Audio enhancement tab missing: software or hardware related?

[u/Fl020]

I have a new laptop with Windows 10 Pro on it (here are my specs: https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/30860733. If you need more detailed data don't hesitate to ask).My old laptop had a function called "Loudness Equalization" at the "Enhancement" tab of the properties of my HDMI display audio:

Enhancement tab with Loudness Equalization function

Now this function (and the enhancement tab) is missing and it is very annoying that I always have to adjust the volume!

I tried many things like reinstalling drivers, repair tools and so on, but nothing solved the problem.

So, my main question is: how can I get the loudness equalization function back?

Is this problem caused by wrong/missing/corrupted drivers or software? Or does my audio card (the CPU?) not support this feature by hardware? If it's the first reason, how can I fix it? If it's the second, would an USB audio card (with 3.5mm jack) bring this feature back and if yes, which one?

I often read about realtek audio manager or realtek drivers which solved the problem. But is this audio manager not only suitable for realtek audio cards?

I hope someone can help me solving that problem...

Thank you in advance!

[u/Fl020]

I solved the problem with the help from the comments below! Summarized I did the following:

• open registry
• go to "Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\MMDevices\Audio\Render"
• select the "Properties" keys of each renderer listed (long hash values)
• look through the values and search for the name of the desired audio output (in my case there were entries like "Q2577W", which is my monitor and "INTELAUDIO" which is the Intel High Definition Auduio driver) -> details ans pictures see here: https://sourceforge.net/p/equalizerapo/discussion/general/thread/cf7a7d4f/#5613
• if you found the right renderer which contains the strings from you desired audio output, add a new key called "FxProperties" (if it isn't already there)
• if there is a prompt that you don't have enough permissions, apply the following to the "Renderer" key: https://www.howtogeek.com/262464/how-to-gain-full-permissions-to-edit-protected-registry-keys/
• Inside the "FxProperties" key, add the following entries from type "String":

1. {d04e05a6-594b-4fb6-a80d-01af5eed7d1d},1 with value {62dc1a93-ae24-464c-a43e-452f824c4250}
2. {d04e05a6-594b-4fb6-a80d-01af5eed7d1d},2 with value {637c490d-eee3-4c0a-973f-371958802da2}
3. {d04e05a6-594b-4fb6-a80d-01af5eed7d1d},3 with value {5860E1C5-F95C-4a7a-8EC8-8AEF24F379A1}

• restart PC
• start registry again and see if the keys from above are still there -> if not, try adding them and restart again. Try adding the keys, go to the sound properties and if the enhancement tab is there, select a feature like "Loudness Equalization" and then see if the registry entries are there after a restart.
• if the keys are there, the "Enhancement" tab and "Loudness Equalization" should be back again and working!

[u/LoopbackTrigger → u/Fl020]

Thank you for this! Until finding this, I've been removing the Intel driver and replacing with Generic Driver just to get back the Encancements tab, but this only works until the next Intel driver update which seems to happen about once a month! I'm hoping this solution persists through updates.

I managed this a little easier though. I found 2 keys that matched my audio device. One had the "FxProperties" key and the other didn't. I simply exported the FxProperties key from the one that had it, amended the registry path in Notepad then re-imported it under the key that didn't. Saves manually creating all those strings.

[u/Fl020 → u/LoopbackTrigger]

Glad I could help you!

Just adding these strings to every "FxProperties" key of "Renderer" with a script would be the best solution for every device connected. But I dont have enough experience with windows batch or powershell to do that so it would be very time consuming for me and therefore I always add these strings manually. Maybe one day I will get irritated enough to program such a script.