Interesting. We are experiencing these problems as well.  Seems very similar.  I can deploy a 5400 with this same image and have no issue, but a 5420 will get issues.  Did you notice when you disconnect the device the computer returns to normal operation? We found that when the problem was triggered everything on the computer slowed down almost to a halt. Then disconnecting the offending headset would get things working again.  It has to be something to do with the USB Audio drivers and Realtek.  Yet, I have tried the fixes you mention and can only get the device to work for now, then it stops working again.  Has anyone solved this yet?

We have exactly the same issue here.
Not on all 5420 but almost. Exactly what you just described.

If anyone has a solution, please advise. Hellllp

SO far I narrowed it down to some sort of issue with the Intel SST Audio driver, and the Realtek chipset. I noted I am deploying an image using 20H2 audio works fine, then when its upgraded to 21H1 this issue happens almost every time.  Subsequent upgrading to 21H2 triggered an audio driver download in Dell command, and then it seems to have alleviated the issue.  I am still in the early testing phases, but I think it is specific to those 2 drivers not working well for some reason under 21H1.

Hello TangledinWires,  

Dell is aware of that issue and working on a fix together with Intel and Realtek. The Problem seems to be caused by Teams' Audio Device Access after Audio Devices have changed (Headset connected or removed) between or during calls.

Currently there are 2 Workarounds. 

1. Install the newer Audio driver that is already available for the Latitude 9520 but not finally validated for the 5520. This Driver does not fully fix the issue but it reduces the chance of the Audio Service to crash in the first place. If the Service still crashes, it will recover itself after about 10-20s and audio is working normally again, so no reboot is required. https://www.dell.com/support/home/de-de/drivers/driversdetails?driverid=fy22f 

2. Disable Audio Enhancements in the Advanced Audio Device settings. This will prevent the Service Crash from happening but has the side effect that the sound quality might be reduced on the system speakers. 

Well, just registering the complain. In the company that I work for, we have ~40 Latitude 5420 series, and all of than are with audio issues, in special when using USB headsets together with Microsoft Teams.

We are testing @Marc117 workaround.  Let's see if this will help to minimize the issues.

In parallel, does someone has/know how Dell is going with Intel and Realtek? I am expecting for new drivers to completely solve this issue.

Thank you,

Same issue here.  Uninstalling the Realtek bloatware and letting windows install the drivers fixes it in most situations but not all.

Running a simple headset with Teams should be straight forward.  Wasting hours on this!  Please fix!

Keep checking the Latitude 5420 drivers page for a newer audio driver. Maybe mid January.

Hello,

I've plenty of 5420 (130 more or less) and all have problems.

The issue is not related to Team, because the issue appens with all audio devices on windows.

I've issues with 3.5mm that is not detected all the time (for this I've not find a solution yet), and I've the issue with the USB audio devices as you was saying.

I've found a solution to the usb issue (that worked for me at least).

1- go to device manager

2- under Audio controller you will find Inter Smart Sound for USB Audio

3- disable the device and the issue was solved to me

let me know if you find a permanent solution because is a nightmare.

Maybe the engineers at Dell should reach out to us for one of our 100's of units that are effected, and we can supply them with a broken one to test.  There is no way they cannot reproduce this as it gets reproduced over multitudes of machines.