8 Fixes For Nvidia High Definition Audio No Sound

Sound, music, and vocals are responsible for having the best experience out of a movie or a video game. Just visualize having to play a game without the master volume or watch a video without being able to stream audio. This is a very likely reality when the Audio driver goes down. You may think that updating this driver should fix this, but it is only one of the solutions to this issue.

This article has all the solutions you can use when the Nvidia High Definition Audio driver stops functioning and when you do not hear any sound coming out of your audio output device. 

What is the NVIDIA High Definition Audio?

Nvidia is a Graphics Processing Unit (CPU) hardware and software development firm. They are known for their GeForce GTX and RTX graphics cards. These GPUs have one or more HDMI ports on their side. These slots support both HD video and HD audio. The audio that is streamed from these HDMI ports of the Nvidia graphics cards is the Nvidia HD audio. There are exclusive audio drivers for the Nvidia HD audio.

Factors that cause the NVIDIA High Definition audio no sound issue on Windows 10

Usually, this problem is caused by the Graphics settings on the computer. There are other causes that can be or become the reason why you have sound issues with the Nvidia audio. 

These are also explanations to why this issue can come up on Windows 10 Operating System (OS) based computers with an Nvidia graphics card:

1. Your default audio output device has been switched. The audio output may have been changed because of the installation of updates (Windows or Driver software). If you try to use one or more monitors through the HDMI port. If you have Discord, open it and it will warn you that the audio driver was changed.  
2. The audio drivers are corrupt or incompatible. 

Incompatible drivers can be responsible for most issues on your computer. If your audio drivers are old, you may not be able to hear it even when you are playing audio.

3. The Onboard sound device has been disabled. Onboard sound is the audio that is sourced, directly, from the motherboard. This can be modified through the BIOS settings. With the Onboard sound disabled, you may not be hearing anything.

Methods to fix the Nvidia High Definition Audio No Sound Issue on Windows 10

We have collected these 8 solutions that can be used to fix it when the high-definition audio device stops working on your Windows 10 PC.

Here you are:

1. Switch the Audio Output
2. Update them or Rollback the Graphics Drivers
3. Update, Disable, Reinstall, or Rollback the Audio Drivers
4. Try using a High Definition Audio Driver
5. Enable Onboard Sound device in the BIOS Settings
6. Turn off the Nvidia HDMI Sound Adapter in the BIOS menu
7. Do a clean installation of your Nvidia drivers
8. Troubleshoot the Audio

How can I fix the Nvidia High Definition Audio No Sound Issue?

Switch the Audio Output Device

The default audio output device does not stream audio when the setting is at HDMI. This may have been changed after a Windows update. If you use the HDMI ports to connect to more than one monitor, the sound output might change and no audio will be heard through your external sound devices, like your speakers or headphones.

It is also possible that you may not hear the audio from one screen. You have to set a default audio output device to fix the Nvidia High Definition Audio not working issue.

These are the instructions to change the output audio device:

1. You can find the Sound icon on the taskbar or the task tray. Right-click on this and click on the Playback devices option. 

2. Some computers may not show this option. If so, click on the Sound option from the menu and open the Playback tab in the Sound window.

3. Right-click anywhere inside the dialog box and check the options named Show Disconnected Devices and Show Disabled Devices.
4. Select the device that you want to be set as the default playback device and right-click on it.
5. From the context menu, choose Set as Default.

6. Then, right-click on the Digital Audio/HDMI/Monitor device and choose the Disable option from the pop-up menu.

Try playing a sound to see if you got your sound back, after following the above steps. Be cautious not to disable the incorrect playback devices or set the wrong default device. 

Update them or Rollback the Graphics Drivers

Rolling back a driver is the process of downgrading the driver to a software version, which did not cause the mentioned problem. Since the HD Audio comes from the graphics card, the graphics card driver is also involved in this operation.

Updating Nvidia graphics drivers is quite simple with the Nvidia GeForce Experience interface but if you wish to know how to update to the latest drivers, you can do it through the Windows Device Manager.

This is how you can update your graphics driver:

1. Type in Device Manager in the search bar and open the best result.
2. You can also open the Run tool (Windows key + R) and run the following command:

devmgmt.msc

3. In the Device Manager window, click on the Display Adapters section to expand the list of GPU drivers.

4. Find your Nvidia driver and double-click on it to open it.
5. From the Video driver properties window, go to the Driver tab and press the Update driver button.

6. If you have a driver version downloaded on your PC, you can install it by choosing any of the options in the update wizard. 
7. Follow the on-screen instructions to install the update.

These are your steps to roll back the driver:

1. Reach the Display Adapter properties in the Device Manager using the above steps.
2. In the Driver tab, you will be able to see the Roll Back Driver button on the lower left part of the dialog box. 
3. Click on it and you will have the previous version of the driver that was installed on the computer.

Update, Disable, Reinstall, or Rollback the Audio Drivers

If you are sure that the audio drivers are the cause of the Nvidia High-Definition audio no-sound problem, there are four different ways you can handle this. 

The initiating steps for these procedures are common. This is what you have to do at first:

1. Right-click on the Start button to make the Quick Link menu appear. 
2. From this, you have to choose the Device Manager option. You can also search for it and open it through the search bar.
3. Find the Sound, video, and game controllers category and click on it to expand.

4. Open the properties of the driver that is used for streaming audio in high definition quality, by double-clicking on it.
5. Go to the Driver tab, if it is not opened by default. 

This is the common destination for all the following methods that you can use to fix the Nvidia high-definition audio no-sound issue. 

These are the methods you can use to fix faulty drivers: 

a. Disable the sound devices

You just have to press the Disable device in the sound driver properties to disable the chosen driver.

b. Remove and Reinstall the sound drivers

1. Select Uninstall Device in the sound device properties window. 
2. Choose Uninstall in the small prompt window to remove this driver.
3. You can reinstall this driver by downloading the installation tool from the Nvidia downloads webpage.

c. Roll the sound drivers back

This is a very simple step.

1. Click on the Roll Back driver button.
2. You will see a prompt dialog box that asks you if you are sure about wanting the previously installed driver updates on your computer. 
3. Choose Yes and you will have the previous version of your update.

d. Update the Nvidia Audio Driver

The problems caused by outdated drivers can be fixed by updating them. You simply have to download a new graphics card driver from the Nvidia HDMI audio site and run the setup file to install it.

Enable the Onboard Sound device in BIOS Settings

When new Nvidia GPU drivers are installed, this may turn the Onboard audio off in the motherboard BIOS, causing the Nvidia high-definition audio no sound problem on your computer.

You can enable it back in the BIOS menu with these steps:

1. Boot up your PC and press the F10, F12, or Del key to bring up the BIOS window. The BIOS trigger keys depend on the motherboard manufacturer. It may be displayed while the boot takes place.
2. Go to the Advanced tab using the up and down arrow keys on your keyboard.
3. Open the option that says Onboard Devices Configuration or Integrated Peripherals.
4. Find the Audio Controller options. 
5. Locate Sound settings here and enable it by hitting Enter key. 
6. Press the F10 key to save the changes and exit the interface.

Turn off the Nvidia HDMI Sound Device in BIOS menu

Even after the Nvidia HD audio driver has been installed, you may face the Nvidia high definition audio no sound issue on your computer, because this issue may have something to do with the BIOS menu.

You turn it off to see if you can hear audio, with the aid of these steps:

1. Launch the BIOs by pressing F10, F12, or Delete while the system boots up.
2. Navigate along the following path in the BIOS menu:

Advanced > Onboard Devices Configuration > NVIDIA HDMI sound adapter

3. Select this using the Enter key to Disable the Nvidia HDMI sound adapter.

Do a clean installation of your new driver

A lot of users facing the same problem reported that doing a custom, clean installation of the latest drivers can help fix the Nvidia high definition audio no sound issue. 

Here’s how you can:

1. Open the Nvidia GeForce Experience interface and download the latest Nvidia driver.

2. After the download is complete, click on the Install button.
3. Click on the Custom Installation option and click on the Perform a clean installation checkbox to do as stated.

4. If there are more instructions, follow them and the latest graphic drivers will be installed.

Troubleshoot the Audio

An audio troubleshooter can never show you the wrong results. This is an effortless way to fix this issue.

1. Open the Windows settings from the Start menu.
2. Click on the Updates & Security and open the Troubleshoot tab on the left pane.
3. Click on Additional Troubleshooters and choose the Playing audio option, from under the Get up and running section.

4. Select Run the Troubleshooter.

5. Choose the device that does not produce sound and follow the instructions. 
6. After the process is complete, the audio troubleshooter will fix the issue by itself.

Conclusion

The Nvidia high-definition audio no sound problem is a very annoying problem that prevents sound from being produced. No one wants to play a game or watch a movie without sound. This is why we gathered all the above methods to fix this issue. These issues are quite easy to fix and not a big threat to your computer.

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