Vista - How to prevent default audio device from changing to SRS?

I installed SRS Audio Soundbox on my HP laptop running vista ultimate with Realtek HD audio. It installed a audio device of its own, which I can select under control panel->sound. SRS Soundbox panel is set to start with windows. But I only want to use SRS to process audio coming out of Zoom-Player, so I have setup Zoom Player to use this audio device instead of default Realtek. My problem is that everytime laptop restarts or wakes from sleep (essentially everytime SRS's control panel starts), SRS makes itself the default audio device, which I have to go and change back to Realtek. Is there a way I could lock-up the default device, so it wouldn't change?? or do something else so that Realtek stays the default audio device.

Hi taylormah,

I can only think that it might work if you stop SRS starting with the PC, you have already said yourself that it is not normally needed.

hy Pooch, .. as of now, thats what I am doing. Only thing is after I am done watching movie, I have to manually go and change the default to Realtek again. It would be good if there were a tool that can change the audio devices from command line. If I dont find a solution, I guess i will have to stick to it.

As long as you are going to use this software then this is the answer that you will have to live with. I doubt very much that you will find a way to stop SRS changing the default audio device. On the plus side though, it is not everytime you start the PC.

Pooch

Vista will NOT let you change system wide audio endpoints programmatically in any way, shape or form.


The only way to do this is by writing a wrapper for the sound applet and feeding it keystrokes. Actually i'm working on such a wrapper for switching my Realtek HD from digital to analog.

You can check this out, it's for XP but gives an idea:

CodeProject: Changing your Windows audio device programmatically using VC++. Free source code and programming help

Actually I found a program called Vista Audio Changer. I has GUI as well as command line interface. I wrote a bat file which uses the program's exe files to change the audio card. I have written it so that it starts the SRS, then after SRS changes the audi card, it changes it back to Realtek. So for now, its working. But it opens the command line window, and I would still like the idea of having a exe file doing all the work without installing a special software. I will check out the link you gave.

this just rewrites the registry keys where the current active audio endpoint is defined. Which does work under Vista, but with win 7 will have less effect. Win 7 let's you change an audio endpoint system wide on running instances of audio programs. Changing the registry key won't have the same effect since audio programs read the registry upon startup.

The sound applet wrapper will just repeat the keystrokes necessary for changing the audio endpoint and in so doing can change endpoints on the fly.