A comparison between usual angle-dependent x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy/Auger electron spectroscopy and a recently developed evaluation procedure based on analysis of the near peak spectral region is presented. The latter procedure is based on the theoretical description of the energy/angular distribution of an arbitrary sample in which the so-called partial escape distributions play a central role. These quantities describe the probability that a signal electron generated in a certain depth interval escapes from the surface with a direction in a certain angular interval after experiencing a certain number of inelastic scattering processes. Using model data to compare the two approaches it was found that analysis of a rather small energy region in the vicinity of the peak recorded at two emission angles (0-degrees and 60-degrees relative to the surface normal) suffices to restore the entire specimen depth profile. In contrast, the usual angle-resolved techniques, based on peak areas or heights only, need to be recorded at more, and more oblique, emission angles. Since measurements at oblique emission are difficult to perform, and the influence of effects like surface roughness, surface excitations, and the like become more pronounced at oblique emission, application of the present method to experimental data seems highly promising.