I want to disable "Bang & Olufsen Experience"

[vncntdmne]

Hi,

This laptop came with Conexant audio drivers. It has "Bang & Olufsen" branding logos on the computer itself. In the system tray (bottom right) of the screen, I can access something called "HP Audio Switch". Within that there's a "Bang & Olufsen Audio" link that opens up an application.

The reason I found this is because, depending on what I'm doing with my computer, sometimes the audio is very bad sounding, and sometimes it puts out a disturbing bass drone for a few seconds before and after every sound. I am using nice enough 2.1 speakers plugged in to the headphone jack.

The performance in audio changes all the time. Looking for a reason why, I found this Bang & Olufsen application pre-installed.

Inside the application there's a tab for "Output".  The lower section of this tab is "Bang & Olufsen Experience", which is apparently running some horribly misguided audio acceleration stuff. It's also grayed out meaning I can't access it.

If I unplug my speakers from the headphone jack, this section becomes accessible. I can turn the "Bang & Olufsen Experience" off. Sound goes back to normal.

As soon as I plug the speakers back in, this section becomes inaccessible again. And in my case, I'm able to continue using the computer, listening to MP3s, etc. and the feature stays in the "off" position.

However, as soon as I do something like starting playback of a Youtube video, the "Bang & Olufsen Experience" automatically turns itself on and starts distorting the audio and ruining my experience.

Why would this feature default to become inaccessible when I'm using speakers or headphones - this is exactly the situation where I'd most want to have the most control of my sound, isn't it?

I just want this silly application off my computer and off the control of my audio. My work revolves around music production and sound design, and having this silly application constantly deciding on its own to turn on and completely change the dynamics of the sound for the worse is absolutely unacceptable.

I've tried lots of different methods to get rid of it. If I uninstall the audio drivers + driver program (Bang & Olufsen Audio) altogether, they go away, but so does audio. I installed a Realtek audio driver. As soon as I restarted the computer, it was all back to default, with the Conexant drivers having reinstalled themselves and put themselves back in control, and the Bang & Olufsen Audio application was back, as well as the Bang & Olufsen Experience back to automatically turning itself on at whim.

How can I get rid of this? I just want regular audio.

I went through calling tech support, and the guy had no idea. I even had to spell out "Bang & Olufsen" for him.

Later, I went through the online chat. The technician was a little more knowledgeable but he told me he thinks it's a "generic feature of the driver" and "pre-installed", and suggested that it's not possible to get rid of it.

I'm about 3 inches away from getting a refund and returning this computer to go buy a different one from another company that doesn't do this silliness.

Before I put in the return request I wanted to give you one more opportunity to help me out here, so I'm putting this up.

By the way, I've been through this entire thread already: http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Gaming-Notebooks/How-to-disable-Bang-amp-Olufsen-horrible-audio-correct...

The suggestions don't work and I have suspicions that they're out of date, because some of the options and text they're mentioning there don't exist when I go to the menus they mention. It says in there that the drivers come up as "Realtek" drivers. But they don't, they come up as "Conexant ISST Audio". It also says in step 6, "You should see a confirmation window with High Definition Audio Device displayed. Click Close." This isn't there and it doesn't come up.

In any case, I've been through all of that.

If these instructions in the link above are out of date, then provide me with some that work now.

I don't think this is a crazy request. I just want to have my audio plain without any weird compression or changes or equalizations. This should be default, rather than fighting with the computer to stop altering the normal functionality.

[A4Apollo]

Hi! @vncntdmne, Thanks for stopping by the HP Support Forums!

I understand that you would like to disable Bang & Olufsen experience on your laptop.

Please try few steps recommended below.

Go to Windows Device Manager > Sound, video and game controllers section.
In the list of audio device drivers, look for Realtek High Definition Audio. This is the device driver for BeatsAudio (a little bit sneaky, wouldn’t you say?).
Right-click and select Disable. The downward arrow displays on this driver, indicating it is disabled. (NOTE: At this point, you won’t be able to play any music files.)
Right-click and select Update Driver Software.
Select Browse my computer for driver software.
Select Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer.
You should see a window that says Select the device driver you want to install for this hardware. NOTE: If you see a window that says something like This is the best driver for this device, exit the window and repeat steps 4, 5, and 6.
In the Model box, highlight High Definition Audio Device (this is the substitute audio device driver) and click Next.
At the Update Driver Warning window, click Yes. You should see a confirmation window with High Definition Audio Device displayed. Click Close.
In the list of audio device drivers in the Sound, video and game controllers section, you’ll notice that the High Definition Audio Device now displays instead ofRealtek High Definition Audio.
At the prompt to reboot, click Yes.
 

Let me know if this works!

Have a wonderful weekend ahead! 🙂

[JTMitchell87]

I was going to make yet another thread about this issue, but this one explains my situation exactly.

I just received an HP Envy 15t and was impressed it came with Bang & Olufsen speakers... Until I started using it.

My problem is identical to vncntdmne's; 

• The Bang & Olufsen audio manager is ruining what should be a great audio experience from my PC.
• When opening the properties of my speakers I don't have any options under "Enhancement" and the "Advanced" tab is completely grayed out, leaving me unable to alter anything myself.

I've read many threads about this problem and have tried all solutions I have seen. The problem with the one posted in this thread (as well as many others) is that I don't have "Realtek High Definition Audio" in device manager, but instead have Conextant ISST Audio.

I've had this laptop for literally two days and so far this is my only issue with it, but sadly this is a major issue that I need fixed.