which output setting sounds best?

Most of the posters are correct, but I take exception to Cerrot's position. Upon inspection of your virtual systems, I can see that in your eyes and budget, the HRT may seem "indecent", but to someone just breaking into PC Audio, it's a real drag to hear that their chosen device is pretty much worthless. The HRT can certainly be bested by other products, but it has been well-reviewed at its price point and would be a perfect place to start for someone just testing the waters with PC Audio.

Saying what you did without offering advice is akin to telling a kid you won't teach him how to swing because he's "a little short for baseball". It's not about the gear, it's about enjoying the hobby along with enjoying the music.

Evan

Evan, I'm just being honest. The gear mentioned is not transparent enough for the OP to be able to discern any difference between the settings he is asking.

You know, its like telling your friend that he should upgrade from the $20 hdmi cable to the $1,500 HDMI cable but the TV is 480i. Get it? Lets first teach people how to listen and what to listen for before we allow them to get caught up in minutia. And, maybe the baseball thing is bad analysis but if I had a son (or friend) who was real skinny and fragile and wanted to be a linebacker, someone should let him know he may be better akin to something else. Get it? HONESTY.

I won't pursue it further, but your honesty really doesn't help the OP. He's already purchased the gear, and wants a little advice on setup.

Don't presume that your sage advice on how to listen and what to listen for is what's necessary in every instance. My only point was that you weren't offering any real help, just planting a seed of doubt and disgust in the OP's mind that he may have made a bad choice with his hard-earned dollars.

I hope you never need advice on a piece of gear; I'm sure someone with a much more expensive system will be waiting for an opportunity to tell you it's garbage and you shouldn't worry about the minutia.

Ekwisenek, It doesn't matter how much the gear costs - what matters is HOW IT SOUNDS. I appreciate the recommendations I receive on the forum. We are all in different places financially and all have different budgets. The idea is to get the best within your means.

Ditch Vista and go Win7 64 bit if your laptop is less than 2 years old; Vista is badly flawed for audio fidelity. I A/B'd Vista Ultimate 64 bit vs Win7 Home 64 bit and Win7 was much better for fidelity. However the hardware architecture of your laptop will limit you as Cerrot implied. It will do fine if you have a playback system under $1500 but for more expensive systems, Mac options or other designed by intent music server will deliver better what you payed for.