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Winamp or FooBar, WASAPI or ASIO?

post #1 of 34
2/3/09 at 8:55pm
Thread Starter 
Hi guys,

Untill now I've used Winamp and my M-Audio Transit USB soundcard which processes the sound and sends analogue to my hi-fi integrated amp.

I've downloaded FooBar recently and am going to have my dedicated DAC (Cambridge Audio 840C) delivered tomorrow. So from tomorrow I'm going to be running digital output (Toslink) from my M-Audio Transit to the 840C.

I'm in the market to buy a Trends UD-10.1 USB or Empirical Audio Off-Ramp Turbo 2 USB soon, so I can get rid of the M-Audio Transit and improve SQ even further

What can FooBar offer me over Winamp and what can WASAPI or ASIO4ALL offer me over standard .dll files!?

I found this thread, but what are the real benefits of me doing all of this for my current needs!?...
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/ea...5/#post5316393

I'm running Vista Ultimate SP1 and listen to MP3's and a lot of FLAC files.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated!
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post #2 of 34
2/3/09 at 10:26pm
One thing Foobar gives you is the ability to do perfect gapless playback of MP3 and FLAC files. Winamp tries to do gapless palyback but fails to do it properly.

WASAPI and ASIO and kernel streaming gives you the possibility to do bit-perfect playback. All three methods work. It depends on your particular drivers and setup as to which works best for you. A benefit of bit-perfect playback is you know that there is no funny business going on that might cause truncation or other fiddling of the bits. A secondary benefit is that ASIO and WASAPI may (depends on your particular setup) block system sounds from interfering with your music. That stops Windows beeps and sounds from mixing with your music.

Another option is to try J. River Media Jukebox. It supports ASIO for its bit-perfect playback method. It also can do perfect gapless playback.
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post #3 of 34
2/4/09 at 3:35am
Quote:
Originally Posted by chodecz View Post
Hi guys,

Untill now I've used Winamp and my M-Audio Transit USB soundcard which processes the sound and sends analogue to my hi-fi integrated amp.

I've downloaded FooBar recently and am going to have my dedicated DAC (Cambridge Audio 840C) delivered tomorrow. So from tomorrow I'm going to be running digital output (Toslink) from my M-Audio Transit to the 840C.

I'm in the market to buy a Trends UD-10.1 USB or Empirical Audio Off-Ramp Turbo 2 USB soon, so I can get rid of the M-Audio Transit and improve SQ even further

What can FooBar offer me over Winamp and what can WASAPI or ASIO4ALL offer me over standard .dll files!?

I found this thread, but what are the real benefits of me doing all of this for my current needs!?...
http://www.head-fi.org/forums/f46/ea...5/#post5316393

I'm running Vista Ultimate SP1 and listen to MP3's and a lot of FLAC files.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated!
Setting up Foobar and WASAPI wouldnt take much longer than it would to start this thread. Maybe you can tell us.
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post #4 of 34
2/4/09 at 3:58am
personally I use foobar + kernel streaming and just turn down the volume of aps with the vista mixer that dont need playback (eg my web browser). Works just as well as installing asio drivers for what I need (as far as i know, that is)
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post #5 of 34
2/4/09 at 4:13am
Quote:
Originally Posted by m0ofassa View Post
personally I use foobar + kernel streaming and just turn down the volume of aps with the vista mixer that dont need playback (eg my web browser). Works just as well as installing asio drivers for what I need (as far as i know, that is)
Did you try it?
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post #6 of 34
2/4/09 at 4:18am
when i used winamp, i actually wanted a more "simple-looking," but powerful audio player. foobar = the answer.

it can do asio/ks/wasapi/etc, manage multiple playlists with ease, built-in freedb, auto tagging, easily customizable even with no additional add-ons, built-in converter, and so on and so forth.

ASIO worked fine for me in vista systems, i never tried wasapi. try them both out and see which one is your favorite.
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post #7 of 34
2/4/09 at 4:54am
Quote:
Originally Posted by olblueyez View Post
Did you try it?
of course not still finding an excuse to try it
edit: it should be noted that the main deterrance for me at the moment is that all other playback is ceased for asio4all/wasapi (as far as i know), and sometimes I play games with my own music playing. feel free to correct me/encourage me of course, always open minded to new things
EDIT:: for OP, i find that system noise is eliminated with my current settings (and it is probably the same with the other settings)
EDIT::: just chucked wasapi on and it sounds a little better. Could be placebo, though. Slightly better separation and it seems more compatible with DSPs than kernel streaming. might stick with it.
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post #8 of 34
2/4/09 at 5:10am
Quote:
Originally Posted by m0ofassa View Post
of course not still finding an excuse to try it
edit: it should be noted that the main deterrance for me at the moment is that all other playback is ceased for asio4all/wasapi (as far as i know), and sometimes I play games with my own music playing. feel free to correct me/encourage me of course, always open minded to new things
EDIT:: for OP, i find that system noise is eliminated with my current settings (and it is probably the same with the other settings)
EDIT::: just chucked wasapi on and it sounds a little better. Could be placebo, though. Slightly better separation and it seems more compatible with DSPs than kernel streaming. might stick with it.
Kewl
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post #9 of 34
2/4/09 at 3:23pm
Foobar is perfect for setting up something like ASIO. Appearance and other options are also very easy to configure. It is also a free and open program.
What I like best is that it uses very little resources.
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post #10 of 34
2/4/09 at 4:52pm
I've used all 3 bit-perfect outputs, use WASAPI cos its new.

Here be my current foobar.


Newest version.
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post #11 of 34
2/4/09 at 5:19pm
im using Foobar with WASAPI.

Winamp is ok i guess, besides it not doing gapless, i just dont like the way it looks.

Foobar is kinda tricky to start...you need to play around a bit to get it to look the way you want.

However, its VERY customizable.
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post #12 of 34
2/4/09 at 5:54pm
Here is mine. I like to keep it simple as it is always in my 2nd monitor.
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post #13 of 34
2/4/09 at 8:42pm
Gapless is not standard? O.M.G.

Its 2009:We have quad-core CPUs, GBs of RAM, TBs of storage, 64-bit OS'...honestly some media players are not gapless?
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post #14 of 34
2/4/09 at 11:21pm
Thread Starter 
Guys, I'm running Vista SP1 but can't find Wasapi dll file!? If I can't find it anywhere on my HD can I d/l it and use it in FooBar dir.???
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post #15 of 34
2/4/09 at 11:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by chodecz View Post
Guys, I'm running Vista SP1 but can't find Wasapi dll file!? If I can't find it anywhere on my HD can I d/l it and use it in FooBar dir.???
Try the link in my signature.
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