The process isn't needed for anything else to function correctly and it doesn't start until you open the HD Control Panel, it's just that closing it seems to hide it in the background rather than actually closing the program. As I have an ASUS motherboard and a more high-end Onboard codec, it seems to also install a Skinned version of the HD Control Panel with ASUS branding on it.Īlthough I personally think the design compared to the Generic HD control panel is bad, it's not that much of an issue, but I've also noticed when closing the HD Control Panel, the process continues to run in the background with no way to stop it, unless you kill it via Task Manager which is annoying. When you install the drivers, it detects what Codec and Motherboard your system has and installs the correct components for them. However, on my ASUS motherboard, this is what the Realtek HD Audio Manager looks like (Print Screen of my current Control Panel):Ĭlick on the images to show them full size As you may (or may not) know, this is what the Realtek HD Audio Manager looks like (I got the Control Panel image off the internet):

Asus realtek hd audio manager