Question Loud pop while gaming followed by nearly no audio afterwards

[AlphaBots]

Hi everyone - troubleshooting question for you!

I was playing Helldivers 2 with a few friends (those darn squids never quit) when I had a loud "pop" occur in my Bose QC 35 headphones and I lost all sound across my computer. My question is, why? And is it likely fixable, or is this a sign its time to replace the guts of the computer...

For reference, my headphones are connected to Bose Companion 2 Series III speakers via an aux cable. These speakers are connected to the headphone output on the front of my Corsair Vengeance C70 case. Everything was working well, then the pop occurred, and then I could barely here my friends on Discord talking (like a faint fly in the distance). I was surprised to be able to here a tiny bit of my friends as all game audio had completely gone out. Updating drivers, restarting, and unplugging for a few minutes didn't solve the issue. Now I can't get any audio to play out of my normal setup.

Even more confusing is how one of my two monitors (both are using HDMI) can get audio, but the other cannot. This one monitor (ASUS VG278HV) is the only device that can play audio from my computer. Even even more confusing is how the computer no longer recognizes a sound bar I have connected via HDMI. Even even even more confusing is how the front aux port recognizes the input of my Bose speakers but does not play sound to them. Moving the speaker's aux cord to the back motherboard audio ports means the speakers aren't recognized.

System specs:
Windows 11
Motherboard: B450 Aorus Pro Wifi
Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D
BIOS: AMI F63
Graphics card: 2080 Ti

My gut instinct: Something blew on my motherboard, preventing the system from transmitting sound from the front of my case to the computer for processing. It likely also blew where information about exterior audio sources like the sound bar are acquired, thus preventing the computer from identifying exterior devices. I'm not sure exactly how one monitor's sound functions when everything else has failed.

I hope to be proven wrong here... otherwise, I think it's time to do a major computer overhaul. I've had the guts of this computer for nearly 7-8 years at this point (graphics card and processor have obviously been updated).

Thanks in advance.
Alpha

 

[Aeacus]

Breadboard your MoBo (meaning that you take it out of PC case and set it on any cardboard box). Remove GPU for better access (CPU cooler too if you have big-boy air cooler). Then take magnifying glass and go over the MoBo in great detail. Look if any of the caps (capacitors) are either bulged, blown open or completely missing. Might want to take the MoBo image next to you (from official specs page or from review), so you can compare how it is supposed to look vs how your's looks like.

Audio "corner" is usually bottom left on the MoBo. But blown cap could be located anywhere across the MoBo PCB.

 

[RAIDGoblin]

when you say one monitor can play sound through HDMI, is this monitor plugged into the GPU, and is the sound bar that's connected to HDMI plugged into the mobo? I'm not 100% on this but I think GPU's have they're own sound card built in to drive HDMI audio, that could explain why the sound works on that monitor, if both monitors and the sound bar are connected to your GPU, the issue could be with that and not your mobo (unlikely tho, because your front panel sound is also dead)

if you can prove the issue is your mobo (breadboard test to make sure it's nothing shorting in your case audio sockets, use different speakers/headphones for this), and like @Aeacus also says there is no blown capacitors that you could get replaced/replace yourself if you know how, you could just replace the mobo and keep everything else, you could also try using a sound card and see if it'll work through that

 

[Moonstick2]

Your gut instinct it almost certainly right, and something related to your motherboard's sound has gone pop. But unless you've got a burning need to give your system a big overhaul, I would just get a soundcard. Replacing the motherboard and going through a full Windows + programs install (even if you get the same model, Windows can be flaky with motherboard changes) just to get the audio back seems like a lot of unnecessary hassle.

 

[Ralston18]

I suggest holding on getting/installing a sound card.

Until more is known (if possible) about what has happened consider that installing a sound card is risky.

Depending on circumstances, installing a sound card could result in more damage to the motherboard and/or the sound card. Or other still living components.

If it all comes down to installing a sound card without specific reasons then the premise is that everything in the system is expendable.

Just my thoughts on the matter.