Windows 7 Sound Card Issues...for Xmas

[Silent Running]

I updated my profile with my system but it's a dell studio (refurb) with amd 1035 6 core processor. It's running windows 7 64 bit SP1.
I have a realtek onboard sound card and an MAudio add on card. System has been working great for over a year now until just the other day.
I was adding my 36 inch Sony tube tv as another monitor. I connected my pc and Sony via an HDMI-SVideo convertor box. I connected an HDMI cable to the back of the pc...then to the convertor box and then connected the SVideo to the tv. With some rigging it all works ok.
It all looked and sounded ok. My MAudio has two heavy duty RCA cables connected to the card and running into the back of a Sony receiver. It was working fine/playing through the receiver then suddenly quit. No reason...no burning smell or pop...nothing. It just stopped working.
I then plugged my headphones into my jack and the onboard Realtek sound card was still working. I kept troubleshooting the MAudio with no luck. I reset the card...checked the interrupts ...went into device manager and it reported everything was working.
Last night, I had my headphones on and they suddenly quit. Now my onboard realtek card has stopped. I removed the MAudio card and rebooted...nothing.
when i go into the device manager, everything shows green and 'working properly...even for the MAudio card when it was in. If i plug/unplug headphone/mic the device manager goes from red to green indicating it recognizes the connection. This morning, I was in the realtek device manager and selected properties. It takes you to a test area. Oddly enough, I could hear the test audio in my headphones but there was no sound when playing music or streaming video.
That test worked off and on and now when I test, there's nothing. It's as if there was some cascading failure and little by little things are shutting down but all the hardware shows green and working properly. There are no conflicts showing with IRQs.
This all seemed to start with the HDMI/SVideo connection. I removed that altogether and rebooted but still nothing.
I know my headphones are good. My stereo is good and all sound controls are maxed out. Nothing is set to mute. I ran a virus scan with Trend Micro, SuperAnti Spyware, and Malwarebytes and all ran clean. Weird that I could hear the test audio but nothing else and now that doesn't even work. First the MAudio card went silent. The integrated realtek worked for about a day or so then it went quiet. Very odd.
Any feedback or input would be greatly appreciated.
Ok...two minutes ago I tried the test again and I can hear the tests in my headphones. But, internet streaming and windows media player are still silent.

 

[Saltgrass]

Right click the speaker icon and select Playback Devices. What do you show as a default device, HDMI or speakers, or something else?

If you left click the speaker icon and go to the mixer, do you have volume controls for any specific devices or sound sources?

Do you have separate mixer panels for the two audio devices in addition to the normal Windows mixer?

Your TV does not have an HDMI or DVI connection?

Does the type of audio you are attempting to play make a difference?

Not really sure how Windows handles two operational sound sources....

 

[Silent Running]

Right click the speaker icon and select Playback Devices. What do you show as a default device, HDMI or speakers, or something else?

If you left click the speaker icon and go to the mixer, do you have volume controls for any specific devices or sound sources?

Do you have separate mixer panels for the two audio devices in addition to the normal Windows mixer?

Your TV does not have an HDMI or DVI connection?

Does the type of audio you are attempting to play make a difference?

Not really sure how Windows handles two operational sound sources....

I do have separate mixers in the volume icon.
My default device -now- is the realtek device. Since posting, I kept working on it and reinstalled the MAudio card. I made the realtek the default and it worked...suddenly dawned on me what's been happening. With the device panel open, I removed the jack and the realtek device icon disappeared...rendering my MAudio the default. I opened the MAudio control panel and verified. It gets the signal when the realtek is disabled and when I plug in the headphones, the realtek reappears and the MAudio signal goes quiet. That's apparently what's always happened but why I had to go and set the realtek to the default is a mystery as is why everything just quit.
So I now have the headphones working again and when I pull the jack, the signal then defaults to the MAudio card. Unfortunately, my receiver is not playing. Not sure why. The card seems to be working and the receiver works in other modes so....have to keep looking.
With regards to my old tv, it's an old Sony and only has the SVideo input so...no sound. It has component inputs but I wanted a better signal. Whenever I wanted to use the receiver, I'd just pull the headphone jack and listen thru the speakers. Figured I could do that for my "new" monitor. It was working that way but now has quit. I've tried swapping my cables and using different inputs using other modes in the receiver and still no sound.
Thanks for the reply. Have a good holiday.

 

[Saltgrass]

There are different settings for things like turn off one sound if a headset is plugged into the front or rear plug. Other settings may also be involved, but hard to say. You might want to disable one of your sound devices to see if you can get things where you want.