Thanks again. Is there a particular version of Vista that you recommend? Does it matter whether it's 32 or 64 bit?

Thank you for replying Peter. I have listened and relistened and now believe that the slider doesn't change the SQ as I first thought. This "phenomenon" occurred right after I made a trip to the basement to "inspect" some green vegetable matter!  It must drive you crazy trying to decide which user observations are objective and "real" versus subjective and "not repeatable" by another!

Okay, other questions:

1. Will Vista with engine 3 be a substantial improvement over XP and engine 1, assuming I'm getting bit perfect playback with XP? (Also, if I invest in Vista, how should the volume sliders work in relation to the volume control on my amp?)

2. With XP, what are the intended differences, if any,  with the various processor core appointment schemes? (This time I'll ask before I go spouting off on what I think!)

Thanks for your patience with these basic questions!

I've been listening to music out of the computer for about ten years. About three years ago I started ripping to wave files instead of mp3's. Recently I seriously tried using foobar and media Monkey, but neither of them provided a very significant difference in sound from WMP with kmixer disabled (To disable kmixer I followed these directions: http://extra.benchmarkmedia.com/wiki/index.php/Windows_XP_Audio_Playback_-_Setup_Guide). Because I have made dozens of my own playlists that I listen to more than "cd's", I stuck with WMP; Foobar won't read WMP/Import WMP playlists and I couldn't get Media Monkey to work, though I didn't try very hard.

Today I purchased xxhighend and have had my world rocked. The 93 bucks was very well spent!

But, because I am not very knowledgeable about computers and have only recently learned about and obtained an external soundcard and (used) dac, I am a bit overwhelmed trying to understand what the best settings should be for my system.

Though i have read through the various threads for several hours today, and I do understand that personal preference is the final answer, I'm afraid I still have some pretty basic questions:

1. My system is as follows: Windows XP to M-Audio Audiophile USB scoundcard to MSB Gold Link Dac via spdif to a vintage tube integrated amp. The DAC allows for upsampling to `132khz, which can be turned on and off. It is currently set to 96khz.(Though it's clear that Peter doesn't prefer upsampling, I find the sound with xxhighend substantially smoother, musical and better overall with upsampling turned on. Maybe my ears are just not that educated.)  I was listening to a classical guitar piece and turned the right "green" digital volume (up or down?) from v-138 to v-6 (going one further at either end turns the left control from black to red) and was stunned at the clarity at v-6! Thought the guitar was in the room. Could someone explain this to me? I thought that you always set the digital volume to 100% in the playback software? Is there a better setting for the volume control then v-6 for my setup?

2. Is there any way xxhighend will read WMP playlists?

I have a LOT more questions but I'll try asking them one at a time and see what happens. Thanks in advance for any/all replies. Again, I really can't get over the jump in the sound quality of my system. Thanks!