I tested this mod in my game and it worked, but I have no idea why the audio sounds terrible in-game. I can’t even tune the guitar properly or calibrate it right. I'm using a 3.5mm to 1/4" cable directly into my PC, no audio interface. The weird thing is, when I listen to the sound directly through the Windows desktop, it sounds fine — but in the game, it's awful. Any tips on how to fix this?
Are you using Vortex? If so, you can run the RSMods tool that has some settings which may help you. Or download it separately.
You can also try using RS_ASIO and ASIO4ALL. You can learn more at the link below. Vortex makes it really easy to get all of these tools installed for your game.
Unfortunately, RSMods crashes the game for me as soon as I try to launch it with Direct Connect mode enabled — I believe it’s due to the latest Steam version of Rocksmith (the "Learn & Play" one from late 2024). I saw others reporting the same issue too. As for the NoCable method, it technically works, but the audio quality is horrible :(
Thank you. I tried that version on thread you linked (https://github.com/Lovrom8/RSMods/issues/201), and it finally worked! 🙏 Direct Connect now launches the game without crashing on the Learn & Play version from Steam However, the audio quality is still really bad, like super muffled and crunchy. The guitar sounds perfectly fine when monitored through Windows or other apps (Linke Rocksmith+), it’s just inside the game (Rocksmith 2014) that it sounds terrible
Have you tried RS_ASIO and ASIO4ALL? Basically, you have the game use your audio device that you have the guitar plugged into (in your case, this sounds like your PC's built-in soundcard or maybe an external USB one) use the universal ASIO driver installed by ASIO4ALL in the game. This can really help with latency and audio quality issues.
Also, now that you can get into RSMods settings, you can try things there.
Enable/Disable Mods tab - "Control Game Volume" and "Override Input Volume"
Rocksmith Settings tab (this changes vanilla game settings file) - "Force WDM", "Force DirectXSink", and "Low Latency Mode"
I tried using RS_ASIO and ASIO4ALL, but unfortunately it didn’t work for my setup. The game had no sound at all, and my guitar (which is connected through the microphone input of the PC using a 3.5mm to 1/4" cable) wasn’t recognized properly. The Direct Connect mode does show up in-game, but when I try to select it, the only available input option is still the “Real Tone Cable.” I’m not sure if I did something wrong or if RS_ASIO is only compatible with setups that use the official cable or an audio interface. I also tried tweaking the options you mentioned like "Force WDM", "Force DirectXSink", and "Low Latency Mode" in the Rocksmith.ini file, but sadly none of those improved the audio — it still sounds crunchy and distorted, even though the guitar sounds perfectly clean through Windows or Rocksmith+. I haven’t tried enabling the "Control Game Volume" or "Override Input Volume" options in RSMods yet — do you think those might help fix the bad sound issue? Also, just to clarify — should the guitar be connected to the pink microphone input, or would the blue line-in port be a better option for this kind of setup? Thanks again for your help!
The video quality isn’t the best, but the audio is exactly how I hear it when I play nothing has been edited or filtered In the first part, during the guitar calibration screen, you can hear how the sound is already kind of distorted In the second part, during tuning, the game detects the notes correctly, so it’s picking up the input just fine — but the sound quality still feels really off to me. I’m not sure if this is just how it’s supposed to sound when using Direct Connect with a regular mic input (maybe it’s a limitation of the game?), or if there’s something else I can tweak to get better audio. Does it sound like this for you too? Or do you get a cleaner tone somehow? If I happen to buy the Real Tone Cable, will the sound be better? Or is it just like this regardless?
RS_ASIO is explicitly for use without a Real Tone cable. There is no need for it if you have a Real Tone cable. That Steam page linked early has some instructions on getting it set up.
You need microphone input, so use the pink one.
What kind of adapter are you using? It's possible the adapter may be poor quality and you're not getting a solid connect to the microphone port.
Try disabling "Enable Microphone" in RSMods. if it's set to the same device, that could be an issue.
I am not familiar with the "Direct Connect" feature. That must be only for the Learn & Play Edition. You want to avoid that, probably.
Do you only have a single sound device on your PC? Are you playing back the audio with the same sound card that is receiving the guitar input? This could be an issue as well if so.
Also check in the "Learn a Song" Menu option, then hit Ctrl, and make sure the device is set on Real Tone Cable. You could also try switching to to microphone there and seeing if that works better. You'd want to launch without NoCableLauncher in that case.
Also, check your microphone in the Windows Settings and make sure its set as the default input abd the quality is appropriate and the input volume is at 100.
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I'm using a 3.5mm to 1/4" cable directly into my PC, no audio interface. The weird thing is, when I listen to the sound directly through the Windows desktop, it sounds fine — but in the game, it's awful.
Any tips on how to fix this?
You can also try using RS_ASIO and ASIO4ALL. You can learn more at the link below. Vortex makes it really easy to get all of these tools installed for your game.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?l=brazilian&id=2862399734
As for the NoCable method, it technically works, but the audio quality is horrible :(
https://github.com/Lovrom8/RSMods/releases/tag/RSModsInstaller-v1.2.8.0_OnCommit
If that doesn't work, try the file the author included in this Issue thread:
https://github.com/Lovrom8/RSMods/issues/201
Direct Connect now launches the game without crashing on the Learn & Play version from Steam
However, the audio quality is still really bad, like super muffled and crunchy. The guitar sounds perfectly fine when monitored through Windows or other apps (Linke Rocksmith+), it’s just inside the game (Rocksmith 2014) that it sounds terrible
Also, now that you can get into RSMods settings, you can try things there.
I also tried tweaking the options you mentioned like "Force WDM", "Force DirectXSink", and "Low Latency Mode" in the Rocksmith.ini file, but sadly none of those improved the audio — it still sounds crunchy and distorted, even though the guitar sounds perfectly clean through Windows or Rocksmith+.
I haven’t tried enabling the "Control Game Volume" or "Override Input Volume" options in RSMods yet — do you think those might help fix the bad sound issue?
Also, just to clarify — should the guitar be connected to the pink microphone input, or would the blue line-in port be a better option for this kind of setup?
Thanks again for your help!
https://imgur.com/a/jQNDdCu
The video quality isn’t the best, but the audio is exactly how I hear it when I play nothing has been edited or filtered
In the first part, during the guitar calibration screen, you can hear how the sound is already kind of distorted
In the second part, during tuning, the game detects the notes correctly, so it’s picking up the input just fine — but the sound quality still feels really off to me.
I’m not sure if this is just how it’s supposed to sound when using Direct Connect with a regular mic input (maybe it’s a limitation of the game?), or if there’s something else I can tweak to get better audio.
Does it sound like this for you too? Or do you get a cleaner tone somehow?
If I happen to buy the Real Tone Cable, will the sound be better? Or is it just like this regardless?
You need microphone input, so use the pink one.
What kind of adapter are you using? It's possible the adapter may be poor quality and you're not getting a solid connect to the microphone port.
Try disabling "Enable Microphone" in RSMods. if it's set to the same device, that could be an issue.
I am not familiar with the "Direct Connect" feature. That must be only for the Learn & Play Edition. You want to avoid that, probably.
Do you only have a single sound device on your PC? Are you playing back the audio with the same sound card that is receiving the guitar input? This could be an issue as well if so.
Also check in the "Learn a Song" Menu option, then hit Ctrl, and make sure the device is set on Real Tone Cable. You could also try switching to to microphone there and seeing if that works better. You'd want to launch without NoCableLauncher in that case.