Thanks for your reply.
I have all the 3 settings disabled. As long as WASAPI is used in non-exclusive mode every soundcard or DAC is opened with its default system settings, whereas in the exclusive mode app which opens the DAC can set them.
So as a workaround I have started playback, checked sampling rate, stopped, changed Windows default sampling rate for my DAC to match the sample rate of my audio files. The sound improved a lot.
Unfortunately this workaround is really inconvenient, especially in a longer run.
Could you add WASAPI in exclusive mode? It could be marked as unstable etc.
Do you mean VLC as a standalone app? I haven't spotted "exclusive" mode there for WASAPI.