I am plagued by this also, HOWEVER it seems to be the case that not all sound cards (or maybe even drivers) allow for the ability to see that option. Mine certainly doesn't (SoundBlaster Audigy Gamer PCI) however I know that it is enabled. I have known for some time that Windows seems to "deaden" certain sounds and my other software can't do anything about it. One glaring example is that certain bass frequencies cause the overall sound volume to drop for the duration of that particular sound. As a comparison, here is my speaker properties. You will notice it doesn't have the Enhancements tab... And in this example, disabling the Enhancements option does nothing. Although I did find this reg key online might be helpful. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/MICROSOFT/WINDOWS/CURRENTVERSION/MMDEVICES/AUDIO/RENDER