I've decided to post a couple of sound-related bugs here, since they are likely related to this new sound code. They may have been reported already, but I don't have the patience to read through 12 pages of posts to find it, and if there is a simple solution, then perhaps someone can bring it to my attention.
The first involves lightning. It used to be a background rumble, now it is a continuous clattering, which will even prevent some audio from playing during the "thunder" sound, such as in-game voices and sound effects. Afterward, it will also severely dampen some of the interface sounds, such as the little bleeps you get when you pass the pointer over a button, or select it. I've tried all three of the audio playback selections to me, and to my knowledge, I've already installed OAL.
The second involves the loss of mission briefing audio. This appears to occur after one or two missions worth of continuous gaming. Suddenly the audio for a mission stage and all following ones will not play. It can happen with command briefings or mission briefings. I think that the amount of missions required for this bug to manifest itself depends on the total number of stages in the missions leading to that point. I haven't done enough testing at this point to know if any of the other audio settings have any effect on it. The only way to clear it is to shut down FS2 and restart it.
As for which builds generate this problem, it's difficult to say. I've only resumed playing FS2 for a short while now, having been away from playing for about three years. I haven't played with any build less recent than the Ant6 series, but I've played with many knightly builds since and encountered the same problems with all builds. I will try to revert to the 3.6.12 release build and see if that makes any difference.
I'll keep you updated but hopefully someone will present me with the solution.
System:
AMD Athlon XP 2600+
1GB DDR SDRAM
ASUS A7V motherboard
ASUS V7100 ATI 9600XT-128MB
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2 PCI
Windows XP SP2
Be advised, I haven't done any driver updates in some time, as I have had limited success with ATI's own video drivers and have been using the Omegas which are no longer kept up to date.
Later!