Do you have a Yeti (or other) USB microphone that worked perfectly on your previous Windows 10 system, but doesn't work on a your new system? This tip might help.
Here are the symptoms:
- The Yeti doesn't appear in any of the audio input selection menus.
- The Yeti doesn't appear in Windows Device Manager under "Audio inputs and outputs"
- But the Yeti does appear in Windows Device Manager, under "Sound, video and game controllers"
Here's what to look for:
- Plug in your Yeti
- In Device Manager, expand "Sound, video and game controllers"
- If you see "Intel Smart Sound Technology for USB Audio", that's probably the problem.
Fixing is a bit complicated, and you must follow the steps carefully.
- Plug in your Yeti
- In Device Manager, expand "Sound, video and game controllers"
- Find "Intel Smart Sound Technology for USB Audio" in device manager.
- Right-click on that entry, and select "Disable device"
- In the same folder, you should see "Yeti Serial Microphone"
- Right click, and select "uninstall driver"
- Unplug your Yeti
- Plug it back in
- Wait a few seconds...
- Check "Audio inputs and outputs" -- if it's the same problem I faced, the Yeti will pop up. (As usual, it will pop up both a Speaker and a Microphone -- the "speaker" is for the monitor jack on the Yeti.)
This problem, strictly speaking, is not a Surface Pro 7+ problem or a Yeti mic problem; it's a problem with the "Intel Smart Sound Technology for USB Audio". A quick web search once I found this revealed that many others have been having problems with this. The response from Intel on their support forums was "contact the OEM". Of course, I did; but I'm not surprised the Microsoft support team wasn't aware of this problem, as this driver doesn't ship on all Surfaces, and anyway, it's not Microsoft software.
So if you're having any kind of problem with a USB microphone or speaker not working on Windows 10 or Windows 11, check device manager for "Intel Smart Sound Technology for USB Audio"; and try disabling. Don't forget that you need to uninstall your underlying audio device.
Also, it appears that they install one instance of this driver for every audio device; not sure how to prevent that. You may see multiple instances in device manager. I suspect it won't hurt to disable them all. And you may find that it shows up again as you move devices from port (or if you have docking stations). I intend to try to find out how to disable it entirely, but as there is no entry in Add/Remove Programs for this feature, it may take some digging.
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