switching between sound outputs doesn't work in windows 10 anniversary when the headphone is plugged

[Omidz]

Hi guys.

As you know in windows 10 anniversary update you can switch between sound outputs when the headphone is plugged right from the sound icon in the taskbar, but it doesn't work as it should be. if the headphone is unplugged then the sound comes from speakers and when they are plugged the sound comes from headphones and I can not select speakers. It shows two devices but when I select one of them the speakers are selected. Also I have tried it from playback devices but again I can not set the headphones as default playback device. It is forced to be as the communication device only. I have updated the sound driver but nothing has improved. My sound driver is IDT high definition codec. In addition I have tried the generic driver of sound from microsoft which is named "High definition audio codec" and It only shows one device as speaker and It does not detect any headphone or communication device. So what is the problem? Am I able to use this option of windows 10 anniversary or no? If yes so how? I need this option because I use headphones  alot and I don't want to plug them every time. Thanks for your attention. I can give any additional information if it is needed and I am hear to help.

[DavidSMP]

Hi @Omidz,

Thank you for visiting the HP Support Forums and Welcome. It is a great site for information and questions.  I read your post about Windows 10 anniversary update not allowing you to switch between sound outputs when the headphone is plugged right from the sound icon in the taskbar. It will be a genuine pleasure to assist you.

A superb job was done installing and uninstalling the drivers and doing such exhaustive copious troubleshooting. I am truly amazed by your superlative troubleshooting skills. Kudos to you on that score. It is always a privilege to work with technically competent minds. 

Quickly Change the Audio Playback Device in Windows 10 Anniversary Update

• A new feature in the Windows 10 Anniversary Update aims to make changing your audio output device easier. In previous versions of Windows, including all versions of Windows 10 prior to the Anniversary Update in August 2016, users with multiple audio devices attached to their PC needed to open the Audio Properties window in order to switch their audio playback device.

• For example, if you have a set of USB speakers and a pair of analog headphones, you’d need to open the Audio Properties window to tell Windows 10 which device to use for sound output. This method wasn’t difficult, but it did require several clicks and a few seconds of your time.

Changing the Audio Playback Device:

• In the Windows 10 Anniversary Update, Microsoft has added a quick playback device switcher to the taskbar’s volume control. To use it, first, make sure that you’re running Windows 10 version 1607 or newer. 

Once you’re up and running with the latest version of Windows 10, left-click on the volume icon in your desktop taskbar. In previous versions of Windows 10, you’d see only the name of your current audio playback device and the volume slider:

• In the Windows 10 Anniversary Update, there’s now an upward-facing arrow to the right of your audio playback device:
• Click this arrow to reveal a list of all enabled audio playback devices connected to your PC. For example, you’ll see options such as your laptop’s built-in speakers, integrated speakers in a monitor or connected television, external USB speakers or headsets, and any external audio interfaces.

• Just click the desired audio playback device and Windows will switch to that device. Longtime Windows users with multiple audio devices will quickly find that this process is much faster than the old Audio Properties method. The Audio Properties window is still accessible, however, and provides additional audio setup and configuration options. But for simply switching playback devices, this new method in the Windows 10 Anniversary Update works.

These are steps to check the audio playback and switch between speakers and a headset. However, Since this is not working and you've updated the drivers, as a last resort you may need to backup all your data and reset the computer to factory defaults and reinstall the windows 10-anniversary update again.

Hope this helps! Please let me know how this goes.

To simply say thanks, please click the "Thumbs Up" button to appreciate my efforts. If this helps, please mark this as “Accepted Solution”. If you require further assistance let me know and I will gladly do all I can to help.

Take care now and do have a splendid week ahead.

[Omidz]

Thanks David for your reply but since reinstalling the windows 10 anniversary is time consuming and a hard job I prefer to ignore this option and let it go. But I'm almost sure that the problem is with the IDT sound driver. I think it is not fully compatible with the windows 10 anniversary. I have tried some versions of IDT drivers but they were the same. I have searched alot in the internet for this problem and I found that many people have similar problems with the IDT. I think HP should review the IDT drivers and make a new one. The problem is not even with the windows 10 anniversary. In fact I cannot set my headphones as default playback device in sound settings of control panel.  I should mention that a few times when I was troubleshooting the speakers, the test sounds came from speakers while the headphones were plugged but after troubleshooting the outcome was nothing and It showed that cannot set headphones as default playback device. I have heard some other companies which used IDT sound drivers in their products have published a new driver that solves the problem. If any further suggestion you have, just tell me and I will test and reply to you. But for now to give you more accurate information I can tell you what happens when troubleshooting the speakers. These are the steps:

1. The headset is plugged in the 3.5 mm jack.

2. I play a music and the sound comes from the headset.

3. Without pausing the music I open the troubleshooter of the windows by clicking the "troubleshoot sound problems" right from the sound icon in the taskbar.

4. Once the troubleshooting window is openned, suddenly the sound comes from the speakers.

5. At this step before clicking anything in the troubleshooting window, Again I test the switcher and It does not switch the sound output to the headset.

6.  I click the headset to be troubleshooted. There are two options, one for the speakers and one for the headset.

7. While resolving the issue for a few second sound comes from the headset but when the final window is shown, the sound comes from the speakers again. (I will attach the final window with the problems found.)

8. I close the troubleshooter and now the sound comes from the headset.

9. Now if in step 6 I click for throubleshooting the speakers I will get this window:

Again thanks for your reply.

[DavidSMP]

Hi @Omidz,

I thank you, a great deal for your quick response. As I was on a long weekend I could not reply to your post immediately. I have read your copious post and the point with the IDT drivers compatibility with windows 10 is taken. You've done an amazing job with troubleshooting and including the screenshots also. 

At the outset, I simply want to thank you for being so technically competent and trying out all the steps so patiently. You have been truly amazing and hats off to you on that score.  I request you try one last step here to check if it resolves the issue. Please try a different user account. For experimental purposes, please create a new user account and try it in that account to see if it resolves the issue. You could later delete the new account if that does not pan out.

Thanks for reaching out. Please let me know if this helps. If it does, please mark this post as "Accept as Solution". If you require further assistance, let me know and I will gladly do all I can to help. If you wish to say "thanks" for my efforts to help, click the "Thumbs Up" button to give me a Kudos.

You take care now and do have a super week ahead.

[Omidz]

Thanks for your reply David. I tried your solution and created a new standard account. Then signed in and tried the switch but the problem was present there too. I couldn't set headphones as default player or change the sound outputs when the hedaphone was plugged. I aslo tested another way that came to my mind. I changed the user account control settings and lowered the slider to "never notify me". Then restarted the laptop and tested again but nothing had changed. I am looking forward to see another solution to try. Thanks again.

[DavidSMP]

Hi @Omidz,

I thank you for your quick reply. I have done extensive research on this issue like you have and haven't come up with a resolution yet. Like you said it could be driver compatibility issues with the windows 10-anniversary update. What you could do is create a new user account. Uninstall the audio drivers and install the latest ones from http://hp.com/drivers

Hope this helps! Please let me know how this goes.

To simply say thanks, please click the "Thumbs Up" button to appreciate my efforts. If this helps, please mark this as “Accepted Solution”. If you require further assistance let me know and I will gladly do all I can to help.

Take care now and do have a splendid week ahead.

[Omidz]

Hi David.

I did what you said but nothing different happened and it was the same though I have some news. I figured out that with IDT driver, the sound through the headphone is not stereo and also it has a little noise specially when you are changing the volume from the sound icon you can hear the noise more clear. So I found a solution in the internet to instal the microsoft high definition audio codec driver. After unistalling the IDT driver and restart, windows automatically installed its own driver from microsoft and this is my experiment:

• The sound is very clear and free of any noise.
• Now I have stereo audio through my headphone.
• The sound volume of speaker is too low and I don't know why but the volume on headphone is ok. (If I want to hear a music on speaker I should raise the volume to 90-100 but on headphone I can put the volume on 30 and it's very good)
• There is no more any communication device in playback devices in sound settings so the speakers and headphone are detected as one device named speaker. (I will upload the image). As a result I have no option for sound outputs because there is only one device.
• In recording devices I have two devices, one for internal microphone and one for headset microphone so there is no problem in recording devices and I can switch between two microphones without any problem.

With this experiment I prefer to use this driver rather than IDT driver because of clear sound and also stereo playback through the headphone. I will wait for any other solutions or any driver updates either for IDT or microsoft audio driver.

Thanks for your companion and support. Whenever you have any suggestions I will be here.

[DavidSMP]

Hi @Omidz,

I thank you for sharing your information and experience on HP Forums. Trust me, I am simply amazed at the levels of technical knowledge and technical skills that your possess. Hats off to you for figuring out a workaround for this. That was very smart  of you!  It has been a privilege to have shared this platform with you and work with you.

We at HP appreciate greatly, your responses and recognize that you are a very valuable customer. We appreciate greatly your business with HP and it is paramount that we do everything we can to address your issues relating to the HP product. Please always feel free to reach out. I am at your service always.

To simply say thanks, please click the "Thumbs Up" button to appreciate my efforts. If this helps, please mark this as “Accepted Solution”. If you require further assistance let me know and I will gladly do all I can to help.

Please take care now and do have a splendid week ahead.

[Omidz]

Hi David

NEWS: I have read somewhere that someones have resolved the issue by installing tha latest IDT driver from the hp site in compatibility mode with windows 8.1. So I tested this way. I right-clicked on Idt sound driver exe and went to properties. In compatibility tab I checked "run in compatibility mode for:" option but in windows there was no windows 8.1. So I chose the windows 8 and applied. Then I opened the exe file for installation but during the installation it gave me the error shown in the image attached. So I couldn't test this solution. Any idea?

[DavidSMP]

Hi @Omidz,

I thank you again for you post. I see that you've done extensive research on this. You've also attempted to run the IDT .exe file in windows 8 compatibility mode. Brilliant stuff although it did not pan out. Have you just tried installing it normally and checked if it gets installed? If it does then, it may correct the situation. If it doesn't then the driver is not compatible with Windows 10.

I hope that answers your question. We have really tried everything here as a team and your efforts, patience and persistence is honestly appreciated. However, there may be  a limitation regarding IDT drivers for windows 10 as you have rightly expressed.

To simply say thanks, please click the "Thumbs Up" button to appreciate my efforts. If this helps, please mark this as “Accepted Solution”. If you require further assistance let me know and I will gladly do all I can to help.

Please take care now and do have a splendid week ahead.