REMOVE BEATS AUDIO, LOAD GENERIC SOUND DRIVE, MAINTAIN OR REINSTALL STEREO MIX, HP ENVY, 8.1

[unfinished]

HP Envy Touchscreen 15-k073ca Notebook (new) with Windows 8.1, Beats Audio and stereo mix

Instructions as detailed as possible would be appreciated to totally remove Beats Audio from the notebook and load Windows generic sound drive.

I would also like instructions on how to enable the stereo mix option which is included in the new notebook

I do not know if totally removing Beats Audio also removes or adversely affects the stereo mix, if so, detailed instructions on how to repair or reinstall the stereo mix would also be appreciated

If this becomes necessay, I would have to check with HP to see if the warranty is affected.

To receive the best results with Audacity, stereo mix is required and Beats Audio has to be completely removed from the notebook. Beats Audio produces bad results when using Audacity

Any response on all or part of this post would be appreciated

[Great-Deku-Tree]

Hello @unfinished ,

Welcome to the HP Forums!

I understand you wish to remove Beats Audio from your notebook and use the generic Windows drivers.

Follow these steps:

1. Press Windows + R.
2. Type msconfig and click OK.
3. Click the Start up tab.
4. Uncheck IDT PC Audio.
5. Click Apply.
6. Reboot.
7. Press Windows + R.
8. Type devmgmt.msc and click OK.
9. Expand Sound, Video and Game Controllers.
10. Right click IDT device and click Uninstall
11. Check the box to remove the driver.
12. Reboot.

This should disable the Beats Audio allowing you to uninstall it and subsequently force Windows to reinstall the generic audio drivers.

Keep in mind without the Beats Audio you may not have access to the Stereo Mix feature.  Is the Stereo Mix device not listed in recording devices or is it listed but showing unavailable? Typically the stereo mix feature will not work unless it is set as the default device or if the internal microphone is disabled.

Let me know if this helps.

[unfinished]

Thank you for your detailed and thoughtful response

You have noted that the steps indicated will disable the Beats Audio and it will then have to be uninstalled.  Is it possible for you to outline the further steps to uninstall Beats Audio?

Stereo mix is listed in recording devices and I think that I am able to enable it so that it will be the default device.

Is it possible that uninstalling Beats Audio will also uninstall and remove the stereo mix although it has been enabled as the default device?

I hope that I am correct in assuming that uninstalling Beats Audio means that it is completely gone from the laptop and then would not affect Audacity

[Great-Deku-Tree]

Hey unfinished,

The steps I listed will uninstall the Beats Audio. It's included in the IDT Audio software. Steps 10 and 11 are what actually remove the Beats audio.

Thanks! 🙂

[unfinished]

Hello, The Great Deku Tree,

  I am having trouble with step #9 "Expand Sound, Video and Game Controllers"

Could you tell me what the "Expand" command or function does and how to do it as part of these 12 steps?

Thank you

[Great-Deku-Tree]

Hey unfinished,

Here's a screenshot that should help you.

You will notice I numbered the highlighted sections.

1. Shows a section that has not been expanded, indicated with a small white arrow.

2. Shows a heading that has been expanded to show the components that fall under that heading, indicated by a black arrow.

The section you want to expand is the Sound Video and Game controllers. This is a generic screenshot to show the difference of a collapsed or expanded section and does not reflect the actual selections I need you to make, it only illustrates the principal behind the steps I need you to perform.

Hopefully this clears that up for you. 🙂

[unfinished]

Thank you for your thoughtful and informed responses.  I have one more concern before I remove Beats Audio from the lap top.   The concern is will Beats Audio drivers updates and other Beats Audio updates be included in Windows automatic

updates?  If so, what effect will it have on Windows 8.1 and or the laptop and what is the remedy to prevent this from happening given that Beats Audio has been disabled and uninstalled?

Is it correct to assume that Windows automatic updates will include updates for the replacement Windows generic audio drivers?

As an aside, this laptop has the stereo mix feature and I have it enabled as the default device. The internal microphone is then automatically disabled. The laptop does not seem to allow both the stereo mix and the internal microphone devices to be enabled at the same time; it is one or the other.

Your response will be appreciated

[Great-Deku-Tree]

Beats audio is not affiliated with Microsoft. Windows updates will not re-install the Beats audio control panel software.

If Windows updates replace the driver it would be with an updated version of the generic audio drivers and should not pose any risk.

Regarding the stereo mix feature, I do not believe you can use 2 input devices at the same time in Windows. 

[unfinished]

I started to foliow the 12 steps you earlier outlined to uninstall Beats Audio and replace it with generic audio drivers.

I  could not activate steps 4 or 10 because I could not find any reference to IDT audio device.

After implementing step 3, the laptop asked me to open a Task Manager which I did.  I then found a Realtek HD Audio Manager heading which when opened made no reference at all to IDT.  I could not find any other reference to IDT audio devices in the Task Manager list.  Also I could find no checks to uncheck in the Task Manager list.

In step 9, expanding Sound,Video and Game Controllers did not produce any reference to an IDT device but rather to Realtek High Definition Audio. Opening the various tabs did not produce any reference to IDT which included opening the Drivers tab.

Stereo Mix is listed as a Realtek High Definition Audio default device under Recording Devices and it is enabled.

I do not know if Realtek HIgh Definition Audio somehow contains the IDT Audio device but if so, would all of Realtek HD Audio have to be uninstalled and would that include the Stereo MIx device?  Then, if the Realtek Stereo Mix is uninstalled, would the generic audio drivers contain Stereo Mix?  Maintaining Stereo Mix without Beats Audio is very important to me.

Any further help you can give me would be much appreciated.

The laptop is a HP Envy Touchscreen, 15-k073ca notebook with Windows 8.1

[Great-Deku-Tree]

My apologies. Your notebook uses Realtek audio instead of IDT. The same steps apply but for the Realtek software.