[Roller]

With so many threads about how sluggish iTunes is, and with all the things foobar2000 can do, seems that some people still use iTunes mainly because of iPod/iPhone sync.
 
Well, that's no longer a reason as there is a foobar plugin that does the syncing among other things. The plugin supports basically all iPod, iPhone and iPad devices out there

 
Check it here: http://yuo.be/wiki/dop:start
 
 
foobar has two VST wrappers available, which do work with a number of VSTs available out there, and DXi can also be used through chainers.
Regarding the controversial debate of resampling, for those who do use resamplers, don't use the default PPHS as it is made with cpu power savings in mind, not maintaining SQ. SoX resampler does a much better job. It can be found here: http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=67373
 
In case people don't like the minimalistic/bland look of foobar, you can apply skins that do enable added features besides a UI refresh.
Skins can be found here:
http://customize.org/foobar
http://browse.deviantart.com/customization/skins/media/foobar2000/
 
Just be careful not to apply a skin made for an older SDK of foobar, namely versions prior to 1.x
 
There's even the additional eye candy of being able to use a wrapper for Milkdrop, a well known and much liked Winamp plugin, which can be contained inside foobar's folder, without external dependencies. Both the visualization plugin and Milkdrop packages are found here: http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=59388
 
 
The only thing I find that foobar somewhat lacks, is a proper library management, but that's where MediaMonkey comes in, effectively replacing iTunes entirely.

 

[scompton]

 

 
Quote:

Not Happening

1. Send autoplaylists to iPod as smart playlists, bring smart playlists to autoplaylists in foobar.

 
Makes it unworkable for me since I maintain smart playlists that I use to sync my iPods.  I also frequently use the smart playlists while listening.  I find iTunes is only sluggish with large libraries stored on external drives.  This is also where I need the smart playlists for managing what goes on my iPods.
 
I've never used foobar with a large library, but even with small libraries, it doesn't do it for me.   Last time I looked at Media Monkey, about a year ago, it also lacked features I use every day in iTunes.  Except on startup and shut down, I find iTunes' performance to be just fine.

 

[Roller]

Good to see some exceptions. foobar has absolutely no issues or slowdowns with enormous playlists. Management wise, I do feel MediaMonkey might have an edge over a plain foobar (there are skins that enable quite comprehensive library management). Besides the core being quite powerful as well as to the point, it is versatile through the many plugins that can shape it to each person's liking. Which cannot be said for the more closed iTunes.

 

[Mdraluck23]

Quote:

  Except on startup and shut down, I find iTunes' performance to be just fine.

Me too. It depends on your computer... Also switching to the iTunes Store on accident slows things to a crawl for a few seconds.

 

[scompton]

Yeah, the store sucks.  Too bad you can't disable it.  It's also a dog for ripping, but I like dbPowerAmp so much better anyway.
 
While looking at the docs for this plug in, I did notice that foobar now has the equivalent of Smart Playlists and shuffle by album.  That wasn't there last time I looked.  I've been using it for tagging FLACs before converting them to ALAC.

 

[Mdraluck23]

I rip into ALAC and convert to V0 mp3's for my 16gb Touch and Clip+. Fun stuff. I keep two copies of every song basically. Smart playlists for ALAC and mp3. Sync's perfectly.

 

[Roller]

It's another reason why I feel foobar has its appeal, a very active community with new component updates all the time. It can also do quite the converting, as the user can feed just about any encoder of any format, adjust default settings or even type advanced CLI options through the converter's interface. Do note I said converting, not ripping

 
And technically, iTunes can have the store access blocked, just cut all its connection privileges.
 
Regarding performance of a computer, I think it should be noted that there are more and more netbooks going around this world. I can understand the whole portability concept behind it but let's face it, they are some of the worst pieces of hardware I've seen in many years handling computers. While there is no need for powerful number crunching computer to do audio, I also don't think that things should go to the other end of the performance spectrum.

 

[khaos974]

Quote:

The only thing I find that foobar somewhat lacks, is a proper library management, but that's where MediaMonkey comes in, effectively replacing iTunes entirely.

 
What? IMHO, that's the strongest point of Foobar.
 

 

[Roller]

With a stock install, it's acceptable, but there are a lot of features that can be added, both through components and skins. It's just that many people forget how customizable foobar can be, and in such situation, I just recommended the next best thing, at least it seems that way. I myself do use and prefer foobar over all other players, as it is tweaked to my liking.

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Quote:

With a stock install, it's acceptable, but there are a lot of features that can be added, both through components and skins. It's just that many people forget how customizable foobar can be, and in such situation, I just recommended the next best thing, at least it seems that way. I myself do use and prefer foobar over all other players, as it is tweaked to my liking.

Exactly, I love my foobar2000 config and haven't been able to get anywhere close as good results on any other player. I love configurability, the more the merrier. I used to use Winamp some years ago for a long time and it had a bunch of plugins too but foobar2000 sounds so much better with my current dolby headphone settings especially. I'm the kind of guy that can keep tweaking every single slider/settings for a year or two and try to listen for best result even between "one" step on a slider or something, lol. xD
 
Even my parents hate it when I keep touching their Plasma TV settings to see if I can improve it further. It's like there's an built-in calibrator inside me that just have to get the best possible results out of every equipment.

 

[scompton]

I couldn't get the auto playlists to work at all, mainly because I couldn't get filters to work at all. Anything I put in for a filter, filtered out everything.  The one thing I hate about open source software is that documentation is scant.  Actually, I don't know if foobar is open source, but it sure has that feel. 
 
Infinite customization does nothing for me.  I have better things to do with my time than hunting around for the customization that will make it work the way I need it to work

 

[Roller]

Good thing there is air tight software like iTunes

It just works by default, which doesn't mean it works the best it could, as the capacity does lie on the mix between software and hardware, leaning more towards hardware, of course. Mainly it's a shame Apple still has such a grasp on so many people, specially when there are better options for lower prices. Almost feels like a topic about B&O gear, which by itself doesn't sound that bad, but it's vastly overpriced.
 
RPGWiZaRD, I do enjoy tweaking and fine tuning things myself too

Though regarding foobar, I'm not particularly a fan for dolby headphone, somehow the sound doesn't feel as natural to me, I prefer Bauer stereophonic-to-binaural much more, though it's more about crossfeed than anything else.

 

[scompton]

As soon as something exists that's as easy to use out of the box as iTunes is, I'll try it.  I've tried Media Monkey and foobar.  I use foobar every day, but only to tag flacs before converting to ALAC using dbPowerAmp.  I'm not wedded to iTunes, just to features that I use every day in iTunes that are either non existent or not user friendly in other apps.

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Quote:

RPGWiZaRD, I do enjoy tweaking and fine tuning things myself too

Though regarding foobar, I'm not particularly a fan for dolby headphone, somehow the sound doesn't feel as natural to me, I prefer Bauer stereophonic-to-binaural much more, though it's more about crossfeed than anything else.

Did you use channel mixer and try set it up like this? http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/535667/what-are-your-player-settings#post_7230632        
Without channel mixer for example it will sound crap. I think it sounds as realistic as it can get, even studio recordings sound much more live-like.
 
 
I tried that plugin you mentioned but it barely had any noticable changes.

 

[Roller]

It's great you enjoy using iTunes (no relationship strings attached whatsoever

). It's just that the only thing I see being done properly from Apple is the real computers they make. Being overpriced for features that are done the same way or better on other brands for much more money isn't my motto. But I respect the choices of everyone. Soon, the ixxx plugin for foobar will be mature enough for iTunes to be of no value for those who just need the operations it does. Also, supporting Zune devices is on the works.
 
Maybe it's just me, but I like plugging a device on a computer, seeing it recognized as a removable device of sorts and just do all my file operations without fuss or software/drivers dependencies.
 
@RPGWiZaRD: I can't use those settings of channel mixer as my soundcard doesn't output those channels. But from previous experiences with it, I didn't quite like the output, while being louder did seem to degrade a bit my sound. Also, I do have dolby headphone but I don't really use it, I try to keep the sound as close of the original and to my taste, haven't really found surround solutions to my ears yet

About bs2b, the changes are quite subtle, but it should be configured to your specific head, as well as head size. I find it the less fatiguing of all plugins of the sort, while doing its work with zero or near zero distortion of the original sound. But about the surround thing, I'm still looking for a VST that might do the trick. I've been looking at Ozone (not the MP version) which might do the trick, as long as I can tweak just what I need without messing any of the rest, and then it's listening to kickass sound