HDMI sound not working

[Kayak]

Hey Avid Community.

I'm a noob. I have my system working mostly fine, but I have one persistent problem I haven't been able to figure out yet:

I can't get sound to play out through HDMI, or even to headphones if HDMI is connected.

I have about the simplest system you can have, and two configs are acceptable for how I work:
Laptop > HDMI to monitor > speakers plugged into monitor
Laptop > speakers out (headphones) =parallel with= HDMI

This lets me use a big screen instead of the tiny laptop screen and I have USB for peripherals (mouse, full size keyboard).

But I can only use Pro Tools with the HDMI disconnected; there is no other way to get output. I end up disconnecting everything and using the tiny laptop screen, which makes editing much harder and much less convenient.

Any suggestions?


This is probably overkill for this problem, but here's my setup:

SiSoftware Sandra

Computer
Model : Acer Predator G9-793 SKL
Serial Number : NHQ17AA0016***********
Chassis : Acer Notebook
Mainboard : Acer Challenger2_SKS
Serial Number : NBQ17110016***********
BIOS : Insyde V1.06 11/04/2016
TPM - Trusted Platform Module : INTC Intel 2.0 (PCR 24)
Total Memory : 16GB SO-DIMM DDR4

Processors
Processor : Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-6700HQ CPU @ 2.60GHz (4C 8T 3.29GHz/3.5GHz, 3.3GHz IMC/3.5GHz, 4x 256kB L2, 6MB L3)
Socket/Slot : FC BGA1440

Chipset
Memory Controller : Acer Core (Skylake-H QC) Mobile Host Bridge/DRAM Registers 100MHz, 2x 8GB SO-DIMM DDR4 2.13GHz 128-bit

Memory Module(s)
Memory Module : Hynix (Hyundai) HMA41GS6AFR8N-TF 8GB SO-DIMM DDR4 PC4-17100SO DDR4-2134 (15-15-15-37 4-52-17-6)
Memory Module : Hynix (Hyundai) HMA41GS6AFR8N-TF 8GB SO-DIMM DDR4 PC4-17100SO DDR4-2134 (15-15-15-37 4-52-17-6)

Video System
Monitor/Panel : ACI VG248
(1920x1080, 24.0")
Monitor/Panel : LG Generic PnP Monitor (1920x1080, LP173WF4-SPF2, 17.3")
Video Adapter : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 (2048SP SM5.2 1.44GHz/1.91GHz, 8GB 8GHz, PCIe 3.0 x16)

Graphics Processor
D3D 11 : NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 (2048SP 1.44GHz/1.91GHz, 8GB 8GHz)
OpenGL : GeForce GTX 1070/PCIe/SSE2 (8GB)

Storage Devices
Raid 0 Volume (256GB, PCIe/NVMe) : 238GB (C:)
2x LITEON CV1-8B128 (1TB, RAID0/SATA600, SCSI-5, SSD) : 932GB (D:)
2x LITEON CV1-8B128 (RAID0/SATA600, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 512kB Cache) : N/A (F:)

Logical Storage Devices
Acer (C:) : 237GB (NTFS, 4kB) @ Raid 0 Volume (256GB, PCIe/NVMe)
Recovery : 1024MB (NTFS, 4kB) @ Raid 0 Volume (256GB, PCIe/NVMe)
Data (D:) : 932GB (NTFS, 4kB) @ 2x LITEON CV1-8B128 (1TB, RAID0/SATA600, SCSI-5, SSD)
ESP : 96MB (FAT32, 1kB) @ Raid 0 Volume (256GB, PCIe/NVMe)
Optical Drive (F:) : N/A @ 2x LITEON CV1-8B128 (RAID0/SATA600, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 512kB Cache)

Peripherals
LPC Hub Controller #1 : Acer HM170 Sunrise Point-H LPC Controller
Audio Device : Acer Sunrise Point-H HD Audio
Audio Codec : Realtek Semi 0255
Audio Device : Acer GP104 High Definition Audio Controller
Audio Codec : nVidia 0083
Disk Controller : Acer Mobile SATA RAID Controller
Disk Controller : Acer Sunrise Point-H PMC
USB Controller #1 : Acer Sunrise Point-H USB 3.0 xHCI Controller
SMBus/i2c Controller #1 : Intel ICH SMBus

Network Services
Network Adapter : Killer E2400 Gigabit Ethernet Controller (Ethernet, 1Gbps)
Network Adapter : Bluetooth Device (Personal Area Network) (Ethernet)
Wireless Adapter : Killer Wireless-n/a/ac 1535 Wireless Network Adapter

Power Management
Battery #1 : OEM AS15B3N 90.00Wh/5.21Ah

Operating System
Windows System : Microsoft Windows 10 Personal 10.0.17134
Platform Compliance : x64

[albee1952]

So the HDMI is your ONLY audio connection? If so, set Windows(in Control Panel>Sound>Properties) to have no "default playback" device and see what happens.

2 things to consider:
#1- Windows systems almost always will cause a hardware conflict if you try to have windows sound(internet, WMP, etc) share the audio card with Pro Tools.
#2-you will find life much easier if you buy a separate interface for Pro Tools

[The Weed]

^^^^

Get an interface. Use it only for Pro Tools. Set your onboard soundcard for Windows sounds/audio. Disable HDMI sound in device manager.

[Kayak]

Hey, nailed the first time. That did fix the problem.

Thanks much!

Now let's assume both of you repliers are right and that eventually I'm going to want an interface.

Any recommendations for a decent inexpensive interface? I mostly mix existing tracks; if I record it will just be one track from a mic.

[The Weed]

You could start with something like this from Mackie or this from Steinberg. Focusrite has some nice, inexpensive interfaces, but on Windows, their drivers are hit and miss. Down the road, when your budget and needs permit, look at an RME Babyface Pro. RME's drivers are stellar.

[Kayak]

That looks cool. USB 2 with input and output; very simple.

I added that to my notes. When I outgrow my current config (perhaps soon), I'll look at that for the next step.

Thx!

[Kayak]

Hey guys.

For over a year I've had Pro Tools working great. The tips above fixed the problem quite well (Control Panel>Sound>Properties > no "default playback" device).

Well, it looks like the last forced Windows update killed that for me. I no longer seem to be able to have no default playback. I can CHANGE the default device, but I can't seem to have NO default device.

So the sound is going to the pathetic built-in speakers on my HDMI monitor. Can't seem to work around it with Pro Tools.

Am I missing a "No Default" option anywhere? Is there a bit I can flip in the registry?

I love my current setup; I would rather not have to work with a new interface to get sound out.

Thx for taking a look at this.

[The Weed]

Make your onboard sound card the default and disable your interface.

Also, go into Device Manager and disable the HDMI audio.

Some Windows Updates change your audio optimizations, as you've discovered. In particular the Sound and USB Power Management ones.

[Kayak]

I went on a disabling spree, and that seems to have done the trick. I may have broken one or two minor things I don't care about, but I'm back in business.

Thanks again!

[LightWing]

Look into a Presonus USB interface. I use one and also just picked up a second one, used but in perfect condition, off Reverb.com for $25 as a backup. :)