audio crackling issues

i never used to have these issues so idk what is going on i tried 2 different headsets one usb and 1 aux (with the green cable)

my audio cracks when i have path of exile open i've tried every sound setting i can think of but no matter what as soon as i open up path of exile every sound has a crackling noise to it

this literally only happens with path of exile any suggestions i will try!!!

Check which driver you have installed.

Windows installed "Realtek High Definition Audio Driver" and I had crackling. I installed the "Realtek HD Universal Driver" and its fixed. Bascially, whichever one you have installed, just try the other one.

Realtek HD Universal Driver does not seem to be an optional download for my motherboard on the website i have an asus z170-a

i have tried reinstalling the game on a different ssd as well just to try something different it made no difference


edit: i disabled the hd audio drivers in my bios to stop using realtek altogether but even still i have the crackle noise

UPDATE apparently my cpu was using 100% usage while playing poe due to the multithread option being enabled i disabled it and it started used 60% less cpu power lol idk why but it seemed to work so far

Remove from USB, stick back into USB. Fixed.
Would like to know why it works as well.