[FullBlownEargasam]

Hello all,
I have been using Foobar for a few years and like the custom-ability and the ASIO or Wasapi support. I would like to customize it a bit more than I have in terms of looks and functionality..... or change to a new player. When I set it up years ago the youtube tutorials were current now I can't find anything from the last 3 years. 2 Questions
1. Is there a better alternative
2. Are there current tutorials or has not much changed.

Thanks for any input

 

[genck]

Check out:
MusicBee https://getmusicbee.com/
Winyl https://winyl-player.github.io/ (hasn't been updated since 2018 but still good)

 

[xcom]

Roon https://roonlabs.com/

 

[GREQ]

Hello all,
I have been using Foobar for a few years and like the custom-ability and the ASIO or Wasapi support. I would like to customize it a bit more than I have in terms of looks and functionality..... or change to a new player. When I set it up years ago the youtube tutorials were current now I can't find anything from the last 3 years. 2 Questions
1. Is there a better alternative
2. Are there current tutorials or has not much changed.

Thanks for any input

Foobar2000 is still constantly being worked on and updated: https://www.foobar2000.org/
Last update/news is from the end of March.

It is designed with the goal of being the absolute minimal and best sounding player around by bypassing the windows audio mixer (among other things).
There are several plugins you can get to change the aesthetics of foobar, but I've never looked into it.

 

[alekc]

You may want to check dopamine if you are looking for free alternative. It has very nice UI IMHO.

I've tried to learn roon UI and I failed. For my needs and in my setup roon did not delivered anything above other players gave me already but it all depends on your needs. I also failed to setup my DAC in roon the way I wanted but it works just fine without any tweaking to be honest.

Currently I spend most of time using Audirvana as it works with most streaming services. It allowed me to setup upsampling and other custom properties pretty quickly. It has its own set of flaws and bugs but in my book less than roon and carries lower price tag. For playing FLACs only I still use foobar from time to time.

 

[xcom]

You may want to check dopamine if you are looking for free alternative. It has very nice UI IMHO.

I've tried to learn roon UI and I failed. For my needs and in my setup roon did not delivered anything above other players gave me already but it all depends on your needs. I also failed to setup my DAC in roon the way I wanted but it works just fine without any tweaking to be honest.

Currently I spend most of time using Audirvana as it works with most streaming services. It allowed me to setup upsampling and other custom properties pretty quickly. It has its own set of flaws and bugs but in my book less than roon and carries lower price tag. For playing FLACs only I still use foobar from time to time.

Did you head to their forums for help or to the discord channel?

The roon ui is very simple. bugs? No issues here. Yes there was quite a few in the early releases but they have been worked out. Nothing is perfect
I have used Audirvana and I found it very limiting for my needs compare to roon. but hey for each their own

 

[alekc]

Did you head to their forums for help or to the discord channel?

The roon ui is very simple. bugs? No issues here. Yes there was quite a few in the early releases but they have been worked out. Nothing is perfect
I have used Audirvana and I found it very limiting for my needs compare to roon. but hey for each their own

Are you asking about Audirvana or Roon - sorry but I've got lost. As far as Audirvana is concerned I am in contact with them and reporting issues (like Tidal login window for example). As for Roon I think it performs better in more complex/advance setups than mine. When using it directly from your notebook with DAC connected through USB I see personally very little added value of it comparing to other software. Therefore I've selected Audirvana and I think Audirvana is hence closer to Foobar. AFAIK Roon does not support HIGHRESAUDIO account connection for example which I am using occasionally.

Roon UI is written in way to allow easy porting between different operating systems and I think it simple, outdated and ugly yet I can't understand some of decision made by its authors as far as ergonomy goes. Two things I liked about Roon that I miss in Audirvana are:

• waveform seek bar (I can't believe Audirvana is missing this)
• lossless path indicator (useful when you are tweaking your DAC and Roon settings)

I'm sure there are people who prefer Roon over Audirvana, I am just saying I know Roon is not for me at this point and I've canceled my subscription before trial period ended. On the other hand Roon is much more than just a music player.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

I hated roon, total fail in my opinion. foobar2000 is great, it costs nothing, it plays everything including SACD ISO rips.

 

[xcom]

So we got the roon haters coming out of the woods! LOL.
Free is always better.

 

[gimmeheadroom]

Free is not always better but for my use Roon was worse than useless. For the money I expect it to work. Instead they expected me to spend weeks on my music so they can display it. No thanks, I don't need a broken GUI on top of my music...

 

[FullBlownEargasam]

I really appreciate all of the input so far. It looks like Foobar is still a legit (and very good) option. I wish manipulating the UI was easier and didn't require math. I wasn't crazy about paying for a service to play my own music. I think I may give muicbee a look. Does anyone know if there is limitations as to what Music Bee can play? FLAC DSD?

 

[gimmeheadroom]

I really appreciate all of the input so far. It looks like Foobar is still a legit (and very good) option. I wish manipulating the UI was easier and didn't require math. I wasn't crazy about paying for a service to play my own music. I think I may give muicbee a look. Does anyone know if there is limitations as to what Music Bee can play? FLAC DSD?

I don't know about musicbee but if you have questions about foobar and people here can't help, foobar does have their own forums. Maybe there is a simple answer

 

[Roseval]

MusicBee has its own forum as well: https://www.getmusicbee.com/forum/

 

[xcom]

or the money I expect it to work. Instead they expected me to spend weeks on my music so they can display it. No thanks, I don't need a broken GUI on top of my music...

Seems like a user issue. I know your answer since you arleady display your "dislike" but ill do my part, Ill be more than glad to take your challenge (Unable to display your music for weeks) and help you see it in minutes.

 

[Chris Kaoss]

For the "less is more" option, have a look at PotPlayer.
Nice little player with a lot to play with.

My all day favourite at the moment.