I can point you to a 128 PAGE long thread of people having the exact same issue as you. And it's been a problem since Endwalker released.This is the first time I've seen anyone mention the crowd effect I've been experiencing. Turning off the ambiance gets rid of the popping and the occasional crowd effect in all parts of the game where I'm experiencing. Oddly enough I've only been experiencing this since patch 6.15, but I would love if this got some more attention.
Here are the system specs since it was requested by the moderator:
-=-=-=-=-=-=- System Information -=-=-=-=-=-=-
SYSTEM_OS Windows 10 Pro 64-bit (6.2, Build 9200) (19041.vb_release.191206-1406)
SYSTEM_CPU Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-8400 CPU @ 2.80GHz (6 CPUs), ~2.8GHz
SYSTEM_CORE_NUM SYSTEM_CORE_LOGIC 6 SYSTEM_CORE_PHYSICS 6
SYSTEM_BIOS 2.80
SYSTEM_LANGUAGE English (Regional Setting: English)
SYSTEM_MEMORY 16326.246MB
SYSTEM_VIRTUAL_MEMORY 134217727.875MB
SYSTEM_PAGE_FILE 21724.609MB
SYSTEM_STORAGE C:\ SYSTEM_HARDDISK_DRIVE SYSTEM_TOTALDISC_SPACE 930.444GB SYSTEM_FREEDISC_SPACE 44.429GB
SYSTEM_STORAGE D:\ SYSTEM_HARDDISK_DRIVE SYSTEM_TOTALDISC_SPACE 3726.006GB SYSTEM_FREEDISC_SPACE 3115.972GB
SYSTEM_DIRECTX_VERSION DirectX 12
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DEVICE \\.\DISPLAY1
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_CHIP NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_MAKER NVIDIA
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_VRAM 4043.250 MB
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_SHARED_VRAM 8163.123 MB
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DAC Integrated RAMDAC
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DISPLAY_MODE 1920 x 1080 (32 bit) (165Hz)
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DRIVER C:\WINDOWS\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\nv_dispi.inf_amd64_3b12ac0f95b18b9d\nvldumdx.dll,C:\WINDOWS\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\nv_dispi.inf_amd64_3b12ac0f95b18b9d\nvldumdx.dll,C:\WINDOWS\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\nv_dispi.inf_amd64_3b12ac0f95b18b9d\nvldumdx.dll,C:\WINDOWS\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\nv_dispi.inf_amd64_3b12ac0f95b18b9d\nvldumdx.dll
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DRIVER_VERSION 30.00.0015.1179
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DRIVER_DATE 2/10/2022 02:00:00
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DRIVER_LANGUAGE English
3.0
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_PIXEL_SHADER 3.0
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_VERTEX_TEXTURE SYSTEM_SUPPORT
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DEVICE \\.\DISPLAY2
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_CHIP NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_MAKER NVIDIA
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_VRAM 4043.250 MB
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_SHARED_VRAM 8163.123 MB
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DAC Integrated RAMDAC
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DISPLAY_MODE 1920 x 1080 (32 bit) (75Hz)
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DRIVER C:\WINDOWS\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\nv_dispi.inf_amd64_3b12ac0f95b18b9d\nvldumdx.dll,C:\WINDOWS\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\nv_dispi.inf_amd64_3b12ac0f95b18b9d\nvldumdx.dll,C:\WINDOWS\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\nv_dispi.inf_amd64_3b12ac0f95b18b9d\nvldumdx.dll,C:\WINDOWS\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\nv_dispi.inf_amd64_3b12ac0f95b18b9d\nvldumdx.dll
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DRIVER_VERSION 30.00.0015.1179
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DRIVER_DATE 2/10/2022 02:00:00
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DRIVER_LANGUAGE English
3.0
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_PIXEL_SHADER 3.0
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_VERTEX_TEXTURE SYSTEM_SUPPORT
SYSTEM_SOUND Speakers (Realtek(R) Audio)
SYSTEM_SOUND_DEVICE_ID {92413EA4-7BDF-4761-ACCA-F195296D8823}
SYSTEM_SOUND_DEVICE_NAME RTKVHD64.sys
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_VERSION 6.0.1.8412
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_LANGUAGE English
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_DATE 3/29/2018 02:00:00
SYSTEM_INPUT {6F1D2B60-D5A0-11CF-BFC7444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME Mouse
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 3 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 8 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {6F1D2B61-D5A0-11CF-BFC7444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME Keyboard
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 128 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {EF3341D0-F263-11EB-8001444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME Controller (Xbox One For Windows)
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 5 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 16 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 1
SYSTEM_INPUT {AC8ABB40-C898-11EC-8001444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME HID-compliant vendor-defined device
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {AC8AE250-C898-11EC-8002444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME HID-compliant vendor-defined device
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {EF33DE10-F263-11EB-8002444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME Corsair Gaming K95 RGB PLATINUM Keyboard
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {EF34A160-F263-11EB-8003444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME AT2020USB+
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 1 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 8 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {EF358BC0-F263-11EB-8004444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME AT2020USB+
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {AC8B0960-C898-11EC-8003444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME HID-compliant vendor-defined device
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {EF367620-F263-11EB-8006444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME Corsair Gaming K95 RGB PLATINUM Keyboard
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 4096 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {EF378790-F263-11EB-8007444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME Corsair Gaming K95 RGB PLATINUM Keyboard
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {EF384AE0-F263-11EB-8008444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME Corsair Gaming K95 RGB PLATINUM Keyboard
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0
SYSTEM_INPUT {E71F9130-F324-11EB-8002444553540000}
SYSTEM_INPUT_NAME Corsair composite virtual input device
SYSTEM_INPUT_REMARKS SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_AXIS 0 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_BUTTON 1024 SYSTEM_GAMEPAD_FOV 0