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#1
One audio channel is fuzzy/distorted, other is fine
One of my audio channels - the left one, I think - is fuzzy and barely recognizable, while the other channel is fine. I determined that it's a software problem by unplugging my amp and plugging earphones directly into the audio jack, and seeing that the problem persisted.
I've had this issue before, but after fiddling with a bunch of settings, I finally stumbled upon an option the Realktek HD audio driver gives you: when you plug something into the audio jack, a little dialog appears asking whether you just plugged in speakers, or headphones. If I selected headphones instead of speakers (regardless of what was actually plugged in) the fuzzy channel would pop back, good as new. But if I selected speakers, one channel would be fuzzy again.
The problem is: I want to play a video game that (for some unfathomably silly reason) doesn't work right if Realtek drivers are being used. So I uninstalled Realtek, and ordered Windows to install the default drivers, which it did. But now one channel is fuzzy again, and I can't find a Windows option similar to what Realtek gave me that fixes it. Or any option that fixes it.
So my question is: is there a fix, a workaround, or a different, reliable sound driver which allows you to switch between "speakers mode" and "headphones mode"?