Windows 10: Via HD Audio Distorted for Headphones

Hello all!

I've just upgraded to Windows 10, and despite all the cool and fun stuff I got with the upgrade, I am quite disappointed that I cannot use my headphones on the notebook. The speakers function properly, but my headphones are producing an awkward sound. I will try to describe what I hear, based on the audio coming from "Pull me Under" - Dream Theater - - YouTube :
- Audio is distorted
- There is that "low-quality mp3" kind of effect
- I can hear noise instead of high-frequency sounds (like cymbals, for example)
- The singer's voice is distant, quieter than expected, and like it was singing from behind a shower, with a lot of echo
- Seems there is no stereo, or just a very narrow stereo field. I used the windows test beeps from sound devices and Stereo and Bass Test (HD) - YouTube to try that out and both seem to lack a good stereo field. One can barely notice a difference between left and right.

My notebook has Via HD Audio, and I have tried uninstalling and installing the drivers several times! Also, that tip of turning off enhancements doesn't mean a thing to this issue. It will keep regardless of effects.

I am still investigating, but this issue seems to happen in every sound source, be it Chrome, Groove, windows' own sounds and my games too. As already stated, the speakers do not produce this issue. Also, I am curious as why I have a separate output for headphone and speakers. I always need to change between them when I unplug/plug my headphones.

My headphones are a Xiaomi Mi In-ear headphones, a Razer Kraken Pro and Samsung Galaxy S6's original earbuds. They all produce the same result.

What could I do to solve this?

:)

 

Windows 10 keeps replacing my VIA HD Audio Drivers

Audio Problem with windows 10

Windows 10 keeps uninstalling my VIA HD audio drivers and installing Window 10 audio drivers on my desktop computer, which results in default output device being Headphones, even though
head are not plugged in. With windows 10 drivers, I have go in and make the speakers the default output device and when I do plug my headphone in, the speakers do NOT mute, I have to go back in and click to make headphone the default output device. When I
install the VIA HD audio drivers v11 1000b (07/06/2015) everything works as expected, except if I shutdown or restart or after about 10 to 12 hours of use, Windows 10 uninstalls the VIA HD audio drivers and replaces them with the Windows 10 audio drivers
again. So far my other desktop and and laptop that I have Realtek HD audio and Realtek HD audio drivers installed work as expected and so far Windows 10 hasn't been hell bent on changing the audio drivers on those two machines. IF I go into Device manager,
it will not let me roll back the audio drivers and updating just says the best drivers are already installed (lair). Please give me some useful information and don't just tell me to run "Troubleshoot sound problem".

Thank you!

Original Post:

I have even gone to the VIA site and downloaded and

installed their Windows 10 64 bit drivers VIA HD Audio, when I install

them, the headphones mutes the speakers, The problem is, when I shutdown or

restart my computer, Windows 10 reinstalls the windows 10 drivers and

deletes the VIA HD audio drivers, installs headphones as an option in

playback devices (even if headphones are not plugged in) and then when I do

plug in my headphones, I've got sound from both my speakers and headphones

at the same time. Then I have to go to Playback Devices and make Headphones

the default device when I want just headphones and then I have to go back

and reset Speakers as the default device when I want sound from my

Speakers. I had the same problem on my other Desktop that has RealTek HD

Audio, but now Windows 10 seems to have stopped installing Windows 10 audio

drivers and deleting the Realtek HD Audio drivers after every shutdown or

restart.

 

How do I fix the my Muffled audio?

My Computer's audio is very muffled, it sounds like karaoke mode is enabled, but I have already disabled all audio enhancements.

I looked in device manager and Realtek HD audio isn't installed, so I tried to install it, but it doesn't show up. So I tried uninstalling VIA HD audio, but it once I restarted my computer it reinstalls itself and the audio is still muffled and distorted.

Also, I'm not sure if the razor synapse things affect it, or the NVIDIA HD audio.

How do I install Realtek HD audio successfully so it is on the device manager? And how do I uninstall VIA Audio permanently?

 

If you uninstall the VIA sound and uninstall the VIA drivers (in the device manager) then reboot the PC, Windows will install the generic, basic function, High Definition Audio drivers. Try that and see if it works better. If it does, the VIA drivers are the issue.

 

I think I tried that too, if I'm not mistaken windows installs the driver automatically again. I will try doing that after work today and will get back to you. Thanks a lot!

 

Make sure you also uninstall the VIA drivers.

 

Try going to Sound -> speaker properties -> disable any enhancements and dolby

See if it helps.

 

Firebird, I've uninstalled the drivers and restarted the computer. When I got back, they were there again. I tried to disable auto update of drivers from windows 10, and rolled back to hd audio device, the windows standard, and the issue keeps here. I don't know what may be the cause.

 

Thanks for your tip, but as stated in my first post, I've already tried that to no avail. I tried once again, along with all the other hints I could gather, and it still won't work.

 

After some thinking, I decided I will format my pc again. This Windows 10 install was actually a straight update from Windows 7. I backed up my stuff and will now install from scratch, and check if this solves my problem.

 

I'm confused, all other PC's, if there are no hardware sound drivers (e.g. VIA, Realtek, etc) installed, Windows will install the High Definition Audio drivers. Yours, from your reports, always installs the VIA drivers.

(I have been to Recife many times).

 

I could prevent windows to install VIA drivers. I got the standard windows audio drivers installed, but the issue persists.

 

Cool! Seems you've enjoyed the place then!

 

Did this work OK with the prior OS, or is Win 10 the only OS that you have installed on this Laptop? If this has never worked OK it could be a hardware problem. But, if it worked OK on a prior OS then possibly a clean install of Win 7 will fix it.

I worked on the Ascension Island NASA tracking station. We would visit Recife for holiday. This was a long time ago (1966 to 1969 time).

 

I had a clean Windows 7 install before this one. In that case, the audio was working perfectly: the speakers were ok, and when I plugged a headphone, windows would mute the speakers and open audio for headphones. Now, on Windows 10, when speakers are playing something and I plug the headphones, the speakers keep sounding and the headphones remain silent. I need to manually select "Headphones" as my main audio device, something I never needed to do on a Windows pc before (perhaps a new W10 stuff?) When headphones are selected, they present the issue.

Let me get this straight: are you suggesting that a complete format into Windows SEVEN will fix the issue? Like, I install W7 from scratch (audio gets back to normal) then I format back into a clean W10 and the sound will be there? FYI, I have no problems reinstalling my OS over and over again if that is necessary.

At 1967 Dad was being born, and a couple years later it was Mom's turn. Coincidence! ;D