Onboard sound levels drop? Get muffled?

[bencho]

I have a weird one for you guys!

Playing Darksiders on Steam... when suddenly the sounds start getting muffled. At some points, background music disappears. Then other sounds just start getting muffled until they just stop playing.

Rebooting makes this "go away". Before a reboot, the all sound is lowered greatly. A reboot is necessary before sound levels "return to normal", i.e. if I reboot without touching the dials on my speaker, the sound levels return to the levels I expect.

What's going on here??

 

[Krispy Kritter]

Is it only affecting the game, or audio outside of the game as well?

 

[bencho]

Outside too!

 

[SirMaster]

Check to see if any "enhancements" are enabled in the properties on your sound output settings in Windows. Disable them all.