So here is what you need to do: (note that you need to do step 2 to ensure that the auto windows updater doesn't reinstall the KB2962407 update: I followed the steps below and my audio has been working perfectly since.
SuperMario1 (a HP Techy guru) in another thread on the subject claims that the audio problem was caused by Windows update KB2962407 and states that uninstalling the update (which is easy to do) will solve the problem and should bring the audio back to pre-update.
