diff --git a/rpcs3/Emu/Audio/XAudio2/XAudio2Thread.h b/rpcs3/Emu/Audio/XAudio2/XAudio2Thread.h
index 73c14c92e..3a362714a 100644
--- a/rpcs3/Emu/Audio/XAudio2/XAudio2Thread.h
+++ b/rpcs3/Emu/Audio/XAudio2/XAudio2Thread.h
@@ -2,7 +2,17 @@
 
 #include "Emu/Audio/AudioThread.h"
 #if defined (_WIN32)
+
+// forced define Win7, delete this for using XAudio2 2.8
+#define WINVER 0x0601
+#define _WIN32_WINNT 0x0601
+
+#if (_WIN32_WINNT >= 0x0602 /*_WIN32_WINNT_WIN8*/)
+#include <xaudio2.h>
+#pragma comment(lib,"xaudio2.lib")
+#else
 #include "XAudio2.h" // XAudio2 2.8 available only on Win8+, used XAudio2 2.7 from dxsdk
+#endif
 
 class XAudio2Thread : public AudioThread
 {
diff --git a/rpcs3/emucore.vcxproj b/rpcs3/emucore.vcxproj
index a05d56c9f..b3694d79b 100644
--- a/rpcs3/emucore.vcxproj
+++ b/rpcs3/emucore.vcxproj
@@ -601,31 +601,31 @@
     <IncludePath>.\;..\;..\asmjit\src\asmjit;..\wxWidgets\include\msvc;..\wxWidgets\include;.\OpenAL\include;..\ffmpeg\WindowsInclude;..\ffmpeg\Windows\x86\Include;$(VC_IncludePath);$(WindowsSDK_IncludePath);</IncludePath>
   </PropertyGroup>
   <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Debug|x64'">
-    <IncludePath>.\;..\;..\asmjit\src\asmjit;..\wxWidgets\include\msvc;..\wxWidgets\include;.\OpenAL\include;..\ffmpeg\WindowsInclude;..\ffmpeg\Windows\x86_64\Include;$(VC_IncludePath);$(WindowsSDK_IncludePath);..\llvm\include;..\llvm_build\include</IncludePath>
+    <IncludePath>.\;..\;..\minidx9\Include;..\asmjit\src\asmjit;..\wxWidgets\include\msvc;..\wxWidgets\include;.\OpenAL\include;..\ffmpeg\WindowsInclude;..\ffmpeg\Windows\x86_64\Include;$(VC_IncludePath);$(WindowsSDK_IncludePath);..\llvm\include;..\llvm_build\include</IncludePath>
     <IntDir>$(Platform)\$(Configuration)\emucore\</IntDir>
     <LibraryPath>$(LibraryPath)</LibraryPath>
     <ExcludePath>$(ExcludePath)</ExcludePath>
   </PropertyGroup>
   <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Debug - LLVM|x64'">
-    <IncludePath>.\;..\;..\asmjit\src\asmjit;..\wxWidgets\include\msvc;..\wxWidgets\include;.\OpenAL\include;..\ffmpeg\WindowsInclude;..\ffmpeg\Windows\x86_64\Include;$(VC_IncludePath);$(WindowsSDK_IncludePath);..\llvm\include;..\llvm_build\include</IncludePath>
+    <IncludePath>.\;..\;..\minidx9\Include;..\asmjit\src\asmjit;..\wxWidgets\include\msvc;..\wxWidgets\include;.\OpenAL\include;..\ffmpeg\WindowsInclude;..\ffmpeg\Windows\x86_64\Include;$(VC_IncludePath);$(WindowsSDK_IncludePath);..\llvm\include;..\llvm_build\include</IncludePath>
     <IntDir>$(Platform)\$(Configuration)\emucore\</IntDir>
     <LibraryPath>$(LibraryPath)</LibraryPath>
     <ExcludePath>$(ExcludePath)</ExcludePath>
   </PropertyGroup>
   <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Debug - MemLeak|x64'">
-    <IncludePath>.\;..\;..\asmjit\src\asmjit;..\wxWidgets\include\msvc;..\wxWidgets\include;.\OpenAL\include;..\ffmpeg\WindowsInclude;..\ffmpeg\Windows\x86_64\Include;$(VC_IncludePath);$(WindowsSDK_IncludePath);..\llvm\include;..\llvm_build\include</IncludePath>
+    <IncludePath>.\;..\;..\minidx9\Include;..\asmjit\src\asmjit;..\wxWidgets\include\msvc;..\wxWidgets\include;.\OpenAL\include;..\ffmpeg\WindowsInclude;..\ffmpeg\Windows\x86_64\Include;$(VC_IncludePath);$(WindowsSDK_IncludePath);..\llvm\include;..\llvm_build\include</IncludePath>
     <IntDir>$(Platform)\$(Configuration)\emucore\</IntDir>
     <LibraryPath>$(LibraryPath)</LibraryPath>
     <ExcludePath>$(ExcludePath)</ExcludePath>
   </PropertyGroup>
   <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Release|x64'">
-    <IncludePath>.\;..\;..\asmjit\src\asmjit;..\wxWidgets\include\msvc;..\wxWidgets\include;.\OpenAL\include;..\ffmpeg\WindowsInclude;..\ffmpeg\Windows\x86_64\Include;$(VC_IncludePath);$(WindowsSDK_IncludePath);..\llvm\include;..\llvm_build\include</IncludePath>
+    <IncludePath>.\;..\;..\minidx9\Include;..\asmjit\src\asmjit;..\wxWidgets\include\msvc;..\wxWidgets\include;.\OpenAL\include;..\ffmpeg\WindowsInclude;..\ffmpeg\Windows\x86_64\Include;$(VC_IncludePath);$(WindowsSDK_IncludePath);..\llvm\include;..\llvm_build\include</IncludePath>
     <IntDir>$(Platform)\$(Configuration)\emucore\</IntDir>
     <LibraryPath>$(LibraryPath)</LibraryPath>
     <ExcludePath>$(ExcludePath)</ExcludePath>
   </PropertyGroup>
   <PropertyGroup Condition="'$(Configuration)|$(Platform)'=='Release - LLVM|x64'">
-    <IncludePath>.\;..\;..\asmjit\src\asmjit;..\wxWidgets\include\msvc;..\wxWidgets\include;.\OpenAL\include;..\ffmpeg\WindowsInclude;..\ffmpeg\Windows\x86_64\Include;$(VC_IncludePath);$(WindowsSDK_IncludePath);..\llvm\include;..\llvm_build\include</IncludePath>
+    <IncludePath>.\;..\;..\minidx9\Include;..\asmjit\src\asmjit;..\wxWidgets\include\msvc;..\wxWidgets\include;.\OpenAL\include;..\ffmpeg\WindowsInclude;..\ffmpeg\Windows\x86_64\Include;$(VC_IncludePath);$(WindowsSDK_IncludePath);..\llvm\include;..\llvm_build\include</IncludePath>
     <IntDir>$(Platform)\$(Configuration)\emucore\</IntDir>
     <LibraryPath>$(LibraryPath)</LibraryPath>
     <ExcludePath>$(ExcludePath)</ExcludePath>
@@ -676,7 +676,8 @@
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>_UNICODE;UNICODE;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <PrecompiledHeaderFile>stdafx.h</PrecompiledHeaderFile>
       <ExceptionHandling>Async</ExceptionHandling>
-      <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>.\minidx9\Include</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
+      <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
+      </AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
       <IgnoreStandardIncludePath>false</IgnoreStandardIncludePath>
     </ClCompile>
     <Link>
@@ -692,7 +693,8 @@
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>_UNICODE;UNICODE;LLVM_AVAILABLE;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <PrecompiledHeaderFile>stdafx.h</PrecompiledHeaderFile>
       <ExceptionHandling>Async</ExceptionHandling>
-      <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>.\minidx9\Include</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
+      <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
+      </AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
     </ClCompile>
     <Link>
       <GenerateDebugInformation>true</GenerateDebugInformation>
@@ -711,7 +713,8 @@
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>_UNICODE;UNICODE;MSVC_CRT_MEMLEAK_DETECTION;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
       <PrecompiledHeaderFile>stdafx.h</PrecompiledHeaderFile>
       <ExceptionHandling>Async</ExceptionHandling>
-      <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>.\minidx9\Include</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
+      <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
+      </AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
     </ClCompile>
     <Link>
       <GenerateDebugInformation>true</GenerateDebugInformation>
@@ -759,7 +762,8 @@
       <PrecompiledHeader>Use</PrecompiledHeader>
       <PrecompiledHeaderFile>stdafx.h</PrecompiledHeaderFile>
       <ExceptionHandling>Async</ExceptionHandling>
-      <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>.\minidx9\Include</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
+      <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
+      </AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
     </ClCompile>
     <Link>
       <GenerateDebugInformation>true</GenerateDebugInformation>
@@ -778,7 +782,8 @@
       <PrecompiledHeaderFile>stdafx.h</PrecompiledHeaderFile>
       <ExceptionHandling>Async</ExceptionHandling>
       <PreprocessorDefinitions>LLVM_AVAILABLE;%(PreprocessorDefinitions)</PreprocessorDefinitions>
-      <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>.\minidx9\Include</AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
+      <AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
+      </AdditionalIncludeDirectories>
     </ClCompile>
     <Link>
       <GenerateDebugInformation>true</GenerateDebugInformation>