Windows 10: Lost sound after latest Windows 10 update (Sound Blaster Z)

Hello there,
As in the title: I have lost sound after latest Windows 10 update, which happened yesterday (23rd June 2017) - I am using Creative Sound Blaster Z sound card. I have tried reinstalling the drivers, then reinstalling the device, then reinstalling the device and the drivers - nothing helped. When I am testing the device I can hear something really silent - but all of my audio settings are maxed. I do not know what to do next to fix this issue.

Thanks in advance for any tips and advices.

P.S. Also the system and the Sound Blaster Z-Series control panel does not see my microphone plugged, but it is plugged to the same place as before the update. I also checked the settings in the Sound Blaster Z-Series control panel, and everything is set as before the update.

P.S. no.2 : The system does see the Sound Card working, as for example when I play a youtube video that sound indicator next to the Sound Blaster Z device in sound settings is going green and moving.

:)

 

Creative Media Windows update 19/06/17

I lost my sound too, Sound Blaster Z. Have anyone at Microsoft actually tried these drivers before distributing them on Windows update?

 

Sound Blaster Z does not work after lastest windows Update

After the lastest Major windows update to windows 10 My Sound Blaster Z no longer works. I have tired uninstalling the driver and reinstalling it. I have ran the troubleshooting program. Nothing works. I have the latest drivers from the Sound blaster
website. None of the fixes listed on this site work for this issue and If I choose the Nvidia sound, the NVidia sound works. I have tried disabling that to see if there is a conflict and still no sound. What did Microsoft change in the last update the
messed up sounds cards and how do I fix it.

 

I am having this exact same issue as well. My computer restarted for an update about 30 minutes ago and my Soundblaster Z is not outputting any audio. HDMI audio through the video card and onboard audio work just fine.

 

Also having this same issue on the lastest update with the Sound Blaster ZX card. Mic is working, but no sound through headset. After reverting this update the sound is back to working.. after shutting down it had re installed and of course the issue is back.. I hope this gets fixed soon!

 

Also having this issue after the update. Hope it gets fixed...

 

Make sure, you have the latest driver.

http://support.creative.com/Products/ProductDetails.aspx?catID=1&subCatID=1005&prodID=21402&prodName=Sound%20Blaster%20Z&subCatName=Z-Series&CatName=Sound+Blaster&VARSET=prodfaqRODFAQ_21402,VARSET=CategoryID:1

EDIT: It seems, that installing the latest Sound Blaster Controller Audio driver causes the issue.

Rollback to the previous driver, it should solve the issue.

 

Unfortunately that didn't solve the problem for me. It's strange. In sound blaster z control panel, i can go to the SBX Pro and do a test thing that has all speakers working properly. But when I got to test speakers it only plays out of the front left and right.

"Edit: Works now. I don't know what happened, and it's kind of embarrassing, but it looks like windows for some reason turned down all system sounds to 0. I then did the test, and it went through front L and front R, but i guess center, base and rear all went off of system sounds so didn't play anything?? Oh well...hours lost. Thanks for your help and suggestions."

 

I have the same problem but with my headphone connected to my sound blaster z... before the update of W10 it worked.

 

Confirmed fix. Roll back to a previous creative sound blaster z driver. 6/25/17

 

Confirmed fix. Driver rollback+restart fixed the problem.

Frustratingly this thread doesn't come up until you filter results by "last month" and even then it's halfway down the page so here are some keywords for the google search to index hopefully:

Windows 10 creator update creators no audio no sound not working can't hear sound blaster z creative June July 2017

 

Thanks for the keywords Serrin, helped me find this thread. Unfortunately rolling back/installing older drivers did not fix the issue for me. Sound was playing through my headphones just fine before I installed the Windows 10 Creators Update.

 

I'm sorry to hear that, are you using a creative sound card? Did you restart after rolling the drivers back? Did you roll back the drivers for "Sound Blaster Audio Controller" or for one of the other Sound Blaster entries? I specifically did the one for the Audio Controller but you could try the others too if you already have tried that one.

Try going into control panel > Hardware and Sound > Sound and making sure the settings there and the default devices seem correct.

Play a file that has audio and see if the green equalizer bars move for any of the items listed while the file is playing even if you can't hear anything. If the green bar is moving set that device to active and see if you get your sound back.

 

Yeah, I have a Sound Blaster Z. I have tried pretty much everything. I've tried multiple older driver updates and they didn't have any effect. I've also made sure that default audio devices were correct, it was showing the green bars, but no actual sound was coming from my headphones. My microphone will still work through my sound card. Onboard audio still works fine.

 

Thank you for mentioning this! Turns out I was having the same issue! Last hour I spent debugging this and it was just the volume.