Getting the best from Winamp?

[Onix]

Hi guys. When I left the office for the weekend the administrator guys did (I think) something to my PC and the sound coming throug my Home Vibe seems to be bass heavy and lacking detail. Can anybody give me some pointers on what to do? How can I configure winamp in order to improve the sound? Thanks

 

[iancraig10]

Presumably, you've checked the Equalizer on Winamp?

 

[Onix]

Quote:

Originally Posted by iancraig10 Presumably, you've checked the Equalizer on Winamp?

Yes sir/ma'am. I have.

 

[lordgibbness]

Check all winamp input/output/dsp settings in winamp preferences (ctrl-p), and check all windows sound settings too in control panel/volume control, also check advanced options in vol control (bass/treble should be in the centre).

 

[Onix]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lordgibbness Check all winamp input/output/dsp settings in winamp preferences (ctrl-p), and check all windows sound settings too in control panel/volume control, also check advanced options in vol control (bass/treble should be in the centre).

Advance options is in gray, can't open it. Anyway, sorry if I don't reply for a while, I gotta go take my kid to school. But please keep the advice coming. Thanks

 

[rickcr42]

anything in grey is not operational so check your preferences (under options) and reset your original choices.

The biggest improvement to the sound in my winamp was this-

(yeah,i know it is just a skin but dammit it makes it sound as cool as it looks,But you gotta "lose" the mini-browser.It blows the whole look

) and adding the MAD plugin

DO check for any plugins that may be hijacking your controls !
Uncheck all you think you do not need then add them back one at a time to see what the effect is.

good luck man.

 

[lordgibbness]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rickcr42 The biggest improvement to the sound in my winamp was adding the MAD plugin

If you look here http://mp3decoders.mp3-tech.org/decoders.html you will see that the Nullsoft input plugin is of a higher quality, as is Shibatch.

 

[rickcr42]

no matter what something is "supposed' to sound like I go by what I like and the mad plug in sounds better to my ears.Is it better ?

Maybe...maybe not...but sounds fine to me so it is a keeper

 

[lordgibbness]

If you say so... but I think most people would generally use the Shibatch plugin (making sure to disabled mp3 playback in the default plugin) see http://lazzyhacker.blogsome.com/2005...-from-your-pc/

 

[rickcr42]

well there you go man ! My DAC is only 20 bits so a 24 bit plugin makes no sense or improvement since it will be set lower anyway.

 

[sgrossklass]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lordgibbness If you look here http://mp3decoders.mp3-tech.org/decoders.html you will see that the Nullsoft input plugin is of a higher quality, as is Shibatch.

Apart from a potentially missing last frame (a bug that may or may not be present in 0.14), why do you think the default plugin should be better based on *this* (fairly dated) page? (Incidentally the default plugin is the "best" of the three for my purposes, as neither of the others likes multi-hour files or rather can seek within them.)
BTW, 20 bits already equal a dynamic range of 120 dB, anything more is very likely to disappear in the noise.

 

[Onix]

Thanks guys, I'll be shure to check those options as soon as I get back to my PC, damn thing won't let me log in

 

[stevewm]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sgrossklass Apart from a potentially missing last frame (a bug that may or may not be present in 0.14), why do you think the default plugin should be better based on *this* (fairly dated) page? (Incidentally the default plugin is the "best" of the three for my purposes, as neither of the others likes multi-hour files or rather can seek within them.) BTW, 20 bits already equal a dynamic range of 120 dB, anything more is very likely to disappear in the noise.

All versions of Winamp from 2.7 onward use the same FhG decoder as shown on that page.

The only difference is that in Winamp 5.x AAC/MPEG4 support was combined into the mp3 decoder DLL, instead of them being in seperate plugins. The mp3 decoder remained the same.

 

[lordgibbness]

All I can say is that the MAD decoder has some problems that still need addressing as shown in that review. The Nullsoft decoder is based on the FhG code and is ok for people with 16-bit soundcards. However, if you have a 24-bit soundcard then the Shibatch decoder is highly recommended, and it also supports replaygain too (which is a must for me). The only thing missing from this decoder is a tag viewer when double clicking in winamp, but this can be easily fixed using a 3rd party add-in.

 

[rickcr42]

Quote:

All I can say is that the MAD decoder has some problems that still need addressing as shown in that review. The Nullsoft decoder is based on the FhG code and is ok for people with 16-bit soundcards. However, if you have a 24-bit soundcard then the Shibatch decoder is highly recommended, and it also supports replaygain too (which is a must for me). The only thing missing from this decoder is a tag viewer when double clicking in winamp, but this can be easily fixed using a 3rd party add-in.

Off hand I don't know my winamp # but it is so old I had to get it from old version dot com when I lost the p[rogram on a hard drive full format.I have used winamp since V1 and have always liked the interface and so it is a keeper.( I actually paid the $10 back in the day before AOL bought them out even though this was uncrippled software)
Since my MP3s are more background music than they are for serious listening i worry more about operation and user interface than absolute sound quality anyway since to me any lossy compression is already a big time comprimise and will not fool me into thinking it is lossless no matter who runs what test and posts it online to "prove" there is no difference.My hearing says otherwise and that is good enough for me.
As for sound card and bits this is not an issue becasue I have my own DIY ADC/DAC in place of the internal digital audio interfaces.I need to amend the "20" bits to 18 which is what the AD1865 is though actual is around 16.On the AD converter side I have 24 bits (AD1871) but again the actual is more like 20 bits.both are extremely minimalist designs and not much more than the chips,power supply and the analog/digital interfacing.Analog stages are class-A jfet active buffered transformer coupled.No gain,no bloat and good enough to satisfy my needs.Nothing fancy and simple.