How can I fix flat, clipped audio on Linux Mint?

Start by checking the basics with alsamixer or another mixer: make sure the output isn’t over-amplified, muted, or clipping at the hardware level. Also provide your sound controller, headphones, Mint version, PipeWire or PulseAudio setup, and sample-rate settings, since those details can change the diagnosis. “Flat” sound isn’t necessarily a defect—Linux generally avoids adding the audio coloration and enhancements that Windows may enable by default. If you want EQ or other processing, you can configure it separately with an effects tool or your media player.

This can also happen when PipeWire’s configured sample or refresh rate doesn’t match what the audio controller expects. In my case, the mismatch caused PipeWire to downsample everything, which made the sound seem flat. The clipping was a separate PipeWire cache or buffer-size problem; increasing the cache size fixed it. Checking the PipeWire rate and buffer settings is worthwhile before replacing drivers or hardware.