Now that my hardware information and setup information is listed above, let me share rest of the information with you. If any of my hardware information is adjusted from this base, I will mention in my future messages on this thread.
REGARDING TOPIC No. 1 (quote for quick reference)
If I do not install Armoury Crate or if I uninstall Bongiovi Drivers after installing Armoury Crate due to issue (see below about the Bongiovi issues) then I am left with a broken driver. This is because "ExtRtXUsb_Asus_BJ_RTK.inf" driver file included in this version of the package has the RENDER APO FX for %PKEY_CompositeFX_StreamEffectClsid% set to Bongiovi APO ONLY.
Here I am referencing to the motherboard support page with latest and only Audio drivers at the moment that can be downloaded using https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/LGA1700/M3938/Realtek_Audio_driver_V6.3.9600.2368_Windows_11_6... link.
Regarding 1, 2, and 3 mentioned in your description, could you provide relevant screenshots or comparison screenshots with other MB models for us to further consultation with the relevant team?
Sorry, I do not have any screenshots to share. Here's what I can share for this issue 1. If this motherboard is used to do a fresh Windows installation of Windows 11 Pro 23H2 media with internet disconnected so that windows is not trying to install drivers using generic online drivers from Windows update and then you install these audio drivers, then things do not work.
Here what I mean, after the drivers are installed and system reboots, the Realtek Audio Console UWP app is installed. When you open this application, and use the AMPLIFY LEVEL drop down, nothing happens to the sound. I cannot even hear the difference using the TEST SOUND presented on this screen to check if the speakers are working properly or not. This test sound (just like windows test sounds) plays a sound in the left speaker and then in the right speaker). To me, this confirms that something is not working properly as typically these test sounds are provided to check if the issues are with software/hardware or the issue is with the media being played (like some stream from YouTube or one of the content steaming platforms or even the local content on the desktop).
NOTE: When I talk about test sound I am referring to this PLAY button under these 2 RED speakers at the bottom of this screenshot.
I am not an expert just trying to learn and troubleshoot my issues. From what I have understood, the problem with this vanilla install is because the REALTEK APO is not hooked up hence things are not working (AMPLIFY LEVEL is non-functional).
Now, I suggested that you can technically provide TWO APO keys. After doing more research online, I am learning that having APOs could become problematic specially if they both are trying to boost some signal frequencies and then we may get into digital clipping which cannot be seen but only heard as bad sound. This is why most of the drivers only set 1 APO.
So, I would like to propose a different solution. These vanilla drivers should come with the default RealTek APO so that if anyone does not install Armoury Crate, the built-in RealTek APO at least works.
REGARDING TOPIC No. 2 (quote for quick reference)
Does the Realtek Drivers do not support other Windows Modes like MEDIA, MOVIE, COMMUNICATION, SPEECH and NOTIFICATION?
Here, I am referring to the following modes defined in ExtRtXUsb_Asus_BJ_RTK.inf file included in the official audio drivers (version 6.3.9600.2368 at https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/LGA1700/M3938/Realtek_Audio_driver_V6.3.9600.2368_Windows_11_6...)
These modes are NOT used anywhere in the drivers except the line no 171 which is the default mode. Because these special modes are not defined, my understanding is that Windows as well as the Audio Software within Windows cannot help. Typically, with these modes supported a consumer like me can set different presets to be used for each one of these modes and these presets get used automatically instead of manually being switched and setup by a consumer.
I believe MEDIA mode is meant for MUSIC and it is supposed to have less low frequency boost compared to MOVIE mode which is meant to have higher low frequency boost. Similarly, SPEECH is meant to have most of the frequencies outside the speech spectrum severely reduced so as to focus on the audio of the person talking. COMMUNICATION mode is meant to expand on the SPEECH in the frequency spectrum, but it is still reducing a large number of frequencies. DEFAULT is supposed to be a FLAT for general purpose use and supports the full frequency spectrum (20Hz - 20KHz). I am not so familiar with NOTIFICATIONS. I believe it is meant to be supported so that when notifications popup on your computer while you are listening to something or speaking into a microphone then the default windows audio mixer does a decent job in coming up the final result. I could be wrong about it as it is the mode I least understand.
Maybe your technical team can reference some sample DevKits to get a better understanding of these modes and enable them in the drivers. That is all I am requesting here.
REGARDING TOPIC No. 3 (quote for quick reference)
The driver is not specifying the configuration for OFFLOAD Mode Support as well. Can the following lines get added to the RENDER configuration? With high quality ES9218 and ALC4082 I am hoping the processing can be offloaded to hardware for better results.
Here, I am referring to the following modes defined in ExtRtXUsb_Asus_BJ_RTK.inf file included in the official audio drivers (version 6.3.9600.2368 at https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/LGA1700/M3938/Realtek_Audio_driver_V6.3.9600.2368_Windows_11_6...)
See line no. 137, 138, 145, 146, 153 and 154 in this file. These values are defined but not used elsewhere in the file. I have given some sample code of how it looks like typically in my first post above already for your development team to use and look into.
My understanding is that when these modes are supported, you basically enable hardware acceleration instead of doing all processing in the software. With this motherboard having premium codec and DACs I was hoping to see them get used better than any cheaper priced alternatives. So, far it seems the drivers and the software is not really taking an advantage of the hardware I paid for on this motherboard.
In this download file, if you go to "USBAud\Win64\Realtek\CodecExtOem_RTK_71\ExtRtXUsb_Asus_Dolby_Wrap_RTK.inf" file (this is an extra file and not being used) and compare it to "USBAud\Win64\Realtek\CodecExtOem_RTK_71\ExtRtXUsb_Asus_BJ_RTK.inf" file which is used by the installer, you will see what I mean. Here's a screenshot of comparing these two files.
Look at line no.52 and 56 on the lefthand side. It seems someone on the ASUS Audio Driver development team was working on supporting this mode as part of your DTS supported motherboards and this file was luckily but accidently got included in this package for me to refer back to your team.
Here you can see for item no. 2 above where I talked about supporting additional modes like SPEECH, MOVIE etc. that is being done on the line no 56 but mentioning them. OfCourse all this needs to be supported by the actual driver too.
Hope this help.
REGARDING TOPIC No. 4 (quote for quick reference)
The microphone volume from the HD Audio Combo Front Panel (My case is ASUS ProArt PA602) is extremely low.
As I mentioned in my hardware setup post above, using a dedicated microphone either with a splitter on the Front Panel HEADSET port or using the dedicated MIC IN from the real panel yields even lower volume then using the MIC built into my headset.
I presume this is because the headset is meant for general purpose communication, so it is doing some preamp boost inside the headset whereas the dedicated microphone that I have is meant for capture recording speech in the field and it applies some noise cancelling which is reducing the volume because of special audio curves built into this microphone. I do not have any other microphone at the moment to test. Both these microphones are wires and I am assuming that has something to do with it.
I have Apple Airpods Pro. Both Gen 1 and Gen 2. I also have Apple Airpod Max. I need to figure out who to use the Bluetooth connection on this motherboard, pair them up and see if they work any better or worse. If they work any better, then I may be leaning towards the problem being focused on wires headsets. Which might be due to software connectivity between the ESS9018 and ALC4082 chips on this motherboard.
EDIT ADDED ON 27-MAY-2024 AT 9:50 PM EST (or 28-May-2024 at 1:50 AM UTC)
SOLVED HALF OF THE PROBLEM
The microphone volume is now working properly. I had to get the Realtek Audio Universal Service running. Plus the Armoury Create Motherboard SDK which includes the Bongiovi Driver installation fixed. I am referring to 3.00.25 version of this SDK which comes with the 1.0.0.48 version of these Bongiovi drivers. The issue is with the installation of these Bongiovi drivers. Here's a link to my post on this thread down below where I have described the problem and the fix.
Re: Can ASUS Support Fix Realtek Audio Drivers wit... - Page 2 - Republic of Gamers Forum - 1019556
STILL HAVING LOUD POPS CAUSING AUDIO CLIPPINGS
I also get loud pops whenever the microphone is enabled. See https://rog-forum.asus.com/t5/gaming-motherboards/re-rog-maximus-z790-dark-hero-low-microphone-volum... with pictures of these loud pops in the capture.
I have done lot more playing around to isolate this issue. This is what I have concluded on this microphone pops. Using Realtek Audio Console if I play around enough by making changes to the volume or changing the audio format (like switching between 48000Hz, 24 Bits and any of the other options), I get to record the sound EXACTLY 1 time where the pop will not happen at the beginning. Stopping the recording and starting to record the microphone right away begins with a loud pop.
This makes me believe that some software or hardware buffer is not getting cleared and that is what gets flushed at a very loud volume when the microphone is enabled/turned on for recording sound causing the loud pop. See two screenshots of recording twice back-to-back without touching anything.
This screenshot below shows that I was able to somehow clear the buffer and for once I was able to record without a pop at the beginning (as been aptly named of this attempt).
This next screenshot below shows what happens most of the time when I turn on my microphone for recording. This recording was done within seconds of the previous one to prove my hypothesis that the buffers are not cleared either at the beginning or at the end of the recording causing these pops to be recorded.
NOTE: The recording time is shown under the file name where you can see that these two recordings where done within the same minute. I can tell you they where done within few seconds. I literally stopped the recording and then started again.
REGARDING TOPIC No. 5 (quote for quick reference)
I am also noticing that if I change my headphone output format from 48Khz 24Bits to anything else, I lose about 50% of the volume.
I can confirm that with the point no. 3 under this issue, the "Realtek Audio Universal Service" not running is definitely causing this issue. See below
Manually starting this service makes this better. When the driver is installed by the installer, the following gets logged as a problem in the device manager which no one goes looking for it till you try to debug and troubleshoot why things are not working like I had to do as part of my troubleshooting.
This driver mistake can be seen in the screenshot below which like I mentioned is fixed in the next version of the driver. Here you can see that this image path has QUOTES around it.
This can be seen in the "USBAud\Win64\Realtek\RealtekService_636\RealtekService.inf" file. See line no. 61 below in this file.
MY PERSONAL WORKAROUND
I have updated this register entry by removing the quotes around the image path so that it now looks like below.
With this fix, every time my computer starts, my Realtek Audio Universal Service is starting up automatically.
AFTER THIS SERVICE FIX I HAVE NOW ENCOUNTERED A NEW ISSUE SO THIS ISSUE NO 5 IS STILL OPEN (see below)
Using Realtek Audio Console, every time I change my default format for listening to 384000Hz either at 24 Bits or at 32 Bits when I press PLAY to play the Realtek Test Tones, I hear audio pops every time the channel is turned on as well as off. Since the test plays sound in left channel once and then in right channel. I hear 4 pops or you might call then CLICKS as they are not loud like the microphone. I cannot show you any pictures as this is what I hear.
The good news about this format is that it is 100% possible to reproduce so once your development team gets to investigating this issue, I am hopping it is easy to reproduce and understand.
Next, I noticed that every time is change the format back to any other format which is below 384000Hz, I hear these CLICKS ONCE. Then when I play the test sounds again, everything plays without these CLICKS. THIS MAKES ME BELIEVE ABOUT MY THEORY THAT SOMEWHERE SOME BUFFERS ARE NOT GETTING CLEARED IN THE HARDWARE.
Since this problem only happens at the highest supported sample rate, I believe this is happening because at this high sampling rate ESS9018 has to be engaged and this is where ALC4082 is not playing nice. Usually, ASUS motherboards will just have the Realtek chip, and these drivers are typically not meant to use premium DACs, this new premium product is having issues as this integration is new and recent for ASUS team and we are all learning to get this new premium platform ready together.
With the Realtek Audio Universal Service running the audio level drop out is now ONLY happening when using the 384000 sampling rate. So, things have improved but we are not done with this issue fully yet.
Here's the picture of what I am talking about. See I changed the DEFAULT FORMAT to 384000Hz 24Bits. I can also choose 384000Hz 32 Bits and produce this issue consistently too.
