POE2: Volume increases to max after Alt+Tab

After Alt+Tabbing out of Path of Exile 2 and returning to the game, the system-wide audio volume (not just the in-game volume) jumps to 100% automatically.

This behavior did not happen originally — it only started happening a few months ago, possibly after an update to the game or Windows.

Before, Alt+Tabbing would keep both system and game volume levels as set. Now, every time I return to the game, the system audio is forcibly pushed to maximum, which can be very loud and uncomfortable.

Is this a known issue?

Any fix for this?

I tried a few different things but no solution.

TYVM

It's similar for me. I have music playing on VLC or Spotify. Now when I start the game with PoE2, the sound from the music player gets 30-50% louder. It's almost unbearable. After weeks of searching, this is the only thing I can find...