Lulian
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Nov 11, 2011
- Posts
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Good afternoon Head-Fi! I was hoping the collective knowledge of the community would be able to answer something that may be extremely obvious, as I'm probably just oblivious. Here's the run down...
I was previously running Windows XP Professional (32-bit) using ancient SigmaTel drivers (SigmaTel STAC9271D which are no longer supported as far as I know) that came packed with my PowerSpec B900 computer. It's important to know that I'm not using any amps, just the integrated sound card from the motherboard (an Intel DG33TL, http://www.powerspec.com/systems/system_components.phtml?component=1508&selection=B900) and a subpar pair of MDR-NC7 headphones. Yes, I do intend on replacing them in the very near future. But I'd like to figure out if I'm simply overlooking something before I make the purchase...
The problem? Upon moving to Windows 7 (64-bit) I had lost my SigmaTel drivers, as they are unsupported in 64-bit. I had absolutely no complaints about the general functionality/quality of SigmaTel when I still had them, but something I noticed upon changing operating systems is how terrible the sound is in comparison. Everything sounds quieter and completely 'off balance'. Again, my knowledge of audio is pretty substandard and I figure I'm simply missing something obvious here. In my experience, every computer running Windows 7 without any fancy equipment all sounds like rubbish compared to what I've had with SigmaTel running back on XP. Are Windows 7's audio codecs simply bad? Would getting an amp setup like the Fiio E7/E9 for my future (currently undecided) cans override the integrated sound card? Would an actual proper sound card fare any better? Could this be a codec issue?
Thank you in advance for shedding some light on my ignorance, and I hope there is an obvious solution here!
I was previously running Windows XP Professional (32-bit) using ancient SigmaTel drivers (SigmaTel STAC9271D which are no longer supported as far as I know) that came packed with my PowerSpec B900 computer. It's important to know that I'm not using any amps, just the integrated sound card from the motherboard (an Intel DG33TL, http://www.powerspec.com/systems/system_components.phtml?component=1508&selection=B900) and a subpar pair of MDR-NC7 headphones. Yes, I do intend on replacing them in the very near future. But I'd like to figure out if I'm simply overlooking something before I make the purchase...
The problem? Upon moving to Windows 7 (64-bit) I had lost my SigmaTel drivers, as they are unsupported in 64-bit. I had absolutely no complaints about the general functionality/quality of SigmaTel when I still had them, but something I noticed upon changing operating systems is how terrible the sound is in comparison. Everything sounds quieter and completely 'off balance'. Again, my knowledge of audio is pretty substandard and I figure I'm simply missing something obvious here. In my experience, every computer running Windows 7 without any fancy equipment all sounds like rubbish compared to what I've had with SigmaTel running back on XP. Are Windows 7's audio codecs simply bad? Would getting an amp setup like the Fiio E7/E9 for my future (currently undecided) cans override the integrated sound card? Would an actual proper sound card fare any better? Could this be a codec issue?
Thank you in advance for shedding some light on my ignorance, and I hope there is an obvious solution here!
