Hey, yeah I managed to fix it. None of the fixes mentioned here worked, but resetting the CMOS on my motherboard by taking out the battery, waiting for 2 minutes, and reinstalling seemed to fix my issue.
Audio quality suddenly awful in Windows 11
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Samuel Valdez
5
Reputation points
My audio quality was perfectly fine yesterday, but I booted up my computer today and the audio was extremely poor quality, sounding compressed and quiet like it was coming from far away. I have tried reinstalling drivers, updating drivers, uninstalling devices, disabling audio enhancements, checking headphone cables, running troubleshooters, but nothing is fixing the problem.
Windows for home | Windows 11 | Devices and drivers
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Lucus-V 6,105 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator2026-03-15T22:41:33.8133333+00:00 Hi Samuel Valdez,
Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum. I'm happy to help.Your computer might have problem detecting the status of current audio device plugged in.
In most cases, this issue can be fixed by installing "Realtek Audio Console" if you have not already done so. This is the application to manage the Realtek audio chipset built into your motherboard. You can install it by going to your motherboard's website or through the Microsoft Store.
Disclaimer: Microsoft provides no assurances and/or warranties, implied or otherwise, and is not responsible for the information you receive from the third-party linked sites or any support related to technology.
After installing, you might need to restart your computer. If the problem persists, please open "Realtek Audio Console" to manually set the input type.
Please check your audio again to see if the issue is resolved.
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Lucus-V 6,105 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
2026-03-16T18:20:00.7133333+00:00 Hi Samuel Valdez,
I hope everything is going well on your end. Just wanted to check in and see how things are going for you lately, anything you'd like to share or discuss? -
Lucus-V 6,105 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
2026-03-17T15:38:13.0533333+00:00 Hi Samuel Valdez,
I'm happy to hear that you have managed to solve the problem and really appreciate your feedback.If you have any further questions, please feel free to make a thread.
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