Windows volume and general questions

[Nay16]

Good evening, I'm a newbie in need of help clearing some information I've been researching lately.
I've purchased several IEMs during this rabbit hole, the latest one was Simgot Supermix 4 and I found out plugging straight to my PC was a bad idea, it sounded so bassy and distorted.
Now, I got Topping DX1 dac (it measured relatively well, and it had 0.7ohm output impedance for my SM4). My question is, should I set 100% volume on Windows and control volume from my dac?
I'm using Apple Music and doesn't have exclusive mode, I've capped it at "lossless 24bit/48khz", how much harm am I doing by setting it to 24bit/44khz in Windows?

 

[Rednaxela]

Straight PC output doesn’t have to be bassy and distorted.

Are you sure there was absolutely nothing running to ‘enhance’ the sound?

In my case it was Acer TrueHarmony (look it up) that had to be switched off. Now my laptop’s headphone output is just fine.

 

[Nay16]

Straight PC output doesn’t have to be bassy and distorted.

Are you sure there was absolutely nothing running to ‘enhance’ the sound?

In my case it was Acer TrueHarmony (look it up) that had to be switched off. Now my laptop’s headphone output is just fine.

It's all disabled, and the problem was only with SM4, it has super low impedance 7.2ohm, didn't have any issue with the apple dongle or DX1.
To be clear, that's not the issue anymore. I'm concerned about the settings I mentioned.

 

[Vincent Kars]

I'm using Apple Music and doesn't have exclusive mode, I've capped it at "lossless 24bit/48khz", how much harm am I doing by setting it to 24bit/44khz in Windows?

Depends.
If Apple Music has audio at 44.1 kHz, set it to 44.1 kHz. If Apple Music sends 48, set Win to 48.
Max out the bit depth as it is basically about the arithmetic precision of the data path between media player and DAC.
If you are in need of the best possible Win audio settings: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...nding-the-windows-audio-quality-debate.19438/

 

[Nay16]

Depends.
If Apple Music has audio at 44.1 kHz, set it to 44.1 kHz. If Apple Music sends 48, set Win to 48.
Max out the bit depth as it is basically about the arithmetic precision of the data path between media player and DAC.
If you are in need of the best possible Win audio settings: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...nding-the-windows-audio-quality-debate.19438/

This is more like what I'm looking for! Some measurable evidence of what's actually happening. Thank you for the response, it was super helpful.