valve index sound playing on the mixer but not going through the actual headphones

[RabbitWanderer]

i've done everything I could via google search, uninstalled, reinstalled disabled all audio except index's, everything.
I did have a weird sound coming through it this morning, loud and piercing before the next time I ran it which just stopped all sounds completely, I'll post my specs, I just think that it's the actual hardware at this point and I might just unscrew the audio arms off and re connect them in hope that it will work.

Operating System
Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
CPU
Intel Core i5 7600K @ 3.80GHz
Kaby Lake 14nm Technology
RAM
16.0GB Dual-Channel Unknown @ 1500MHz (15-16-16-35)
Motherboard
MSI Z270 TOMAHAWK (MS-7A68) (U3E1)
Graphics
Sceptre P30 (2560x1080@60Hz)
2047MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB (EVGA)
Storage
931GB Western Digital WDC WD10EZEX-08WN4A0 (SATA)
223GB TOSHIBA-TL100 (SSD)
Optical Drives
HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GH24NSC0
Audio
NVIDIA High Definition Audio

[--ranXerox--]

was it working before? how long did you have it?

[RabbitWanderer]

Originally posted by --ranXerox--:

was it working before? how long did you have it?

I just got it in today.

[--ranXerox--]

so, when you go to start, windows system, control panel, sound, playback tab, what do you see?

[--ranXerox--]

besides what you see, not important, launch steam vr and see if it launches "index HMD." does it pop up?

[RabbitWanderer]

Originally posted by --ranXerox--:

so, when you go to start, windows system, control panel, sound, playback tab, what do you see?

in the playback, the outputs is "index HMD" upon exiting it goes back to my monitors audio as my headphones are not plugged in.
opening the steam vr, the "index HMD" does pop back up in the sound menu, though i have to go back to it manually.
sounds IS playing but its not going through the headphones.

[--ranXerox--]

when you launch steamVR, right click on the pop up, settings, audio, check to see and make sure it says headset. If no, then specify manually.

audio output device, manual, select index HMD
audio input device, manual, select digital audio interface (valve VR radio and HMD mic)

one last thing before you do this. try updating your graphics card drivers first. then launch steam and if that did not work, then come to this and specify just as instructed see if it works. when you launch, open up the VR dashboard with the system button and make sure the volume is up at least 60%. see if you have the volume low. Remember that speaker and HMD volumes are differently adjusted.

[RabbitWanderer]

Originally posted by --ranXerox--:

when you launch steamVR, right click on the pop up, settings, audio, check to see and make sure it says headset. If no, then specify manually.

audio output device, manual, select index HMD
audio input device, manual, select digital audio interface (valve VR radio and HMD mic)

one last thing before you do this. try updating your graphics card drivers first. then launch steam and if that did not work, then come to this and specify just as instructed see if it works. when you launch, open up the VR dashboard with the system button and make sure the volume is up at least 60%. see if you have the volume low. Remember that speaker and HMD volumes are differently adjusted.

Wish I could tell you something but I got nothing, Before I decide to take an in-depth look at the earpieces, should I just go over everything and hope that a full reinstall works?

[Snospar]

This has also started happening on my Valve Index so I'm guessing something has changed in a recent SteamVR update. In a couple of games, e.g. Project Cars 2, you have the luxury of being able to change the output inside the game but most games you need to drop out and try and force SteamVR to do the right thing.

[OLL1MPYL17]

when you launch steamVR, right click on the pop up, settings, audio, check to see and make sure it says headset. If no, then specify manually.

audio output device, manual, select index HMD
audio input device, manual, select digital audio interface (valve VR radio and HMD mic)

one last thing before you do this. try updating your graphics card drivers first. then launch steam and if that did not work, then come to this and specify just as instructed see if it works. when you launch, open up the VR dashboard with the system button and make sure the volume is up at least 60%. see if you have the volume low. Remember that speaker and HMD volumes are differently adjusted.

[RabbitWanderer]

Originally posted by OLL1MPYL17:

when you launch steamVR, right click on the pop up, settings, audio, check to see and make sure it says headset. If no, then specify manually.

audio output device, manual, select index HMD
audio input device, manual, select digital audio interface (valve VR radio and HMD mic)

one last thing before you do this. try updating your graphics card drivers first. then launch steam and if that did not work, then come to this and specify just as instructed see if it works. when you launch, open up the VR dashboard with the system button and make sure the volume is up at least 60%. see if you have the volume low. Remember that speaker and HMD volumes are differently adjusted.

right, so exactly what the user said before you, see @--ranxerox--

[RabbitWanderer]

Originally posted by Snospar:

This has also started happening on my Valve Index so I'm guessing something has changed in a recent SteamVR update. In a couple of games, e.g. Project Cars 2, you have the luxury of being able to change the output inside the game but most games you need to drop out and try and force SteamVR to do the right thing.

now that I think about it, The day I got the index, yesterday afternoon I received an update for all parts of the index, base and all. Maybe it's the update? I cannot recall if I heard noise before or after said update, I'm still on the fence on whether or not I do take a closer look inside the headset or just straight up reinstall it again. Is there *some* way to rollback an update?

[--ranXerox--]

try running it in beta mode. right click in steamVR in library, tools section, opt in beta from the last tab. usually this fixes the issue until the official patch comes around.

[RabbitWanderer]

Originally posted by --ranXerox--:

try running it in beta mode. right click in steamVR in library, tools section, opt in beta from the last tab. usually this fixes the issue until the official patch comes around.

if that doesn't work, which it didn't. could honestly just be on my end. perhaps something in my system is preventing sound from going through the headset, or again, the earphones are faulty which is unacceptable for 900+ but what can ya do?
last thing left to is to mess with physical stuff, maybe switch usb ports, how are the earphones connected, wire more than likely, right? honestly can't think of anything else that we hadn't tried yet.

[--ranXerox--]

I use a creative audio card because of the onboard audio issues I come accross many years ago.

Go into bios, disable the sound, boot up windows, see if the headset works. If it does, then you know the onboard audio chip is messing with resources preventing the audio to work.

Also, try the Driver upgrade and also switch the video port. If you are using an hdmi to display port adaptor, this could limit the audio bandwith if you have a cheap one. Drivers could be messing with the resources as well from the video card maker. try downloading the latest nvidia driver from nvidia. also, the breakout splitter on the cable itself, unplug it and replug it. it might of gotten loose.

[RabbitWanderer]

Originally posted by --ranXerox--:

I use a creative audio card because of the onboard audio issues I come accross many years ago.

Go into bios, disable the sound, boot up windows, see if the headset works. If it does, then you know the onboard audio chip is messing with resources preventing the audio to work.

Also, try the Driver upgrade and also switch the video port. If you are using an hdmi to display port adaptor, this could limit the audio bandwith if you have a cheap one. Drivers could be messing with the resources as well from the video card maker. try downloading the latest nvidia driver from nvidia. also, the breakout splitter on the cable itself, unplug it and replug it. it might of gotten loose.

something did in fact happened, updating every sound driver cause disabling thme seemed tostop all sound from all sources completely.
upon updating and running the steam vr a loud "crackle" was emitted for a brief second before stopping, progress? I don't know. The sound was quite ear-piercing.