Ending the Windows Audio Quality Debate

[anphex]

Even though I've read about this stuff (which is new for me) for the past 2 hours, I'm still pretty confused whether I should touch Windows 10 volume sliders/mixer.

I have a Babyface Pro FS, and I recall RME mentioning in their forums that all volume sliders in Windows should always be at 100% when using shared mode/WDM. I understand that with ASIO in DAWs none of this is necessary, but what about using the Babyface with a browser (YouTube, etc) media playback (VLC) and games?

Don't sweat it too much, most of it is inaudbile, plus under the hood there has been progress on Windows. If you want to maximize use of your Babyface just use exclusive mode that bypasses all of windows audip processing and directly sends signal to your babyface, usually even bit perfect.

If you're still nervous, install equalizer APO and when installing its processing on your babyface usb interface, just untick "use original apos". I am not sure what it exactly does, but it eliminates all windows quirks. From this on you can safely use any volume management in windows without fear of climiter or stuff.

 

[gxvfnk]

Don't sweat it too much, most of it is inaudbile, plus under the hood there has been progress on Windows. If you want to maximize use of your Babyface just use exclusive mode that bypasses all of windows audip processing and directly sends signal to your babyface, usually even bit perfect.

If you're still nervous, install equalizer APO and when installing its processing on your babyface usb interface, just untick "use original apos". I am not sure what it exactly does, but it eliminates all windows quirks. From this on you can safely use any volume management in windows without fear of climiter or stuff.

View attachment 525857

Thanks for your answer. It's not really a matter of being nervous, it's a matter of having the cleanest signal path possible when inevitably using shared mode with a not quite cheap audio interface

Could anyone chime in on the reason why RME recommends having all the sliders on 100%? They should be aware of the Windows audio quirks mentioned in this thread I'd assume

 

[Atanasi]

Thanks for your answer. It's not really a matter of being nervous, it's a matter of having the cleanest signal path possible when inevitably using shared mode with a not quite cheap audio interface

Could anyone chime in on the reason why RME recommends having all the sliders on 100%? They should be aware of the Windows audio quirks mentioned in this thread I'd assume

The Windows volume slider can be either software or hardware implementation. Software means the signal is scaled before sending to the audio device, hardware means a mixer controls the signal on the device.

RME doesn't implement the regular hardware mixer, they have only their own TotalMix. Therefore, the Windows slider is a software implementation. RME recommends their TotalMix instead for consistent experience.

 

[gxvfnk]

The Windows volume slider can be either software or hardware implementation. Software means the signal is scaled before sending to the audio device, hardware means a mixer controls the signal on the device.

RME doesn't implement the regular hardware mixer, they have only their own TotalMix. Therefore, the Windows slider is a software implementation. RME recommends their TotalMix instead for consistent experience.

Thanks, but that still doesn't answer my question unfortunately. If I'm using shared mode, with the WDM driver (WDM devices) the CALimiter might be engaging at the Windows mixer when having it at 100%, or I might be getting intersample distortion. I don't understand how TotalMix solves any of that. The limiter and the intersample peaks happen before TotalMix as far as I know

 

[Syvere]

Is there a way to do this via registry? I wouldn’t want to install additional software just to fix Windows Audio stack. Up to date guide for 2026 and Windows 11 25H1 would be helpful (unless the first post still applies). I also have ADI-2 DAC so the above questions intrigue me as well.

In addition I wonder if EAPO is even needed for the RME in UAC mode as windows disables all enhancements in this mode (Enhancements settings are not even visible).

Finally I’d like to ask why you would set sample rate to 96kHz in Windows as most audio is 48kHz (or 44.1 kHz for regular music) and to my knowledge forcing upsampling does nothing beneficial. When you have higher SR audio you’re almost always using WASAPI or ASIO anyway.

EDIT: To answer myself, yes you can disable APOs and even CAudioLimiter via registry without needing to have additional software installed.

 

[Grimoire]

I wish to lodge a complaint against the title of this five-year-old thread.

 

[anphex]

Thanks, but that still doesn't answer my question unfortunately. If I'm using shared mode, with the WDM driver (WDM devices) the CALimiter might be engaging at the Windows mixer when having it at 100%, or I might be getting intersample distortion. I don't understand how TotalMix solves any of that. The limiter and the intersample peaks happen before TotalMix as far as I know

As long as you don't use ASIO or EXCLUSIVE, you're also not really using the audio engine of your interface. It's basically windows doing the processing and pushing the blocks to your device with all processing. This is where APO overrides come in handy like eAPO provides. It's really the most "brain off" variant to bypass windows stuff and turns the audio into a basic I/O (I think!).

Oh, and the suggestion to keep windows at 100 % is basically for having maximum digital bit depth before signal goes to your devices.
What might confuse you is thinking ALL manufacturers know about the CLimiter artifact. Maybe RME just doesn't.

Edit: About bit depth at 100 %, but you only benefit from this if the interface has an analog volume knob. If not, you're just reducing the bit depth elsewhere.

As my rule of thumb for your case:
Shared mode: Install eAPO, disable original APO, 99 % good enough.
Exclusive mode: bit perfect and safest processing, but locked to one audio stream