Question Having a weird issue where Windows stops playing videos and loading games. Continuation from before?

[outlawstar15a2]

So I had an issue recently where I couldn't connect to the internet and where audio/video playback/game loading stopped working. I fixed the internet issue by getting rid of Avast and Comodo however the audio issue is back. It used to happen about every 24-48 hours but today it seems to be happening within 20-30 minutes of restarting PC. There is something wrong with the Windows Audio Service because if I attempt to restart it it'll hang and if I force kill via command prompt and restart the service. It'll restart but the sound doesn't come back. The issue started when I bought and plugged in my new Corsair USB headset I think there is a conflict between my USB controller and the Windows Audio service before buying this headset I had a X-fi sound card and a normal 3.5mm headset the X-Fi went bad and I replaced it with a Sond Blaster Z which I RMA'd due to low playback and recording volume.

Now my new headset is beautiful it plays auiod beautifully (when the sound service works.) I am planning on building a new PC a few weeks from now since I now have the money but this may try my patience. Can someone help me troubleshoot this? I remember reading on another board that upgrading the USB controller driver worked for him.

How dangerous is updating the USB controller hub driver, can I end up with disabled keyboard and mouse because of a faulty install? Also my mobo's chipset has a USB controller associated with it so I guess I need to install new drivers for that? If something goes wrong can I end up with a bricked PC? How do I tell the chipset's version number? I have a Crosshair V Formula motherboard which has a Asmedia USB 3.0 Controller and the mobo uses the AMD SB950 Chipset which according to the manual says it controls some of the USB ports. So how do I tell which ports are associated with which controller?

I really need to troubleshoot this so I know what is causing it. I recently downloaded some OS updates but the issue was there before I updated.

 

[outlawstar15a2]

OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
Mobo: Asus Crosshair V Formula
USB Headset: Corsair Void USB Elite with iCUE driver/software installed

So let me recap the whole situation.

-About a month ago my old X-Fi sound card went bad on me. I had a G230 headset from Logitech. Before this happened everything was working fine. This is the sound card I had for the entire 8-9 years this PC was active and it performed splendidly.

-Replaced X-Fi with a Sound Blaster Z but only kept it for a day or two RMA'd it due to low playback and recording volume found forum posts on the net showing me others had the same problem with the card.

-Rolled over to onboard Realtek sound card, however the low playback and recording volume wasn't fixed. Seems the onboard Realtek card was very shitty, can't comment further it was the very first time I used it.

-Around the same time I had problems with not being able to connect to the internet nor could I play games/videos/audio. After a few days troubleshooting I found uninstalling Avast and Comodo and their subsidiary programs fixed all my problems.

-I sat for about a week and some change while deciding which headset and sound card to get. I was still using my Logitech 3.5mm headset and the onboard Realtek chip except for low playback and recording sound and the fact that the sound sounded very shitty I didn't have any issues with playing games, audio, or video.

-I eventually got my current Corsair Void USB Elite headset. After installing the iCUE driver and software and setting the sound to 7.1 Surround the headset sounded fantastic... However soon after getting the headset I had issues again with games/audio/videos not playing. Oddly enough if I am in a game or Discord when sound is playing it will continue to play without issue but anything new that needs the Windows Audio Service to play sound does not work. I also have to manually kill vlc player once the bug sets in.

-Manually restarting the Windows Audio service causes the service to get stuck stopping and it never finishes. If I go into cmd and kill the service with the taskkill command I can restart the Windows Audio service but it produces no sound. The Corsair services will restart normally as will the Windows Audio Endpoint Builder. But the WIndows Audio service itself stops functioning once this bug occurs.

-Originally the bug manifested every 24-48 hours but today it seems to happen about 10 minutes after restarting Windows. Restarting does restore the sound but the bug occurs soon after.

-This bug did not occur before I bought my USB headset but I don't think the headset itself or it's driver is the cause. I think it's a conflict between Windows Audio and the part of my mobo's USB Controller Driver that controls audio I/O but I have no idea how to troubleshoot it since windows is not very good at giving me info on service-device interaction. I did install some Windows Updates on the 8th but this issue persisted before I updated.

-How do I narrow down the culprit. My motherboard has two USB Controllers according to the manual Asmedia USB 3.0 Controller and AMD SB950 Chipset has a controller listed for it. I haven't updated either one since putting the system together I never had a need to. Could this be caused by outdated chipset or USB controller drivers? Also how can I tell which USB controller is active on the system? Can they both be active and if so which one is controlling the headset. What else can cause this?

-Though I am confused I've been using a USB mouse and keyboard for the last several years wouldn't this issue manifest on them too if it is the chipset or Asmedia controller? Can the issue be localized to only USB audio devices? Should I install the remaining monthly Security and Quality Rollups or wait till I get more info on this?

-Also can driver leftovers from my Creative Cards cause this issue? I disabled the Creative services but I can go into Driver Sweeper and finish removal I was just plain tired the day I got everything working. Like can the leftovers cause issues even though the services are disabled and not running?

-Also can someone explain the entire process of interactions between a USB Headset, Window's Audio service, and the USB Controller and other parts of the Motherboard. Maybe I can wrap my head around this if I can see the whole picture.