I've been having audio problems since the game came out. Sometimes, the audio will take a few seconds to load (when I open/close a menu, or other soundeffects like footsteps and container sounds)

Does anyone else experience this?

Are there any ways to improve the situation?

I've got a powerful rig, but no dedicated audio card, not sure if that makes a difference.

Actually all motherboards have on-board audio cards that working fine with the most of the games.

what on-board audio card do you have ???

Try to uninstall and then re-install the latest audio drivers again, and the directX drivers aswell.

I've had the same problems with both onboard and a dedicated sound card. Pretty sure it's an engine/script issue.

hmm strange, engine/script issue on a new installed game ???

I say that because the OP wrote: I've been having audio problems since the game came out.

or maybe he should try to switch to Stereo instead of 5.1 Surround in the Audio Configuration panel.

I've got Realtek Audio, I use the fiber optic port on my motherboard to connect to my Turtle Beach headphones.

I've kinda thought it was a script issue as well.