution than 392x240.

[dekar24k]

AFAIK AVRes sets the correct refresh rate for each game as well as it's resolution.

I've tried the following with the following results:

Vsync disabled: No sound stuttering, but massive tearing in scrolling games

Vsync enabled: Smooth scrolling but occasional sound stuttering/repeating

Triple buffering: Smooth scrolling but occasional sound stuttering (same as vsync)

Sync to monitors refresh rate: Smooth scrolling, but sound stuttering as well

The only thing that doesn't cause the sound stuttering is if I disable vsync, but then all sidescrolling games are unplayable imho. The reason I got a 15khz monitor was because I wanted to have smooth scrolling, which is a must on a cab imho.

I'd really like some more input on this issue. Thanks.

[dekar24k]

Ok I now have vsync enabled, scrolling is super-smooth and the sound is perfect. I just ticked the "Synchronise audio with video" box in MameUIFX32's Sound option dialog. This should auto-adjust the sound so it syncs with the video, but I honestly can't tell at all. No pitching or slowdowns, just perfect sound and perfect full-speed gameplay with no tearing. I'm very happy now. Thanks for the advice!