How to Fish Audio Bug — Duplicated, Crunchy, Robotic or Slow Sound

Duplicated, crunchy, robotic or slowed sound

This is now a cluster rather than one vague “audio bad” post. Current How to Fish discussions describe sound multiplying or speeding through x4/x8/x16-like layers, severe artifacts, chipmunk or high-pitched voices, slow-motion playback, crackle and audio cutting in and out after several minutes.

Those descriptions may share a device-routing or timing problem, but no official source names one root cause. Start by recording which sound path breaks.

Reset the input and output route cleanly

One duplicated-audio thread includes a player-reported partial fix: change the computer input to a different available input, then set the in-game audio output to the intended headset. The player explicitly had not confirmed every party/microphone case, so use the idea as an isolation test rather than a promise.

1. Close How to Fish. Do not change the default device while the game is actively reproducing the problem.
2. Choose one Windows output. Set the intended headset or speakers as the default output.
3. Choose one Windows input. Set the microphone you actually use. Disable or disconnect virtual cables, controller headsets, monitor audio and unused microphones for this test.
4. Reopen Steam and the game. If How to Fish exposes device choices, select the same output and intended input.
5. Test for ten minutes. Some reports say the fault begins after play has already started, so a correct menu sound is not enough.
6. Add devices back one at a time. If the clean pair works, reconnect the next device and record when the issue returns.

Is it voice chat or the whole game?

1. Open a solo session. Listen to menu music, environmental audio, weapons and creature sounds without other players.
2. Join a clean private lobby. Use the same output and input devices, then note whether the distortion begins only when voice chat becomes active.
3. Mute voice capture temporarily. If the game audio remains clean, the capture/voice path is the stronger lead.
4. Ask one friend what they hear. Separate “their voice sounds wrong to you” from “your microphone sounds wrong to them.”
5. Record host and join order. A lobby-specific result belongs with the session details, not a global audio claim.

A black screen with normal audio is a different failure. Use the multiplayer black-screen guide when the game is rendering no picture but sound itself remains clear.

Mic crackle, audio cut-outs and USB devices

A newer report says both the game sound and the player’s microphone begin cutting in and out after about five minutes. If input and output share one USB headset, hub or wireless receiver, test the connection before assuming every game asset is damaged.

• Connect the headset or receiver directly to the PC for one session instead of an unpowered hub.
• Close voice changers, virtual audio cables and capture applications for the clean test.
• Turn Windows spatial audio and audio enhancements off for one comparison, then restore them if nothing changes.
• If an exclusive-mode option is active, compare it once with exclusive control disabled. Do not change format and exclusive mode together.
• Update the audio interface, headset or motherboard driver from the hardware vendor—not a generic driver-download site.
• If the same crackle occurs in another application after How to Fish is closed, restart the audio device or Windows and diagnose the system path separately.

Safe audio fix order

1. Capture the symptom. Note duplicated, slow, high-pitched, robotic, crunchy, silent or cutting out.
2. Restart the game and Steam. A restart is a baseline, even though reports show it is not always permanent.
3. Lock one input/output pair. Remove unused devices from the test and reopen the game.
4. Compare solo and voice chat. This reveals whether the capture or lobby path is required.
5. Test enhancements, spatial audio or exclusive mode one at a time. Keep a before/after note.
6. Update the official hardware driver. Restart Windows after the update.
7. Run Steam’s installed-file check. This can replace damaged game files; it cannot repair a Windows device route.

Do not install a codec pack, unknown “audio fixer,” modified game DLL or replacement executable. None is established as necessary for this bug cluster.

What the official patches actually say

Patch 1.0.8 connects the fire sizzling sound to the FX volume control. Patch 1.0.9 documents difficulty options, Steam Relay debug and an attempted save fix. Neither announcement claims to resolve duplicated, robotic, crunchy or slowed global audio.

That boundary matters: community reports establish the symptoms and useful experiments, while the official feed establishes what the developer has publicly shipped. A future patch can change this status, so include the current version in every report.

Audio report checklist

• Exact symptom words and whether a recording captures them.
• Headset/speakers, microphone and connection type.
• Windows default output and input.
• Solo, host or joining player; number of players and voice-chat state.
• Time until the problem starts and the action happening then.
• Whether effects, music, friend voices and your own microphone are all affected.
• Result with unused devices and virtual audio tools removed.
• Current game version and audio-driver version.