BEST audio player???

[Mistersprinkles]

I use SONIQUE 1.96 and find it has good audio quality. I dont like WINAMP. Does anyone know of a sound player with a higher quality?

Thanks :)

[Gnus]

Opinions will vary but most agree that foobar2000 with Asio/KS is the best sounding.

[Mistersprinkles]

What is an asio KS?



I found the foobar player. Is ASIO some kind of volume management?


EDIT:

I just grabbed Foobar. I'm a serious audiophile... I have about $600-700 of speaker equipment which is nothing to shake a stick at on a PC...

Foobar (stock, not using ASIO cuzz I dont know what it is hehehe... plz help) has a better definition and range than sonique. It has no depth to its soundstage though. It just presents the recording as it is. Which isn't necessarily bad but it makes it harder to decide whether to switch...

Google SONIQUE 1.96 (tucows has it) and lemme know your opinions...

[ShadowVlican]

i don't see how "sonique" can provide a better soundstage than foobar... unless it adds extra post-processing to the sound making it artificial....

it should depend on your soundcard (and lots of other things too)

[Jaytee]

From what I read, Foobar is regarded as the best for sound quality but only if its been tweaked.

Here is a guide but there are probably better ones out there.

http://www.techspot.com/tweaks/foobar/

[ShadowVlican]

From what I read, Foobar is regarded as the best for sound quality but only if its been tweaked.

Here is a guide but there are probably better ones out there.

http://www.techspot.com/tweaks/foobar/
not much of a tweak guide... i wouldn't follow that....

[Jaytee]

not much of a tweak guide... i wouldn't follow that....

:cheesygri I will try to find a better one

[akira1971]

I'd go over to the Head-Fi (Computers-As-Source) forum (http://www4.head-fi.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=59) for audiophiles. Everything you need to know about tweaking Foobar, ASIO and your particular soundcard. I've been using Foobar with my Chaintech AV710 card for a couple of years now.

[Gnus]

ASIO is a driver that enables your sound card to bypass Windows's kmixer which resamples sound, which is generally a bad thing (something like that, correct me if I'm wrong) so the input goes straight to the sound card.

If you're using Creative cards, they come with Creative's version of ASIO.
Or you can just download Asio4all.

Download ASIO support on the foobar components page.
Enable it in foobar underneath the output tab.

(sorry if instructions are vague since i'm too lazy, but you should be able to figure it out)

BTW, check out Head-Fi if you need further info on computer/audio setup.

What is an asio KS?



I found the foobar player. Is ASIO some kind of volume management?


EDIT:

I just grabbed Foobar. I'm a serious audiophile... I have about $600-700 of speaker equipment which is nothing to shake a stick at on a PC...

Foobar (stock, not using ASIO cuzz I dont know what it is hehehe... plz help) has a better definition and range than sonique. It has no depth to its soundstage though. It just presents the recording as it is. Which isn't necessarily bad but it makes it harder to decide whether to switch...

Google SONIQUE 1.96 (tucows has it) and lemme know your opinions...

[gordholio]

I like and use JetAudio. It has great sound quality and you can minimize it to a bar just above the taskbar.
Foobar sounds good too; it's pretty basic in terms of interface though.

[pestilenc]

Winamp here. I've used it for years and I have to say it does what I want and doesn't get in the way.

My personal favourite was NAD but that's almost ten years old now. Its from back in the day when Winamp had a crappy decoder.

[Mistersprinkles]

You have very poor quality speakers and soundcard then because winamp sounds like the llama's ass, it doesn't kick it. :)

[Mistersprinkles]

Ok i downloaded the direct kernel out put and ASIO support DLL's (i have a SB audigy 2)

I cant figure out how to run the asio nor can I find the option to pad 24-32 bit. I am using the newest version of fubar2000

here are screenshots of what I get.

If you can show me screenshots of how to tweak it the right way, I'd appreciate it guys

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n88/111olbap/fdssdfa-1.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n88/111olbap/fdssdfa.jpg

[Gnus]

KS is fine as well, they both do the same thing.

[Mistersprinkles]

KS is fine as well, they both do the same thing.

So in your opinion am i configured for best possible sound?? :lol:
I ask CUUUZZ on several other forums ppl are saying ASIO sounds better than KS does...

Can anyone tell me why I can't find the option for KS? I have the correct dll files all installed. Can someone hook up screenshots plz? Im a visual lurnur

There is a definite improvement with KS btw- much crisper (not that CRISP is an accepted audio term) perhaps I should say improved definition :)

[ShadowVlican]

I ask CUUUZZ on several other forums ppl are saying ASIO sounds better than KS does...

......

There is a definite improvement with KS btw- much crisper (not that CRISP is an accepted audio term) perhaps I should say improved definition :)
ASIO and KS sound identical.. both do the same thing.... the difference is in the driver support

the whole purpose of ASIO/KS is the bypass the kmixer as said above AND to play sound at original sample rate (ie: 44.1khz for all audio cds)

the problem is that all onboard sound and most creative sound blaster will resample to 48khz internally... blahblahablh.... u can read this stuff everywhere... which is why AV710 or other envy based sound cards are prefered..

don't fall into the placebo trap though... be honest with yourself and see if you can hear a difference

[Mistersprinkles]

ASIO and KS sound identical.. both do the same thing.... the difference is in the driver support

the whole purpose of ASIO/KS is the bypass the kmixer as said above AND to play sound at original sample rate (ie: 44.1khz for all audio cds)

the problem is that all onboard sound and most creative sound blaster will resample to 48khz internally... blahblahablh.... u can read this stuff everywhere... which is why AV710 or other envy based sound cards are prefered..

don't fall into the placebo trap though... be honest with yourself and see if you can hear a difference

KS murders DS for sound quality to my ear...

So are all Creative cards going to resample to 48? That's crappy... even an Xfi? Which I'll be buying soon?

[Mistersprinkles]

I cant figure out how to use replay gain in Foobar...

I want my tracks to be the same loudness, but I want to make the quiet ones louder, not the loud ones quieter... can someone tell me how to do this?

[Drew_W]

You're trying to get good quality sound playing mp3s over a SB Audigy? lol

[Jaytee]

You're trying to get good quality sound playing mp3s over a SB Audigy? lol

Audigy isnt THAT bad but you do seem to care a lot about your music so you should look at getting a Emu 0404 or Emu 1212m or M-Audio 192.

[CameraBill]

Audigy isnt THAT bad but you do seem to care a lot about your music so you should look at getting a Emu 0404 or Emu 1212m or M-Audio 192.

And stop playing Mp3's. 44kHz vs 48 kHz on an Mp3? What's the point