[SOLVED] Best Windows 10 Audio Settings for Sennheiser 599s?

[SpaceFrontier]

Hi all,

I got some Sennheiser 599s recently and wanted to make the most out of them, specifically for directional audio in games. After Googling around I've gotten a lot of mixed messages - some telling me to use 44.1Hz and others telling me to max it out to whatever the highest option is. A lot of sites also tell me to "Disable all enhancements" in the control panel properties, is this true? Also, what's up with "Windows Sonic for Headphones"? Again, some sources say enable it others say it's the worst thing ever.

This is what shows in my control panel:

What Windows defaults to for the headphones:

What Windows defaults to for the S/PDIF:

I don't really know too much about high end audio, so feel free to point out the obvious if I'm doing something wrong here or missing some important tweaks. (Note: I also uninstalled all RealTek stuff left over from my old headphones recently, I'm only using Windows default drivers right now. As far as I know these headphones don't use custom drivers.)
Link to the headphones for specs:
https://en-uk.sennheiser.com/headphones-high-end-stereo-hd-599

 

[I]

I've owned some of the Sennheiser 5xx line, like them but it comes down to your subjective preference and there are other things better to do.

Most purists would say leave the settings at their defaults, leave the audio as the creator intended. If you want special effects, it might help in some things like games but overall probably not desirable in video/audio but some like that too.

It's not the OS or cans that determine your audio options but rather the audio chip and driver support. The output sample frequency is better higher than 44.1Hz but if dealing with lossy compressed sources, and analog motherboard output, you may not hear a difference. However that's probably not what that windows setting means, rather it means if you don't leave it at 44.1Hz, it will resample in order to get to 48Hz which is a loss of definition because the standard source rate is 44.1Hz. If you know you have a different source rate of 48Hz, do change it to 48Hz if you deem it worth the bother for those rare occasions then switch it back to 44.1Hz again for most uses.

This brings up the next point. The greater improvement in audio with those cans, which have great soundstage and treble definition, is not using motherboard onboard analog audio to drive them. At the very least put the onboard analog output through a good headamp or even better, take the digital out to a DAC, or use a separate, good quality, USB connected DAC. Digital out or USB DAC will both have exact same quality until the issue of the DAC's performance by itself.

So to summarize, leave everything at the defaults, although some people claim that 48Hz was the default and should usually be set to 44.1Hz, 2 channel output as those are only 2 channel cans, and do look into using a headamp instead of the onboard audio driving them directly. What the best headamp is, is a highly subjective thing so I won't bother to recommend one but you can get a lot of info about contemporary choices at audiophile sites like head-fi.org.

 

[Deleted member 14196]

i would disable all effects, and leave EQ off. Also, maybe think about getting a nice USB AMP/DAC to drive those puppies

 

[SpaceFrontier]

I've owned some of the Sennheiser 5xx line...

Also, maybe think about getting a nice...

Thanks, I think for now I'll keep it as is and keep Sonic for Headphones off. I've had a few DACs suggested to me in the past I can look into, but I wasn't sure if these headphones even needed one. I'll definitely consider it an option now.