Dell Audio Keeps Popping Up

Hello...I'm just trying to figure out if this is because there is some bloatware somewhere embedded in Windows or if this is inherent to Realtek Audio. I have a Dell XPS 13 9350. After realizing that Dell had stopped pushing out HDA drivers that worked with my version (MAXXAUDIO), and that older drivers had been found to have a security issue, I decided to look at another route to get updated drivers on this machine. First, I found that the 9350 doesn't support the new UAD drivers. Only HDA seem to install...if you can find the right ones. I'd prefer UAD so if anyone knows how to get them on this particular laptop I'm all ears. However, I did find that generic HDA drivers off of Microsoft Update Catalog would install, and are updated enough to include security fixes. That being said, after restarting with them, the Dell Audio icon and audio manager keeps popping back up in Control Panel. The only difference is that the MAXXAudio functions from the older Dell drivers aren't there. How do I get rid of Dell Audio? Is it inherent to the Realtek Drivers or is it hidden somewhere on my laptop. I've tried:

- uninstalling Realtek Drivers using DDU
- searching through Program Files (and x86), ProgramData, App Data, etc. I don't see any references.

If this is normal, than I'll accept it...but just wanted to check if there's a away to get rid of Dell Audio...likewise...is there a way to get UAD drivers on this laptop. Thanks.

I work the Dell forums. From posts on the Dell laptop forums, you need Waves MaxxAudio for proper jack detection. And, the Dell supplied Realtek driver for MaxxAudio to work. Sort of a "gotcha".

I did field testing of a Dell XPS 13 last year and the Dell driver and MaxxAudio were needed. I just finished field testing a new Dell XPS 15 (10th gen i7) and the same way on audio.