Fix Multimedia Audio Controller
Multimedia Audio Controller under Other devices is a sound chip without a driver. Install the audio driver for your model from your PC or motherboard maker, which is usually a Realtek package. If it is an HDMI audio part, the graphics driver from NVIDIA, AMD or Intel supplies it.
Checked October 30, 2026 against the manufacturer's own pages.
Hardware IDs on this page
| Hardware ID | Device name |
|---|---|
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_51C8 | Alder Lake PCH-P High Definition Audio Controller |
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_A0C8 | 500 Series Chipset Family On-Package High Definition Audio (HD Audio) |
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_7AD0 | 600 Series Chipset Family HD Audio |
PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_43C8 | 500 Series Chipset Family HD Audio |
PCI\VEN_1022&DEV_15E3 | Ryzen HD Audio Controller |
PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_AB38 | Navi 10 HDMI Audio |
Match the first line of Hardware Ids in Device Manager (Properties, Details) against this list. Names come from the public PCI ID Repository.
The short version
What to install and where it comes from. Every link goes to the manufacturer or Microsoft, never to a copy.
Official files only, nothing bundled
Step by step
Read the hardware ID
Open the entry, Properties, Details, Hardware Ids. Match it to the table. VEN_8086 and VEN_1022 are motherboard audio; VEN_1002 or VEN_10DE point to HDMI audio on a graphics card.
Check Windows Update
Open Optional updates in Windows Update. Sound drivers are often listed there, and Windows may already supply a basic High Definition Audio driver.
Install the maker's audio driver
Search your laptop or board model on the maker's site and install the Audio driver. Restart afterwards.
HDMI audio: update graphics
If the ID is a graphics card part, install or repair the NVIDIA, AMD or Intel graphics driver. It brings the HDMI audio driver with it.
Pick the output
Right-click the speaker icon, open Sound settings and choose the right output device.
What the name tells you
Windows saw a chip in the multimedia class with an audio subclass, but found no matching driver. That is why you get Multimedia Audio Controller and not a product name. It is the sound controller itself: the part that moves audio data between memory and the speaker chip.
Motherboard sound versus graphics sound
Two different things can appear under this name. The first is the motherboard or laptop audio, whose controller sits in the Intel or AMD chipset. The table shows Intel High Definition Audio entries from several generations and AMD’s Ryzen HD Audio Controller. The second is audio built into a graphics card for HDMI or DisplayPort, such as the Navi 10 HDMI Audio line. The graphics maker’s driver installs that one.
Getting the right driver
For motherboard audio, the PC maker’s package is first, because it carries tuned settings for speakers and headphone jacks. Many of these use Realtek codecs, and Realtek has downloads for them, though a laptop should use the laptop maker’s copy. Windows also has a built-in High Definition Audio driver, so a basic device may work after Windows Update without anything else.
A final check
When the entry disappears, look under Sound, video and game controllers. If it stays flagged after the maker’s driver, recheck the ID. We cannot confirm one package for every audio ID, so the maker’s page for your model is the answer.
Questions
Is this the same as Realtek audio?
Often, since many PCs pair a Realtek codec with an Intel or AMD controller. The entry is the controller, and the maker's audio package installs both.
I have sound but the entry is yellow.
Sound may come from another device, such as a USB headset or HDMI monitor. The flagged one is a separate chip, perhaps a graphics card's HDMI audio.
Does the Intel chipset utility help?
It may rename the part, but the sound driver itself comes from the PC maker or the graphics driver.
Which Realtek file should I download?
Start with your PC maker's page for your model. Realtek's own site is a fallback for desktops you built yourself.