Every few months, audio from my PC headphones suddenly stops working. Music and game sounds disappear, and using Windows' built-in device test produces a distorted, fuzzy noise instead of the normal tone. I have reinstalled the Realtek audio driver, disabled and removed Nvidia's audio device, set Nvidia's digital audio output to turn off, disabled all sound enhancements, and restarted the computer several times. Changing the bit rate also fails with a "Device in use" error, and every setting still produces garbled sound in both ears. The headphones work normally on another device, and the monitor's built-in speakers work, but neither the front nor rear PC headphone jacks produce audio. Realtek detects that headphones are plugged in. What else should I check before assuming the built-in audio hardware is failing?
1 Answer
Since the headphones work elsewhere and the monitor speakers work, the headphones themselves probably aren’t the issue. Focus on the PC’s built-in Realtek audio path: check the BIOS setting for onboard audio and the front-panel audio option, then inspect the internal front-panel cable if this is a desktop. Test both the rear motherboard jack and the front jack independently. If the Realtek hardware or its analog output is failing, a USB headset or inexpensive USB sound adapter is usually the simplest workaround.
I already tested both the front and rear jacks, and Realtek recognizes that something is plugged in, but neither produces usable sound. The monitor speakers work normally, and the headphones work on another device, so I’m starting to suspect the onboard analog audio hardware or its configuration.