2. pc-audio
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Gremlins Emerge with Switch to Windows 7

I have had generally good PC audio experiences using Windows XP.

In fact, I have viewed with skepticism a lot of the PC optimization threads as I found with USB into external DACs it was pretty straightforward to get pretty darn good sound.

So I am dismayed tonight to have finally purchased a new, and much faster laptop which operates with Windows 7.

In an A/B comparison with my old laptop, using the same USB cable into my desktop system, the new laptop sounds HORRIBLE.

Can anyone please offer a simple, lean and mean configuration in Windows 7 for exporting audio via USB?

Thank you,
cwlondon

Showing 3 responses by larry_s

larry_s
128 posts
 
CW,
Make sure you are bypassing the internal windows mixer. SPDIF settings should not be coming into play when using USB output. In another current thread (near the end of it) here somebody posted a link to the dCS "cookbook" for setting up computers (MAC and windows) software to get "bit perfect" output. Reading a file, converting to PCM and sending the bit stream to USB port is a simple task that requires little resources. You just have to make sure that software stays out of the way as much as possible and not tamper with the bits.
larry_s
128 posts
 
CW, here's the link I was talking about: http://www.dcsltd.co.uk/page/assets/dCS_Guide_to_Computer_Audio.pdf.
larry_s
128 posts
 
Sorry, link was mangled. Try this: http://www.dcsltd.co.uk/page/assets/dCS_Guide_to_Computer_Audio.pdf
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