[magicalmouse]

Hi i use musicbee and fidelizer (free) and i wondered if there was a better sounding player for audio using win10 and outputting to an external dac (irdac2) using a laptop (8gb ram/1tb drive)

Any thoughts?

 

[msing539]

Foobar, Audirvana, and JRiver are some other options to look into.

 

[ok computer]

Musicbee and Fidelizer are both good. There is also Winyl, XXhighend, playpcmwin, WTFplay, HQplayer. There is a whole thread on music players you can find if you look up "My experience with different music players." Check that out!

 

[Roseval]

By and large media players are library managers. Unless the developer screwed something up, they shouldn't have a sound.
As you have Musicbee, configure it properly by using WASAPI/Exclusive.
https://www.thewelltemperedcomputer.com/SW/Players/MusicBee/MusicBee_audio.htm

 

[gimmeheadroom]

By and large media players are library managers. Unless the developer screwed something up, they shouldn't have a sound.

This can't be said often enough!

As you have Musicbee, configure it properly by using WASAPI ASIO/Exclusive.

There, fixed that for you

 

[ok computer]

OP has obviously invested a ton of money into his gear. Why not spend a little bit of time experimenting with some free software to find out if it makes a difference to him or not?

 

[gimmeheadroom]

OP has obviously invested a ton of money into his gear. Why not spend a little bit of time experimenting with some free software to find out if it makes a difference to him or not?

Free advice is worth price paid (in the best case)

 

[ok computer]

I’ll need $10,000 for my last post then, thanks!

 

[moriez]

Unless the developer screwed something up, they shouldn't have a sound.

To understand where you're coming from, the same logic applies to for example DACs and cables in your opinion?

 

[Roseval]

I had been puzzled by the difference between JRiver and Musicbee.
If I play exactly the same track, JRiver sound warmer, fuller but lacks detail. Musicbee sounds more transparent but a bit lean.
Of course I checked all what could be checked, no DSP going on, both WASAPI/Exclusive, etc.
One day I asked somebody to swap the players on me in a unsighted test.
I was totally unable to tell them apart.
Indeed, that is what happens if you switch from listening with your eyes to listening with your ears only.
It removes one's cognitions out of the equation.

 

[LucyWu]

Pure Asio Player is very good, but does not support gapless replay (yet - being worked on).

WTFPlay (small, standalone linux solution) is my go to for ultimate sound replay but no gui, no gapless. Can be just a usb stick, so can live easily alongside a windows install.

Neither of these offer what most people will consider basic features (no library management, dsp or even coverart display) but both sound rich, organic and sweeter than any of the popular gui players.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

To understand where you're coming from, the same logic applies to for example DACs and cables in your opinion?

I can't answer for him but it seems obvious that there is a big difference between a software player which has no physical components and works only in the digital domain (and can therefore be proven bit-perfect) and physical components which work cross domain and have physical properties like attenuation, velocity factor, etc. etc. etc.

I don't see any contradiction here.

 

[manueljenkin]

Pure Asio Player is very good, but does not support gapless replay (yet - being worked on).

WTFPlay (small, standalone linux solution) is my go to for ultimate sound replay but no gui, no gapless. Can be just a usb stick, so can live easily alongside a windows install.

Neither of these offer what most people will consider basic features (no library management, dsp or even coverart display) but both sound rich, organic and sweeter than any of the popular gui players.

Wtfplay is great! Xxhighend is even better (I love the custom upsampler).

Yet to try pure asio player. Is it available for free?

 

[LucyWu]

Wtfplay is great! Xxhighend is even better (I love the custom upsampler).

Yet to try pure asio player. Is it available for free?

Hi Manuel

We have discussed XXHighend before and I was a fan also, but haven't used it in recent years. I'm not sure the current state of the project.

Pure Asio Player is free (but is not a simple download as the developer provides a test app, you run that, gather the outputs and he adapts the player to optimise its settings for your pc/interface. A really patient and helpful chap - I use the not-common Audiowise SRC.DX interface for my Dave and it uses some odd framing techniques which needed a bit of experimentation to get working, so he did some debug versions and we eventually found one that worked well).

Although PAP is "free" - the developer requests that if you are happy with it you make a donation to a emergency medical services charity instead of lining his own pocket. I was happy to do that ebcuse of the amount of work he put into getting my set up working and the charity is something I felt worth supporting.

 

[magicalmouse]

When i started this thread i did not realise that all? of the best players had no GUI.

What is the best sounding player with a GUI?

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