I've really run out of ideas for this issue... I've linked to relevant pics/manuals to make things easier.
On my previous computer (Asus Z87-C mobo, with ALC892 audio), I was able to have my 5.1 speaker setup connected to the rear panel (using the dedicated green/orange/black plugs) and my headset (analog audio and mic) connected to the front jacks, and Windows 10 / the Realtek HD Audio driver would treat them as separate playback devices. I was able to switch between them via the speaker/volume icon in the task bar, the speakers were recognised as 5.1 and the headphones were recognised as headphones, they had their own settings, etc.
I've just switched to a computer running an Asus Z170M-PLUS mobo, with ALC887 audio. The rear panel only has 3 audio jacks (green, blue, pink) but looking at the manual I was able to figure out how to connect the 5.1 plugs correctly and they work as expected. Problem is, when I plug my headset into the front jacks, it no longer appears as a separate playback device - the "speakers" device just starts outputting to the headset... When I unplug the headset's audio jack, audio comes through the speakers once more.
Since they're both being treated as a single device, they share settings - Windows still treats it as 5.1 speakers when the audio is going out of the headset, they cannot have different volumes, etc. It's quite an inconvenience.
I've spent most of the afternoon trying to fix this, to no avail. I have read every thread I can find and tried everything I can think of.
Here are the dead ends so far:
There's probably a few other things I've tried that I've forgotten about... One final thought might be to change the front panel to AC97 instead of HD Audio - is that likely to help or have any other side effects? At this point, I'd even be happy to have my 5.1 setup working in stereo as long as it's a separate device (as it works when the Windows drivers are being used), so a solution that prevents the Realtek ones from being reinstalled could help.
Any suggestions would be much appreciated!
On my previous computer (Asus Z87-C mobo, with ALC892 audio), I was able to have my 5.1 speaker setup connected to the rear panel (using the dedicated green/orange/black plugs) and my headset (analog audio and mic) connected to the front jacks, and Windows 10 / the Realtek HD Audio driver would treat them as separate playback devices. I was able to switch between them via the speaker/volume icon in the task bar, the speakers were recognised as 5.1 and the headphones were recognised as headphones, they had their own settings, etc.
I've just switched to a computer running an Asus Z170M-PLUS mobo, with ALC887 audio. The rear panel only has 3 audio jacks (green, blue, pink) but looking at the manual I was able to figure out how to connect the 5.1 plugs correctly and they work as expected. Problem is, when I plug my headset into the front jacks, it no longer appears as a separate playback device - the "speakers" device just starts outputting to the headset... When I unplug the headset's audio jack, audio comes through the speakers once more.
Since they're both being treated as a single device, they share settings - Windows still treats it as 5.1 speakers when the audio is going out of the headset, they cannot have different volumes, etc. It's quite an inconvenience.
I've spent most of the afternoon trying to fix this, to no avail. I have read every thread I can find and tried everything I can think of.
Here are the dead ends so far:
- Use the Realtek HD Audio Manager program to change settings such as "front panel jack detection" or "make front and rear output devices playback two different audio streams simultaneously".
- These options are not available in the ASUS version of the Realtek HD Audio Manager that I have. Here's what it looks like. There are no other options. I haven't had any luck finding a version of the software that would let me change those settings.
- Uninstalling Realtek HD Audio drivers and using the Windows 10 ones instead.
- After uninstalling the drivers and rebooting, Windows installed its own drivers and they seemed to pick up the speakers and headset as separate devices... although it only seemed to support the speakers operating in stereo mode, not 5.1. I'd be willing to live with that, except... on the next reboot, it re-installed the $%#$ing Realtek drivers and puts me back on square one.
- Updating the Realtek HD Audio drivers.
- No luck - they're apparently already up-to-date, and I even tried installing Asus's audio drivers/software for the motherboard... No changes.
There's probably a few other things I've tried that I've forgotten about... One final thought might be to change the front panel to AC97 instead of HD Audio - is that likely to help or have any other side effects? At this point, I'd even be happy to have my 5.1 setup working in stereo as long as it's a separate device (as it works when the Windows drivers are being used), so a solution that prevents the Realtek ones from being reinstalled could help.
Any suggestions would be much appreciated!
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