Wanted to reply to this before but needed to check my old setups. Unfortunately I had to do a complete re-install of Poser combined with other problems that caused delay.

Yes, the softness setting is quite crucial. I used to set it really low (0.02-0.05) depending on the hair and root/tip settings. With very low root/tip settings you can drop it to 0 but then you need to really increase the population density of your hair groups.

Some camera angles can result in you being able to see straight through a style. It's one of the reasons I began using significantly higher populated hair settings too.

 

Getting good results with DH, like so much in Poser, is a delicate balancing act.

 

PoserPro2014(Sr4), Win7 x64, display units set to inches.

                                      www.danielroseartnew.weebly.com