Windows 10: Force Microphone to use High Definition Audio Device instead of RealtekR

After a recent Windows 10 system update I am not sure which one caused the problem, but it happened somewhere between end of February, 2020, to today, March 25, 2020, I noticed that my microphone's quality was severely reduced to an unusable poor state. I've tried speaking into the built-in voice recorder app, and it sounded trash, just like any other windows app that required a microphone.


I ruled out the possibility of a broken mic by plugging it into a different ubuntu machine, and it works perfectly.


When this problem started occurring couple weeks ago, I managed to go into Device Manager, and rollback the driver on Microphone. During this rollback process, I noticed that when my Microphone was recognized as RealtekR, the quality was unacceptable; however, after I had rolled back the driver, my microphone was recognized with High Definition Audio Device, and the quality was restored.


Today, when I first started my machine, I immediately noticed that my microphone quality degraded again, and checking Device Manager, of course the microphone is recognized with RealtekR once again. However, this time, there is no option to rollback to the previous driver, and I'm now stuck with RealtekR. I've tried to uninstall RealtekR Audio driver under "Sound, video and game controllers" in device manager and delete the driver files, then Windows prompted me to reboot. After the reboot, I noticed that RealtekR was force reinstalled by Windows, and the same problem persists.


I tried marking RealtekR as disabled in Device Manager, however Windows then stopped recognizing my headset and mic altogether.


I did some searching online, and found that

https://www.superuser.com/questions/1530283/stop-automated-installation-of-realtek-driver
seemed to share similar complaints, but there is currently no accepted solution.


How do I go about to force my Microphone to use High Definition Audio Device driver again, and permanently uninstall/disable RealtekR?

I would avoid installing any Realtek manager software, as I do not wish to clutter my PC storage with unnecessary apps

:)

 

IDT High Definition Audio CODEC Not Working

Taking those steps changed the devices in the playback (now they're "2- High Definition Audio Device" instead of "IDT High Definition Audio CODEC". But unfortunately, I still cannot
hear anything, though it did fix my problem where my microphone would say "Currently unavailable".

 

IDT High Definition Audio CODEC Not Working

Hi,



I realized your concern and will assist you to resolve the issue.

I suggest you to update the driver and check if the issue persist.

Follow the steps to Update the driver and check if it helps.

• Press Windows key + X key and click
  Device Manager.
• Select IDT High Definition Audio CODEC on Device Manager.
• Select the Driver tab.
• Click on Update Driver.
• Select the option “browse my computer for driver software”.
• Select the option “let me pick up a list of device drivers on my computer”.
• Select the High Definition Audio Device instead of IDT High Definition" And click next.

Your reply is very important for us to ensure a proper resolution. Please get back to us with the above information in order to assist you accordingly.

Thanks and regards.

 

High Definition Audio Device drivers missing

Hi Davide

The High Definition Audio drivers are built into Windows already

Right click that device in Device Manager, choose 'Update Driver

Then choose 'Browse my computer for Driver Software' - 'Let me pick from a list of available drivers'

If you do not see the default High Definition Audio device, untick 'Show Compatible Hardware'

On the left, select Microsoft, then on the right scroll down to find 'High Definition Audio Device Version 10.0. . . . .