HP Laptop: Disable Beats Audio Driver (Last Resort Move!)

I was forced to disable the Beats Audio IDT Drivers installed on my HP Laptop since it added some sound effects that couldn't be switched off, which in turn hinders my audio editing.

In this video, we take a look at the steps I took to fully disable the drivers.

Please note that this is, in general not a wise thing to do. Please only perform this operation as a last resort. I cannot be held responsible for any negative consequences you may face from performing this action... Especially if it changes the species and genus of your pet.

~~ Alternative Solutions and Discussion ~~
Pros and cons of the method shared in this tutorial:
PROS: Reasonably fast to execute; Beats driver will not run at all, so you are assured that sound is not being modified
CONS: You lose access to some features, including use of additional speakers on the laptop, and losing access to "Stereo Mix"

If you do not wish to use the steps in this tutorial, there are two other things you can do:

1) Get an external sound card
PROS: Definite increase in audio quality; More sophisticated connector interface
CONS: Monetary cost

2) Update your Beats audio driver
(WARNING: I've only tested this on the version available for my laptop, which is actually a downgrade. Not all versions fix this bug)
PROS: Less of a "hack"; The additional speakers on the device still work
CONS: Slightly long-winded setup, but no other long-term cons

PROCEDURE:
a) Head over to HP Driver Downloads (http://www8.hp.com/us/en/drivers.html)
b) Enter the model number of your computer
c) Download the IDT Driver under the "Audio Drivers" section
d) Install the driver like you would any program. Your computer should automatically restart
e) Go to Control Panel, and open the Beats Audio Control Panel

If you have the "wrong" versions of the beats driver, the following instructions may not apply:
f) If you see a tab labelled "Listening Experience", click on it
g) Mark the "Music" radio button
h) Move all the sliders ("bass", "def", "center", "space" and "focus") all the way to the bottom.
i) This should give you your clean original audio (or at least, something very close to it)

~~ No sound over HDMI after doing this? ~~
Try the following, using the same methods shown in the video:
1. Open Device Manager
2. Expand "Sound, Video and Game Controllers"
3. Replace the "Intel (R) Display Audio" driver with "High Definition Audio Device"

As usual, simply roll back the driver update to undo this change!

Credit goes to Alex Walder ( http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS2y8... ) for discovering this!
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