Desktop Audio

So, I purchased this computer today, 12/23/20. It's an HP Pavilion All-in-One.

Out of the box, the computer performed flawlessly. I went ahead and let Windows Update do its thing and in the meantime, I watched a few videos on YouTube just to test out the computer's built-in speakers. The audio quality was fantastic. I stayed on the Windows Update screen to see the updates download and install then restarted the computer once all the available updates were finished. 

Upon restarting the computer, I launched the Netflix app and that is when I noticed the audio quality was different. Hopped over to YouTube and same result. It appears that after updating, the audio quality dropped considerably and is now extremely muffled. It's akin to audio coming from a pair of headphones that is away from you, just that in this instance it is coming from the speakers. I did notice an update related to audio, but I cannot find it in the 'finished updates' section. Raising the volume just makes the muffled sounds worse and filled with artifacts. The poor audio quality does not occur when using headphones or an external speaker. 

I do have a PlayStation 4 connected to the computer via HDMI and when switching to that output, the audio works perfectly, Although interestingly enough, it appears the two audio channels in the HDMI output are flipped, but I suppose I can live with this. In short, the poor audio quality for the PC output may be tied to a driver and not the speakers themselves. I appreciate the help, thanks!