Find this happening on both my laptop, which is running an integrated audio chip, and my desktop, which is running a soundblaster. Both have the latest drivers.
What happens is this… and its most common right after either zoning into a new area, or once a lot of action starts happening on the screen… the audio will stop playing in tandem with player actions like weapon swings, particles, jumping, etc… becoming near silent.
Then, after the event disperses, or you’re in the zone for long enough, you’ll start hearing a random explosion here, a random jump sound effect there, another random weapon swing grunt…
… before it finally catches up.
It’s kinda obnoxious. Takes a bit of the immersion factor out of the game.