I have a Z170-HD3 Mobo, Win 10 Home 64bit build 1803, with on-board/integrated Realtek audio.
No Realtek Driver that I've installed works properly.
Resorted to using Windows generic audio drivers.
The issue began shortly after the first major Win10 update in 2016 and has been with me ever since.
The issue at hand is, that the audio mutes itself, at random for a second or two and then continues as normal.
This occurs frequently, whenever watching videos, listen to music or play games.
Anytime audio is being used, this muting issue is present.
Also, no error message has ever been displayed.
I've run the Windows Audio Troubleshooter, without success or benefit.
Uninstalled and reinstalled numiours Reltek drivers, still without success or benefit.
Uninstalled the Nvidia audio driver, without any effect.
An SCF scan shows no issues.
Removing all audio drivers and installing the most recent Realtek driver, also has no effect.
Did a clean install of Win10 1803 and still no joy.
I've resorted to using Windows generic audio drivers.
Which seems to have stopped this issue.
However, the audio quality of these drivers is inferior, which sounds horrible.
The only thing I haven't tried, is to reset the BIOS.
I'm not sure if resetting the BIOS would have anything to do with this issue.
Any help and or suggestions with regard to this issue, that you might have would be greatly appreciated.
System specs are as follows:
Computer Type: PC/Desktop
System Manufacturer/Model Number: Self Built
OS: Windows 10 Home 64 bit, Version 1803 (OS Build 17134.1)
CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-6700K Processors
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z170-HD3-CF (U3E1)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX (2x8GB) DDR4 3000MHz
Graphics Card: GIGABYTE™ GeForce GTX 1080
Sound Card: Integrated/Realtek High Definition Audio
Monitor(s) Displays: ASUS MG279Q - 27"
Screen Resolution: 2560 x 1440
Keyboard: Logitech G413 (Carbon)
Mouse: Logitech G502 Proteus Spectrum
PSU: AX760i Digital ATX Power Supply — 760 Watt 80 PLUS® Platinum Certified Fully-Modular PSU
Case: CM Storm Scout 2 Advanced
Cooling: (Air) Noctua nh-d15
Hard Drives: Samsung 960 PRO 250GB NVMe SSD, SAMSUNG 850 EVO 250GB, WD Black 1 TB HDD 7200 RPM
Internet Speed: 93.14 Mbps down/21.61 Mbps up
Browser: Chrome
Antivirus: Emsisoft Anti-Malware, Paid 1 year license and Windows Defender
Other Info: Past Upgrades: (As of Jan 2017) Motherboard, PSU, CPU, added SSD and HDD, along with new OS.
Latest Upgrade: (As of March 3rd 2018) Samsung 960 PRO 512GB NVMe SSD.
No Realtek Driver that I've installed works properly.
Resorted to using Windows generic audio drivers.

The issue began shortly after the first major Win10 update in 2016 and has been with me ever since.
The issue at hand is, that the audio mutes itself, at random for a second or two and then continues as normal.
This occurs frequently, whenever watching videos, listen to music or play games.
Anytime audio is being used, this muting issue is present.
Also, no error message has ever been displayed.
I've run the Windows Audio Troubleshooter, without success or benefit.
Uninstalled and reinstalled numiours Reltek drivers, still without success or benefit.
Uninstalled the Nvidia audio driver, without any effect.
An SCF scan shows no issues.
Removing all audio drivers and installing the most recent Realtek driver, also has no effect.
Did a clean install of Win10 1803 and still no joy.
I've resorted to using Windows generic audio drivers.
Which seems to have stopped this issue.
However, the audio quality of these drivers is inferior, which sounds horrible.
The only thing I haven't tried, is to reset the BIOS.
I'm not sure if resetting the BIOS would have anything to do with this issue.
Any help and or suggestions with regard to this issue, that you might have would be greatly appreciated.
System specs are as follows:
Computer Type: PC/Desktop
System Manufacturer/Model Number: Self Built
OS: Windows 10 Home 64 bit, Version 1803 (OS Build 17134.1)
CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-6700K Processors
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z170-HD3-CF (U3E1)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX (2x8GB) DDR4 3000MHz
Graphics Card: GIGABYTE™ GeForce GTX 1080
Sound Card: Integrated/Realtek High Definition Audio
Monitor(s) Displays: ASUS MG279Q - 27"
Screen Resolution: 2560 x 1440
Keyboard: Logitech G413 (Carbon)
Mouse: Logitech G502 Proteus Spectrum
PSU: AX760i Digital ATX Power Supply — 760 Watt 80 PLUS® Platinum Certified Fully-Modular PSU
Case: CM Storm Scout 2 Advanced
Cooling: (Air) Noctua nh-d15
Hard Drives: Samsung 960 PRO 250GB NVMe SSD, SAMSUNG 850 EVO 250GB, WD Black 1 TB HDD 7200 RPM
Internet Speed: 93.14 Mbps down/21.61 Mbps up
Browser: Chrome
Antivirus: Emsisoft Anti-Malware, Paid 1 year license and Windows Defender
Other Info: Past Upgrades: (As of Jan 2017) Motherboard, PSU, CPU, added SSD and HDD, along with new OS.
Latest Upgrade: (As of March 3rd 2018) Samsung 960 PRO 512GB NVMe SSD.