Help me setup WASAPI in Vista. Bum me some skills.

[RockCity]

I really want to start using Foobar, honestly I do. But the thing is so esoteric, coupled by Vista's finicky compatibility controls, makes me scared of approaching it alone. So far, I've downloaded the WASAPI plug-in and put it in Foobar's directory. I am using a Chaintech AV-710 so I am not sure if I need to adjust any settings to synch with Foobar. Can WASAPI or KS work straight off an Audio CD or do I need to rip the tracks first; the former pops up an error the last time I tried. Help, I really want to get my set-up going; I understand the technical concept but I'm software dumb. A walk-through would be useful.

 

[DaMnEd]

Make sure you set up the AV-710 for bit perfect.

As for configuring foobar for WASAPI, now that you have the plugin in the right directory, just to to: Preferences (Ctrl+P) > Playback (Expand) > Output > Select WASAPI device under the “Output Device” dropdown list.

 

[RockCity]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaMnEd /img/forum/go_quote.gif As for configuring foobar for WASAPI, now that you have the plugin in the right directory, just to to: Preferences (Ctrl+P) > Playback (Expand) > Output > Select WASAPI device under the “Output Device” dropdown list.

Thanks, this is the first thing I did. I'm not sure if my Chaintech is outputting digital bit-perfect because I am using S/PDIF and not the analogue out. If anyone has Envy on Vista, I'm outputting High Digital Sample (resample to 96k) to optical.

Back to WASAPI, does it work if I just pop in a CD or does it only play ripped files? When I tried playing one of my CD it gave me this message: Unrecoverable playback error: Could not open device: unsupported data format: 44100 Hz / 24-bit / 2 channels

 

[DaMnEd]

The AV-710 does bit-perfect by S/PDIF-optical no problem as far as I know.

If you want bit-perfect (and you should ), the card should be set-up to match the material your playing, so, if you’re using CD you should set up the card to 16-bit 44100 Hz.

This may be problem you have, it seems the plug-in is getting 24-bit data (because you have your card set for 24-bit ?!) but the plug-in is expecting 16bit data (it is the default option for the WASAPI plug-in).

So you can either try to set the plug-in to 24-bit, or, set the card to 16-bit, I would set everything for 16-bit / 44100 Hz, since this is the material format you indicated (CD).

 

[Nocturnal310]

Does WASAPI really visibly improve Sound?

i wanna try it too with my XMOD soundcard.

 

[floydenheimer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nocturnal310 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Does WASAPI really visibly improve Sound? i wanna try it too with my XMOD soundcard.

No, it just makes setting up bit-perfect easier since it takes advantage of the native audio capabilities of Vista. Bit-perfect is bit-perfect whether it is KS, ASIO, or WASAPI.

 

[RockCity]

Still not having any luck. I can't get WASAPI to work at any bit depth, CD or rip. It keeps popping error about unsupported data format. I've tried KS and ASIO before, but I was getting the same errors. Direct Sound is the only output that works flawlessly. The difficulty is finding someone who uses both AV-710 and Vista. I'd much prefer to copy their settings.

 

[Trax416]

If you have an optical out on your integrated motherboard sound (no idea what motherboard you are using), that would work better then going through a soundcard that is giving you issues.

 

[PascalT]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaMnEd /img/forum/go_quote.gif If you want bit-perfect (and you should ), the card should be set-up to match the material your playing, so, if you’re using CD you should set up the card to 16-bit 44100 Hz. This may be problem you have, it seems the plug-in is getting 24-bit data (because you have your card set for 24-bit ?!) but the plug-in is expecting 16bit data (it is the default option for the WASAPI plug-in). So you can either try to set the plug-in to 24-bit, or, set the card to 16-bit, I would set everything for 16-bit / 44100 Hz, since this is the material format you indicated (CD).

How do you set the card to 16bit/44.1 using optical? The only way I can get sound from WASAPI on Vista from the Chaintech is to use the 2-Channel Hi-Rate mode and I have to resample in Foobar to 96khz to hear anything.

I'd like to make sure I am getting bit-perfect 16-bit/44.1 sound. Any help?

 

[punk_guy182]

I got rid of my auzentech X-Fi which I considered useless and I now output a bitperfect digital optical signal from my motherboard to my DAC.
I have also Foobar2000 w/ WASAPI. I have no problems with it and I play lossless files in different format and with different bit rates or frequencies.
My WASAPI file is the 1.2 version Check it out here: Download foobar2000 and optional components

 

[PascalT]

I figured out that my motherboard has SPDIF out and I am using that. There's no difference in quality from the Chaintech since it's digital output right?

 

[punk_guy182]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PascalT /img/forum/go_quote.gif I figured out that my motherboard has SPDIF out and I am using that. There's no difference in quality from the Chaintech since it's digital output right?

You have to make sure that your onboard motherboard audio codec is bit perfect capale. Also, I'd go for the TOSlink output over the S/PDIF output. Why? Because you might pick up electrical interference coming from the computer that travels in and all around it.
TOSlink only outputs a light beam which is non-electrical. I used coaxial and were getting all sorts of annoying buzzing and crackling sounds with a low hum. Optical corrected that for me.

 

[olblueyez]

v

 

[Scrith]

It seems like your problem has nothing to do with WASAPI or Foobar2000. Here's a quick checklist:

1. Does your sound card generate sound with any applications? If so, goto step 2.

2. Do you have audio files (MP3, FLAC, or some other format that an audio program can use)? If so, go to step 3.

3. Run Foobar2000 and try to play one of these files with just the basic settings (DirectSound...go to the Output part of preferences and make sure there is a device selected). If that works, go to step 4.

4. Try setting the output device to one with WASAPI in its name. Also, make sure the buffer size is set to somewhere between 500 and 750ms.

By the way, I hear no difference between DirectSound and WASAPI on my system...so I wouldn't stress too much about whether or not you can get WASAPI to work...especially considering that it is sort of a buggy add-on anyway (given that it crashes with buffer sizes of 1000ms or larger).

 

[Telstar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by floydenheimer /img/forum/go_quote.gif No, it just makes setting up bit-perfect easier since it takes advantage of the native audio capabilities of Vista. Bit-perfect is bit-perfect whether it is KS, ASIO, or WASAPI.

If that would be the case, any player and any OS would sound the same if the output is bit perfect.

This unfortunately is not true.

WASAPI is for me the best sounding option.