Remarkably, the actual whereabouts of the EQ custom saved settings have eluded the most clever of us!
How flattering...
I have, in fact, accomplished this very thing. I can only vouch for this process on Windows 7 x64 installations, though. I haven't tested it on Windows 8..
For clarity:
UID = Unique IDentifier (e.g. {8d17a413-26d1-47e0-970b-5b0ea2d804bd})
The custom EQ presets are stored in a rather obscure location in the registry. Basically:
"
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\MMDevices\Audio\Render" contains several UID subkeys, and each UID subkey corresponds with a different audio output device.
- In regedit.exe, search for the value "{69203b66-c559-499c-bb5f-f54563cd7d59},0". This will navigate you to a subkey of "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\MMDevices\Audio\Render" called "FxProperties". It will be nested within one of the UIDs under "...\Audio\Render", which again, corresponds with a specific audio device. You'll notice that this value is a string, and its data is the saved name of your first custom preset for that playback device.
For the sake of simplicity, you just should export this entire "FxProperties" key to a .reg file. This will save all your custom presets for that specific audio device. Keep in mind, however, that you will need to do this for EACH playback device that has presets you want to preserve. The most notable example of this would probably be the front audio out; it's usually a separate playback device called "Realtek HD Audio 2nd output". The main rear out is usually called "Speakers".
- Make a note of the Realtek driver version you currently have installed. When restoring via registry import, the safest thing to do is make sure that the same driver version is installed PRIOR to importing.
- I wouldn't try importing the .reg file on a machine that's different from the one it was created on, especially if its motherboard isn't the exact same model. You could be asking for some minor trouble if you do, potentially.
Now, I have no way of knowing whether or not the UIDs for each playback device are persistent from one OS installation to another. If it turns out that they aren't, you may have to modify the .reg file and replace the orphan UID with the correct UID as it appears under "
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\MMDevices\Audio\Render" .
That's all there is to it, really. Hope this helps someone..
