If you don’t want this to happen again, consider buying a dedicated interface, like the Steinberg, Presonus or Focusrite ones. With those, you will be able to plug and unplug your speakers without having the whole device to disconnect itself from your computer.
I just need an output device for the audio streams in my PC. I don’t have any need for a full scale “audio interface” with XLR microphone inputs, preamps, 48V phantom power, and all those other bells and whistles. What’s the most minimum alternative to the Realtek that will give me stable trouble-free performance with Cubase and all the other audio on my PC?
If you want to hear audio from both Windows and Cubase, make sure it is configured this way .
I followed the link but the important parts were in French and I didn’t recognize the dialogs or what they were saying. But yes, I do want to hear Windows and Cubase. Earlier, when I was using ASIO4ALL even though I checked the box to only have the application with the focus control the audio, some applications didn’t let go of it, or couldn’t get it in the first place. So my browser wouldn’t give the audio back to Cubase and Premiere Pro gave me no audio at all if Cubase was open, even if it was minimised. That’s why I switched to the ASIO Low Latency driver that Cubase recommended When I get a new sound card I don’t want ANY of those problems.