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Motherboard Audio Drivers Help

BillyD

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My motherboard is a Gigabyte X99 Gaming 5. It has a Creative Sound Core 3D processor in it. If I install the drivers from Gigabyte's site all audio devices become "[Device name] (Sound Blaster Recon3Di)" and a sound blaster control panel gets installed as well. With that installed when I have WASAPI exclusive applied the system volume still works I can raise it and lower it and its audible. It blocks other aduio from playing but the volume still works. Now this new control panel also has a volume bar that is tied to the system volume on windows (windows 10). With those drivers uninstalled, the audio devices say "[Device name] (High Definition Audio Device)" instead of the other name. And now the system volume doesn't do anything anymore except mute when I put it to 0. And also the sound quality I could swear is better now. It could be placebo but I think everything sounds louder and much clearer. Also before with the drivers installed it allowed the bits to go as high as 24 in the sound control panel of windows and it didn't have an "Enhancements" tab . Now it can go up to 32 bits and the enhancements tab is there. So can anyone help as to what is happening here? Which of the two is correct?
Also does “High Definition Audio Device” mean the audio is using Microsoft drivers? Cause the signature says Microsoft. Since the mobi has Creative gear why doesnt it come with creative drivers or something? Im really confused with this.
 

Doodski

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My motherboard is a Gigabyte X99 Gaming 5. It has a Creative Sound Core 3D processor in it. If I install the drivers from Gigabyte's site all audio devices become "[Device name] (Sound Blaster Recon3Di)" and a sound blaster control panel gets installed as well. With that installed when I have WASAPI exclusive applied the system volume still works I can raise it and lower it and its audible. It blocks other aduio from playing but the volume still works. Now this new control panel also has a volume bar that is tied to the system volume on windows (windows 10). With those drivers uninstalled, the audio devices say "[Device name] (High Definition Audio Device)" instead of the other name. And now the system volume doesn't do anything anymore except mute when I put it to 0. And also the sound quality I could swear is better now. It could be placebo but I think everything sounds louder and much clearer. Also before with the drivers installed it allowed the bits to go as high as 24 in the sound control panel of windows and it didn't have an "Enhancements" tab . Now it can go up to 32 bits and the enhancements tab is there. So can anyone help as to what is happening here? Which of the two is correct?
Also does “High Definition Audio Device” mean the audio is using Microsoft drivers? Cause the signature says Microsoft. Since the mobi has Creative gear why doesnt it come with creative drivers or something? Im really confused with this.
I'm not a Gigabyte motherboard expert but I have owned some SoundBlaster products and googled SoundBlaster issues extensively and the product is prone to driver issues. So keep in mind there might be issues with the drivers and Creative software.
 
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BillyD

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I'm not a Gigabyte motherboard expert but I have owned some SoundBlaster products and googled SoundBlaster issues extensively and the product is prone to driver issues. So keep in mind there might be issues with the drivers and Creative software.
Yeah seems like it. But Im thinking like, wouldn't it make the sound better or something if I installed the drivers? Or is that not always the case?
 

Doodski

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Yeah seems like it. But Im thinking like, wouldn't it make the sound better or something if I installed the drivers? Or is that not always the case?
I never heard a difference after installing different drivers other than adjusting the included EQ or other enhancements. It seem to me it was a situation of it either worked or it didn't and then there is a crackling sound issue that I had with one SoundBlaster card. If my PC I would run whatever gives me proper operation of the volume control. The sound quality difference between 32 bit and 24 bit is for me on my ASUS Strix motherboard non-existent.
 
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BillyD

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I never heard a difference after installing different drivers other than adjusting the included EQ or other enhancements. It seem to me it was a situation of it either worked or it didn't and then there is a crackling sound issue that I had with one SoundBlaster card. If my PC I would run whatever gives me proper operation of the volume control. The sound quality difference between 32 bit and 24 bit is for me on my ASUS Strix motherboard non-existent.
Right. Do you know anything about that last thing I wrote? Does High definition audio device mean its just microsoft/windows drivers or something? Cause if it is its weird to me that they are even compatible and dont cause issues.
 

Doodski

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Does High definition audio device mean its just microsoft/windows drivers or something? Cause if it is its weird to me that they are even compatible and dont cause issues.
My best guess is that it is a Microsoft driver. Recently I reformatted and reloaded Win10 to my ASUS Strix Z370-E / Intel 8600K CPU and all the Microsoft supplied drivers caused issues that prevented the OS from updating. So I had to download all the drivers from wherever and install and then update started working. So a 4 year old motherboard and processor are not supported properly anymore in this case. I think your X99/ is older and may have poor driver support now. Check your Windows updates to ensure nothing is amiss if you use the Creative driver. Probably no issue but it's something to keep a eye out for.
 
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BillyD

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Also why does the system volume still work even with wasapi exclusive? Is it because that Sound Blaster control panel seems to be tied to it? It has a bar that actually controls te system volume so maybe that's why?
 

pcdocstl

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Nothing wrong with gigabyte drivers and you want to use those because they license the soundblaster name and implement the sound chip differently than using an actual SB card. Windows will by default install what it believes to be newer / better drivers but gets it wrong most of the time as the drivers included within windows are generic and only there for convenience. NEVER rely on blanket drivers when the actual drivers are available from the manufacturer of the product. AND driver update programs that promise to update all of your drivers do a worse job than using bulk microsoft drivers, stay away from those as well (ccleaner is touting a driver updater as of late and may destroy your system if you decide to try it).

To solve this issue, you need to disable the automatic driver update feature by following the steps below:

Press Win+E to open the File Explorer
Right-click on ‘This PC’ and go to Properties
Click on Advanced System Settings and select the Hardware tab
Click on Device Installation Settings
Select ‘No, let me choose what to do’
Check the option ‘Never install driver software from Windows Update’ and press ‘Save Changes‘ and then OK


Alternatively, you can disable automatic driver installation from Group Policy. Here is how you can do it.

1. Open the Start Menu and search for “Group Policy”. Now, click on the “Edit group policy” menu at the top.

group policy

2. Here, navigate to Administrative Templates → System → Device Installation → Device Installation Restrictions. Here, look for “Prevent installation of devices not described by other policy settings” and open it. Usually, it’s at the bottom.

3. Now, enable it and click on the “Ok” button. You are done.

Reference: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...llations/44cdb7a9-9e88-4e1f-afe7-0c0c729fd132
 

Katji

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NB / Nota Bene / Note well:

Nothing wrong with gigabyte drivers and you want to use those because they license the soundblaster name and implement the sound chip differently than using an actual SB card. Windows will by default install what it believes to be newer / better drivers but gets it wrong most of the time as the drivers included within windows are generic and only there for convenience. NEVER rely on blanket drivers when the actual drivers are available from the manufacturer of the product. AND driver update programs that promise to update all of your drivers do a worse job than using bulk microsoft drivers,
One reason why forum software needs forum bots like Reddit. Check new posts and insert standard reply texts.
 
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