Where should I get my Audio Sound Drivers

[beegeepee]

Should I get them from ASrock? My mother board is a Z77 extreme4. Or should I just find the newest realtek drivers?

Also, I have an MSI Lightning 780x. I noticed there are Nvidia HD audio software. . . I am very confused so any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

I also have a pair of relatively nice headphones as well as a set of speakers. It appears they both play out of the "Speakers" playback device. Is this bad? Do I need to adjust my "Default Format" settings under the ADVANCED tab. (ie. 16bit, 44100Hz (CD Quality).).

Really any guidance or link to a audio guide would be nice.

lastly, I have a crappy stand-up mic that seems quiet and has static, but I want to Optimize my own audio before worrying about the Mic.

Thanks,

BeeGeePee

P.S USING WINDOWS 8.1 PRO

 

[ssddx]

i'd get the audio drivers from asrock since its onboard.

nvidia audio software likely only applies when you are using the dvi or hdmi to transmit sound.

speakers device... hmmm... perhaps you dont have them plugged into the front headphone port? if you have them in the rear port perhaps they would be labeled as speakers? or it could be that the pc doesnt recognize them as headphones. in any case there isnt any difference really.

as for advanced bit, hz, quality... i normally set mine to maximums.

you should be able to adjust mic settings in audio properties as well. might not be able to do anything about the static but you can likely increase the volume.