JoshDSM, the static in the audio is almost always caused in Windows when your computer is very busy. One way to check this is to run Task Manager (right-click on the Taskbar and choose Task Manager), then click on the Performance tab. This will display your system usage. If it's very high, it can affect audio quality.

To find out which program or system process is using the resources, Processes tab. Once there, sort the processes by CPU usage (click on the CPU heading twice - the first time will show the lowest usage processes on top; the second click will sort by processes that are using the highest amount of CPU).

We know of several applications and Windows system processes that occasionally use very high percentage of CPU, including a popular virus scanning program. If you find a process that is consistently using more than 50% CPU, it is likely causing the audio problem that you're hearing. In that situation, you should try closing the the program that is consuming excessive system resources and see if the game's audio operates normally again.

If you don't find an application that is consuming system resources, you should check to make sure that you have the proper driver installed for your processor. At least one user has reported severe problems with game performance after allowing Windows to install a processor driver during a Windows update. After removing the driver and installing the correct processor driver from the device manufacturer, the problem was corrected.