[Max Rayder]

As i was doing some research I came across a post (Which I can't seem to find again) where some people said uninstalling OEM drivers (If I remember correctly, in this case they were talking about the Audio Drivers that came with a Dell laptop) and just using Windows Audio Drivers gave them better sound quality.

I don't know if I'm elaborating this correctly, but I was left with the doubt and I don't know how to search for this.
So is this actually the case? Have you done this?
Are there optimal audio drivers that one should look to install to get the best audio quality out of headphones and/or speakers?

 

[bland125]

As i was doing some research I came across a post (Which I can't seem to find again) where some people said uninstalling OEM drivers (If I remember correctly, in this case they were talking about the Audio Drivers that came with a Dell laptop) and just using Windows Audio Drivers gave them better sound quality.

I don't know if I'm elaborating this correctly, but I was left with the doubt and I don't know how to search for this.
So is this actually the case? Have you done this?
Are there optimal audio drivers that one should look to install to get the best audio quality out of headphones and/or speakers?

I came across the same interrogations once and made my own mind on this through experimentation. I'm interested to see what others will say

 

[Max Rayder]

I came across the same interrogations once and made my own mind on this through experimentation. I'm interested to see what others will say

What did you conclude with your experiment?

 

[gimmeheadroom]

Usually a DAC will provide its own ASIO drivers. Those are the recommended ones to use. In other words you should use the specific driver for your DAC rather than Windows audio stack or OEM device drivers.

 

[bland125]

What did you conclude with your experiment?

That I shall stick to my equipment provided drivers to get full control and functions available. Also that it does not really seem to affect sound with everything equal. In the end, it is just a way for your computer to "talk" to your device. I did uninstall all other audio drivers like Nvidia, Realtek and stuff out of convenience.

 

[Max Rayder]

Usually a DAC will provide its own ASIO drivers. Those are the recommended ones to use. In other words you should use the specific driver for your DAC rather than Windows audio stack or OEM device drivers.

What about the ones that aren't using an external DAC and are just plugging the headphones / speakers directly to the computer?

 

[bland125]

What about the ones that aren't using an external DAC and are just plugging the headphones / speakers directly to the computer?

Sorry, can't help. My HP work laptop with Bowers and Wilkins integrated sounds so bad, I don't even use it for conference calls. Not about to get music through it any time soon.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

What about the ones that aren't using an external DAC and are just plugging the headphones / speakers directly to the computer?

That's just really not any way to live

Don't try this at home, boys and girls

 

[pjones5]

As i was doing some research I came across a post (Which I can't seem to find again) where some people said uninstalling OEM drivers (If I remember correctly, in this case they were talking about the Audio Drivers that came with a Dell laptop) and just using Windows Audio Drivers gave them better sound quality.

I don't know if I'm elaborating this correctly, but I was left with the doubt and I don't know how to search for this.
So is this actually the case? Have you done this?
Are there optimal audio drivers that one should look to install to get the best audio quality out of headphones and/or speakers?

Are you talking software?
If so, I imagine that it is the case. It's probably a whole lot easier though too just to get a halfway decent DAC.

 

[Max Rayder]

That's just really not any way to live

Don't try this at home, boys and girls

Well if you're a competitive gamer and care about input/output latency, you can't afford to use those devices as they introduce lag.
They are fine when you just want to listen to music, not when you want to play competitively.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

Well if you're a competitive gamer and care about input/output latency, you can't afford to use those devices as they introduce lag.
They are fine when you just want to listen to music, not when you want to play competitively.

They're not fine at all for listening to music and the problem has nothing to do with gaming. This is a hifi forum. If we were ok with listening to onboard soundcards from laptops we would all have a lot more disposable income

 

[MisterMoJo]

Stumbled across this thread... I have posted about this in the past. I am curious if you are referring to my post here? If so I was talking about an external dac.