Windows 10: Audio sounds muffled and compressed no matter what playback device is used

Hi,I've had my laptop for several months now and have had zero audio issues until a couple of days ago. When I try to play audio on the computer, it's fine for about 1 second and then switches over to a compressed, muffled sound. If I switch the output device it doesn't change, and if I test the audio playback in the settings it sounds the same unless I stop playing the audio and then test it, then the test audio sounds fine. Is this some kind of driver issue? I don't have the option to switch to the HD sound driver in device manager so I'm unsure how to proceed.

:)

 

Sound and Playback Devices

Hi,

To further isolate the issue, please provide the details these following questions:

• 
  Have you updated your driver? If you did, where did get the updates?
  
• 
  Have you check the properties of your device in device manager? Kindly post a screenshot of the status in of the
  drivers in device manager.
  
• 
  What troubleshooting steps have you done so far?
  

You can try to run the
Playing Audio
and
Hardware and Devices troubleshooter
to do an automated fix on this matter. To run the troubleshooter, follow these steps:

Playing Audio:

• 
  On the search bar, type
  Troubleshooting.
  
• 
  Chose
  Hardware and Sound.
  
• 
  Click on
  Playing Audio
  to run the troubleshooter
  

Hardware and Devices:

• 
  On the search bar, type
  Troubleshooting.
  
• 
  Chose
  Hardware and Sound.
  
• 
  Click on
  Hardware and Devices.
  

Let us know how it goes.

Regards.

 

Playback Audio

To separate your speakers and headphones into their own playback devices on Windows, you can follow these steps:

1. Right-click on the volume icon in the taskbar and select "Sounds".
   
2. In the Sounds window, go to the "Playback" tab.
   
3. Right-click on the audio device you want to split (e.g. "Speakers") and select "Properties".
   
4. In the Properties window, go to the "Advanced" tab.
   
5. Under "Default Format", select a format that is compatible with your audio device (e.g. "16 bit, 44100 Hz (CD Quality)").
   
6. Check the box next to "Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device".
   
7. Click "Apply" and then "OK".
   
8. Right-click on the audio device again and select "Configure Speakers".
   
9. Select the appropriate speaker setup (e.g. "Stereo") and click "Next".
   
10. Select the audio device you want to use as your default playback device (e.g. "Speakers") and click "Next".
    
11. Test your audio device by playing sound and verifying that it is playing through the correct device.
    

Repeat these steps for any additional audio devices you want to split. Once completed, you should see separate playback devices for each audio device in the Sounds window.

 

YouTube videos sounding muffled.

Hello there, I'm Gopal an Independent Advisor. I will try my best to help you.

I can see that you're experiencing an issue with audio muffled while playing YouTube and browser videos. In order to fix this issue please try the following steps

Step 1: Run the troubleshooter

Select Start > Settings > System > Sound > Troubleshoot common sound problems and select Output devices or Input devices.

Step 2: Turn off audio enhancement

- In the search box on the taskbar, type control panel, then select it from the results.

- Select Hardware and Sound from the Control Panel, and then select Sound.

- On the Playback tab, select and hold (or right-click) the Default Device, and then select Properties.

- Select the Advanced tab and uncheck either the Enable audio enhancements or the Enable sound effects check box (depending on which option you see), select Apply, and try to play your audio device.

If that doesn't work, on the Playback tab, select and hold (or right-click) another default device (if you have one), and select Properties. Uncheck either the Enable audio enhancements or the Enable sound effects check box (depending on which option you see), select Apply, and try to play audio again. Do this for each default device.

If the issue persists, please try to uninstall and reinstall the audio driver

- Press Windows Key + X, and select Device Manager.

- Select the arrow next to Sound, video, and game controllers to expand it.

- Select and hold (or right-click) the listing for your sound card or audio device, select Uninstall device, select the Attempt to remove the driver for this device check box, and then select Uninstall.

- Restart your PC.

I hope this will help you to sort out the issue. Please let me know if you need further assistance. Thank you!

Regards,

Gopal