I think my audio device is not what came preinstalled with my acer laptop

This is a recent low end i3 laptop from acer - aspire lite AL15-52
In sound, video and game controllers in device manager i see the entry USB advanced audio device.

Do laptops come preinstalled with this - it appears to be a generic driver of sorts. I am further suspicious because the driver bundle from acer for this laptop features Realtek audio drivers.
The laptop does play sound but that's it. For example it does not route sound to my tv when connected by hdmi. Neither can i see stereo mix option. There are no disconnected or disabled devices. Its like my original device is invisible. This is not a driver update issue for sure. No unidentified devices. I have installed the Realtek drivers (no luck). I have uninstalled the usb advanced audio device (no change)

Reading on the internet, i believe it could be a firmware issue where the relevant eeprom data has been corrupted. I have NO experience in all this at all

How do i know for sure and how do i go about troubleshooting, identifying and (hopefully) fixing the problem

Similar experiences, explanations, advice and things to try - please help so that i can at least understand the problem

Hardware ids are
USB\VID_0D8C&PID_0289&REV_0708&MI_00

USB\VID_0D8C&PID_0289&MI_00

Thanks

From what I read, that device should have both Intel Smart sound and Realtek drivers. Check for windows updates to see if it will detect any missing drivers.

Check the hidden devices if any and see what story they tell.