Jose Hidalgo
Addicted to Fun and Learning
Hi guys. This has been puzzling me for a while, but the Internet didn't give me a clear answer. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.
Basically there are two ways to output audio from a Windows PC :
Now let's add an EQ to the audio path. There are three ways now :
Now how let's take a popular standalone EQ app such as Equalizer APO.
It's said to not support ASIO / KS input, which leads us to this :
(of course the sound isn't bit-perfect anymore AFTER EQ, that's obvious - I'm really saying BEFORE)
Some people have indeed noticed a sound difference, and for that reason, some other people suggest to disable all Windows sound effects and also disable all Windows sound enhancements. That makes sense if your Windows session is devoted to audio (which should be the case if you're serious about audio anyway).
These are the questions I've been asking myself :
Thanks.
Basically there are two ways to output audio from a Windows PC :
- Player --> ASIO / KS --> physical output
- Player --> Windows mixer --> physical output
Now let's add an EQ to the audio path. There are three ways now :
- Player with integrated EQ --> (***) --> physical output
- Player --> (***) --> VST Host with EQ VST --> (***) --> physical output
- Player --> (***) --> standalone EQ app --> (***) --> physical output
Now how let's take a popular standalone EQ app such as Equalizer APO.
It's said to not support ASIO / KS input, which leads us to this :
- Player --> Windows mixer --> Equalizer APO --> ...
(of course the sound isn't bit-perfect anymore AFTER EQ, that's obvious - I'm really saying BEFORE)
Some people have indeed noticed a sound difference, and for that reason, some other people suggest to disable all Windows sound effects and also disable all Windows sound enhancements. That makes sense if your Windows session is devoted to audio (which should be the case if you're serious about audio anyway).
These are the questions I've been asking myself :
- Are those two changes enough to make the sound become bit-perfect again BEFORE it reaches the equalizer software ?
- Does a standalone EQ app like Equalizer APO still work when all Windows sound enhancements are disabled ?
Thanks.