Solved Audio works except on VLC and PD

bigseb · Sep 26, 2025

Recently reinstalled Win11, everything up and running and working well except for VLC and Powerdirector. In those two I get no audio. Neither mp3s nor the videos from my cam (mp4 AAC) work in Powerdirector and VLC. The files work fine using the standard windows media player. With Powerdirector I cannot even import the mp3s.

This worked before the OS reinstall so I'm hoping someone here can help me get this back on track.

TIA.

Win 11
32gb
Nvidia 2070
UMC204hd

Spunk · Sep 26, 2025

Download Reinstall Power Director and VLC to the latest versions for Windows 11

bigseb · Sep 27, 2025

Spunk said:
Download Reinstall Power Director and VLC to the latest versions for Windows 11

VLC is latest version. PD is version 19 (for which I have a license) that worked perfectly before the OS reinstall that I did about two weeks ago.

Machariel · Sep 27, 2025

And (re)install UMC204hd. The Windows Media Player works because it depends on Microsoft's Media Foundations. They're designed to work together. PD and VLC have their own codecs.

Some Windows version require the Windows Media Feature Pack. So Install that.

Check Windows Sound settings -> Output -> make sure UMC204HD is set as default output.
In VLC: Tools -> Preferences > Audio -> Output module. Switch between DirectSound, WaveOut, WASAPI.

Those are my first thoughts as I struggled only recently to setup autodetection on my new AVR for certain 5.1 (and up) formats. So these steps are the minimal ones.

Also:
Check in Windows Output device whether your UMC is set as default output device.
Also test out:
Windows Sound settings -> Device properties -> Additional device properties -> Advanced tab: sample rates. Don't go beyond 24 bits 48 KHz. You have to try it out.

Again, these are the minimals to check in my opinion. There isn't much beyond that. It appears also that on Windows, you need Behringer’s driver for full compatibility.

bigseb · Sep 27, 2025

Machariel said:
And (re)install UMC204hd. The Windows Media Player works because it depends on Microsoft's Media Foundations. They're designed to work together. PD and VLC have their own codecs.

Some Windows version require the Windows Media Feature Pack. So Install that.

Check Windows Sound settings -> Output -> make sure UMC204HD is set as default output.

In VLC: Tools -> Preferences > Audio -> Output module. Switch between DirectSound, WaveOut, WASAPI.

Those are my first thoughts as I struggled only recently to setup autodetection on my new AVR for certain 5.1 (and up) formats. So these steps are the minimal ones.

Also:
Check in Windows Output device whether your UMC is set as default output device.
Also test out:
Windows Sound settings -> Device properties -> Additional device properties -> Advanced tab: sample rates. Don't go beyond 24 bits 48 KHz. You have to try it out.

Again, these are the minimals to check in my opinion. There isn't much beyond that. It appears also that on Windows, you need Behringer’s driver for full compatibility.

Everything on the PC is a fresh install because I had to reinstall everything after the OS reinstall.

Everything else works perfectly. Windows Media Player, Windows Media Player Legacy, both browsers (Chrome and Edge), all games and my DAW (Ableton). They all play sound with no issues at all. The UMC is set as default device. It is just VLC and Powerdirector that are giving me trouble.

I don't use the Behringer driver as I've been using the ASIO4ALL driver. Again, this all worked perfectly before the OS reinstall. Not understanding why it wouldn't work now. I can give it a try though. I will also try the Windows Media Feature Pack but this was also not installed beforehand. Weird.

bigseb · Sep 27, 2025

UPDATE:

Installed the Behringer driver. Now PD works but VLC still doesn't. More importantly, everything that did work doesn't any more. Sort of.

Now, if I want to play a youtube video, or a song on WMP or a video on MP the play icon just spins and spins until I physically unplug the audio interface and then plug it back in. Then it plays. But if I press pause I have to unplug and replug the audio interface to get it to play again.

Every. Single. Time. Not great tbh.

Help, please.

Aramil · Sep 27, 2025

You have updated the AMD chipset drivers for your B450?

And got the latest audio drivers (not the standard MS ones)

neves · Sep 27, 2025

Sounds like the Behringer driver install hijacked your system’s default audio routing and now Windows isn’t properly handing off the audio stream until the device is reinitialized (which is why unplugging it “wakes” it up). This kind of behavior is common with USB audio interfaces - that lock into exclusive mode or don’t accept certain sample rates unless everything is aligned. Some Behringer interfaces default to 48 kHz or 96 kHz, which causes silent playback unless apps resample. So it can help - to set the default format to 44.1 kHz 16-bit or 48 kHz 24-bit.

Right-click speaker icon > Sound settings, under Output - make sure Behringer is set as Default
Scroll down > More sound settings > Playback tab > Click the audio device to chose it and Set as Default, also - click on it again - click on proprieties (bottom, right corner) - go to Advanced tab and Set Default Format - and here's where you can set it to 44.1 kHz 16-bit (CD Quality) or 48 kHz 24-bit.

As for VLC, click on Tools > Preferences > Audio
Set Output module > DirectSound (Behringer) instead of Automatic

spapakons · Sep 27, 2025

Just set the default output to 48Khz 16-bit (DVD quality). If you need any better you can set it from the application settings, not globally.

bigseb · Sep 27, 2025

neves said:
Sounds like the Behringer driver install hijacked your system’s default audio routing and now Windows isn’t properly handing off the audio stream until the device is reinitialized (which is why unplugging it “wakes” it up). This kind of behavior is common with USB audio interfaces - that lock into exclusive mode or don’t accept certain sample rates unless everything is aligned. Some Behringer interfaces default to 48 kHz or 96 kHz, which causes silent playback unless apps resample. So it can help - to set the default format to 44.1 kHz 16-bit or 48 kHz 24-bit.

That's annoying

neves said:
Right-click speaker icon > Sound settings, under Output - make sure Behringer is set as Default
Scroll down > More sound settings > Playback tab > Click the audio device to chose it and Set as Default, also - click on it again - click on proprieties (bottom, right corner) - go to Advanced tab and Set Default Format - and here's where you can set it to 44.1 kHz 16-bit (CD Quality) or 48 kHz 24-bit.

It already was set that way i.e. 24 bit. I changed it to 16 to see if that makes a difference.

Machariel · Sep 27, 2025

So far this appears to be the case:

With ASIO4ALL, most apps (WMP, browsers, games) play fine, but PowerDirector and VLC cannot output.
With the Behringer driver, PowerDirector starts working, but then the other apps hang until you unplug/replug.

So it looks like “either one or the other works, but not both.” The reason is that the two driver stacks expose the device differently. PowerDirector requires a standard WDM device (Behringer dirver provides that), while VLC needs a device that stays available under Windows’ normal routing (ASIO4ALL).

The way to resolve it is not to pick only one, but to align settings with the Behringer driver:

Default format = 44.1 kHz 16-bit or 48 kHz 24-bit.
Disable exclusive mode. So you won't have to dance around with unplugging stuff.
In VLC, explicitly pick the output module for the Behringer device instead of “Automatic.”

bigseb · Sep 27, 2025

Machariel said:
Disable exclusive mode. So you won't have to dance around with unplugging stuff.

Uhm... not sure how to do this...

Machariel · Sep 27, 2025

Sound settings -> Output, click your device (UMC204HD) -> More sound settings -> Playback tab, select the UMC204HD -> Properties -> Advanced tab

Uncheck both boxes under Exclusive Mode:
“Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device”
“Give exclusive mode applications priority”
Click Apply then OK.

These settings mostly likely force either the PD or the VLC to be used, forcing you to unplug stuff to release one and therefore enable the other.

Edit:
You were here before I think. Remember to set to 16 bit @44.1 KHz and make sure the same settings is as in the Behringer driver control panel. If has one.

spapakons · Sep 27, 2025

As far as I know not all apps support ASIO audio output, so ASIO4ALL should be used on specific applications. The default for everything else should be DirectSound or WASAPI. Before my old installation was damaged and I was forced to reinstall Windows 11 24H2, I had seen a weird bug in MPC-HC. DirectSound or WASAPI would not play any sound, but if I temporarily changed to something else and then back to DirectSound or WASAPI I could play sound for the first file, then it would go mute again. Not sure what caused this bug. Thankfully in my current Windows 11 24H2 installation I don't have it. I use ASIO only for compatible applications, not everywhere.

bigseb · Sep 28, 2025

A big thank you to all that replied.

I have resolved this issue via a different method.

1) uninstall the behringer driver so that everything apart from PD and VLC works as it should
2) installed Da Vinci Resolve and canned PD
3) use media player instead of VLC

Pity. I liked PD and knew how it worked. Resolve seems good too, just have to learn a new interface now. Rather that though, than unplug/reconnect the audio interface everytime.

spapakons · Sep 28, 2025

Just a few questions, doesn't PD has audio settings such as WASAPI, DirectSound etc? Doesn't it allow you to set the format, such as 48KHz 16-bit? Have you tried all combinations and still didn't produce sound?

Stigg · Sep 28, 2025

What is PD?

Edit: I was just informed what PD is.

Regarding acronyms... Is it that difficult to type the entire name of something?

By the way... I used to use G465LY, and it was great back then.

spapakons · Sep 28, 2025

PD is PowerDirector, I just didn't remember the name of the app and used the abbreviation of the original poster (aka OP). A sound processing application like this should have audio settings independent of the global Windows sound settings. That's why it's weird that it wouldn't play sound and that's why I asked if the OP tried all the available settings.

Machariel · Sep 28, 2025

If this works for the OP then so be it as it leaves him with some breathing space. I'm surprised the Behringer driver couldn't be kept alive.

Here's a recap in case you want to give it another go someday:
Un-install ASIO4ALL to avoid driver conflict. Then set the default sample rates and uncheck exclusive modes.
Then in VLC set output mode to WASAPI or DirectSound. Pick the UMC204HD device explicitly.
Then in PD: select the same Windows playback device inside PD’s Audio settings.

What could I be missing here?

spapakons · Sep 28, 2025

After any new installation you might forget to install a driver or utility you had before or make a specific configuration since you only did it once and you don't remember it. When I was forced to reinstall Windows 11, I too had a couple of things didn't work as expected because I too had forgotten some details. Once I did them, they worked as expected.

Solved Audio works except on VLC and PD

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