ruskiru

I guess my point is that you need to use human ears to judge differences in sound quality. I can't imagine looking at an audio waveform in Audacity on a computer screen can possibly show up subtle differences in sound quality. Neither can looking at 1s and 0s, as there are many other factors that influence the final analogue signal, such as jitter in the digital domain and RFI/EMI noise etc.

Here’s a very simple test. Take a single track, play it through JRIVER and then again on the same hardware through JRIVER (via JPLAY). Both send the same bit-perfect digital stream to the DAC but using different methods. They sound different. Quite different. Then do a blind listening test and ask the listeners to identify which path the track was played through, path A (standalone JRIVER) or path B (JRIVER+JPLAY). The listeners will be able to tell with some certainty which playback path was used each time. Equally you could do the same test, JRIVER vs. Foobar. Make it easy for the listeners and choose the track carefully, as some recordings will sound more markedly different than others. It also depends on the rest of the audio chain being setup correctly, especially ensuring that the speakers are properly mounted, otherwise the listeners stand less chance of being able to hear differences. I don’t think sound differences in the playback chain are subjective. You either hear a difference or you don’t. Whether you like the way a particular system sounds in subjective. The test above could be repeated using the same player on different hardware, MAC vs. PC for instance.

Windows 8 sounds much better than Windows 7. I don't know what Microsoft did to the audio stack, but the differences are clear. More focussed and detailed sound, and not in a subtle way. At least with my Kingrex UD-01 PRO that's what I experienced. I expect that Windows 8 will become a must have OS for audiophiles on Windows.

I don't think anyone's mentioned it so far, but not only is speaker placement important, but how they're attached to the floor may also be critical. What kind of floor have you got? If it's concrete, coupling the speakers to the floor using spikes should be fine. If it's a suspended wooden floor, spikes will completely destroy the sound. In this case you should put coins under the spikes, or buy spike shoes from a company like Atacama, to decouple the speakers from the floor. If it's laminate laid over concrete, shoes or coins might also help. Experimentation is key, but don't spend on new equipment until you've addressed some basic issues as others have advised. Also, I don't know the Peachtree DAC, but if it's anything half decent, make sure the analogue interconnect to the AMP is something steller, like a Chord Chameleon Plus as a minimum. A lesser cable might be fine for a cheap mediocre DAC, but it could smooth over much of the detail and dynamics your Peachtree is able to deliver, as I found was the case with a Chord Chrimson Plus and my Kingrex DAC. Anyway, look at the speakers first. Hope you find the solution.