Zoom Audio a Problem

ASUS VivoBook – Zoom Desktop Audio Fails, Browser Zoom Works

I am hoping someone has seen this before.

Laptop: ASUS VivoBook
Audio: Realtek Audio
Zoom Version: Latest version (fully updated and reinstalled)

Symptoms:

• Windows audio works normally.
• Music and other applications play through the speakers normally.
• Browser-based Zoom works correctly and meeting audio can be heard.
• Zoom Workplace Desktop does not work correctly.
• Zoom speaker test shows activity and appears to be generating sound, but no usable audio is heard.
• In a live Zoom meeting, I may hear occasional noises or fragments of audio, but speech is not intelligible.
• The correct speaker device (Realtek Audio) is selected.
• Zoom appears in Windows Volume Mixer and is not muted.

Troubleshooting already performed:

• Updated Zoom to the latest version.
• Completely uninstalled and reinstalled Zoom.
• Signed out and back in.
• Verified Windows speaker output.
• Verified Realtek speakers as default device.
• Tested browser Zoom successfully.
• Disabled exclusive mode in Windows audio settings.
• Disabled Spatial Sound.
• Verified microphone permissions.

Because browser Zoom works while Zoom Desktop does not, I suspect either a Zoom Desktop audio-engine issue, a Realtek driver conflict, or an ASUS-specific audio utility conflict.

Has anyone experienced this on an ASUS VivoBook or with Realtek audio?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.