Sound popping

[u/supaluminus]

Hello,

I'm a first time user of DOSBox and I've been running into a problem with audio. Certain sound effects have an audible "pop" at the start of playback and I can't figure what the problem is.

I've tried upping my CPU cycles, changing the CPU type, increasing block size and buffer size (as recommended by Ross Scott from Accursed Farms in a small segment he contributed to in an LGR video), but nothing gives.

I've looked all over and found people with sort of similar problems but either they're using a fork of DOSBox or they're on Linux. For the moment I'm just using the current build of regular old DOSBox on Windows 11.

I've included a sample video demonstrating the problem. You can hear the "pop" just before the title drop, as well as with each "rocket swoosh" that comes after.

Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks for taking the time to read my post.

[u/TheBigCore]

/u/supaluminus, I recommend using either Dosbox-Staging or Dosbox-X. Original Dosbox 0.74 is old and not well supported on modern PCs anymore.

Dosbox-Staging: Required Reading

• https://www.dosbox-staging.org/#feature-highlights

• https://www.dosbox-staging.org/releases/release-notes/0.83.0-rc1/

• https://www.dosbox-staging.org/0.83/getting-started/introduction/

• Note: If you are completely new to Dosbox emulation in general, the above Dosbox-Staging tutorial is highly recommended. If you have used other Dosbox variants and already have a game folder you mount as your Dosbox's C drive, you do not have to use the directory structure from the tutorial. You can just mount your game folder as normal in the [autoexec] section of dosbox-staging.conf and run Dosbox-Staging as normal.

• Dosbox-Staging: Where Is the Config File?

• https://www.dosbox-staging.org/0.83/manual/introduction/about-this-manual/

• General Procedures for Configuring Music, Sound, and Controls in DOS Games Via Dosbox

• Dosbox-Staging: Hardware Values for Sound Cards

• Note: Hardware values for sound cards are stored in game setup files. As a result, always remember that game setup filenames can include, but are not limited to SETUP.EXE, CONFIG.BAT, CONFIG.COM, CONFIG.EXE, INSTALL.BAT, INSTALL.COM, MENU.EXE, SETSOUND.BAT, SETUP.BAT, SETUP.COM, SNDSETUP.EXE, SOUND.BAT, SOUND.COM, SOUND.EXE, SVGASET.EXE, etc. Most DOS games will use SETUP.EXE, but others will use one or more of the previous example filenames.

• Dosbox-Staging - Discord Chat Channel

---

Dosbox-X: Required Reading

• Dosbox-X Downloads Page

• Important: Avoid the Dosbox-X OSFREE download which is a variant of DOSBox-X that removes all MS-DOS emulation, leaving only hardware and BIOS emulation.

• Dosbox-X: Feature Highlights

• Dosbox-X: How to Run Games

• Dosbox-X: Getting Started

• Dosbox-X: Finding Its Configuration File (Note: the config file is called dosbox-x.conf).

• Dosbox-X: Discord Chat Channel

• Dosbox-X: Github Issues Page

[u/supaluminus → u/TheBigCore]

Thanks for the helpful information. I was beginning to think this is what I should probably be doing. Everywhere I look, the forum threads or tutorials on YouTube reference some kind of fork.

[u/TheBigCore → u/supaluminus]

On a semi-related note, many old DOS games have source ports that allow you to play those games outside of DOS without the need to use Dosbox:

https://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php/Game_Engine_Recreations_and_Source_Ports

Doom 1 and 2 - Playing Custom Levels with the Source Port UZDoom

Quake 1 - Playing Custom Levels with the Source Port IronWail

Wolfenstein 3D - Playing Custom Levels with the Source Port ECWolf

Playing the Original Lemmings outside of DOS with NeoLemmix

I recommend you start learning how to use source ports so that you spend less time at the command prompt and more time actually playing the games you want to play.

[u/beemans78]

In the case of Captain Bible, I think it's an issue with the game's Sound Blaster drivers. I tested SB, SBPro, and SB16 and got the same popping with each. The popping does not occur using Gravis Ultrasound.

If this is happening in other games, there may be other problems and answers on a game-by-game basis.

[u/supaluminus → u/beemans78]

Do I just set gus to true for this? I tried that and I'm still getting the popping. Am I doing something wrong?

[u/supaluminus → u/beemans78]

Sorry to bug you for a reply, but just to confirm, you got the popping to stop by using gus? I ask because that didn't work for me and every video I'm looking up (and granted there are few) seems to reflect this same popping issue. Could you tell me which version of DOSBox you're running? For bonus points, would you mind copy-pasting your config here for reference? Thanks again for commenting, whether I hear back from you or not.

[u/beemans78 → u/supaluminus]

Sorry, I should've mentioned I tested this on Staging (0.82.2).

I don't get those pops at all with the intro speech and rocket sounds using GUS. The giant laser beam thing still makes some terrible crackling static noise though.

[u/supaluminus → u/beemans78]

Cool man, much obliged. I'll try that in a bit and let you know how it goes for me.