XPS 8940, front audio jack doesn't recognize earbuds

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This is a stereo headset with a mic, right ... just a single 3.5mm jack with 4 metal-contact-bands ?

See if you can find the option for "Jack Detection" and just turn it off for now.

I think this may be more likely a windows issue than 8940.  it is possible that if earbuds are plugged in before pc is on, during powering on the pc BIOS is able to correctly detect what is plugged in as earbuds.  when you plug in after pc is already powered on, Windows gets confused.  It should prompt you a message asking you what you plugged in is.  I have seen this happen with some pc.  if this prompt shows up it gives a few options (it was not sure what you plugged is and it is not smart enough to figure out without human input).  one of the options is earphone.  It is possible somehow your Windows does not prompt you and thus it cannot determine what you plugged in is, therefore your earbuds do not work that way.  I would try use a spare hdd to test do a fresh clean install of Windows in 8940 (and do not manually select any Dell audio driver).  For this test remove the Dell boot drive temporarily.  Let Windows automatically set up audio drivers for you (do not manually alter anything).  After all drivers are set up based on dev manager, then try plug in earbuds when pc is on.  see if Windows gives you a prompt.  this is done on a test hdd.  If it does not work you can put the original Dell boot drive back.

Where would I find the "Jack Detection" option for this?

Could also be a problem with Waves MaxxAudio Pro which is the audio control panel on this PC model. Open the Waves panel (should be "W" icon in notification area of taskbar to double-click) and make sure the Waves Playback screen is configured correctly for your buds, etc.

When you plug something in after PC is booted, you typically need to wait for Waves to pop up and ask what you connected, if it doesn't recognize the device.

Open Waves and click Playback. Down near bottom of that screen, expand Advanced and put check in the "ask" box. If it's already checked, uncheck it, close Waves panel, reopen Waves again and put the check back in that box. Also make any other changes (eg, output device etc) you want on that screen too. Then reboot and plug buds in after you get to the desktop...

EDITED

I think there is a problem with Waves MaxxAudio Pro. For starters, there is no W icon on the taskbar. But I can open Waves by searching for it and opening it there. Also, Waves doesn't pop up and ask me when a device is plugged in to determine what is plugged in. The computer (or OS. Not sure at this point) just doesn't recognize when an audio device is plugged into the computer, unless it is already plugged in during startup. 

It may be worth mentioning that the same thing happens with the audio ports on the back of the CPU. I just tried a few things out and noticed that happening as well. And the computer registers both the green audio port in the back and the black audio port in the front as "Headphones" upon restart when it actually does register. 

My understanding based on what I can see is that audio is coming from numerous different sources. The one in question, the headphone and speaker jacks, appear to be run by Realtek(R) Audio. But then I also have 2 monitors connected using displayport cables which has the ability to stream audio. One of them is somehow controlled by NVIDIA High Definition Audio, and the other is Intel(R) Display Audio. Mono is also turned off. 

I'm almost certain that the jacks are TRRS. I have no issues with my earbuds w/ microphone on startup. It's just if I unplug them and try to plug them back in that the computer doesn't detect them. 

Waves doesn't even show up as an option for me to have on the taskbar anymore. I'm not sure if that was in relation to updating to Windows 11 or not. Which is why I'm concerned that this may be a Windows 11 bug or something. 

I followed all of the steps posed regarding the waves setup, but it didn't seem to solve the issue. Additionally, I found that regardless of which output device I select, it all plays from the same place. If I selected headphones, external speakers or headset and the headphones were still plugged in from startup, it would play from the headphones regardless of what I selected. Same thing if I unplug the headphones and audio would play from the speakers connected to the green port in the back. 

Also, not sure why, but my computer can't even seem to tell the difference between headphones plugged in the front of the CPU and the speakers plugged in the back. It just seems to register them as one device on startup, and will play from the headphones plugged into the front. Then if I unplug them, it will play from the speakers plugged into the back. If I unplug that one, then the computer will recognize that no "headphones" are plugged in and play audio from one of the two monitors. And of course I can't plug either back in to use unless I restart the computer. 

How is audio set in Windows, Realtek Audio or possibly NVidia HD audio? Is the Windows "Managed sound devices" screen set correctly?

And on the Windows Audio screen you may have to turn "Mono" off  to get stereo output.

Are you sure your buds have the right plug? Just because it fits, doesn't mean it's right. I don't know if the jacks on your PC are TRS or TRRS.

Did you look at your taskbar settings on the "Select which icons appear on the taskbar" screen to confirm that showing the Waves icon is enabled?

Waves can be a pain to configure. In my experience with an XPS 8930, devices plugged in before PC is booted typically get misidentified by Waves at least until you get them recognized correctly the first time.

On the Waves Playback screen, did you (1) turn the Equalizer on, and (2) select the output device? Until you do (1), you can't select output device (2). When everything is set correctly,  click the disc icon to save the profile (3).

Be sure to give each profile you save a unique name. And don't use any of Waves' own preset names. The last profile used is the one that should load and run at next boot.

So you if you have several profiles, you'll have to go into the Waves panel to select a different one, if necessary, to select a different type of music, output device, etc.

If your monitor has built-in speakers like my Asus monitor it likely uses NVidia HD Audio to drive those speakers. I have desktop speakers so I set Windows to use Realtek Audio.

Did you try setting up a Waves profile for each separate device?

Did you try "Pair a new output device" on that last screen you posted?

You could try uninstalling and reinstalling Waves to see if that helps. I'd use Revo Uninstaller (free) to do a thorough job uninstalling Waves. Then reboot and reinstall Waves. No guarantees...

I tried setting up a Waves profile for each device to no avail. 

I also tried to "Pair a new output device", but the only option that gives me is to just add a device in general, which is either by Bluetooth, wireless display/dock, or add another wireless device. 

I can try uninstalling Waves and see if that does anything.