DAC and windows setting: "speaker properties" default enhancements (Modi/Magni discovery!!!)

[GirgleMirt]

Long story short; I revisited Windows8's Schiit's USB Audio Device properties, and noticed that I had no enhancement selected, but did not have all enhancements disabled checked. And lo and behold, disabling all enhancements yielded sound differences, something which shouldn't happen if you have no enhancement selected... :rolleyes:

Basically, when "Disable all enhancements" is selected, there definitely seems to be a difference in the sound, it's like there's default enhancements always applied, and if you disable all enhancements (not just by unchecking the 4 checkbox, but also by checking "Disable all enhancements"), the sound becomes more lively; tiny bit less bass and very slightly more 'forward'.



Can anybody reproduce or has noticed this? Or is it just placebo? :confused_face(1):

 

[blueangel2323]

Interesting. So there are invisible enhancements secretly in the background?

 

[GirgleMirt]

It would seem that way... lol I can't find anything on google about it though, step by step to get there; http://technicallyeasy.net/2010/09/how-to-disable-audio-enhancements-windows-7/ (fastest and most practical for me, right click on volume taskbar icon bottom right -> playback devices -> right click "Schiit USB audio device" -> properties -> enhancemetns tab)

Some people may notice a decrease in sound quality, while some may not notice a difference at all. Keep in mind that the enhancements enabled under the “Enhancments” tab are artificial software enhancements. If you prefer to use enhancements, you should choose to use any that are included with your sound card software instead as they are usually more advanced and provide more settings to adjust the sound quality. You can always enable any enhancements that you disable if you don’t like the sound quality.

Whether it's an improvement would depend on the phones, my DT990s sounded to me significantly better with "disable all enhancements", probably because of it's bassy character, seemed to tame the low end a bit. On my Q701s the difference seemed quite less noticeable, to the point where I'm not so sure if there were actual differences or if I'm imagining the whole thing LOL

Maybe it also depends on your sound card, motherboard, drivers, etc... But so far, I'd say that for the Q701s, no enhancement selected is best, but for DT990, disabling all enhancements seem best. But WARNING: This may very well be a case of drawing with a green marker on CDs... Because seriously, selecting no enhancement or disabling all enhancement should be the exact same thing...

:confused_face:

 

[clarktrent]

No enhancement tab exists on the Origen's properties. Is there any way to disable enhancements?