[SOLVED] Audio becomes distorted after launching a game

[PunchyTurtle]

This problem is only present in games. Everything else is fine; spotify, youtube, etc.

I'll launch a game and after a bit (30 seconds ish) the audio becomes super tiny and thin. Before this happens, the audio sounds normal and full. This is happening on all of my headphones. I've tried it with airpods, my Jabhra headphones, and my wired earbuds. I originally thought it was some issue with Bluetooth but it started happening with my wired earbuds today.

I think it has to do with mic inputs possibly because I changed the mic input for Deep Rock Galactic to something other than my Jabhra headphones and it worked fine with no issues. Doing the same for my airpods did nothing. I believe it happens when the game I'm playing starts asking for a mic input.

I've checked drivers and run the audio troubleshooter multiple times. I've also tried disabling enhancements and that did nothing.

Please help!


Specs:
ASUS - ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition
AMD Ryzen 9 5980HX
AMD Radeon RX 6800M
16gb (2x8gb) @ 3200 Mhz

 

[Ralston18]

Use Task Manager and Resource Monitor to observe system performance. Use both tools but only one tool at a time.

Open the tool before gaming and simply observe system performance. Watch until the system is stable with no ongoing changes.

Leave the tool window open and viewable - just drag to one side or another. Then launch Deep Rock Galactic or some other game as usual.

Listen to the audio and again watch for some change in Task Manager or Resource Monitor that corresponds with the audio becoming "super tiny and thin".

It may take some time and effort plus a bit of trial and error to discover some potential culprit.

Look for something else launching in the background just before or at the time the audio degrades. Maybe being triggered via Task Scheduler.

 

[PunchyTurtle]

First of all, I compared the tasks running to before I even launched the game to the tasks running after the noise became distorted in the game and all the same tasks were running. Here's the list of the tasks in case it's useful:

AcPowerNotification
ArmourySocketServer
CacheTask
Framework Service
RtkAudUService64_BG
SystemSoundsService

The only task I can see pertaining to this problem is the last one.

Here are the usage values for when I tested with Sea of Thieves. I waited for the number to stabilize.

before

cpu - 30
ram - 56
gpu - 75

after

cpu - jumped to 55% and then back to around 30
ram - 56
gpu - 55

Also, I feel like it's fair on impossible to actively monitor the programs running with taskmanager unless I'm missing something. There are so many 0.o

Thanks for the help!

 

[Ralston18]

Noted the GPU change 75 vs 55

Use the various Task Manager tabs to delve deeper into Details, Services, etc..

The monitoring process does get a bit difficult and all you can do is keep working to get a sense of it all.

Remember you can click the column headers to sort the data being presented.

For example: In the Detail tab, click the Memory column header.

= = = =

Provided that I correctly understand your comment regarding "SystemSoundsService".

Try running "sfc /scannow" and "dism". Either one or both may fix some Windows related issue.

https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-use-sfc-scannow-to-repair-windows-system-files-2626161

How to use DISM command tool to repair Windows 10 image | Windows Central

And do take a look in Resource Monitor and Process Explorer. Either one or both may help discover what is happening.

 

[PunchyTurtle]

I figured out that it was an issue with the hands-free feature on my headphones causing the audio quality to downgrade from A2DP to HSP or HFP due the bandwidth demand from the hands-free feature.

Here's a guide on how to disable it for anyone who may find this post in the future:

Windows 11

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...to-hands/70b611be-2d69-4696-9071-93f5eb0881fd

Other Windows versions

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...c43b-c001-42e9-9ec9-95a8f96a4b4c#:~:text=Open Devices and Printers from,free Telephony and click OK