[TopAce]

Recently I ran into some issues with sound, specifically uneven volumes. Music plays mostly fine, at 100% volume. However, misc sound effects (voice and practically anything else) is quite random; it's mostly around 50% from normal, but sometimes it jumps back to normal for a while, then back again.

In practice this looks like this: I'm playing SW: The Old Republic and I'm conversation with an NPC. The music plays fine, the NPC I'm talking to speaks normally for 10 seconds, then mid-word they randomly start whispering, then back again. On YouTube, I'd be trying to listen to some podcasts, but I can't because I just can't hear them. Listening to music in the background (via Win Media Player or YT) is something I can do. However, I can't watch movies anymore on my PC anymore.

These problems came up between two reboots and I didn't do anything system-related that might have caused it.

Some more data that might be helpful:

Windows 10, 64-bit, Hungarian version
Realtek High-Definition Audio drivers are up-to-date, according to Control Panel
I tried deleting it from the Device Manager, then rebooting
The volume slider in the Control Panel and the one I can reach via ^ and clicking on the sound icon at 100%
I tried numerous presets (24-bit x kHz), but they sound the same
I use headphones (tried two), but the Control Panel recognizes them as Sound Blasters. Can't remember if that has always been such or not
Some two or three months ago, the second RAM memory slot on my motherboard stopped functioning. Don't know if it's related, but since I don't have a dedicated sound card, and I'm using the motherboard for sound. It has worked fine forever.

[Antares]

What version are your Realtek drivers?

[TopAce]

10.0.19041.264 - date: 2020-05-09

[Antares]

That looks like a built-in Windows driver, probably what your system defaulted to when you removed your existing driver through the Device Manager. You might have better luck with an actual Realtek audio driver.

ASRock's support site doesn't appear to be the most user-friendly, but try to find a Realtek driver for your system model. It may be an older driver, but it should work well enough.

If you're still having problems (or if you can't find anything on ASRock's site), you can try a driver from another source, like the Microsoft Update Catalog or Station-Drivers.

Realtek drivers typically come in two flavors: UAD and HDA. UAD drivers are "modern" drivers that are smaller downloads but require you to download the Realtek sound manager app from the Windows Store in order to work properly; HDA drivers are larger, but are generally compatible with a wider range of systems, and have their sound manager software prepackaged with them so you don't have to download anything extra.

Keep in mind that an updated driver may not fix your problem; if your motherboard is already showing signs of failure, you may simply need a new computer.

[TopAce]

I acquired a 2017, June version Realtek High Definition Audio driver from realtek.com. The issues persist, and I can't see any sound manager software that came with it. Searching for "realtek" in Windows search returns nothing.

[Antares]

Sound managers are manufacturer-specific, and ASRock may not use one on their systems; my computer is an HP, and my manager appears as an extra icon in my system tray that allows me to adjust equalizer functions, raise and lower microphone volume, etc.

If a driver update didn't help, you might be looking at hardware failure. :\

You could try the Windows sound troubleshooter (right-click the speaker icon in your system tray and choose "Troubleshoot sound problems" or look in your system settings) to see if it detects anything.

[TopAce]

I forgot to mention in the OP that I'm already through a troubleshoot check (which I repeated again just before typing this post), and it didn't help.

I also tried a 2012 driver from Asrock's website that they recommended for Win10. Same.

So it's the motherboard, just what I was afraid of.

Thanks for the help.

[The E]

One question: You said that your headphones "are recognized as soundblasters". Are they USB? If so, they're going to have an integrated DAC that bypasses the soundchip on the motherboard; if the issues you're having are present when using headphones, I'd look at a software issue instead.

Some of the issues you're describing (voices being muted in some scenarios, specifically) sound like something that may be caused by your PC being set up to send a surround sound signal to a device that isn't capable of properly decoding them; I had something simillar happen to me a few weeks back when movies on Netflix were suddenly missing dialogue. The cause there was that Netflix was set to use the 5.1 audio track; since I do not have a surround sound setup hooked up to my PC, only the Stereo channels were decoded and thus a lot of the dialogue (which is usually mixed to play on the center channel) just wasn't really audible.

To check this, open the sound control panel (From the Win 10 settings menu, go to Sound, then click the Sound Control Panel link in the right sidebar), click on your active audio playback device and check the "Supported Formats" tab. Manually uncheck the Dolby Digital and DTS options. Then go to the Advanced tab and make sure that the default format is set to something using 2 channels.

[TopAce]

My headphones are connected via the traditional red and green input slots. Apologies, I don't know what they're called in IT professional terms.

I found stereo and surround options, but nothing akin to supported formats. Stereo setup appears irrelevant, and surround setup is forever set to off. It's grayed out with a note indicating my headphone doesn't support surround.