AC511 connection "without" using USB

It's completely understood that this "monitor sound bar" is actually its own USB-connected sound card.  It doesn't just "offer" to be USB-connected, it /must/ be USB-connected, and intends for the USB-connected sound device to become your primary playback device in order to hear audio being generated by your computer applications.

I do not have a question here, unless you see some better solution I've missed.  I just wanted to post this somewhere that other AC511 owners might see the solution that ultimately worked for me.

My situation is that I use a KVM to switch between the display and audio of multiple computers.  I had been doing this successfully with multiple previous Dell sound bars (AX510, etc.), but it is dependent on being able to use an analog 3.5mm audio connection to the KVM switch.  I upgraded to a couple E2715H monitors which require Dell's new edge-based speaker bar mounts, so I had to figure out how to do the same thing using the AC511.

My pre-purchase intention: Since the AC511 still supports a "line in" 3.5mm audio connector, I would /not/ connect the AC511 to a computer USB port, and would instead simply supply it power by plugging it into a USB charger.  And then I would plug my existing 3.5mm audio into the "line in", and control the volume using the AC511 volume control.

Now that I have the AC511, as you might have guessed, no, that doesn't work.  The main issue seems to be that the AC511 must be connected to an "actual" computer-based USB port.  Simply plugging the bar's USB connector into a USB charger is not sufficient.  Using a charger "powers" the bar, but the bar will not allow any audio -- even through the "line in" analog 3.5mm jack -- until the USB is plugged into an actual computer device that recognizes USB functionality.

If my monitor was one which contained a USB hub, /maybe/ I might have been okay even if the monitor's USB hub was not connected to the computer.  Meaning /maybe/ plugging into a USB hub, but not an actual computer, might have "activated" the sound bar.  But I have no way to know for sure, since the E2715H does not have a USB hub built in.

What ended up saving me was that my Verizon router was close to the monitor, and the router supports USB storage.  Plugging the USB sound bar into the router was enough to enable audio, even though the router has no idea what the sound bar device is and doesn't support any of its functionality.

This "non-computer" connection "activated" the AC511 sound bar such that it allowed the 3.5mm "line in" audio to be played.  However, the audio level of the 3.5mm "line in" jack /cannot/ be controlled with the sound bar's volume control.  I have to control the volume from the source devices instead of being able to control the "master volume" at the sound bar itself.

So my suggestions to Dell:

The USB audio functionality is great, and very plug-n-play for 1:1 usage scenarios.  But it wouldn't take much to also allow the AC511 to function "just like our previous AX510 and earlier" sound bars too.  Allow the device to "work", at least for "line in" and the volume control, even when simply powered by a USB charger.  Meaning, allow it to work even when there is no intention of plugging the USB into an actual computer, and no intention to use the on-board USB-based sound card device as the source of audio.  Aside from the KVM scenario, this could apply to trying to use the monitor & sound bar for consumer audio electronics, like plugging it into a portable BluRay player or similar.