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Got my studio headphones, now what?

PopsicleHustler
By PopsicleHustler
in Audio
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It's worth noting that the windows mixer itself is not bitperfect, even if sample rate is set correctly. It's tricky to get good quality audio through windows mixer.
If you want to play music in the highest quality, with no alteration of the data at all, you need to use a player that has an 'Exclusive mode' output support. (WASAPI Exclusive, or ASIO if your DAC has an ASIO driver).

Players like foobar and musicbee are free and can do this. Or if you're wanting something higher end and are happy to pay, Roon and Audirvana are fantastic
Tidal has WASAPI Exclusive support, and Qobuz has both WASAPI Exclusive and ASIO support.

Spotify is windows mixer only. There used to be a third party client called 'fidelify' which added WASAPI Exclusive support but to my knowledge it's no longer maintained.

Exclusive mode will bypass windows audio mixing, automatically adjust the sample rate of your DAC depending on the content being played, and if using ASIO, will also support DSD content if you have any and your DAC supports it.

Video reviews: https://youtube.com/goldensound Written reviews and measurements: https://goldensound.audio
Current Main Setup: Roon -> HQPlayer -> Intel NUC -> Intona 7055-C Isolator -> Holo Audio May KTE DAC-> Holo Serene KTE preamp -> Benchmark AHB2 / Woo WA33
Most used headphones: Hifiman Susvara, Abyss 1266 Phi TC, Sennheiser HD800-S

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