So I set about changing settings until I could figure out what was causing it. I saw reports of this on several threads here on the forum but with no solution listed. One thing I noticed though with SDL audio is that the audio crackles. This will allow save states to work properly and the volume is set to a much more reasonable level. Mupen64 will now default to using the SDL audio plugin. I did this by editing the file located at: So I found that changing the audio plugin to SDL was a much better experience. On a faster machine I am sure this isnt a problem but on the Pi we sometimes have to use stop gap measures and use work arounds to get N64 to work better. OMX also seems to be the culprit when the audio drops out during lag. OMX is also insanely loud, much louder than all the other emulators on the pi and I am forced to turn down the volume every time I play N64. OMX seems to be the default plugin that is currently used, however OMX is apparently not compatible with save states and Mupen64 crashes every time I try to load state.
So after doing some research I found that there are two main audio plugin options that mupen64 on the Pi uses. I found this to be very annoying especially if there was a voice-over playing, I could end up missing something important.
Something I noticed with standalone mupen64 on the pi is that when the frame rate drops, the audio will completely drop out as well and there are sometimes long stretches where there is no sound until the FPS goes back up. For myself, I can handle some slowdown in games as long as the audio keeps playing. So I am sure that everyone is aware that N64 emulation on the Pi is not perfect.