Hey John,
It seems to only be one controller. I put a piece of tape on it recently and it is still the only one that freezes. The other controller hasn't frozen since I marked the 2, so I could tell the difference between which one was having the issue.
The audio issue only happens when I restart SteamVR. I shut down both controllers, restart steam, and reconnect both. it gives me my controller function again, but no audio. Not sure if it is from restarting steam while glitched or what...
I am fairly certain at this point it is something in that controller. It tends to happen when striking a note, or firing my gun (when haptic feedback is given). I don't recall when it has happened while just moving, without the vibrator kicking on. Hopoefully that note can help.
I tried everything listed above, and no success, including a complete whipe and reinstall of EVERYTHING but windows. That is the next step if I absolutely have to, but I don't feel it is a problem with windows.
I was talking to some of the other competition guys on Onward, and one mentioned he had the problem (why he got rid of his) but if after it happened, he immediately power cycled the box (that connects to USB, wall, video card, and headset) it would come back. This works somewhat for me. If I leave it off for a second or 2, everything reloads and works, except audio is tingy. If I leave it off for 5 seconds or so, it all reloads fine once reconnected. This has made it only a 15 second delay in game where I am frozen in place and vulnerable, which is still frustrating to me and my team, but far better than being completely down and out for 5+ minutes.
If what I describe sounds like just a bad controller, I would like to exchange it so I have no downtime. I compete in Onward, and would hate to have down time.
Let me know what your thoughts are, and how you would like to proceed. Thank you