Solved Realtek HD - Cannot use Sound Effects

[Bobbob]

Hi all! Newbie here. Can't find a solution to this problem anywhere. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Home Premium 64bit, Realtek HD. No problem with sound until I use Speaker properties or HD Audio Manager to set a sound effect. Then, if I try to play an mp3, WMP 12 gets a "... encountered a problem while playing the file." Other media players, VLC, MPC-HC, etc., act as though they're playing the file but there's no sound. (AND, just for the heck of it I just tried IrfanView and it will play the file and respond to any enhancements I change.) Anyway, the only way I can get the other players to play again is to tick "Disable all sound effects" under the Enhancements tab for the speakers. I'm baffled! Again, any help would be appreciated.

 

[Maguscreed]

Like most realtek stuff this operates primarily on a codec.
installing a codec pack may have messed with it somehow.

Anyhow try running the top one here.
Realtek
There seems to have been a lot of updates going on there.

 

[Bobbob]

Thanks for the reply, but been there, done that - including two reboots to finish it (and a third to make sure it wasn't going to run again). I actually downloaded Vista, Windows7 Driver (32/64bits) Driver only (ZIP file) and installed from device manager because I found online so many people having problems with the executable. I guess I could try the executable if no other suggestions come about. Thanks again.

 

[Roderunner]

Hi Bobbob, have you tried:-

 

[Bobbob]

Thanks for replying. Yes, I have tried setting enhancements from there (the Realtek HD Audio Mangaer) and from Control Panel Speakers Properties. What it boils down to is that I have to have 'Disable all sound effects' ticked under Speakers Properties or WMP12 gets "... encountered a problem while playing the file" and other players act as though they're playing but there's no sound. Even though I have decent speakers that sounded great on my old XP (VIA Vinyl AC'97) without any enhancement, I'm not getting the expanded sound on my new PC with Realtek so I would like to be able to play with the enhancements - should be able to play with the enhancements - but can't and I can't figure out why not and I don't have that much hair left to pull out. (And how do I insert a smilie here? I've clicked on 'em, double-clicked, quadruple-clicked ...) I've tried every combination of settings I can think of and still no dice. So, I'm open to any other suggestions. Thanks.

 

[Roderunner]

Thanks for replying. Yes, I have tried setting enhancements from there (the Realtek HD Audio Mangaer) and from Control Panel Speakers Properties. What it boils down to is that I have to have 'Disable all sound effects' ticked under Speakers Properties or WMP12 gets "... encountered a problem while playing the file" and other players act as though they're playing but there's no sound. Even though I have decent speakers that sounded great on my old XP (VIA Vinyl AC'97) without any enhancement, I'm not getting the expanded sound on my new PC with Realtek so I would like to be able to play with the enhancements - should be able to play with the enhancements - but can't and I can't figure out why not and I don't have that much hair left to pull out. (And how do I insert a smilie here? I've clicked on 'em, double-clicked, quadruple-clicked ...) I've tried every combination of settings I can think of and still no dice. So, I'm open to any other suggestions. Thanks.

If I think of anything else, I'll post back.

 

[Bobbob]

Hmmm ... was here starting a new thread and saw this post I made eons ago. I'm going to mark this thread as solved. I solved it by installing a $25 Envy24 sound card that is the equivalent to the onboard audio I had on my XP. Combined with excellent speakers, it sounded great on the XP and just as great on the Windows 7.

 

[Roderunner]

Better late than never.