Does Realtec suck? Does Win11? Or is it me? (It's me, isn't it...?)

Nuendo
1

Hiya, folks!

I’m writing this here because I’m sort of at my wits’ end, and hoping someone else has had this issue and has maybe found a solution:

I have the following things: A very old Asus Win10 notebook with an onboard Realtec audio interface, a somewhat newer but also soon to be retired Win10 studio PC, a brand new Asus Zenbook with Win11 and an onboard Realtec interface as well.

Nuendo, from versions 13 to 15, works perfectly on all three machines if my Fireface UCX is connected. All flavors of Nuendo work perfectly on the older Win10 Notebook with the onboard Realtec interface and it’s ASIO driver. The Studio PC has no onboard audio so this doesn’t apply there. On the brand friggin’ new Win11 notebook however: Nuendo will not pass any audio with the onboard Realtec interface and it’s damn ASIO driver. It will work with the Steinberg generic driver, but then I can only use the onboard speakers, no headphones, and that is just useless.

I have tried everything from updating the Realtec drivers, clean re-installing them, doing the same with Nuendo, trying the ASIO4ALL workaround (no headphones there again like with the Steinberg ASIO plus it’s freakin’ unstable), the only thing I have shied away from until now is a complete system re-install, which by now however I am willing to try, although it’s going to be a royal pain in the patoocus because there are TONS of other software and licenses that I’ll also have to re-install then.

I really need my Notebooks to be able to pass ASIO audio to the headphones without a separate interface when I’m on the road, so this is a HUGE nuisance!

So my question really: Is this an issue any of you have had? I can’t imagine a Win11 notebook with a Realtec interface is something very exotic to have around here, and I haven’t found anybody else complaining here, so I’m guessing it’s probably because of some kind of issue I have missed, and not because Realtec ASIO simply sucks with Win11…?

Any help at this point would be greatly appreciated, I’m willing to do just about everything short of buying a Mac again. (Don’t have any issues with Apple, it’s just I have other stuff to run on my machines that won’t port to Mac-OS)

Thanx in advance!

2

I lost access to my UAD USB satellite, such is the nature of the beast.

Windows 11 wants me to use TB3, instead, and while I only use UAD DSP based effects. to mix with, I would never use an inbuilt sound device for any reason.

In all seriousness, Thunderbolt 3, is available in an audio interface package, so things have never been easier, for the mobile musician or producer and with AI based mastering, you don’t even need monitors or a room, you will know what to change with whatever you have but again, onboard sound devices are a no go for professional audio.

It used to be the case that the network, interfered with audio, that is now not the case so much, but it is definitely not the case that a built-in sound “card”, can ever suffice for professional audio work.

3

Thanks a lot for your answer. And, as the fact that usually my computers are connected to RME interfaces MIGHT have implied, I am well aware of the inferiority of onboard interfaces, even if they have improved, quality wise, in the most part.

I’m not, however, connecting an external interface to my notebook when I’m e.g. sitting in the train and just want to do some dialogue editing or such. So I need a solution for this.

4

Small USB-C DAC with ASIO drivers - recommendations? - Dorico - Steinberg Forums

5

If using the computer using the Steinberg built-in ASIO driver feeds the speakers could you perhaps, after plugging in the headphones into the computer, just change the output to Headphones via Win 11 Settings>Sound>More Sound Settings>Playback tab, assuming Headphones is included in that list?

6

P.S. how are you connecting the headphones to the PC?

7

It’s got nithing to do with Win11.
I have a seven year old laptop running Win10 with a Realtek chip inside. Their ASIO driver never spit out any sound.

My gut feeling is that the driver works with some of Realtek’s chips and not at all with others.

Using the Steinberg Built-in ASIO driver should allow you to address your headphones.
Either your system offers two different audio ports for speakers and headphones. In this case you can make the switch in the driver’s control panel.
Or you have a combined audio port. Then the control whether to use speakers or headphones should be found in a Realtek app or possibly in the Windows OS setting. It seems to vary depending on the individual chip.