No sound since Win10 update in 2020

[Yuletide]

Date & Time: 11/Feb/2021
Frequency: Always
Steps:
1. launch game

■ PC Specs

-=-=-=-=- System Information -=-=-=-=-

SYSTEM_OS	Windows 10 Home 64-bit (6.2, Build 9200) (18362.19h1_release.190318-1202)
SYSTEM_CPU	Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7700 CPU @ 3.60GHz (8 CPUs), ~3.6GHz
SYSTEM_CORE_NUM	SYSTEM_CORE_LOGIC 8  SYSTEM_CORE_PHYSICS 4
SYSTEM_BIOS	2.10
SYSTEM_LANGUAGE	English (Regional Setting: English)
SYSTEM_MEMORY	32726.094MB
SYSTEM_VIRTUAL_MEMORY	134217727.875MB
SYSTEM_PAGE_FILE	37590.094MB
SYSTEM_STORAGE	C:\    SYSTEM_HARDDISK_DRIVE    SYSTEM_TOTALDISC_SPACE 231.794GB    SYSTEM_FREEDISC_SPACE 26.222GB
SYSTEM_STORAGE	D:\    SYSTEM_HARDDISK_DRIVE    SYSTEM_TOTALDISC_SPACE 1863.000GB    SYSTEM_FREEDISC_SPACE 1120.302GB
SYSTEM_DIRECTX_VERSION	DirectX 12
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS	NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DEVICE	\\.\DISPLAY1
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_CHIP	GeForce GTX 1080
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_MAKER	NVIDIA
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_VRAM	8079.000 MB
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_SHARED_VRAM	16363.047 MB
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DAC	Integrated RAMDAC
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DISPLAY_MODE	1920 x 1080 (32 bit) (60Hz)
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DRIVER	C:\WINDOWS\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\nv_dispi.inf_amd64_8cf1665a41d3a3cf\nvldumdx.dll,C:\WINDOWS\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\nv_dispi.inf_amd64_8cf1665a41d3a3cf\nvldumdx.dll,C:\WINDOWS\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\nv_dispi.inf_amd64_8cf1665a41d3a3cf\nvldumdx.dll,C:\WINDOWS\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\nv_dispi.inf_amd64_8cf1665a41d3a3cf\nvldumdx.dll
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DRIVER_VERSION	27.21.0014.5709
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DRIVER_DATE	10/22/2020 10:00:00
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_DRIVER_LANGUAGE	English
3.0
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_PIXEL_SHADER	3.0
SYSTEM_GRAPHICS_VERTEX_TEXTURE	SYSTEM_SUPPORT
SYSTEM_SOUND	VoiceMeeter Input (VB-Audio VoiceMeeter VAIO)
SYSTEM_SOUND_DEVICE_ID	{F0418473-3331-4D22-B0D6-FB7BE61BA0FB}
SYSTEM_SOUND_DEVICE_NAME	vbaudio_vmvaio64_win10.sys
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_VERSION	6.01.7600.16385
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_LANGUAGE	English
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_DATE	1/11/2019 00:00:00
SYSTEM_SOUND	Headset Earphone (HyperX Virtual Surround Sound)
SYSTEM_SOUND_DEVICE_ID	{78949A9E-452C-4095-849A-8CE4244CA67A}
SYSTEM_SOUND_DEVICE_NAME	USBAUDIO.sys
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_VERSION	6.02.18362.0997
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_LANGUAGE	English
SYSTEM_SOUND_DRIVER_DATE	7/17/2020 00:00:00

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-


Hi everyone,

Since last year I had a Win10 update which was installed and my FFXIV game client stopped using my audio device. I am tech savvy; this has nothing to do with viruses or malware or otherwise. This was a legitimate Win10 update, only thing is I have lost track of exactly which update it was since it has been a long time. Either way it doesn't matter because I have tried everything, even rolling back the updates, to try and fix this - nothing works.

My FFXIV client has stopped using the correct audio device and there is no way for me to select the audio device I want from any kind of menu. For me this is a problem. The only way I can hear any game client audio is if I install VoiceMeeter program and set it to override the game to a virtual output. I don't like doing this because I hate virtual devices and they really clash with the rest of my set up, e.g. they break my volume macros and hotkeys, the sound quality changes, and I can't use surround sound, etc etc. The problems are endless if I have to use virtual output, but for FFXIV, I have to.

I've talked to others with the same problem and they said they've resorted to just using VoiceMeeter forever. I can't accept this; because I want to uninstall VoiceMeeter for good, I hate the software and I hate having it on my computer just to hear the FFXIV game client. I would like Square Enix to investigate this issue because it is tiresome. Please allow us to choose our audio devices for the game...

Thanks for reading.