Apr 1, 2020
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Hello,

TLDR at bottom... I have a low-end build with gigabyte b360m ds3h mobo that I use for doing some home music production and a little gaming. I was recording today and heard a loud crackle while I was fiddling with a microphone. I figured it was just clipping from the mic, but then all audio mixing started to sound really off. I closed the program and opened a game and half the sound effects weren’t audible, check the games setting volume was all turned up. Reinstalled the game, same problem. Tried a different application, background audio was loud, sound effect were either inaudible or highly distorted. Pulled up a YouTube video and the sound was muffle and distorted sometimes with audio artifacts like it was really low bitrate. First I tried tweaking stereo/enhancement and bitrate setting in control panel, no help. The system audio when running tests in control panel sounds fine but anything in application sounds broken. I tried reinstalling all of audio drivers, my usb controller drivers (I use a usb audio interface) and generally every device driver I could. No help. I tried a different set of headphones from the usb interfsce, from the mobo audio jack and from the headphone jack on one of my monitors all the same damaged sounding audio. Lastly I have a 2nd SSD with Linux installed so I swapped over to that, opened YouTube and it’s the same exact issue.

im convinced this is a hardware issue now, and I only have an on-board audio chip no sound card. So does my mobo need replacing or is there a troubleshooting step I missed?

tl;dr broken sounding audio with artifacts, muffled and crackle in every application I tried. Tried many trouble shooting ideas, some system audio sounds fine but no matter what application audio sounds broken. Even tried different OS and no difference.
 
Solution
the USB audio interface is only allowing audio input to your motherboard through USB.

a PCIe audio card bypasses your onboard audio and controls all input/output of audio itself.
Apr 1, 2020
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is the mic part of a headset or a separate component? is the audio issue also happening through regular speakers and/or different headset(s)?
it’s just a microphone plugged into a usb audio interface. I dont have regular 1/8“ jack speakers but I tried multiple different pairs of headphones from every audio jack I have, no difference.
 
if troubleshooting with different headsets and ports hasn't offered any solution and reinstalling OS, software, and drivers also doesn't help;
you may want to look into getting a dedicated sound card. a decent card should be cheaper than a new motherboard and could offer better audio and options than most onboard audio chips.
 
Apr 1, 2020
5
0
10
if troubleshooting with different headsets and ports hasn't offered any solution and reinstalling OS, software, and drivers also doesn't help;
you may want to look into getting a dedicated sound card. a decent card should be cheaper than a new motherboard and could offer better audio and options than most onboard audio chips.
I have a usb audio interface which essentially is a usb sound card and it had the same sound issues as the on board