When using the front 3.5mm audio jack:
when the cable is pushed in all the way I only hear audio out of the right earcup
when its ever so slightly not pushed in I only hear a very FEINT sound out of the left earcup and nothing out of the right

using the back mobo audio port (which is meant for speakers) I get audio out of both earcups but the sound isn't very loud at maximum


I've tested the headphones on my phone etc and they work just fine, they're audio technicas that I've had for ~YEAR and they're in perfect shape
I've also tested the cable
I've also been playing with all the audio settings etc and nothing so far

specs
win 10 pro
asus z170-a pro
using realtek HD audio manager that came with MSI product (open to anything really)


any help is appreciated this is driving me nuts


First of all, the 3.5 mm plug and jack are widely used for a lot of things.

Your headphone or earpiece works find on a smartphone. It was meant for that kind of use. For use on a PC, a variation of the3.5 mm connector is use.
I see this pages:

You can search for "images of 3.5mm headphones" and notice difference in the connectors. SINE are double ring. The PC uses single ring.
I'd say the jack might be messed up. I have an issue with my computer with front jack since I have used the same computer case since 2004 and it acts up occasionally giving me only one ear and not both. I am going to have to replace the front audio jack on my desktop computer to fix this. There have been a couple times that I got up forgetting i had headset on and it got tugged to the side, so working for last 13 years with heavy use and a few accidental tugs is pretty good.

Audio on my headset is usually set to the maximum too which is like 70% loudness from what I would expect for 100%. An easy fix would be to make use of an available USB port to insert a sound card stick into there and use that audio, or get a male/female extension cable and use the rear audio jack to get stereo back to both ears vs mono to one ear. I have also seen people replace computer cases to solve this. Otherwise if your good with reworking electronics, replace the audio jack unsoldering the old one and adding new.Here is a search result for a better set of images:
https://images.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=AwrTccdlWm5ZhD4A88InnIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTByNWU4cGh1BGNvbG8DZ3ExBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzYw--?p=3.5+Mm+Audio+Jacks+and+Plugs&fr=yhs-mozilla-001&hspart=mozilla&hsimp=yhs-001

That should make it clear taut you have to have the right connector.
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I've tested the headphones on my phone