Win10, VLC 2.0.5 suddenly has no sound output

[ChipW]

I've been using VLC for years successfully but yesterday it suddenly stopped all sound output for no apparent reason. I had been listening to some music, closed it, went away, came back later, started VLC and some music, and no sound. Not muted, no changes had been made to any settings. Other media apps, 4 of them, all work with sound working fine (but I don't like those other apps). I want VLC to have the sound working again. What's up with it?

(I don't use the new version because that last time I did it would not maintain the state of the selected "Audio Device - Stereo/Mono" selection, and this old version maintains the setting.)

[Rémi Denis-Courmont]

VLC 2.0.x is not suitable for Windows Vista and later. Most likely VLC is muted or downed in the Windows mixer.

[ChipW]

Well, until yesterday it's been working just fine for years, so suitable or not, officially, it does work in win10. I downloaded and ran 2.2.0 and the audio works but the option to change from stereo to mono is greyed out and not available at all. And the sound is garbled if I don't change it to mono. This applies equally to mp3, flac, ape, etc.

[ChipW]

I'm now using v2.1.5 and it's working perfectly. I downloaded the latest version but it still does not maintain the setting for stereo/mono, forcing a person to make that change for every individual song. Who thought that is a good idea?