[RPGWiZaRD]

 
Quote:

I only listened it for 5-10 minutes, so I can't comment on any technical difference... But one thing that struck in my mind is these new configs has more natural tonality than previous config... Well, all configs sounds better than stock foobar though
 
In old configs, the sound is more smeared (imagine taking a chalk, draw a line and smear it with your fingers) which is a bad thing... New configs has blacker background, although on the down side, it sounds less authoritative compared with old...
 

 
Yea exactly how I'm seeing it too, well removing advanced limiter helped quite a lot for this too, the transparency is improved doing so while the Advanced limiter often brought different instruments or vocals closer it also smeared up the sound too much in other cases so it was either a win or lose case. But yea finetuning the treble range also helped a little, it was still a bit too smoothed/pushed back with old config, now it's about right but it depends so much what music you put on, with some music you can't now hear any frequency balance change switching on/off at all.
 

Seeing from your Electri-Q config, you prefer Analog mode? I prefer Digital mode as it gives me less grain (although some people prefer analog natural grain ) Regarding Airy vs Forward configs, I prefer Airy due to my genre of music... But I'm not saying that Forward is bad, its just that both of the configs has a specialized genre

 
Yea I do prefer analog even if digital is probably more accurate/neutral, I've always liked how "analog filters" and stuff sounds like, my ZO2 amp is also pretty much an analog amp too, I often think analog gets a more "musical" sound why with digital it gets more "technical". I personally prefer the "forward" config most of the time as I'm the person that wants to feel "engaged" by the music, want to get the feeling of starting to dance along with music but sometimes I also switch to the other config, depends on my mood & what I'm listening to. But yea I'm more of a Grado person (think Grado with HUGE bass boost (well subbass anyway), that's the sound signature that I like, one that it gets hard to sit still in the chair while listening to music which is often hardstyle, trance, pop, dance and more soft, melodical rock.
 
And for people who thinks this config increasing soundstage, I didn't find it to be the case with my headphones... Compared with stock foobar, I found the soundstage width and depth is still roughly the same (5 cm out of my head with my fullsize Senn, and in my head with my IEM)... But with this config, you will notice vast improvement in imaging pinpoint and instrument separation and the sound also portrayed more distant, which gives impression of bigger soundstages, especially when you close your eyes...
 
I only notice the real difference in soundstages when I switching between different amp (for example without an amp, the soundstage of my Senn headphones suddenly collapsed because it's underpowered...) Every headphones also has a different soundstages...
 
For a conclusion... All I can say is: Thanks for your effort, really appreciate it. With your config, all my music sounds more musical and enjoyable now
 
I think it improves depth but width isn't much improved, perhaps a tiny bit, if we talk in centimetres lol at least I'd say 1-2 cm for me but not more than that but depth feels a whole lot difference. It's like listening to a room placed with the instruments all in their own place.
 
But yea I think this config is improved in the sense it has a more "truer" to stock balance and improved transparency, the other config is still fun and engaging to listen to but it's not as accurate/neutral sounding.
 

 

[MusicHolic]

Advanced limiter seems compressing the dynamic range... The original idea was to eliminate distortion that sometimes can be heared... Certain Channel Mixer config can produce matrix output that's not normalized... That's why I usually placed Foobar Matrix Mixer (Normalize matrix ticked) below Channel Mixer to normalize the volume output first... It's better than advanced limiter
 
This way, even if I use your old channel mixer config with Dolby Headphone set to 100%, it doesn't distort anymore

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Quote:

Advanced limiter seems compressing the dynamic range... The original idea was to eliminate distortion that sometimes can be heared... Certain Channel Mixer config can produce matrix output that's not normalized... That's why I usually placed Foobar Matrix Mixer (Normalize matrix ticked) below Channel Mixer to normalize the volume output first... It's better than advanced limiter
 
This way, even if I use your old channel mixer config with Dolby Headphone set to 100%, it doesn't distort anymore

I've never tested Matrix Mixer, might have to give it a try but with these settings (adjusting Electri-Q & Dolby Headphone amplification) you can also avoid the distortion from too loud output. Channel Mixer's "Front in rear" setting is what REALLY affects the volume the most, it works almost as a 2nd volume slider hehe why I had to drop the gain with Electri-Q in the "forward" config to like -3.2dB. I'm interested in testing how it might perform with Matrix mixer + slightly less decreased gain in ElectriQ + maybe around 100% dolby headphone amplification though in the forward config, as it is currently it's very close to the audible clipping point in the "forward" config. I always demo with the most distortion prone tracks I got to check if it's free of distortion and the "forward" config is very close while the laid-back config has a small headroom to the clipping point since "Front in rear" is set so low. "Front in rear" setting is more effective to lower the distortion than the gain in ElectriQ or amplification in Dolby Headphone, it starts losing the dolby headphone effect if lowering the dolby amplification slider and the volume gets lower compared to the "gained less distortion levels" when lowering gain in ElectriQ, hope that made at least some sense to you haha so maybe Matrix Mixer would be the best to take care of the volume levels after the Channel Mixer processing.
 
Advanced Limiter I'd say also works a bit like "loudness equalization" you find in Realtek onboard chips for example so yea it could potentially decrease dynamic range a little as it seems to make many instruments, vocals etc louder so everything is output with less volume variety besides limiting the signal which doesn't really work so great when the signal is too loud, you'll hear the compression artifacts so I actually find it more useful when the signal is not as loud which is almost the opposite of its intended use scenario. xD
 

 

[OPrwtos]

Hey rpg u know how we were discussing the settings, well i went back for some more testing and i found this to be a even more natural, its has a bit less instrument focus and separation (easy to tell the focus in certain songs) and a bit less soundstage but nevertheless sounds really good, one of the best settings yet. Oh and i also added LFE this time, try it.

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Quote:

Hey rpg u know how we were discussing the settings, well i went back for some more testing and i found this to be a even more natural, its has a bit less instrument separation and a bit less soundstage but nevertheless sounds really good, one of the best settings yet. Oh and i also added LFE this time, try it.

 
OK I will give it a short.
 
EDIT: I agree this sounds much better than your previous config (highs sounds better now). I will have to compare it to the "laid-back" config with channel mixer and see which of them I prefer, the "forward" one I still feel Channel Mixer does a greater job at.
 
Weird how the bass response sounds a little different redirecting to LFE channel. I'm also using Matrix Mixer after Freesurround and before dolby headphone & Electri-Q and applying like x1.35 multiplier to it to get it to similar volume level as stock foobar2000/the other config, works superb, better than adjusting gain in electri-Q and then I'm free to use whatever dolby headphone amplification setting I find best sounding too (currently testing 110% which sounds good to me with above config).
 
EDIT: I'm really enjoying above config for classical and such. It will probably replace the "laid-back" config for me, I think it does a better job at the intended sound, ie more relaxed, less in-your-face sound, bigger soundstage and airier sound which was the goal of the "laid-back" config for me. It sounds very neutral despite doing such great adjustments to soundstage. Must sound superb with your K701 I bet.
 
Is it OK in case I update this thread's config so that I will provide both my "forward" config and a "laid-back" config based on your config using freesurround with possibly some minor adjustments to the config (and use my Electri-Q EQ config that simply restores stock foobar2000 frequency balance). I will give credits for you for the above freesurround config in that case. I just want as many people as possible to discover the awesomeness of a tweaked dolby headphone config why I made this thread. Can't imagine going back to Dolby Headphone-less listening ever again.
 
EDIT2: I'm actually baffled how great this config sounds like, the soundstage is so awesome, it makes it almost sound limitless but still not artificial at all. Currently testing with some various movie OST tracks which is classical with quite dramatic sound to it, I've never heard such a big airy soundstage, it sounds like I'm in a big concert hall and able to locate all instruments in their own positions even with these M-Audio Q40 headphones which are closed, well semi closed actually as there's small vents at back. At the moment I'm using 117% dolby headphone amplification, at least it sounds much better compared to 100% but above 120% or so it starts being a bit too much.
 
I'm not completely sure about it yet but I seem to prefer 5.1 (legacy upmix) instead of the newer as it has slightly positive change on frequency response balance in my case.
 

 

[OPrwtos]

Quote:

 
OK I will give it a short.
 
EDIT: I agree this sounds much better than your previous config (highs sounds better now). I will have to compare it to the "laid-back" config with channel mixer and see which of them I prefer, the "forward" one I still feel Channel Mixer does a greater job at.
 
Weird how the bass response sounds a little different redirecting to LFE channel. I'm also using Matrix Mixer after Freesurround and before dolby headphone & Electri-Q and applying like x1.35 multiplier to it to get it to similar volume level as stock foobar2000/the other config, works superb, better than adjusting gain in electri-Q and then I'm free to use whatever dolby headphone amplification setting I find best sounding too (currently testing 110% which sounds good to me with above config).
 
EDIT: I'm really enjoying above config for classical and such. It will probably replace the "laid-back" config for me, I think it does a better job at the intended sound, ie more relaxed, less in-your-face sound, bigger soundstage and airier sound which was the goal of the "laid-back" config for me. It sounds very neutral despite doing such great adjustments to soundstage. Must sound superb with your K701 I bet.
 
Is it OK in case I update this thread's config so that I will provide both my "forward" config and a "laid-back" config based on your config using freesurround with possibly some minor adjustments to the config (and use my Electri-Q EQ config that simply restores stock foobar2000 frequency balance). I will give credits for you for the above freesurround config in that case. I just want as many people as possible to discover the awesomeness of a tweaked dolby headphone config why I made this thread. Can't imagine going back to Dolby Headphone-less listening ever again.
 
EDIT2: I'm actually baffled how great this config sounds like, the soundstage is so awesome, it makes it almost sound limitless but still not artificial at all. Currently testing with some various movie OST tracks which is classical with quite dramatic sound to it, I've never heard such a big airy soundstage, it sounds like I'm in a big concert hall and able to locate all instruments in their own positions even with these M-Audio Q40 headphones which are closed, well semi closed actually as there's small vents at back. At the moment I'm using 117% dolby headphone amplification, at least it sounds much better compared to 100% but above 120% or so it starts being a bit too much.
 
I'm not completely sure about it yet but I seem to prefer 5.1 (legacy upmix) instead of the newer as it has slightly positive change on frequency response balance in my case. My current settings:
 

 

Im glad your enjoying it , i funny i also use 110% in dolby ( i see you adjusted it a bit after, but still). 
 
You know whats really funny about that soundstage point you made. Is that relative to where i am standing in my room or if i poke my head ouside my window; the more physical space gives the illusion that the instruments can fit in that space, it actually feels like the soundstage is much bigger than just sitting in front of my pc, I think this is because it conforms to how the brain works. Like when im sitting infront of my pc, my brain knows there cant be instruments playing inside the wall, but when i poke my head out my window it actually sounds like the music is coming from around where the trees are (which is around 4~ meters away). Funny how that works.
 
Also you said your testing it with movie scores and classical and finding that it works really well with them. Well i nearly only listen to film and game scores (including some classical) and that covers around 98% of the the time. Thats why i prefer the more open soundstage and probably why your finding these configured settings good for this type of music . Also when i poked my head out the window it felt like the music was playing in the atmosphere (and not in the headphones) like im actually in a film, it was pretty amazing. Only if it was summer and i could sit on my balcony with my headphones....
 

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

I find it working awesome with classical music (game, movie music OSTs) but when it comes to pop and such I greatly prefer the "forward" config with channel mixer so it really depends on the type of music for me. It really sounds so off with hardstyle music too haha.

 

[OPrwtos]

Quote:

I find it working awesome with classical music (game, movie music OSTs) but when it comes to pop and such I greatly prefer the "forward" config with channel mixer so it really depends on the type of music for me. It really sounds so off with hardstyle music too haha.

haha.
 
Also yh, i dont actually listen to pop so
 

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Well I've updated the configs now in OP and provided the two different configs (that I've finetuned since my last settings) and I'm very happy with them now.
 
The "forward" config is suitable for: People who prefer a more forward/"in-your-face" sounding soundstage (but improved/slightly larger stage with better imaging/positioning over stock foobar2000), more engaging listening experience. Suitable for people who like the Grado sound or listen to lots of rock, EDM, dance, pop etc music. If unsure I'd first try this one as it's more closer to stock foobar2000 sound.
 
The "laid-back" config is suitable for: People who prefer a more laid-back sounding soundstage with better transparency and more spacious/wider soundstage, more relaxed listening. Suitable for people who prefer sound signatures by for example AKG K70x or Sennheiser HD800 or listen to a lot of classical/orchestra music.
 
Portable foobar2000 v1.1.6 "Forward" configuration: foobar2000.v1.1.6.Dolby.Headphone.(Forward)-RPGWiZaRD.zip
 
Portable foobar2000 v1.1.6 "Laid-back" configuration: foobar2000.v1.1.6.Dolby.Headphone.(Laid-back)-RPGWiZaRD.zip - thx OPrwtos 
 
Or if you just prefer grabbing the fbcp config files for DSP chain serializer:
 
foobar2000.EQ.Balanced.(Forward)-RPGWiZaRD.fbcp
http://www24.zippyshare.com/v/95228607/file.html
 
foobar2000.EQ.Balanced.(Laid-back)-RPGWiZaRD.fbcp
http://www24.zippyshare.com/v/48376311/file.html

 

 

[JackeShan]

I'm still enjoying the "forward" config that you posted in the other thread. It's awesome. Has this one been tuned since the last time you posted it in the other thread? Also, I prefer this over the laidback config. I listen to mostly metal/rock and a little bit EDM.

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Quote:

I'm still enjoying the "forward" config that you posted in the other thread. It's awesome. Has this one been tuned since the last time you posted it in the other thread? Also, I prefer this over the laidback config. I listen to mostly metal/rock and a little bit EDM.

The "forward" config has been finetuned a little, changed the channel mixer settings very minorly, stereoimage width from 0.89 to 0.92 and Rear "volume" from 1.32 to 1.31 and did some very minor EQ adjustment (at the bass mostly). Also added Matrix Mixer to the plugin list and lowered the volume level with this (as it just seems like the best way to control the raised output volume level by channel mixer) which in return made it possible for me to higher the the gain in electri-Q from like -3.2 dB to -1.04dB and also raised Dolby Headphone amplification slider to 102% from 95% before.
 
What it results audible wise is mostly some slight changes to soundstage, especially bringing up the dolby amplification slider seems to add more depth and paired with better stereo image separation from the channel mixer stereoimage width change, certain values work better than others, 100% and 102% works better than 101 or 103% for example. I'm unsure if it's even too much depth in the soundstage now though for that config.

 

[JackeShan]

Downloading it now. Thanks a lot for your effort!
 
Quote:

The "forward" config has been finetuned a little, changed the channel mixer settings very minorly, stereoimage width from 0.89 to 0.92 and Rear "volume" from 1.32 to 1.31 and did some very minor EQ adjustment (at the bass mostly). Also added Matrix Mixer to the plugin list and lowered the volume level with this (as it just seems like the best way to control the raised output volume level by channel mixer) which in return made it possible for me to higher the the gain in electri-Q from like -3.2 dB to -1.04dB and also raised Dolby Headphone amplification slider to 102% from 95% before.
 
What it results audible wise is mostly some slight changes to soundstage, especially bringing up the dolby amplification slider seems to add more depth and paired with better stereo image separation from the channel mixer stereoimage width change, certain values work better than others, 100% and 102% works better than 101 or 103% for example. I'm unsure if it's even too much depth in the soundstage now though for that config.

 

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Any comments on these latest changes, kinda curious.

 

[danny93]

I cant get this to install into my programes only as a folder so i cant set it as the default music player  
 
I.e after its downloaded and i extract it its as its already installed and i can open the aplication immediatly...any way around this?
 
Also i cant manage to get crossfede to work, any thoughts on thay?
 
Thanks for all your work mate
 
 

 

[RPGWiZaRD]

Quote:

I cant get this to install into my programes only as a folder so i cant set it as the default music player  
 
I.e after its downloaded and i extract it its as its already installed and i can open the aplication immediatly...any way around this?
 
Also i cant manage to get crossfede to work, any thoughts on thay?
 
Thanks for all your work mate

 
Yea you have to navigate to the folder you extracted it to and open the exe file from there (as your other foobar2000 install will open if you click on a mp3 file). If you want it replacing the other foobar2000 you simply put the folder into the exact same place as the other foobar2000 which you can move/rename temporarily or whatever and then it will become your default foobar2000.