Onboard speaker audio in Komplete Kontrol & Reaktor, but not Kontakt?!

enigmachrysalis

So I think I know why this is happening based on my own troubleshooting, but I don't know how to fix it. HP Envy 360, Windows 11, Pro Tools, Kontakt 7/8… just skip to the questions at bottom for the TLDR if you don't want the novel…

I am not using a MIDI controller in this scenario, just the on screen keyboard (or physical keyboard where applicable.)

At first I was hearing no sound at all in the app, so I inserted it as a plug in on a Pro Tools track, and Kontakt 7 and 8 operated just fine. I had resigned to wait for my MIDI controller to see if the problem persists but in the meantime I encountered a potential solution.

I had downloaded some ensembles from the Reaktor user library and experienced the same bug in the standalone app. However, there is a separate menu item for Audio & MIDI settings outside of the Preferences. On the Routing tab I noticed that for "Reaktor 1 & 2" it read "Unplugged Headphone L & R" respectively. When I plugged in my headphones the 'Unplugged' part disappeared and there was sound! I was also able to use the physical keyboard in Reaktor.

I re-arranged the order so that the L/R speaker were the 1st two outputs and sound again! It's aggravating that the headphones are set by default, but easy enough to swap.

At this point I realized the driver had to be set at "WASAPI (Shared Mode)" as the exclusive mode at any sample rate and latency setting caused noise and over-modulation.

I repeated this same output switcheroo in Komplete Kontrol under Edit > Preferences > Audio and again, there was audio in whichever device was listed under for KK Out 1L & 1R (speakers still port 3 & 4)

Finally, I tried my headphones with Kontakt 7 & 8, and I could hear now! So I presumed I just had to make that same change but… there is no output menu that I can find that lets you switch the outputs.

1) Is there a menu item I am missing or another procedure altogether that will enable Kontakt to play audio from the speaker output of my laptop?

2) is there a way to set the default to speaker output (right now it still shows as port 3 & 4)?

3) is there a way to play with the physical keyboard in Kontakt or KK?