Microsoft confirms game audio issues on Windows 11 24H2 PCs

​Microsoft has confirmed a new issue affecting Windows 24H2 systems and causing game audio to unexpectedly increase to full volume when using USB DAC sound systems.

As the company explained in a support document published on Tuesday, this known issue occurs on Windows 24H2 gaming systems where affected gamers use a Creative Sound BlasterX G6 USB digital audio converter (DAC) or attach and then immediately detach the external sound system from the system.

Users might also experience this issue after making their gaming system go to sleep and then manually waking it from sleep or after adjusting the volume of the external sound system and immediately detaching it.

"When you use an external USB digital audio converter (DAC) sound system, you might experience the sound level increasing to 100-percent," Microsoft said.

"There are no error messages or other identifying factors other than the audio volume is suddenly increased to 100-percent."

This bug is caused by what Microsoft describes as a timing problem in the AudioEndpointBuilder system service, which enumerates, initializes, and activates the audio endpoints on Windows systems.

The company says it's currently investigating the issue and working on a fix, with more information to be provided when available.

This week, Redmond also acknowledged another bug preventing users from changing the time zone in the Date & Time view of Windows Settings if they don't have administrative privileges on the device.

However, those affected can work around it by searching for and changing it from the Control Panel or by opening the corresponding window by running 'timedate.cpl' from the Run dialog (launched by pressing the Windows key + R keyboard shortcut).

"Microsoft is actively investigating the issue and will provide a resolution in an upcoming Windows update," the company said.

Last week, it also pulled the November 2024 Exchange security updates over mail delivery issues and fixed several bugs causing Windows Server 2025 blue screens and install issues.