Windows 11- audio long delay before starting

Thanks for trying Rich. There were about a dozen drivers that needed updating on the HP site, and a couple of them were Realtek drivers, but the issue persists, even after restart. What's happening is the volume starts at zero and then fades in to full setting volume when I play a new video, or a video that's been paused for 30 seconds or more. This happens with YouTube, Rumble, VLC (local media), and even music in Pandora. I've given up. It's probably an incompatibility between the Klipsch speakers and the headphone jack. Most speakers are Bluetooth now so I probably just need to upgrade my speakers. I tried two Dells before this HP, both with Windows 11 Home, and neither had this issue. They had other issues - jumpy video.

Jason, it looks like you are experiencing a different issue than I was. I didn't have a fading problem. The issue I had was a slight delay before my audio would start. If I clicked on PLAY to play an mp3, there would be a 1 or 2 sec delay before the song would start. Or, If I tried to play an mp4 video file, I would get the same delay. It recently started happening to me... with the last Realtek driver update. My speakers are also plugged into my headphone jack as my PC doesn't have a dedicated speaker jack. Why don't you see what the latest driver is on your PC manufacturer's website for Realtek audio (under game controllers)? I wouldn't worry about Audio Inputs and Outputs at this point. Maybe they have a newer version than what you have.

Thank you Rich. Roll Back Driver is greyed out so I'm assuming I don't have any previous versions on my PC. I'll have to download the driver. I want to be certain I'm trying to roll back the right driver. This issue is only happening through my headphone jack. I have Klipsch Pro Media external speakers, but I've also experienced the issue with my Audio-Technica monitors plugged in. When the computer's on-board speakers are active, I don't have the fading issue. Should I downgrade the Sound, video, and game controllers driver, or the Headphone driver in the Audio inputs and outputs category?

The driver that is working correctly on my computer is 6.0.9198.1. Right-click the "This PC" icon on the desktop and select Manage. When the Computer Management dialog opens, select Device Manager in the left column. In the right column, expand Sound, Video and Game Controllers. Right-click Realtek Audio and select Properties. Here you can select Roll Back Driver if there is a previous version of the driver installed on your system.

Which driver version did you use and can you explain how to downgrade drivers? I haven't used Windows in seven years and don't remember how to do this stuff.