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Bring back 'System Default Audio Device' as option in Audio Hardware

Bring back 'System Default Audio Device' as option in Audio Hardware preferences.

I switch a LOT between speakers and headphones on any given day. There used to be an option where AE would use whatever the system audio is... plug headphones in, audio switches to those... unplug headphones, AE switches to speakers.

Why was this removed in AE (and Premiere)?

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  • Simon Risbridger commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    When I switch audio devices in windows, such as swapping from speakers to headphones, after effects does not automatically switch.

    Not only is it frustrating to have to go edit>preferences>audio devices and manually switch to the correct device every time I swap in windows it actually seems to be the route cause of several repeatable bugs.

    Firstly the dreaded "drawing error" bug which locks you in an often infinite circle of closing the error only to have it pop up as AE tries to play the next frame and encounters the same issue (the only fix i've found for this is spamming escape until I can cancel playback in the minute amount of time between errors)

    Secondly the error where when you press spacebar to preview it actually jumps back a frame each time only playing the timeline once you go through the audio hardware menu.

    Whilst there are perfectly good reasons why you might want AE to only ever play through one device, for those of us who want AE to just use whatever device we're outputting to from windows there should be an option to simply use the "default device", that being whichever device windows is currently using.

  • Brandon Carlson commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    I'm constantly jumping between a few different locations and plugging my laptop into different monitors with speakers attached. I'm using Premiere, Audition and After Effects, so I end up having to change these Audio Hardware settings 3 times, and then 3 more times when I get home.

    Making this change 6 times in a day is driving me insane.

  • Simon Nitzsche commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    I have expensive headphones but I can't use them with Bluetooth because the the sound disappears when I switch between Premiere and AE. Now I have to use the headphones with cable, and every time the sound disappears I have to drag out the cable, from the computer, and attach it again. Then I have sound again. Insanely frustrating ...

  • Sander Heister commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    This still infuriates me daily. Specially because After Effects does not register the change untill i restart the software. Bring this back.

  • Stef Deleurere commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    I connect my headphones to my monitor. Every time i walk away and my monitor goes to sleep mode, i have to hard reset trough properties because AE won't even play.

  • Tariq Al-Ani commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    Just want to reiterate SingYu Lam's comment. This is by far the most frustrating aspect of this whole issue. Always requiring a hard reset through properties to be able to preview my files after my headphones disconnect is infuriating.

    This really needs addressing as it has been an issue for far too long. We don't need a new splash screen or new app icons that make it hard to work out what programme you're opening, we need the software to work.

  • SingYu Lam commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    I'm going into Preferences > Audio Hardware a dozen times a day just because I step away from my desk or god forbid turn off my BT headphones for a few minutes. Not being able to even preview my project just because of this breaks me out of my flow until I reset the Default Output. Please fix this! It's 2021 and BT audio devices are very common.

  • the dudes commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    [Suggestion] Activate the outputs via checkboxes, thus allowing more than one output at the same time.

  • the dudes commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    [Suggestion] Add the option to automatically switch to the system audio output device.

  • Ben Gregoire commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    Please fix this on PC.
    Its one of those small things that damages my opinion of the Adobe subscription every day.

  • emirhan hasanoglu commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    Unbelievable. What's more funny that Adobe actually had this option in previous versions. I wonder who thought about removing it and who thought it would be a good idea, no matter the reason.

  • Tim Griffin commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    This needs to be fixed. It is ridiculous that this is not an option for such an expensive software package.

  • Rory Martin commented  ·   ·  Flag as inappropriate

    Apparently the Adobe development team does not actually use their software on a daily basis. Funny how we "end users" have to pony up $$$$'s month in and month out and not be heard. It's like not facing the reality that HEIC is a pretty popular image type.

    31 months since the OP and still not a single word from Adobe. Sad.

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