This refers in particular to my Dell Precision 7720 laptop,but I have also had similar problems with audio on some of my desktops.
Sound was working fine (streaming internet radio) 12 DEC 1030 EST, when I turned PC off and put in my briefcase. Took it out after traveling ll day (auto) and powered it up at 2030. Booted first into Win 11 Pro. Sound was fine (www.wqxr.org). Rebooted into Ubuntu 22.1). No sound. Also tried wcpre.org as well as a YouTube channel. No sound. Rebooted twice more into Ubuntu 22.10; no sound. With the fourth reboot, sound suddenly came back. Only clue is that sound level is very high, even with sound level set just above mute. This problem did not ccur with 22.04 and numerous earlier versions of Ubuntu.
John