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Wow Windows Vista sounds sooo much better

I just installed Vista. I was not happy with the sound I was getting from my benchmark dac1. This thing got such great reviews but it never sounded right to me. It was way to soft with some voices and drums. Like there was this huge suckout. It drove me nuts. Certain ranges were way to low and behind a vail. I knew this coundn't be right. I could never get into the music enough.

Foobar2000 and Asio was better than not having it. But not what it should be. I did every thing. I did the whole asio, kernal streaming, asio4all, bitmatched, etc. Checked all settings. Tried different digital cables. Messed with EVERYTHING in my drivers and foobar2000.

As a last ditch effort before selling the DAC I thought I'd try Windows Vista. After all I knew Microsoft completely revamped its audio section. No more k-mixer was the big plus. Sounded good on paper anyway.... but lets see if it was truely implemented well.

I get home, install Vista (clean install). Go through all the settings first. Turn off any extra junk that comes turned on with the x-fi drivers.

Went to windows settings.... how pleasantly surprised to find setting for 24 bit, 96 khz setting (and any other settings too).

Went to foobar2000... how pleasantly surprised to find an option for "spdif out". That option allows for direct by-pass now. No longer routing through anything in windows. I tried this but it was full blast. I needed a volume control though. Again pleasantly surprised that using windows Vista volume sounds just as amazing. No loss in quality what so ever.

I no longer need any special asio drivers, or kernal streamers or any of that junk. I can now use all my audio and video apps and have just as great of sound.

I'm really floored what a difference Vista makes. All the power and dynamics and soundstage is there. Just how it should sound. A big thumbs up to microsoft for fixing all tha was wrong with xp's sound. I highly recommend upgrading. Thumbs up!
kacz

Showing 7 responses by cwlondon

cwlondon
1,210 posts
 
Kacz

What version of Vista is required to achieve this?

A quick look at Staples suggests there are several versions, from about $99-250.00

Glad to hear this solves all the k-mixer, driver etc problems which continued to baffle and annoy me.

I, too, use Windows and although I hate to further enrich Bill Gates, I was never able to get comfortable switching.

A few hours in the Apple store revealed that the conversion is really not yet as straightforward as the ads suggest.

So Apple maniacs confess! How many of you secretly hate authority, all big business, and Republicans?

(Oh and thanks again for letting me know what version of Vista achieves this.)
cwlondon
1,210 posts
 
Rel

I admire your ability to say that.

Just wanted to clarify that there is more to the argument than the superiority of the operating system.
cwlondon
1,210 posts
 
Re:

"I get home, install Vista (clean install). Go through all the settings first. Turn off any extra junk that comes turned on with the x-fi drivers."

Could someone walk the new users through the lean mean install of Vista for maximum audio performance?

I am especially interested in turning off "extra junk", so if you have cracked the code here, please do tell.
cwlondon
1,210 posts
 
Just when I thought someone had tamed this beast....
cwlondon
1,210 posts
 
I was supposed to get a free express upgrade to Vista as a rebate for my new Sony VAIO.

It seems, however, that I have missed the deadline.

Now, I see that there are several versions of Vista.

Can someone please explain -- which version would be best to buy if a) I dont have monstrous amounts of RAM and b) my main concern is streaming WAV files to an external DAC?

Thank you.
cwlondon
1,210 posts
 
Let's not forget that this forum is AUDIOgon not CONVENIENCEgon, or UNCOMPLICATEDgon.

We have already established in many other threads that EAC - Exact Audio Copy - is the benchmark for bit perfect rips.

Obviously, an outboard, audiophile DAC of your choice is going to be better than a PC sound card or PC friendly DAC.

So we just need - please - to understand which version and what settings to use on Vista.

Anyone?

Anyone?

Cheers,

cwlondon
cwlondon
1,210 posts
 
Just when I thought the mist was clearing....

I have been struggling with this puzzle for quite some time now - to try and get closer to PC perfection, I continue to use EAC to rip uncompressed WAV files.

At the suggestion of another Audiogon thread, I probably overpaid for a Hagerman Technology USB interface box, which has a SPDIF out connection.

To not blow the budget completely, I picked up a used DAC to use with my desktop system - an Audio Research DAC 5 which outputs analogue to the preamp.

So far, it all sounds surprisingly good.

The midrange and top end are smoother than expected, but the sound lacks a bit of weight (bass?) and the image is a bit flat and lacking in depth, compared to real disks and my Sony SCD-1.

So Kana813 thank to you at last for the clear simple explanation to upgrade to Vista.

But now I need to worry about my USB powered interface and/or change to a firewire setup?
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