diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 773967400cdab..b48ef4c546f74 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ option(BUILD_CORE_ONLY "Build only the core of DART" OFF)
 if(MSVC)
   set(DART_RUNTIME_LIBRARY "/MD" CACHE STRING "BaseName chosen by the user at CMake configure time")
   set_property(CACHE DART_RUNTIME_LIBRARY PROPERTY STRINGS /MD /MT)
+  option(DART_MSVC_DEFAULT_OPTIONS "Build DART with default Visual Studio options" OFF)
 else()
   option(BUILD_SHARED_LIBS "Build shared libraries" ON)
 endif()
@@ -465,14 +466,16 @@ endif()
 # Compiler flags
 #===============================================================================
 if(MSVC)
-  message(STATUS "Setup Visual Studio Specific Flags")
   # Visual Studio enables c++11 support by default
   if(NOT MSVC12)
     message(FATAL_ERROR "${PROJECT_NAME} requires VS 2013 or greater.")
   endif()
-  set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_DEBUG "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_DEBUG} ${DART_RUNTIME_LIBRARY}d /Zi /Gy /W1 /EHsc")
-  set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_RELEASE "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_RELEASE} ${DART_RUNTIME_LIBRARY} /Zi /GL /Gy /W1 /EHsc /arch:SSE2")
+  set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS} /MP4")
   set(CMAKE_EXE_LINKER_FLAGS_RELEASE "/LTCG /INCREMENTAL:NO")
+  if(NOT DART_MSVC_DEFAULT_OPTIONS)
+    set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_DEBUG "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_DEBUG} ${DART_RUNTIME_LIBRARY}d /Zi /Gy /W1 /EHsc")
+    set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_RELEASE "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_RELEASE} ${DART_RUNTIME_LIBRARY} /Zi /GL /Gy /W1 /EHsc /arch:SSE2")
+  endif(NOT DART_MSVC_DEFAULT_OPTIONS)
 elseif(CMAKE_COMPILER_IS_GNUCXX)
   set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "-Wall -msse2 -fPIC")
   execute_process(
diff --git a/appveyor.yml b/appveyor.yml
index 8ada23ea80804..38f6ebdbe3460 100644
--- a/appveyor.yml
+++ b/appveyor.yml
@@ -11,8 +11,9 @@ platform:
 
 # specify custom environment variables
 environment:
+  MSVC_DEFAULT_OPTIONS: ON
   BOOST_ROOT: C:\Libraries\boost
-  BOOST_LIBRARYDIR: C:\Libraries\boost\stage\lib
+  BOOST_LIBRARYDIR: C:\Libraries\boost\lib32-msvc-12.0
   BUILD_EXAMPLES: OFF  # don't build examples to not exceed allowed build time (40 min)
   BUILD_TUTORIALS: OFF  # don't build tutorials to not exceed allowed build time (40 min)
   matrix:
@@ -43,7 +44,7 @@ branches:
 
 # scripts that run after cloning repository
 install:
-  - ps: cd "C:\projects\dart\ci"
+  - ps: cd C:\projects\dart\ci
   - ps: .\appveyor_install.ps1
 
 # scripts to run before build
@@ -54,7 +55,7 @@ before_build:
   # We generate project files for Visual Studio 12 because the boost binaries installed on the test server are for Visual Studio 12.
   - cmd: if "%platform%"=="Win32" set CMAKE_GENERATOR_NAME=Visual Studio 12
   - cmd: if "%platform%"=="x64"   set CMAKE_GENERATOR_NAME=Visual Studio 12 Win64
-  - cmd: cmake -G "%CMAKE_GENERATOR_NAME%" -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=%configuration% -DBUILD_CORE_ONLY="%BUILD_CORE_ONLY%" -DDART_BUILD_EXAMPLES="%BUILD_EXAMPLES%" -DDART_BUILD_TUTORIALS="%BUILD_TUTORIALS%" -DBOOST_ROOT="%BOOST_ROOT%" -DBOOST_LIBRARYDIR="%BOOST_LIBRARYDIR%" -DBoost_USE_STATIC_LIBS="ON" -Durdfdom_DIR="%urdfdom_DIR%" -Durdfdom_headers_DIR="%urdfdom_headers_DIR%" ..
+  - cmd: cmake -G "%CMAKE_GENERATOR_NAME%" -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=%configuration% -DBUILD_CORE_ONLY="%BUILD_CORE_ONLY%" -DDART_BUILD_EXAMPLES="%BUILD_EXAMPLES%" -DDART_BUILD_TUTORIALS="%BUILD_TUTORIALS%" -DBOOST_ROOT="%BOOST_ROOT%" -DBOOST_LIBRARYDIR="%BOOST_LIBRARYDIR%" -DBoost_USE_STATIC_LIBS="ON" -Durdfdom_DIR="%urdfdom_DIR%" -Durdfdom_headers_DIR="%urdfdom_headers_DIR%" -DDART_MSVC_DEFAULT_OPTIONS="%MSVC_DEFAULT_OPTIONS%" ..
 
 build:
   project: C:\projects\dart\build\dart.sln # path to Visual Studio solution or project
diff --git a/unittests/testSignal.cpp b/unittests/testSignal.cpp
index 170f580c3bb16..3583de0b18c7d 100644
--- a/unittests/testSignal.cpp
+++ b/unittests/testSignal.cpp
@@ -241,7 +241,7 @@ struct signal_sum
 //==============================================================================
 TEST(Signal, ReturnValues)
 {
-  const float tol = 1e-6;
+  const float tol = 1.5e-6;
 
   const float a = 5.0f;
   const float b = 3.0f;