Asus Z790 - Optical out randomly stops working - only restarts after a PC reboot.

[ForeverGreen]

I found my Z790 ROG Max Hero would often drop audio across the optical out. It wold happen maybe once every twoo weeks. ... I knew it was not my DAC. My previous PC worked fine with optical out. 

I searched a lot, but only found this one thread and no solution. Z790-e gaming wifi optical audio frequent dropouts - Republic of Gamers Forum - 912755 (asus.com) That thread is locked though, so I cannot reply to anyone there. The problem seemed to be across Z790 boards or different types, like Z790-E.

I found the problem went away with either, or a combination of BIOS 1501 and the following. An update of the audio firmware version or audio drivers. 

Meaning update to BIOS 1501 or later, and update to the latest audio firmware and drivers. Then the audio issue of sound dropping out over optical should be fixed.

Likely this will also cure more frequent drop outs, and what some folk have reported of noisy optical performance. 

[Jiaszzz_ROG]

Hello, @ForeverGreen 

Could you please provide information on what software or hardware changes led to the loss of audio?
Are the currently used DAC connected to the optical S/PDIF output port on the rear side of the motherboard?
May I ask if you have attempted to resolve the audio loss issue by updating to BIOS 1801 and clearing CMOS?
If it persists, could you kindly offer more detailed context or provide a comprehensive video recording of the issue?

Thank you.