Occasional Problem: No sound on startup

[drivertime61]

That’s interesting info.

I did read about someone fixing it with the substitute openal32.dll file, (maybe it was your post) but seem to also remember reading later on that DTG made changes that cause that not to work in TS14. Dunno.

Just FYI, Dell threw in a SoundBlaster Recon 3D card as part of the package deal on this new machine, which I've set for 5.1 surround. That feeds a 12 year old Dell-branded Altec Lansing 200 watt 6 speaker system I legacied over from my previous computer. The dual-sub alone weighs 40 lbs. If I described what it does for me when those big U.S. diesels rev up, well, my short membership life here no doubt would be toast. The system is analog. I have to give credit to DTG for impressive sound.

I had a look at the Sound option you mention. It's set to use the “AMD High Definition Audio Device Default Communications Device” listed under Dell P2314T hi-def. monitor, fed through HDMI. The SoundBlaster card is also listed as the default device for Speakers. So I guess that’s all good. The graphics card is an AMD R9 270, with 2gb on-board RAM. I'm also impressed by the graphics detail on some routes, at least considering the age of the game engine.

Thanks again.

[DrewG]

I'm going to buy a computer with a r9 270x, how does ts2014 run on your computer?

[drivertime61]

I'm going to buy a computer with a r9 270x, how does ts2014 run on your computer?

Runs very well. As you may know however, the graphics card, though very important, is only one factor. 24gb RAM (overkill and unnecessary for TS14 I know), 4770 quad processor, and I'm using the machine's SSD for the sim, as opposed to the other, 2tb mechanical drive.

The graphics quality is for the most part very good and, in some cases, stunning. Of course, I'm coming from a 12 year run with M$ Train Simulator for comparisons. There is a little bit of occasional momentary stuttering. But I've read that just about everyone has this no matter what hardware they're using - that it's endemic in the game itself. 95% of the time stuttering is not an issue on most routes, even graphics-rich routes like NY-NH, and trains run realistically smoothly.

Having said all that, if I had had a choice I would have gotten a similarly spec-ed or better nVidia card. I'm just partial to them. Also, MSTS won't run in Windows 8.1 with AMD drivers, but works fine with nVidia. But, as it turns out, I haven't wanted to install MSTS on the new machine anyway since launching TS14. (I still have it on the old Dell though, which continues to run amazingly well after 12 years hard use).

Dell was not offering any higher end nVidia cards for this particular package and, by the time I finished bargaining with the sales rep, the package price was definitely right, so I took the R9 270. Other than AMD's apparent unwillingness to help out legacy MSTS fans by updating their drivers, I have no complaints.

Good luck with the new machine.