Audio Cuts out on random slides

I've been having this issue for years and I just keep replacing the audio files over and over again and republishing until I get a full working version of the course. It's been a while since I've had to make a new course with audio, but I just got a request for a course with full narration. The course requestor recorded all of their slides as individual MP3 files, and now the problem is back again. Each time I publish, different pages drop the audio randomly, part the way through the slide. If I edit or re-record the slide, it will often work, but then another page will drop the audio randomly somewhere in the slide. It's like playing whack-a-mole.
I'm testing all of these courses from an intranet web server outside of any LMS. Just copying the exported files to the web server and launching story.html. I can't share the source file because it contains sensitive company information, so I'm not sure my feedback here serves any purpose other than to confirm that the issue still "plagues" some users of Storyline in November of 2020. (Pun intended.)

Specs:
Articulate 360
Storyline v3.43.22859.0
Browsers tested: Edge, Internet Explorer, Chrome

Thanks, Michael. I appreciate your feedback and I took a look at the cases filed for some of the users above and it does not look like we have been able to track down the culprit yet.

I understand that you cannot share the file, but one thing I'm curious about is how long the audio file name may be. Once published, are these remaining under the 260 character limit? I have seen this cause an issue with missing audio previously.

Hi Leslie.  Thanks for the quick reply.  The audio file names were simply "slide 01.mp3" etc.  None of the file names were more than 10 characters.  The most odd thing is that when I republish the course, some pages no longer have the audio drop-out issue, while others that didn't have the issue begin dropping audio.  I've tried adjusting the audio quality to the maximum 160kbps bitrate on publish and then dropped it to 128 kbps, and this doesn't seem to have any predictable effect.  Also, it doesn't seem to affect audio that is recorded directly with Storyline through the microphone - only imported audio.  Everything works fine in audio recorded within the editor.

One thing I've noticed in older courses, is a distinct digital "chirp" sound in some of the audio files that preceded an audio drop-out in the published file.  It was as if some digital bits got lost when the storyline file itself was saved.  These weren't present in the initial audio files, but seem to have crept in as errors over time.  I have one particular course that seems to drop-out audio every single time I go in to edit and publish a new version of the course.  Often I'll go in to investigate the cause and find another tiny digital chirp has appeared in one of the audio files. I'm not sure if any of this is helpful in uncovering the mystery, but it's just things I've noted over time.

Hi Michael!

Thank you for sharing this information with us! I understand that you can't share your file, but I'd still like our Support Engineers to investigate the snag.

I've started a case on your behalf, and you should hear from our team shortly!

Was there ever a solution provided on this issue? I am experiencing this issue in many courses as well. 

Hi Adam!

Are you using the latest version of Storyline 360? We are currently on Storyline 360 (Build 3.49.24347.0).

If so, are you running into this issue in an LMS environment? If not, where are you noticing the audio cut out?

It would be helpful for us to take a look at your project to find the culprit. You can attach it to this public discussion or share it with our team privately using this secure upload link.

Hi team, 

Any update on this issue? We also have similar issues. The published file works fine in all local browsers. But when we put the files on a web server, the audio will cut out on random slides, especially in Chrome. I try to open the problem audio file (.mp3) directly in the content folder of the published file. It works well. 

Hello Ahin!

Thank you for sharing these details with us! It sounds like the audio cuts out when the file is on a web server when using Chrome. Have you tried repairing Storyline 360 and then publishing the project again? 

If that doesn't do the trick, I'd like our Support Engineers to step in and help. You can reach them in a support case.

Well, to add to the commentary...

I am currently trying to finish up a project with multiple scenes. All of the slides have audio, with an occasional video tossed in. I am adding quizzes (first time for me) to each scene. 

I previewed the entire project to test the quiz sections... an discovered today that a number of my audio files and at least one video now have no sound. 

I can play the individual file (mostly text to speech generated audio) and it plays fine. I can preview or edit the video affected, and it plays fine. But I preview the slide, scene, or project or use the player in the editing window... no sound in some of the files.

This is with Storyline 360. I just finished checking that I have the most up to date build, rebooted my computer, and that the source files are on my computers HD. The file names are generic ones Storyline has generated for the most part, or simply "line 1 audio" style names.

As for repair/replace.... I had issues with storyline locking up 2 months ago while importing images from powerpoint (I tend to do my image editing in PP, and then move the image to storyline) and so I uninstalled/reinstalled at that point. The program would simply freeze while importing the image...I had to force close the program and lose all work since the last save (hence finally re-installing).

I have today uninstalled, rebooted and reinstalled Storyline. The problem seems to persist. 

I have isolated an example slide that had an audio and video segment that is affected in to an Example.story file and attached it to the case 02697376.
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Follow up, after working with Articulate IT and some experimenting, it appears as (for me at least) the audio glitch has something to do with using a docked laptop. 

My system set up has 3 extremal monitors, plus the laptop. When I tried to use the Peek 360 program to record an example of the issue (It utilizes a microphone instead of recording speaker output) I opening my laptop to gain access to the microphone and the issue went away. 

I was able to duplicate the issue for a co-worker in demonstrating the issue existed until I opened the laptop. 

I am not sure if this helps anyone else, but wanted to follow up with what information I did find, in case it helps someone else. 

Hi, Joe.

Thank you for opening a support case and for coming back to share your findings. I see you're working with my teammate Lianne, who suggested checking Windows updates and ensuring your audio driver is also up to date. 

It is definitely strange that your docked laptop might be causing this issue! I'm hopeful someone else in the community works in a similar environment and can let us know their experience. 

If you have additional questions or new information to share, please reach out to Lianne through the case.