I struggled with this when I switched. I think it had something to do with the drivers for my audio interface. Specifically, the input was what was generating the static for me. In the sound settings, I went to the input tab and changed my input to a different device (the mic on my headphones) instead of the input on my audio interface. This solved the problem for me. When I need to use the input on the audio interface, I use Jack and then have to switch my input back when I’m done.
I don’t remember what I did to get smb sharing working in Linux mint, but I do remember asking chatgpt how to do it and it definitely works for me now. Anytime I get stuck I ask chatgpt or Gemini how to do what I’m trying to do and its made my switch to mint extremely successful.