Windows 10: Audio cuts out, [insert game name] crashes if Im playing one, PC restart brings audio back.

This started happening about 4 days ago.As of today, every driver is fully updated, Windows 11 is fully updated, and it just happened again.What I was doing when it happened:StarfieldDestinyWatching a Twitch stream.Description of what I was doing when it happened:The problems started during a Starfield play session, and wasnt happening during anything else, so I thought it was restricted to that. Audio would cut out entirely, then the game would go through micro freezing. Restarting the computer was the only way to get my audio back for my system.Couple days later, I was watching a Twitch stre

:)

 

audio stuttering pc freezing and game crashing

so i can play valorant no problem game never crashes no audio cut outs or anything, but any other game maybe because they are more gpu intensive like fortnite, apex cod etc they all eventually cut out with audio freeze and crash. I'm not sure if it has to do with the software side of my gpu or the hardware side, any help would be greatly appreciated, this is my last resort then im off to a pc place to have them check.

 

Windows Audio Crashes

My audio stops working when ever a mic is turned on.

On login, audio output works normally, however, when ever any mic is used, both audio input and output crash and a red x shows up on the taskbar audio icon.

It seems the Windows Audio service is what crashes.

After the first crash, the audio does not come back no matter what I do until I restart my pc.

I can replicate this with the following steps:

1. Login to pc
   • audio output working fine
2. Open sound settings, opens to playback tab
   • audio still fine and also able to play test sounds
3. Click on Recording Tab
   • The sound feedback indicator on the right side is missing
   • The window freezes, error window appears about DLL crash
   • If there is no connected or enabled recording device, nothing happens everything else seem to run normally
4. Proceed to follow various trouble shooting steps
   • Some troubleshooting steps seems to get rid of the red x on the taskbar volume icon
   • The recording tab in the sound settings is also now accessible
   • However things may seem fine at first, audio input/output is still not working and playing a test sound fails.

Solutions I've Tried:

• DISM (ended with no errors)
• sfc /scannow (found corrupted files, required restart)
• Restarting Windows Audio Service (results in err 1061, service then gets stuck on stopping)
• Disabling and re-enabling audio drivers
• Reinstalling audio drivers from manufacturers site
• Using windows generic audio drivers
• Restarting my PC

As you can see, I've spent a lot of time trying to fix this issue and it is starting to get really frustrating.

 

I am having trouble playing games, when I play my audio cuts in and out then crashes the game then my audio stops working.

Just tried that and as i was playing Modern Warfare 2 the game started stuttering and my audio and then it crashed and now have no audio. I have to restart my audio services for it to come back.