Many aspects affect the sound quality of your computer. Your hardware, the headphones or speakers you use, and software all combine to produce the music, videos, and other audio you hear every day.

Of course, nothing will beat upgrading to a high-quality set of headphones or getting a more powerful speaker system. But did you know that Windows 10 has some built-in audio enhancements that can try?

Let's look at the handful of audio enhancements in Windows, and what they do to your computer's sound.

How to Enable Sound Enhancements in Windows 10

To access the list of sound enhancements, open Settings by clicking on the gear icon in the Start menu, or with the Win + I shortcut. From there, go to System > Sound. If you prefer, right-click the Speaker icon in your System Tray at the bottom-right corner of the screen and choose Open Sound settings to jump to the same menu.

Once here, select the device you want to adjust using the Choose your output device dropdown. Then click the Device properties text underneath that box.

Windows 10 Sound Device Properties

This will open a new page with a few options for your current audio device. On the right side, click the Additional device properties link. If you don't see it, expand the Settings window horizontally until it appears.

Now you'll see a new window from the older Control Panel interface. Switch to the Enhancements tab to see all the available modes for your headphones.

Windows Sound Enhancements

What Do the Sound Enhancements in Windows 10 Do?

Let's briefly look at each of these enhancements. Keep in mind that the options available to you will depend on the audio device you're using, and the drivers installed on your computer.

In our testing, a pair of Bluetooth headphones only offered the first three options below, which are all generic Windows-provided sound enhancements. When using a wired headset or stereo speakers, Bass Boost and Headphone Virtualization disappeared, but others were made available thanks to the Realtek audio driver.

After checking the options you want to try, choose Apply to see how they sound. Depending on your audio output, you may need to pause, or even restart, any apps playing audio to apply changes.

Keep in mind that you can check Disable all enhancements if you don't want to use any of them.

1. Bass Boost

This one's pretty self-explanatory. If you want to blast more bass in music, enable this option. It will increase the lower frequencies that you hear, thus giving you more bass.

Click Settings to fine-tune it, which lets you change the frequency that's amplified and how much it's boosted. In our testing, boosting this to 9Db or above makes the sound too murky, but your results may vary based on your setup.

2. Headphone Virtualization

With this option, your computer makes it sound like you're listening to surround sound audio, even through stereo headphones that wouldn't normally support this. You'll "hear" audio coming from multiple directions, not just left and right, and might hear the "echo" of music hitting off the walls.

Clicking Settings lets you choose a few options, including Jazz Club, Studio, and Concert Hall. Try each one to see what you think.

3. Loudness Equalization

This option seeks to even out differences between the highest and lowest points of sound. Thus, loud sounds (like explosions in movies) aren't as overpowering, while quiet sounds get a boost.

Give it a try if max volume still isn't loud enough, or if you're listening in a quiet environment. It can help you avoid the extremes of sound when necessary, but you'll lose the dynamic differences created by whoever mastered the audio.

We don't recommend using this for music or gaming. It will remove the natural highs and lows of listening to a song, and prevent you from noticing auditory differences in video games (such as far-away footsteps being quieter than those up close).

4. Room Correction

This option is a little different, and is typically only available on surround-sound speaker systems. Clicking it brings up the Room Calibration window with some information.

Windows-10-Room-Calibration

Essentially, this tool plays test tones through your speakers and then picks them up with your microphone. It analyzes this data to recommend the best settings for your particular setup.

Realtek Sound Enhancements

If your setup uses the Realtek audio driver, you'll see additional audio options in this window. Checking the Immediate mode box allows you to hear the changes as soon as you make them, instead of having to click Apply each time.

Here's a quick rundown of the audio enhancements you can try on a Realtek-powered system. These are also available through the Realtek HD Audio Manager app, which should be available in your System Tray. That provides a neater interface to try these adjustments in.

Realtek HD Audio App

5. Environment

This allows you to simulate listening in a variety of places, like Concert Hall, Under Water, Carpeted Hallway, and similar. They can be enjoyable for a bit of fun, but probably aren't something you'll want to use long-term.

6. Voice Cancellation

This will attempt to mute the vocals in music, so you can sing along karaoke-style. It isn't perfect, but it's much more convenient than removing vocals from a song on your own.

7. Pitch Shift

With this option, you can shift whatever you're listening to up or down. Each direction has four steps that get progressively higher or lower. You can use this in combination with the above to put a karaoke track closer to your range, or just hear what your favorite singer would sound like with a totally different voice.

This distorts the sound quite a bit, so it doesn't have many other uses.

8. Equalizer

This allows you to adjust the EQ options for your sound. You can pick from preset choices like Pop and Dance, or adjust each level manually if you see fit.

Windows 10 Realtek Audio EQ

If this doesn't meet your needs, check out the best Windows 10 sound equalizers.

9. Windows Sonic for Headphones

There's one more Windows speaker enhancement that you should know about, though it isn't in the same Enhancements tab as the others. Instead, you'll find this option in the Spatial sound tab.

Here, change the dropdown from Off (the default) to Windows Sonic for Headphones. This is a lot like the virtual audio options discussed above: it tweaks the sound to make it seem like it's coming from above or below you, instead of all being at the same horizontal level.

We've looked at Spatial Sound in Windows more closely if you're interested.

windows 10 spatial sound option control panel

Use Windows Audio Enhancements With Care

Now you know how to access the sound enhancements in Windows, and what they do. While it's worth trying these out, chances are you might not use any of them for long. Most of them come with drawbacks, as they distort audio in some way.

If you're on a quest for the best Windows sound, don't stop with just these options.