Unfortunately the same muffled sound seems to happen on my desktop (Realtek High Definition Audio… If your computer came with additional enhancement software, it may have its own tab on this menu. Long story short: ->Right click "speakers" on the taskbar ->Playback Devices ->Right click your default playback device, in my case "speakers" -> Properties ->"Dolby" tab at the top -> Turn on ->"Advanced" tab at the top -> Uncheck "Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device". Next, try a different pair of headphones. It might be your ears, due to getting older, or having a cold or the flu. If you are experiencing muddy or distorted sound, you can try to disable the bundled enhancement software by accessing the speaker properties, selecting the “Enhancements” tab, and then disabling these enhancements. wikiHow is where trusted research and expert knowledge come together. After that, I opened Realtek HD Audio Manager and navigated to Sound Effects, which wanted to launch Nahimic 2. 3D SoundBack Beta 0.1 (Realtek 3D SoundBack restores audio effects, including surround sound, reverberation, and spatial effects, for legacy game titles when running on … Next, try some different recordings. Also, battery-operated devices produce a muffled sound when the batteries are getting low. This article was co-authored by our trained team of editors and researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness. This method may also work with other (non-RealTek) sound devices if they came with bundled enhancement software. All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published, This article was co-authored by our trained team of editors and researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness. We use cookies to make wikiHow great. If you have a Windows 7 machine with a Realtek sound chipset or drivers, then you may have run into a problem where you randomly hear crackling or popping or static while playing audio through your speakers or even headsets. Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered. USB sound card replacements vary widely in price but can be acquired for under $10. If you really can’t stand to see another ad again, then please consider supporting our work with a contribution to wikiHow. My personal issue was the HD audio sounding kindof "tinny" or muffled when the "Hey Cortana" feature was activated. wikiHow's. If you are experiencing muddy or distorted sound, you can try to disable the bundled enhancement software by accessing the speaker properties, selecting the “Enhancements” tab, and then disabling these enhancements. Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 20,721 times. {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/3\/3e\/Fix-Muddy-Sound-With-Real-Tech-Audio-and-Windows-7-Step-1-Version-3.jpg\/v4-460px-Fix-Muddy-Sound-With-Real-Tech-Audio-and-Windows-7-Step-1-Version-3.jpg","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/3\/3e\/Fix-Muddy-Sound-With-Real-Tech-Audio-and-Windows-7-Step-1-Version-3.jpg\/aid805159-v4-728px-Fix-Muddy-Sound-With-Real-Tech-Audio-and-Windows-7-Step-1-Version-3.jpg","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":345,"bigWidth":"728","bigHeight":"546","licensing":"