@discordjs/voice 0.19.x DAVE encryption causes reconnect loops and zero audio capture

[meepbot-oss]

Which package is this bug report for?

voice (@discordjs/voice 0.19.0)

Issue description

DAVE E2E encryption handling in @discordjs/voice 0.19.x is broken in practice — bots enter reconnect loops and capture zero audio on voice channels with DAVE enabled (now the default on most channels).

This may be related to previously closed issues #11384 and #11387, but the core problem persists: voice connections are unusable.

Steps to reproduce

1. Install @discordjs/voice 0.19.0 + discord.js 14.x (with or without @snazzah/davey)
2. Bot joins a voice channel (most now have DAVE E2E encryption enabled by default)
3. Subscribe to audio via VoiceReceiver
4. Connection cycles: Signalling → Connecting → Ready → Disconnected → repeat
5. Zero audio is ever received — no speaking events fire

Expected behavior

Bot successfully negotiates DAVE, connects to voice, and receives/sends audio.

Actual behavior

• Endless reconnect loops
• VoiceReceiver never fires speaking events
• Decryption errors:

Error: Failed to decrypt: DecryptionFailed(UnencryptedWhenPassthroughDisabled)

Error: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'decrypt')
    at VoiceReceiver.onUdpMessage (receiver.js)

Error: WebSocket was closed before the connection was established
    at Networking.onClose (Networking.js)

No explicit error about DAVE — fails silently.

Comparison with py-cord

py-cord 2.6.1 (Python) handles DAVE correctly on the exact same voice channel, same Discord server. Audio capture works immediately. This confirms the issue is in @discordjs/voice DAVE implementation, not Discord API or network.

Environment

• @discordjs/voice: 0.19.0
• discord.js: 14.x
• Node.js: v25.5.0
• OS: macOS Darwin 24.6.0
• @snazzah/davey: tested both with and without

Priority

DAVE is now the default on Discord voice channels. This effectively makes @discordjs/voice audio receive broken for most use cases.

[vladfrangu]

Voice receiving has always been on a "it may work" basis. And I've personally used DAVE fine for sending audio, so this is strictly a voice receiving issue that we need to fix

[wave-workflow]

Confirming this issue in production.

Environment:

• @discordjs/voice: 0.19.0
• node: v22.22.0
• OS: Linux 6.6.87 (WSL2)
• @discordjs/opus: native build (libopus-dev)
• sodium-native: native build

Behavior observed:

• Bot joins voice channel, DAVE encryption enabled (default)
• DecryptionFailed(UnencryptedWhenPassthroughDisabled) errors in logs
• Corrupted audio data reaches STT pipeline → Whisper hallucinates entire sentences (lectures, podcasts, phrases in multiple languages) from training data
• TTS output also intermittently fails
• Setting daveEncryption: false does not help — Discord enforces DAVE on most channels now
• decryptionFailureTolerance tuning only delays the inevitable

Impact: Voice receive is completely unusable for production bots that need STT. The hallucinated transcriptions from corrupted audio make the feature worse than non-functional — it actively generates false input.

Workaround: None found. Had to disable voice entirely.

Would appreciate visibility on a timeline for a fix. DAVE being the default on Discord means this blocks all voice-receive use cases for JS bots.

[vladfrangu]

Can you please attach reproduction samples we can use when investigating these issues?