[MrTechAgent]

Ok will make this short .....there are bits of information all around the forum but could not get a clear picture of this stuff , so I am using the STX with many headphones have loved it in HiFi mode my main question is that have I been missing something ? does ASIO and stuff make a audible difference , is Windows doing something with the signal ? Also I have my sample rate at 192 so if I play 44 files at 192 will it up-sample to 192 and degrade the quality ? 
BTW - I am using Foobar 
Thanks and sorry if I screwed up with the terminology 

 

[linglingjr]

As far as I know wasapi and asio both bypass windows audio api and send the 1's and 0's straight to your external DAC (in your case the sound card) and only there is the digital signal processed.  Does it make an audible difference? I doubt it.  If you use wasapi you can't get audio from any other program until foobar is closed and any digital EQing you want to do will be impossible because windows isn't processing anything.  Hopefully a more knowledgeable member gives a response, I'd love to get a better idea as well.

 

[MrTechAgent]

As far as I know wasapi and asio both bypass windows audio api and send the 1's and 0's straight to your external DAC (in your case the sound card) and only there is the digital signal processed.  Does it make an audible difference? I doubt it.  If you use wasapi you can't get audio from any other program until foobar is closed and any digital EQing you want to do will be impossible because windows isn't processing anything.  Hopefully a more knowledgeable member gives a response, I'd love to get a better idea as well.

Alright so the digital signal is processed , hmmm I probably won't use any ....Thanks