How do i get decent sound running win 10?

tom24

tom24

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Have windows 10 and listen through headphones to mainly artists on you tube.
There isn't much 'oomph' in the playback, can anyone advise this old technophobe on how I can get the best sound ?
I assume I need to download a better player and if so, can you advise me which and how ?
Thanks in advance..
 
You may need to enlarge on what you mean by 'oomph': bass? volume? presence? Does a CD or DVD played through the same system lack the qualities you seek or does it sound just as disappointing? Do the headphones sound good plugged into decent hifi equipment?

I ask because it might not be the player at all, but all down to poor hardware or poor sound on the youtube clips you're listening to. There are quite a few playback packages out there, but IIRC windows media player has a built in EQ that you can try without changing anything. I like VLC player, but there are lots to choose from.

You also don't mention whether it's a laptop or desktop machine, and whether the headphones work well if used elsewhere. Some on-board audio hardware on cheaper motherboards can have have poor audio playback, so if you have a desktop machine it might be worth spending a tenner or so on a separate audio card. It could also just be lousy headphones, and nothing will fix that short of replacement.
 
Winamp - It really whips the llama's ass!

Was always my favourite Windows media player. I must confess I don't know if it works on Windows 10 though.
 
GeeJay57 said:
Winamp - It really whips the llama's ass!

Was always my favourite Windows media player. I must confess I don't know if it works on Windows 10 though.
Click to expand...

I'd forgotten winamp (shows how long it is since I used windows for a home machine). It's not going to make much difference to playback though IIRC - it's all about the interface from what I remember.
 
I don't play cd or dvd, it's one of those combined monitor jobs my daughter got me, on the old 'puter I had a graphic equaliser with the windows system (I think) and options with the windows player that aren't on this 10 version.
It's for rock tunes in the main and I can still hear the difference between a good and bad upload but there's no equaliser etc...
 
ancient_mariner said:
I'd forgotten winamp (shows how long it is since I used windows for a home machine). It's not going to make much difference to playback though IIRC - it's all about the interface from what I remember.
Click to expand...
It has an equaliser window with some useful presets IIRC.
 
Irrespective of player (they're much and much the same really) you'll be mostly at the mercy of the hardware. It's probably got cheap and nasty amp chip on board.

Normally I'd suggest something like an Asus xonar sound card with the good headphone amp but being an all in one you're stuffed there. But you could try the Audioquest Dragonfly Black USB DAC.
 
neil_g said:
Irrespective of player (they're much and much the same really) you'll be mostly at the mercy of the hardware. It's probably got cheap and nasty amp chip on board.

Normally I'd suggest something like an Asus xonar sound card with the good headphone amp but being an all in one you're stuffed there. But you could try the Audioquest Dragonfly Black USB DAC.
Click to expand...

I have an ASUS U3 USB dongle. Plug it into a USB on the PC and the system will default to it. I can also take it out and plug into my laptop when I go away.

https://www.asus.com/Sound-Cards/Xonar_U3/
 
Ah yes didn't know Asus still did a usb version.

One thing to note is that depending on the headphones the op is driving if they're on the hard to drive side the dragonfly red might be more suitable. Or an external dac/amp.
 
Thanks all, I've ordered Philips suggestion to try
 
I have only onboard sound but I use a Fiio E7 headphone amp plugged into a Bose soundock and it sounds incredible! Loads of bass too.
 
neil_g said:
I like foobar but for its interface. Media player plays flac too with the right codec.

No eq will make up for bad hardware (or crap quality source files / stream)
Click to expand...

fubar 2000 is my default player as well, i link to my marantz HD-DAC-1 and use Sennheisser HD700 ear speakers.

not what the OP wants to spend i imaging but the real answer is an external amp linked via USB and using SW to send the files digitally to the AMP.
 
Harriers9 said:
I have an ASUS U3 USB dongle. Plug it into a USB on the PC and the system will default to it. I can also take it out and plug into my laptop when I go away.

https://www.asus.com/Sound-Cards/Xonar_U3/
Click to expand...

that looks good tha also has adjustable gain for headphones.
ideally though you want phones no more that 150ohms resistance.
i had sennheisser HD660s and they wer 300 ohms and to hard to drive unless a big amp.
 
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