Settings that need to be changed in Windows for better audio performance

When using a desktop computer or laptop as a means to watch movies and videos, play music, and even play games, good sound becomes an essential element that cannot be overlooked if you want to enjoy the best possible user experience. This does not necessarily mean that you need to buy high-quality audio devices and expensive headphones, but rather, you should first improve the utilization of your current device’s capabilities. By controlling some sound settings provided by the Windows operating system, you can enhance the audio performance on your computer. In this article, we explain a set of sound settings that you should adjust in Windows to optimize the sound quality of your audio devices and get the best possible sound.

Windows provides its users with a range of audio enhancements that are suitable for different uses, and if these enhancements are properly utilized, they can significantly improve the sound quality of your computer. The Audio Enhancements menu includes features such as increasing the volume level, equalizing the sound level, and more. Enabling the Bass Boost feature enhances the bass response of the audio amplifier, allowing it to reproduce sound in an improved manner. This feature can be useful in amplifying low-frequency sounds, especially when using low-cost headphones to enjoy better sound performance when playing certain types of music that have heavy bass, such as rock or hip-hop music.

Enabling Loudness Equalization maintains a consistent sound level, which can be particularly useful when listening to audio tracks with varying rhythms that range from very soft in some parts to very loud in others, providing the user with a more balanced and consistent listening experience. The Virtual Surround feature is beneficial for devices with a two-channel sound card as it works to merge multi-channel audio signals into just two channels, which reflects an improvement in audio performance, especially when playing games, enhancing directional audio signals like footsteps or gunfire.

To benefit from these Windows sound enhancements, all you need to do is open the Run window (by pressing the Win + R keys together on the keyboard), then type the command [mmsys.cpl] and press Enter. From the window that appears, go to the “Playback” section, select the audio output being used, click on “Properties” from the dropdown menu, and then navigate to the “Enhancements” section where you can activate any of the mentioned enhancements by checking the box next to the feature, and then click “Ok” to save the changes.

Some people confuse spatial sound feature, which makes the computer sound like it is coming from directional speakers, with another feature called Spatial Sound, which aims to distribute sounds in different locations around the room to provide a more realistic auditory experience where the user feels surrounded by multiple sound sources, hearing individual sounds coming from different points in the room as in real life. We have already detailed the spatial sound feature in an article titled Enabling Spatial Sound on the Computer.

Spatial Sound is based on the fact that the time it takes for sound to reach our ears varies depending on the sound source’s location, so this feature attempts to simulate realistic sounds by controlling the timing of sound playback. For example, when playing a video game with headphones on, if a sound in the game is supposed to come from the left side, it is logical that the sound reaches your left ear before reaching your right ear.

Enabling the Spatial Sound feature significantly improves sound quality and provides the user with a sense of direction while playing games, watching movies, or listening to music. Windows includes a free spatial sound technology called Windows Sonic, and you can also download the Dolby Atmos application from the Microsoft App Store to benefit from Dolby Atmos technology for headphone spatial sound experience, against an annual subscription fee. Additionally, you can get a free trial version of the app.

To activate the feature, open the Run window (by pressing the Win + R keys together on the keyboard), then type the command [mmsys.cpl] and press Enter. From the window that appears, go to the “Playback” section, select the audio output being used, click on “Properties” from the dropdown menu, and then navigate to the “Spatial sound” section. From the dropdown menu, you can choose to enable “Windows Sonic for Headphones” or “Dolby Atmos for Headphones” and then click “Ok” to save the changes.

When recording a video clip using a digital camera, the camera captures a series of sequential images called frames, which are then displayed at a fast rate to give viewers a sense of motion in the images.

The same applies when recording any audio clip and playing it on the computer, where the recorder captures samples of the audio wave at a defined sample rate and bit depth per second, then reconstructs the original audio signal using these samples. Capturing more samples can add more details to the recorded sound and make it more faithful to the original audio, while increasing the bit depth means the audio signal will suffer less distortion and noise, leading to better sound quality and clarity.

Read Also: Understanding Bitrate in Audio and Video Files

However, sample rate and bit depth cannot always be set at their highest levels. The appropriate values for both sample rate and bit depth depend on the quality of the audio files you want to play. Setting a sample rate and bit depth higher than the quality of the original audio files may lead to a decrease in sound quality, clarity, and the appearance of more noise in audio signals.

To improve sound quality, it is essential to set sample rate and bit depth that match the quality of the audio files you are playing. For example, if you want to play audio clips at CD-quality, then you should set the sample rate and bit depth to 44.1 kHz – 16 bits. If you want to play audio files of higher quality, you can choose a higher sample rate and bit depth.

To adjust the sample rate and bit depth for the default sound on your computer, simply open the Run window (by pressing the Win + R keys together on the keyboard), then type the command [mmsys.cpl] and press Enter. From the window that appears, go to the “Playback” section, select the audio output being used, click on “Properties” from the dropdown menu, and then go to the “Advanced” section. From the “Default format” section, open the dropdown menu and select the desired sample rate and bit depth, then click “Ok” to save the changes.

Just like some video applications allow users to adjust image quality in the videos they watch, some applications have built-in features to adjust sound quality. For example, many media players and music streaming services like Spotify have an equalizer feature that allows users to adjust the frequency response and apply additional audio effects to listen to audio clips with studio-quality sound. Many modern video games also offer settings that allow users to adjust sound quality and enable features like surround sound and dynamic range.

Some communication apps also provide settings to adjust sound quality, such as the Discord app, which has options in its settings to enable noise isolation and echo cancellation for clearer sound. Therefore, you should review the settings of the application you are using and see if they include options to adjust sound quality.

Some applications and add-on programs can help significantly improve the performance of audio devices and enhance the sound quality you can achieve using them. Powerful sound equalizer programs and applications like Equalizer APO, FXSound, and Boom3D allow you to adjust frequency ranges, as well as set predefined filters for activities like music, movies, and games. They also enable users with experience in sound settings to create custom profiles. However, sound equalizer applications may not make a significant difference if the audio devices used are of very low quality.

It is also helpful to regularly update your sound card driver to continue getting the best possible sound performance. For example, if you are using the built-in speakers on a laptop, you should check the official website of the sound card manufacturer (like Realtek) from time to time and download the latest driver for the card and install it on your device.

You can then open Device Manager in Windows by pressing the Win + X keys on the keyboard, then choosing Device Manager from the menu that appears, or through the Run window by pressing Win + R together and typing the command [devmgmt.msc] and then pressing Enter to show the tool window. You will see all the drivers installed on your device for each component, and here, we need to double click on the “Sound, Video and Game Controllers” section, hover over the name of the sound card you want to update, right-click the mouse, and select “Update driver.” In the next step, you will need to click on the option “Browse My Computer for Drivers,” then select the driver file you downloaded, and follow the update instructions that appear on the screen.

There are many additional tips that can also contribute to improving the sound performance of a Windows-based computer, such as using external digital-to-analog converters (DAC) to enhance headphone performance, obtaining distortion and noise-free audio signals and maintaining sound quality at higher volume levels. It is always advisable to download high-quality audio files in formats that preserve audio signal accuracy as much as possible. For example, audio files in formats like FLAC and ALAC can retain high sound quality, providing users with a better listening experience, so it is best to always download high-quality audio files through music stores and streaming services that support those formats.