Microsoft’s latest Patch Tuesday Update(KB4515384) for Windows 10 1903 breaks audio on some PCs

[Karlston]

Microsoft’s latest Patch Tuesday Update(KB4515384) for Windows 10 1903 breaks audio on some PCs

 

It now appears that alongside Windows Search bug and broken Start Menu, the recently released Cumulative Update KB4515384 has another issue, but this time it’s related to audio.

 

Cumulative Update KB4515384 for Windows 10 1903 has a bug that either completely breaks the audio or lower the sound while playing games, according to various Reddit posts. As reported by affected users, the audio issue arose right after installing the latest Cumulative Update.

 

“….my volume was decreased by a mile after the update and since I couldn’t find a fix for it I rolled back to the older driver/update. Now hoping to finally find a solution instead of resorting to rolling back. After finally updating the latest Windows 10 update yesterday, the volume has decreased by a lot and it’s close to no sound. I’ve reinstalled and updated all the necessary sound/headset drivers, both manually and also in Device Manager. I’ve tested and tried uninstalling some audio drivers, and it’s still the same. The volume bar hasn’t changed, it remains at 40% which I’ve always used, but the volume has gone very low.”

 

“The volume works fine on browsers and also YouTube, but not applications and games,” a user wrote on Reddit.

 

Another user corroborated similar story by saying, “….KB4515384 my in-game sound lost all bass notes. It didn’t affect video player, audio player or browser.”

 

While Microsoft is yet to acknowledge the issue and provide a workaround, if you’re facing a similar issue, you can follow a few simple steps that can fix the audio issue.

How to fix the audio issues in Windows 10 KB4515384 Update

1. Right-click the Sound icon on taskbar and Sound settings.
2. On Settings page’s Related Settings section, select Sound Control Panel.
3. Right-click the Default device on the Playback tab and select Properties.
4. Go to the Advanced tab and change the setting to 16 bit (DVD quality).
5. Click on OK to apply changes.

 

 

However, if you’re one of them who loves to listen to high-quality audio and, therefore, don’t want to lower the quality, not even by a few bits, you can simply uninstall the latest Cumulative Update.

 

 

 

Source: Microsoft’s latest Patch Tuesday Update(KB4515384) for Windows 10 1903 breaks audio on some PCs  (MSPoweruser)

 

[steven36]

Windows 10 1903 KB4515384 Update Affects Audio Quality in Games

 

 

The KB4515384 Cumulative Update for Windows 10, version 1903 is causing audio quality downgrade issues in multiple games according to numerous user reports.

 

For some, the issue is noticeable in games such as Overwatch, Apex Legends, WoW Classic, and PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, while for others in all games the sound is very low volume and it seems to be muffled.

 

While Microsoft has not yet acknowledged the issue on the page of the KB4515384 Cumulative Update or the Windows Release Health Dashboard and an official solution is not yet available, some fixes have already been suggested in online forums.

 

These range from switching the Windows Audio format to 16 bit, 44100 Hz (CD quality), toggling all Environment effects on and off, to uninstalling the audio device's drivers and using the Windows default ones.

 

However, seeing that these solutions are hit and miss, with some reporting that they worked while others say that trying one or more of them didn't help at all, users should uninstall the update to regain audio quality as a short-term resolution.

Before uninstalling KB4515384 Cumulative Update, you should know that you would also be removing an important number of security fixes for multiple products from Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer, and Windows Kernel to Windows Media, Windows Fundamentals, Windows Authentication, as well as a number of protections against a new subclass of speculative execution side-channel vulnerabilities.

Uninstalling the KB4515384 update

If you are willing to trade a security downgrade over increased audio quality in your games, follow the procedure described below to remove the KB4515384 update.

 

Microsoft says in the update's details from the Microsoft Update Catalog that KB4515384 can be removed "by selecting View installed updates in the Programs and Features Control Panel."

 

The full step by step procedure needed to uninstall this update requires you to open Control Panel, go to Programs > Programs and Features, and click on View installed updates in the left sidebar.

 

Next, right-click on the KB4515384 update's entry in the list and confirm when asked if"Are you sure you want to uninstall this update?". All that's left to do is to click 'Yes' when asked and restart your device.

 

Uninstalling the KB4515384 update

 

Search and start menu issues

Users are also reporting that the Windows 10 search feature is still broken, with some of them also stating that Windows Search doesn't start at all after installing the KB4515384 cumulative update.

 

Microsoft acknowledged the problems on September 11 and has added a new known issue to the Windows Release Health Dashboard stating that "Some users report issues related to the Start menu and Windows Desktop Search."

 

This issue impacts Windows 10, version 1903 users and Microsoft is "presently investigating and will provide an update when more information is available."

 

 

 

 

 

Please provide details, such as a description of the problem, screenshots, log files, and any other information that might be helpful. In the Feedback Hub, select the appropriate category and subcategory. For example, select Networks and Connecting to a Wi-Fi network. - Microsoft

 

Source

[Karlston]

Microsoft acknowledges, and fixes, the audio bug in this month’s Win10 1903 patch

I’ve been grousing about the audio bug all week, but Friday afternoon we got official confirmation:

Audio in games is quiet or different than expected

 

Microsoft has received reports that audio in certain games is quieter or different than expected. At the request of some of our audio partners, we implemented a compatibility change that enabled certain games to query support and render multi-channel audio. Due to customer feedback, we are reverting this change as some games and some devices are not rendering multi-channel audio as expected. This may result in games sounding different than customers are used to and may have missing channels.

 

Affected platforms:

• Client: Windows 10, version 1903

It appears as if the problem’s solved with that weird ghost patch, KB 4516421, that I originally thought might be a hoax. I was saying it was a cumulative update, but as @abbodi86 notes, it’s a tiny patch.

 

As @EP says:

KB4516421 for 1903 is available only thru WU/MU (windows update/microsoft update) and WSUS, not thru MUC (ms update catalog) as noted in that Knowledge Base article

 

I did a recent WU scan on a friend’s pc running v1903 and that update was not offered – guess it’s only available to machines running usb audio devices

Somebody please tell me that 1903 is ready for prime time.

 

I wonder how the installer knows if you have a conflicting USB mic that hasn’t been plugged in…

 

 

 

Source: Microsoft acknowledges, and fixes, the audio bug in this month’s Win10 1903 patch (AskWoody - Woody Leonhard)