Sound broken on Windows 10 with Akitio Node Pro plugged in (works when unplugged) Summary:

My MacBook Pro 2017's audio works in Windows 10 with Boot Camp. When I have my Akitio Node Pro plugged in through Thunderbolt 3 to the MacBook, using an Asus GTX 1080 card, the audio doensn't work.

Hardware / Software in use:


MacBook Pro 2017 13" with Touch Bar
Akitio Node Pro PCI Express external GPU box
40 Gbps Thunderbolt 3 Cable
Asus GTX 1080 8GB
Windows 10 Pro latest, updated
Nvidia official game-ready driver, latest
Cirrus Logic audio driver


What's working and not working:


When the Akitio Node Pro is plugged in to the MacBook Pro's top-left Thunderbolt 3 port (the one it's supposed to use), the audio doesn't work in Windows 10
When the Akitio Node Pro isn't plugged in to the Mac, the audio works fine in Windows 10
The Akitio Node Pro must be plugged in immediately after the Windows logo shows up on boot. If it's plugged in before boot, or after boot, it hangs the system with graphics flickering and distortion.
When the Akitio Node Pro is plugged in, I see the volume levels fluctuate in Sound preferences when music is supposedly playing, and I can see the volume levels fluctuate for the microphone when I make some noise.
When an HDMI monitor is plugged in to the HDMI port on the Asus video card, the sound actually works, and comes out of the monitor automatically.
The video card works and can render games with good performance.


Driver Information:

Audio driver details in Device Manager:

Driver Name:     Cirrus Logic CS8409 (AB 54)
Driver Date:     2017-02-09
Driver Version:  6.6001.3.38
(no issues reported by Windows)


Display driver details in Device Manager:

Driver Name:     NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080
Driver Date:     2018-04-22
Driver Version:  24.21.13.9731
(no issues reported by Windows)


Does anyone know how to get the audio working out of the MacBook Pro's speakers, with the Akitio Node Pro plugged in?
This post in the eGPU Forums has the most automated solution.