The Sound panel should have that message if the sound card is missing from device manager. I had to zoom in on the photo to try and read the device ID, but it looks like it says USB\DEVICE_DESCRIPTOR_FAILURE. The unknown device is marked as a USB device, so it's more than likely not the missing sound card.
At this point, based on the behavior and how the device manager appears, this looks like the sound card has failed. The sound card is integrated into the motherboard, so a service event is needed to replace the motherboard. If it came with Windows 8 preinstalled, it should be under warranty still. I recommend contacting your HP support for warranty service.
If you want to be absolutely certain this isn't a strange software issue, you can perform a recovery by turning the system on and pressing F11 about once a second. If you do choose that path, be sure to backup your files.