Wow... you have the exact same issue as me... sorry for copy'n'pasting, but have been having this issue for months...
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The following is originally here:
rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?118467-Zenith-II-Extreme-Alpha-SPDIF-optical-connection-issuesSimilar issues here and for months, with no real help from Asus. Drivers are the issue and has been since day one of this board, but most that I know who have this (ROG Zenith II Extreme Alpha) board, do not use the audio any higher than basic default, so it has not been an issue for them, however the moment your set it anything higher than low quality, it starts breaking in various ways. I have tried for month (during the lockdown) to try and force a workaround, but nothing (various drivers, manual tweaks, unofficial drivers, etc) and nothing seems to really help, except at least Asus's official current ones work and are stable, but only when set to below average quality... so great... nearly a £1000 GBP would below average audio, even though it is sold as being high... lies :mad:
I have also replied to another user/thread that is filled with similar issues:
https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?96465-Rough-scratchy-audio-gt-Amplification-level-FIX-WORK... ...and that's a few years worth their too
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Will Asus/Realtek/Microsoft ever bother to fix this long-ongoing issue?! :confused: