Setting a permanent default communications device in Windows 10

Question

I have three monitors which are not always on when I use the computer. Each of the monitors also has it's own speaker system. They all use DP cable to connect them to the computer via nVidia GFX card.

I have a dedicated sound card which I use for all of my outbound audio. I've set it as default device and default communications device on the playback tab of the sound option in the control panel.

However, each time I turn on one of the monitors, all of my sound gets redirected to that monitor, despite the fact I've previously disabled this audio device and set another as the default.

How do I tell Windows 10 to stop being a smartass and just do what I told it to do?

I want my audio to go to a device I specified, no matter how many other audio devices I connect to my computer, until the moment where I myself change these settings.

Answer 1

This is a tough one.

When you connect and disconnect a displayport device, windows installs and uninstalls the hardware.

You haven't actually specified the brand and model of the monitor, so I cannot look up which one you have and if it has the option to disable the speakers, which would definitely solve your issue.

That said, if you enable the monitor, make sure it is fully working and not disabled, and you then set the default audio source, windows should remember this when you turn off and on the monitor.

However, if you use an USB soundcard too, then it may break because when that device is turned off, it also gets uninstalled so when windows does not have a soundcard it can find, it will switch to whatever is available.

Lastly, in Windows 10, you can quickly switch to a different audio device by pressing the sound icon in the taskbar once, so the volume meter shows up, then press the name of your sound device so a dropdown list shows up with all your devices, and select the correct one.