Video doesn't play audio on Creative sound card

[Armin2208]

Describe the bug
I have a video file on which Screenbox doesn't play Audio, but other players like Windows Media Player do.
The audio is not playing on my Creative Sound BlasterX AE-5 sound card set to 96 Khz. As soon as I switch the audio device, for example to my Nvidia Audio Output for my Monitor, I can hear the video. If I set my Creative Sound Blaster sound card to 48 Khz the audio of the video also plays on my Creative sound card.
There is probably an issue with this video audio format and the playback device set to 96 Khz.

Other videos work on my Creative sound card without problems. It's only this specific video (and 16 others of the same type).

How To Reproduce

1. Download this video: https://1drv.ms/v/c/49e18460ed20d89c/IQA0-4CgNI50R5PRqh3dLEGoAXDFVRoySH969JO0uU1c3mQ?e=35jiOO
2. Open it in Screenbox.
3. Set your Soundcard to 96 Khz
4. Listen to the non-existing sound.

Environment
Windows 11 Pro 25H2 26200.7462
Screenbox Version 0.17.0.0
Creative Sound BlasterX AE-5 Plus 6.0.105.65

Media Info of the video
General
Complete name : D:\OneDrive\Public\Screenbox playback bug.mp4
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : Base Media
Codec ID : isom (isom/iso2/avc1/mp41)
File size : 126 MiB
Duration : 33 min 16 s
Overall bit rate : 532 kb/s
Frame rate : 25.000 FPS
Writing application : Lavf58.45.100

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4
Format settings : CABAC / 4 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, Reference frames : 4 frames
Format settings, GOP : M=4, N=25
Codec ID : avc1
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration : 33 min 16 s
Bit rate : 426 kb/s
Width : 936 pixels
Height : 780 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 1.200
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 25.000 FPS
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.023
Stream size : 101 MiB (80%)
Writing library : x264 core 155 r2917 0a84d98
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=3 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=hex / subme=7 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=24 / lookahead_threads=4 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=25 / keyint_min=13 / scenecut=0 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=crf / mbtree=1 / crf=23.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / vbv_maxrate=4000 / vbv_bufsize=8000 / crf_max=0.0 / nal_hrd=none / filler=0 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Codec configuration box : avcC

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC LC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec Low Complexity
Codec ID : mp4a-40-2
Duration : 33 min 16 s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 96.0 kb/s
Channel(s) : 1 channel
Channel layout : M
Sampling rate : 96.0 kHz
Frame rate : 93.750 FPS (1024 SPF)
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 23.1 MiB (18%)
Default : Yes
Alternate group : 1

[dosubot]

Hi @Armin2208! I'm Dosu and I’m helping the Screenbox team.

Screenbox relies on LibVLC for audio output and doesn't implement any device- or format-specific handling, so issues like this are usually due to a combination of LibVLC, the sound card driver, or the specific audio format involved—not Screenbox itself¹². Your file uses mono AAC at 96kHz, which is uncommon and could trigger compatibility quirks in some drivers or audio backends.

Here are some steps you can try:

• Make sure your Creative AE-5 drivers and Windows are fully up to date, as driver updates sometimes resolve these edge cases.
• Try re-encoding the audio track of the video to stereo and/or a more common sampling rate (like 44.1kHz or 48kHz). If the re-encoded file works, it's likely a format compatibility issue.
• If you can, experiment with different LibVLC audio output modules (such as directsound or wasapi) by setting the --aout flag in advanced settings or via command-line. Sometimes forcing a different backend resolves device-specific issues.
• Check if any errors are reported in Windows Event Viewer or if Screenbox triggers a generic "MediaFailed" event when the issue occurs.

This issue is unlikely to be fixed in Screenbox itself, since all audio device selection and format handling is delegated to LibVLC and the system audio stack¹²³. If the above steps don't help, the root cause is likely in LibVLC or the Creative driver.

To reply, just mention @dosu.

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Footnotes

1. Screenbox audio device handling ↩ ↩²

2. Screenbox initialization and LibVLC options ↩ ↩²

3. LibVLCSharp MediaPlayer audio output and format handling ↩

[Armin2208]

VLC Media Player can playback audio of this video. Does this mean, this bug is not caused by LibVLC?

[dosubot]

Not necessarily—just because VLC Media Player can play the audio, it doesn't mean the bug isn't caused by LibVLC. VLC and Screenbox both use LibVLC, but VLC Media Player may use different plugins, audio output modules, or platform-specific tweaks by default. Screenbox relies on LibVLC's defaults and doesn't add custom audio handling or device logic, so differences in integration (like UWP constraints or how LibVLCSharp interacts with the OS audio stack) can lead to different results, especially with uncommon formats or specific hardware. Issues like this can stem from how LibVLC is embedded or configured in Screenbox, not just from LibVLC itself. For more details, see Screenbox's LibVLC integration and PlayerService initialization.

To reply, just mention @dosu.

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