Loud Audio on Z170X - Gaming G1.

[Scott68]

Specs - Build Type.:Liquid Cooled Gaming Rig.
CPU:i7 'Skylake' Processor-6700k 4GHz clocked to (4.6 GHz).
Main Board:Gigabyte Z170X G1 gaming MB.
Graphics:Gigabyte G1 Gaming Geforce GTX 970.
Ram:Corsair 32GB DDR4 Vengeance C16 White Led @ 3466MHz.
Cooling System:Custom Quad XSPC / EK Liquid Cooling.

 Well after spending around $800 Aus on my new Mb alone, I got my new system up and going and have to say
I was quite happy with every thing  on it and how it performed. Right up until the point I started having issues with the Audio on the board.
I am using the Gigabyte Z170X- G1 Gaming Mb.  All of a sudden when I started Windows 7 the audio was coming out
full volume and distorted. The only way I found to combat this was to mute the volume on the task bar then un-mute again.
This would bring my audio levels back down to where they were actually set.
One of the main reasons for buying this board was because of the great on-board audio feature's. And the audio is great when it's running right. When researching this issue online I found a lot of other user's were having the same problem not only in Win 7, but in Win 10 also.
This issue would only present itself when using stereo headphones with a 2.5mm jack. And I tried 3 different headphone sets and all had the same results, loud audio. When trying a Usb gaming headset the audio levels were normal. (Seems like a driver issue to me). Now the reason I am using  stereo headphones with a 2.5mm jack over a gaming headset is because my Sennheiser Studio headphones (I feel) sound and feel much better than any gaming headset out there. And the other reason also is so I can fully utilize all the audio functions in the Sound Blaster software. With a Usb headset, you can't do that as the software doesn't detect a Usb connection. Since Usb Headsets are becoming more and more common, you would think that the makers of these Mb's and software writer's would start inter-grating them into the software (so Usb is detected when connecting).
    When I sent a support ticket to Gigabyte about my issue they said re-install Windows and use updated drivers.
I new this wasn't going to work but I did it anyway. And sure enough after install their updated drivers, not only did I still have my loud audio problem but I had lost ALL Usb 3.0 and 3.1 functions across the entire board. Nice one Gigabyte. And all they had to say was "These drivers have been tested with Win 7". Then they asked me to find out if Win 10 user's were having the same issues. Not that this has any thing to do with me as I am running Win 7. I told them too Google it themselves, knowing full well that they are aware of these same issues in Win 10.
Well after going back and forward's with support ticket's with Gigabyte and no solution, They said " There is no problem with the new driver's. Just send Mb back to be tested at your retailer". Well after a response like that, I found my audio issue wasn't the main problem any more. It was Gigabyte's lack of empathy and acknowledgement that they had a serious problem with this board. Whether hardware or software related. It was easier for them to tell me to return the Mb for testing. I have no doubt that they know there is an audio problem with this Mb. They just don't want to deal with it.
    Luckily for me, I had cloned my C Drive before the audio started playing up and reverted back to that. No problem now. All seems fine. So what was actually the cause of the audio problem? I not sure. If I was to hazard a guess, I would say driver related. That went well for a month and the problem came back again out of the blue. I did some intel chipset updates from Gigabyte and now my audio seem's fine again. Normal levels. So I am at aloss as to what had caused it. Hope reader's find this helpful.

[leon_123]

I have the same problem with you, my specs is the same.

[dmdilks]

I was just checking out there. Most of the MB companies are having some kind sound problems on the Z170 boards. So it just isn't Gigabyte. Yes I have seen many people here having problems with the audio on most all the Z170 boards.

Plus the old catch here or at support is you should do a reinstall of the OS. Wait a minute isn't that what I did in the first place when I built the system. Their support isn't really that good. I stop dealing with them many yrs ago.

Did you use the drives from the disk or did you download them from Gigabyte? When you first install windows. Did you update the audio first then start having problems. Or did just start happening the first time?

I'm just throwing this out there. When first install windows did use all the drivers from the disk. Then you did audio driver update. Then you started having problems. The thing is that if the chip-set drivers on the disk are older then the ones on line.

Maybe that could be the problem. Trying to mix older with newer could be the problem. Like I said just throwing that out there. Because you said up updated the chip-set drivers and now everything seams fine now. 

[Saruman]

Had the same issue for a long time (Gaming 7 here). Guess what? It's the drivers. Or, better, that crap software coming with drivers. Disable ALL (I mean, ALL) the enhancements and functions and abilities from SB Pro Studio, both for speakers/headphones and mic, and enjoy your audio without any more problem. Running stable since one year after I did it. Now and then I try to enable even only one function of SB Pro Studio: distorted audio within a few minutes. So, it's the crap software.

[Scott68]

   UPDATE..... Well my audio problem still presented itself on Win7 so I went to Win10, and although it wasn't as bad it was still present with Win10. But the funny thing is the audio would only be loud and distorted when starting my machine with a Western Digital external Passport hooked into one of my Usb connection. If I didn't have the passport connected, I found the audio to be fine. Very strange indeed. I since went back to Win 7 Premium x64 (because I hate Win 10) and straight away got loud audio when ever I start my machine, every time. Like I said before the only way I found to fix it was to mute/unmute audio in the task bar. That would bring my audio level back down. So I find that it is worse when running Win 7. I have now given up on using my headphone's  and gone back to using my Megalodon gaming headset. As they are Usb connected and have their own engine as such and don't go utilize the onboard sound. I did what some one suggested and turned every thing off in the SB Studio software, and no joy. Still loud audio. 
    So I guess If I want to use my good Sennheiser HeadPhones I will have to disable the on board audio and get a separate sound card I guess. I could stick with the Usb Headset but frankly, they are not as good as my Headphones. I am disgusted with Gigabyte and will NEVER purchase another product of theirs again. I have lost all faith in them, their products and their support. 

Specs - Build Type.:Liquid Cooled Gaming Rig.
CPU:i7 'Skylake' Processor-6700k 4GHz clocked to (4.6 GHz).
Main Board:Gigabyte Z170X G1 gaming MB.
Graphics:Gigabyte G1 Gaming Geforce GTX 970.
Ram:Corsair 32GB DDR4 Vengeance C16 White Led @ 3466MHz.
Cooling System:Custom Quad XSPC / EK Liquid Cooling.

Current BIOS version Z170X-GamingG1 F8k.
And I did do a Live Update of APP Centre and all chipsets, Usb and drivers. So this is a fresh install of Win7 x64 Premium with every thing updated. 

[TFisher]

Similar problems on my board when I got it. After endless session trying to get it to work properly I went out and bought a sound card. Problem solved. But Gigabyte should be fixing this problem.

[Scott68]

    Well I tried some thing different and uninstalled the RC2 driver and the all software components for Creative, and tried just using Microsoft High Definition Audio driver. Although the level bar was moving when playing sound, For the life of me I could not get any sound through the headphones. And yes, I had it set to default.
    So I tried just installing the RC2 driver again (with out any creative software components this time) and got my audio to play back fine. That was until I did a restart. When restarting my audio came out too loud again. And like I said, the only way I found to combat this was to mute/unmute the audio on the task bar. So I'm convinced it is a Driver issue now, and not the Creative software that comes with it.