1.7 Quality of Life Improvements
Please use the new HTML-based guide https://baldsealion.github.io/Steam-Deck-Ultimate-Windows-Guide/
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"Better Audio" is always a very subjective/relative thing and even in the world of Steamdeck, not all speakers are created equal. However, according to most community members, this will have a "huge difference in games with music and general music with exposed treble, it tones down the harshness and balances the sound out"
Follow all of the instructions below for the preferred audio setup(don't skip any steps).
Download and install the following software:
At the end of the install, it will ask which device to be assigned to, we want the "Speakers" of the "AMD Audio Device"
After clicking OK, say "I want to manually reboot later"
Download the following Audio Zip file, extract it to C:\Program Files\EqualizerAPO\config and overwrite any existing files
Peace SteamDeck Config (Right-click and Save As)
Download and install Peace GUI
Once you run it, make sure it says "Yes, Installed" like below. Then you can click the Install button, say yes to the prompt, then click Start Peace
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There will then be a prompt to overwrite the config.txt file, say Yes
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You may get a notification saying Peace has detected a Windows update... just click Don't detect if Windows has been updated and then Continue
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Uncheck "Check for a newer Peace version" and Check "Don't show this window at startup" and click the Full Interface
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Inside of Peace, double-click the SteamDeck configuration in the bottom-left
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Make sure that Peace is toggled on with the green button on the top-right and click Done
This doesn't need to run at startup or anything. Reboot for all changes to take effect.
Some games may function better in SteamOS thanks to Vulkan Shader-caching. However, Windows has the same capabilities. A couple things to note however is that it is not recommended for online games with anti-cheat as it could result in a ban due to the modification/addition to game files -- and it does not work for Gamepass games in testing.
You can set this up by following the YouTube guide here (highly recommend DXVK A-Sync):
The following mod will enable DLSS on certain games for the SteamDeck(or other AMD hardware). This has not been extensively tested, but you can view the compatibility list to see what games are supported: