So any update on a fix for this?

I'm using Win 7, with Nvidia sound over HDMI, and a single core AMD 64 processor.
Doesn't appear to be a threading issue.

I tried looking for a sound acceleration option to turn off but apparently doesn't exist anymore on Vista and up.

Basically the game loads quickly, and the intro movie works and sounds fine on 720p, but the intro in game cinematic speech breaks and partially repeats.

Changing to a lower resolution had no effect. Changing to software mode in game launch options had no effect. Specifying specific video or sound devices in the launch had no effect. Running as administrator had no effect. Messing with the settings between Compatability and Priviledge Level had no effect.

Changing to 95/98 mode made the game load EXTREMELY slowly. The intro videos stuttered initially, then seemed to run ok, but slowly in places. The menu was sluggish but the intro in game cinematic sound didn't stutter, but the game was so sluggish and laggy after that it was basically unplayable. Also, unless I stood perfectly still, all the sound and music stuttered as well.

All the other compatibility modes I tested basically made the game run as if it wasn't using compatibility at all, loading and running quickly but with sound issues.

I tested 95, 98, NT4, Win2000, Win XP SP2 and SP3 and Vista.

Edit: Tried using the atiumdag.dll posted above out of desperation. It appears to be for ATI Radeon cards and had no effect on my Nvidia system. In fact, I deleted the file and tried running the game without it, which was still able to start and play.

My problem isn't quite as bad, but is there any reason why the audio would crackle (the voice comes through, and the sound effects play, but there's random crackle in the audio)

I was having the exact same issues and switching the compatability mode to Windows 98/me solved the issue for me.
However... I am using an old laptop running Windows XP. I have found the "compatibility mode" of the newer OS versions to be less ... compatible.
I hope it is solved soon for you guys.

I am having this issue too occasionally. It seems to come and go depending on how it feels at the time. Only started when I encountered the Melchahim for the first time though.

Also got some issues with an ambient sound not stopping sometimes until I reset the game.

hey there. Kind of having the same issue here. The game works fine, but it seems the sound effects bumps from time to time, as if it was played on a scratched audio cd.

Gonna try the 98 compatibility mode and the dll thing and see what happens.

From what I remember of the game, there were clicks and pops even when I played it natively on 95/98 back in like 97.

Only thing I notice is the audio skips a bit missing words or skipping through music.

I'm running on Wineskin on a 2011 Max running Yosemite. Te game runs perfectly fine, minus the annoying audio skip.

So people who bought it in 1999 or through Square-Enix store are pirates?

Well guess what. I also happen to have 4 copies of the game, including Steam (plus quite a few gift codes I've handed to random people). But that's me. Regular users won't pay twice for the product they already own, and I think they are perfectly justified in expecting full support for something they paid for earlier without the necessity to pay extra for patches, a concept you don't seem to like.

And in case you missed that - Steam offers just as little support as GOG does, unless you count repackaging the exact same version (with the same incorrect intro, which as far as I know you didn't bother to correct) as "support".

This require a longer answer and I'll adress your points later (I really should be busy with other things right now). So I ask for a little patience. I'll be back in about 2 weeks.
Right now I will only say this - we all want what is best for the franchise, and conflicts within community don't help that. Cheers.

In the event that someone else wants to play but doesn't want to humour this petty troll, I'll share what helped me. By running the GOG version in compatability mode for XP sp2, disabling high dpi scaling and, in the game's launcher, setting the driver to software mode, setting the resolution to the lowest available and disabling texture filtering (with the sound driver left at the default primary driver), I was able to get the game running with very few sound problems. There was occassional crackling and one or two times throughout the whole playthrough where I had to save and reload to fix some missing audio, but it was quite playable and enjoyable from start to finish.

Obviously it won't be as pretty and it's not an ideal fix, and I strongly doubt it will work for everyone, but it fixed my sound problems almost completely, for whatever reason. Just thought I'd share what little help I can, since some people are less forthcoming.

As I said, just posting what helped me, in the hope of providing some amount of help to someone else, however small - regardless of which online version of the game they prefer to buy. Which is more than you've done. I'll leave it at that.

So still no solution for this?
I've tried setting the sampling frequency of the soundcard to 44.1 khz and switching to XP SP2 compatibility. I still have the cracking sound that gives me the headache.

I run on windows 7 x64 and the steam version.

Good on you. Whatever I might think of you, you did a good thing which I have no doubt will make many people very happy. That's the spirit this, and all, communities could use more of.

Hello!

I was wondering if there still is a place where I can get that sound engine patch with the changed protection. I'd much rather give my money to the team that created the patch than to another retailer.

Thanks!