I think I have had the same sound issues on my m15 after a clean install. I took some time figuring out the cause but I found the following:  The issue is caused by a combination of the latest version of AWCC (5.5.26.0) and the latest Realtek audio driver (version 6.0.9394.1). I did not have a sound issue when AWCC was not yet installed, I fixed the issue by installing the previous Realtek driver (version 6.0.8996.1). This driver does not give any problems when AWCC is installed. hope this helps
Hi all I've been having an incredibly frustrating audio issue on my system, and have been unable to get it fixed. Basically what is going on is the audio on the system stops working randomly when I switch between applications or load up videos. For instance I will do a fresh reboot of the system and when it loads it plays the windows startup sound. However once in windows ill open a video in VLC or go to Chrome and the audio will no longer work.  There is no indication of a driver failure or that the system is switching anything from what I can tell. The only way to get the audio back is so switch between inputs in the taskbar menu.  I have tried reinstalling drivers, using different driver versions, uninstalling the audio devices, and tweaking the windows sounds settings for the device all with no success. If anyone else has had this issues and found a resolution I would really appreciate the help. I can't pinpoint when exactly this started happening either. Thanks  
x17 R1, audio stops working when switching applications randomly