Foobar2000 Dolby Headphone config - Comment & discuss! - Page 3

Reverted v1.0.3 config back to 120% dolby headphone amplification, this value really sounds best after all.

So any1 up to try compare the foobar v1.0.3 preconfig to 1.1.6? I really permanently went back to 1.0.3 because it just sound a bit better in my ears.

Quote:

Originally Posted by warwulf7 

Hey RPGWiZaRD could you send me only the preset for the xgeq plugin ?

 

Many thanks for sharing this!

The xgeq EQ plugin doesn't have any "save" preset feature unfortunately, unless it saves the config somewhere I'm unaware of. You have to bug xnor to add a save/load preset function. :p

For me the reverb isn't an issue, I don't get too much reverb. It sounds nearly the same as not using Dolby Headphone. I tried your settings and I think they sound pretty nice if preferring a more laid-back sound, raising rear in front and front in rear a bit higher like I did results in more "forward" sound which I think sounds great but if you like a more laid-back sound then yours works nicely. I prefer getting that feeling of standing very close to the singer. :) But I will have to experiment a little bit more if "front in rear" should be a few steps higher than "rear in front" as I've used to have it the other way.

I've also tested the Bauer plugin but to me it doesn't sound quite as great and sometimes it's almost as if it would sound worse with it to me but maybe it's just on my DAC. 

BTW I updated the graphic EQ picture so that I entered how many steps you should change each band to make it easier to copy in case you prefer not downloading that preconfigured pack.

EDIT: Currently evaluating a channel mixer setting like this (with foobar2000 v1.1.6) and I'm liking what I hear, sounds like more clear "out-of-the" head experience by a large amount (possibly TOO MUCH and confusing your brain as every singer and instrument have their very distinct position xD) while keeping the forward sound I prefer. Center volume does effect quite a lot, if you find it too confusing you could always try raising it to around 0.60 or so for a more centered sound.

Any testers? :p I think I'm probably gonna use this for now on.

EDIT: Interesting is that with this particular config it only sounds great on foobar v1.1.6 not the older 1.0.3 which works better with the config posted in the first post.

If you get too much reverb you should just adjust the Dolby headphone "Amplification" slider as this setting is very DAC/headphone dependant which settingg will work ok and not give too much reverb, on my settings with Audigy 2 ZS I barely notice any reverb added compared to not using Dolby headphone (I still want to have a little as I find it crucial in wanting to get a realistic bigger sounding stage) but on my onboard realtek chip it already sounds more reverbey at the same setting so I have to lower it a few steps (this latest posted seems to sound pretty fine to me on realtek onboard chip tho after a quick test). The Amplification slider both will increase reverb as well as increase the spatial awareness (everything starts sounding more out of head as well as clearer so with greater value) why I prefer it to have as high as possible without giving too much noticable reverb which is why 120% might not work OK for everyone, compared to 100% it's a huge improvement in my case in that realistic soundstage I'm looking for but yea this needs invidual equipment adjustment more than anything.

I started with Graphicism's settings, thanks to him I started enjoying Dolby Headphone and wish I then had seen it sooner! 

I will have to dig more into those other plugins, those I haven't played around with especially crossfeed as I didn't even understand what crossfeed meant until recently so that's why I never looked at such threads.

The problem is providing a config working great for every1 why I found it important for at least newbies to Dolby headphone plugin at least reading through my guide to understand what the difference sliders affect in sound so they can change them as they wish. :p This last config in my previous post for example didn't sound particularly impressive on my onboard realtek chip (especially "center" slider has to be raised a bit to sound better as well as rear volume for more width) but sounded really great on Audigy 2 ZS.

Here's what for example Realtek onboard users could try as it seems quite a few are using it 

Also I think it sounds better if Speaker config is set to 5.1 in the Realtek settings.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roller 

Out of curiosity, RPGWiZaRD, but why haven't you tried a newer Dolby Headphone .dll?

That's the latest I've found.

EDIT: I also updated the v1.1.6 config in the OP to use the following channel mixer settings as changed one of the bass sliders one step on the EQ as well as changing load order of the plugins so that the EQ plugin is put last instead of first as I think there's subtle changes for the better like that.

OK I've updated both preconfig packages with dolby headphone v1.20.0.276, will look around tomorrow if I'd find any more recent version. Between the version I was using and this newer one there may be tiny differences, the frequencies might be a little more clean, stay more true to the original unprocessed signal. Soundstage-wise I'm hardpressed to hear any difference, could perhaps be slightly more spacious/open sounding and an improvement no matter how small it is, is still an improvement! Thanks for the hint Roller. 

I downloaded WinDVD trial but at least this one was using same version (according to the foobar2000 dolby headphone wrapper at least) but the size was 5KB bigger than the other dll file though...

EDIT: PowerDVD also uses that same version v1.20.0.276 and matches the exact size (byte-wise) as the one included in the preconfigs now too. So I believe that's really the latest version, well at least I'm also up-to-date now too.

I really like how the foobar2000 v1.1.6 config sounds like now, for a long time I preferred v1.0.3 for some reason but now I think v1.1.6 sounds quite a lot better with these particular settings and the newer dolby headphone dll. I might have to add separate config for Realtek onboard users as it sounds quite different (much more narrow at same setting on this DAC) compared to Audigy 2 ZS with kX Audio drivers, unfortunately I don't own more DACs than that. :p