In fact it's worse now, because when I play any media, Spotify, YouTube, or play my own mp3's, the sound pause every 11 seconds or so, for only a second or less, and sometimes emits a static output. Now, things go back to being bad again, the array doesn't work at all, can't hear anything I'm saying.
Realtek* High Definition Audio Driver for Windows® 10 64-bit for Intel® NUC Kit NUC8i7HNK, NUC8i7HVKLatest version: 6. Next I went to the Intel Driver and Support Assistant, ran the scan, and it comes up with: Things seemed a lot better from the outset. So, I blew away the pc, and did a fresh install of Windows 10. So, I tried uninstalling and reinstalling devices, all devices from the Device Manager, rebooting, reinstalling etc.
Everything was enabled, levels set on high etc.
Ok - i tried all your steps, and all the settings were as per your pics.