Windows 10 has better sound quality than Windows 7! (On my computer; not necessarily yours.)
Jan 30, 2016 at 7:41 PM Post #32 of 131
  I have an old Lenovo X61s, ultraportable with Intel audio chip set.
With Win 7 everything was fine, no problems.
With Win 10 the drivers from the manufacturer of the chips can not be used, the microphone does complete feedback howling and can not be controlled.
I downloaded the generic Microsoft ” High Definiton Audio Device” drivers, and now the sound is OK.
It is definitively not better than before!
But it works.
The internal microphone (or any external microphone connected) is very low set, so it is unusable.
An external USB sound card works fine with sound and microphone.
Luckily all my old gadgets still work in Win 10.
But I think too many "want" too much from the Win 10, which is not there.

 
Just goes to show ya how intricate this computer stuff is! On my Alienware laptop, there was a dramatic improvement.
 
Feb 3, 2016 at 1:44 PM Post #33 of 131
Making the volume slightly louder of one speaker over another often times creates an illusion of better sound.  Its an old trick that unscrupulous audio shops using speaker switch boxes could set the level of one speaker higher than the other. The boxes were intended to make it possible to get all levels equal to give a fair evaluation... Not sure that's what Microsoft decided upon with Windows 10. Might have been to give an immediate impression of better sound. By making the level slightly higher could easily give that impression.
 
Feb 3, 2016 at 2:14 PM Post #34 of 131
  Making the volume slightly louder of one speaker over another often times creates an illusion of better sound.  Its an old trick that unscrupulous audio shops using speaker switch boxes could set the level of one speaker higher than the other. The boxes were intended to make it possible to get all levels equal to give a fair evaluation... Not sure that's what Microsoft decided upon with Windows 10. Might have been to give an immediate impression of better sound. By making the level slightly higher could easily give that impression.

 
This is definitely not the case with me. It sounds very different than before. I listen at all sorts of volume levels and was intimately familiar with how my computer sounded for years with Windows 7 at all volume levels.
 
Feb 7, 2016 at 7:31 AM Post #38 of 131
As I mentioned months ago, it seems to my ears that there is a sound improvement in iTunes with Windows 10 over Windows 8 running iTunes but since I can not compare in real time, perhaps it's just my imagination.
 
The other day, wanting to experiment with larger files than could be delivered with Airport Express, I  tried to fire up an external 24/96 sound card I had not used since upgrading to Windows 10 but noticed that my computer would not recognize my Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD, After downloading updated drivers it now works and  it seems with it I also  get great sound  from Windows10.
 
Bottom-line, it works; and, I have not needed the assistance of  an IT guru to enjoy my CD quality music conveniently. 
 
Feb 7, 2016 at 3:36 PM Post #40 of 131
  A bit OT, but I could not find the answer with brief googling.  Can iTunes now be set up to be bit-perfect in Windows 10?  

I'm afraid this has nothing to do with Win10
From Vista on one could use WASAPI shared (not bit perfect) and WASAPI  exclusive mode (bit perfect)
As far as I know iTunes never supported WASAPI exclusive.
 
Feb 7, 2016 at 5:59 PM Post #41 of 131
I upgraded from Windows 7 to Windows 10 and definitely noticed a marked improvement. So much so that i didn't feel a need to use Fidelizer anymore. Fidelizer probably would still help but I don't feel as much need for it. My main music machines are Macs with Amarra so I don't spend a lot of time on the Windows machine but there was a significant improvement in sound.
 
Feb 7, 2016 at 6:57 PM Post #42 of 131
  A bit OT, but I could not find the answer with brief googling.  Can iTunes now be set up to be bit-perfect in Windows 10? I nes ​I

I send iTunes to an Airport Express where any file I have in my iTunes library is either up sampled or down sampled to 16/44.1, no matter what quality file size I've selected in iTunes Preferences. So, unless the file in my library is 16/44.1 what I hear is not native. When I use my external sound card (Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi HD) my files are all up  sampled or down sampled to 24/96. Using Airport Express I can set preferences to 24/192 and Airport Express will just down sample it. Now, iTunes is set for Direct Sound and I have not used Windows Audio Session so I'm not sure what if anything would be better, worse or different, that's to say I don't know how to appreciate WAS except when running other programs WAS will be a priority it appears.
 
Feb 7, 2016 at 7:52 PM Post #43 of 131
It should be noted....
 
For those of us who have solid state drives, the upgrade to Windows 10 was put on hold by Microsoft.   Those having SSD's were having faulty upgrades.  I contacted Microsoft and they said they had more work to do in regards for upgrading with SSD's.
 
Feb 7, 2016 at 8:43 PM Post #44 of 131
i experienced the opposite. windows 10 was worse than windows 7 for audio. this is unfortunate, since windows 10 will, i imagine, eventually become the standard operating system for PCs. when i switched over to windows 10, i heard click and pops, as well as occasional static and drop outs. my connection was USB. i did not have this issue with windows 7. i spent a lot of time searching and reading, all resulting in numerous tweaks and adjustments to my computer as well as audio components. nothing helped. i switched back to windows 7.
 
Feb 7, 2016 at 8:51 PM Post #45 of 131
  i experienced the opposite. windows 10 was worse than windows 7 for audio. this is unfortunate, since windows 10 will, i imagine, eventually become the standard operating system for PCs. when i switched over to windows 10, i heard click and pops, as well as occasional static and drop outs. my connection was USB. i did not have this issue with windows 7. i spent a lot of time searching and reading, all resulting in numerous tweaks and adjustments to my computer as well as audio components. nothing helped. i switched back to windows 7.


That is not a case of having Windows 10 not sounding as good as Windows 7.  What you described is having a bad install of Windows 10, or wrong drivers for your DAC if you use one.  No version of Windows should give you any of those problems.  Its something faulty with the install.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top