Hello I have Asus z370 x hero with latest drivers .
I was plagued with the front panel audio crackling and distorting. My rear panel audio didn't do it.
I read on readit last night some dude said from a readit pc master race forum a guy posted to disable Windows 10 fast start up option under Windows power plan.
I disabled it and it worked
🙂 He said to disable it turn pc off unplug power supply for 1min or so restart pc. I and now I'm happy today my front panel audio doesn't crackle with front panel any more.
I'm not taking credit as I found this out from pc master race readit page .
Rig # 1 - 14900Ks SP-118 | 87 MC @ 6.0 GHZ | 5.2 R | 4.7 E | DDR5 48GB @ 8,600 c36 | Strix RTX 4090 | PG27AQN 1440P 27" 360 Hz G-Sync ULMB 2
Rig # 2 - 14900K-SP-120 | 89 MC @ 5.9 GHZ | 5.2 R | 4.7 E | DDR4 32GB @ 4,300 c15 | Strix RTX 3080 | Aoc 1080P 25" 240 Hz G-Sync