Equalizer. How does the equalizer for sound card and player work in Windows?

Question

Windows

Good day.
One question bothers me. Given a computer, and in it a Realtek sound card, which in the supplied drivers has software with an equalizer. There is a player Groove Music (microsoft). The player has its own equalizer setting.
In my understanding, the sound through the sound card is processed immediately for all applications that access it (I know that there is a function in AIMP where there is direct access to the sound card, bypassing the software, it seems to be called ASIO).
For example, I listen to music in the player, choosing a preset for the equalizer. Then the signal from the player goes to the sound card and it turns out that the sound is also processed by the sound card with its own equalizer settings?
Actually, the question itself is: how does the sound processing happen if you listen to music in the player, choosing the preset for the equalizer "rock", and into the sound. map to choose another preset, say "vocals"?
In addition: is it possible to turn off realtek'a/player's equalizer completely? How does the signal overlap if you select the "flat" (which is the default) preset in the sound. map,? Will it create distortion for the player with its own settings?

Answer 1

Modern equalizers are digital. If the equalizer has a horizontal shelf as settings, nothing will happen to the signal, because the digital stream at the output will be identical to the stream at the input.