Audio driver dilemma (Stereo mix problem)

Hello all:

I have a rather annoying problem that I have been trying to deal with for a while, but with no success. My problem is that I cannot access the stereo mix on the audio driver that I currently have. I know how to enable it by going in and Show Disabled Devices, so that's not my problem.

The audio driver that was the factory default on the computer had amazing sound from the adjustments I made through the Enhancements menu in the Sound menu in Control Panel, but I could not access Stereo Mix because it wasn't there at all. However, when I updated the sound card driver (which is currently upgraded to Realtek 2.66) the Stereo Mix appeared, but the sound quality is nowhere near the quality that I had before. I have messed around with the graphic equalizer to some extent with no luck. Is there anything that I can do so that I don't have to lose the sound quality, but to also record the audio from Stereo Mix?

Sorry for the length, and thanks in advance!

Yes I have. The factory driver (the one I prefer) does not include the Realtek Control Panel, though.

The Realtek Control Panel gives me access to the equalizer (which doesn't help my sound quality issue enough to match that of the previous driver) and all of the tweaks that I could do still don't match the quality of the previous driver, which I believe is Realtek 2.24

I almost never listen to music through the speakers. I have a pair of Sony Studio headphones that I use frequently. And the sound quality isn't a problem with the older driver, it's with the new driver. With the new driver, there is no longer an option to use the enhancement bass boost, which is essential to the reason the sound quality is so good.

The old drivers are okay, except that I can't access my Stereo Mix on the old driver. I have already tried to do the Show Disabled Devices steps with no luck.