[thegen]

I just got Foobar 2K and wanted to know if there are any settings I should change. I'm new to Foobar and don't really know what everything is (ReplayGain, Bit Perfect etc). I have the Meridian Explorer 2 and I selected it in the output section. Is there anything else I should do or change?

 

[Music Alchemist]

ASIO, WASAPI, and KS are all bit-perfect output modes, which send an exact copy of the audio data to your DAC. Which ones you can use depend on your DAC, and you may need to install components to use them.

http://wiki.hydrogenaud.io/index.php?title=Foobar2000:How_to_install_a_component
http://www.foobar2000.org/components/view/foo_out_asio
http://www.foobar2000.org/components/view/foo_out_wasapi
http://www.foobar2000.org/components/view/foo_out_ks

If you experience stuttering during playback, I recommend configuring full file buffering. To do this, click File, Preferences, Advanced, the arrow to the left of Playback, and the numbers to the right of Full file buffering up to (kB):, hold the 9 key, and click OK.

You can install skins to customize the user interface. (Just Google it.)

There are a ton of plugins to further enhance your experience.

http://www.foobar2000.org/components

Parametric equalizers are my favorite. If you want to get into EQ, just ask and I can link you to resources to start with.

 

[thegen]

Seems like I got the bit perfect working since my ME2 lights blue when playing an MQA file Thank you!

 

[cobretti]

And I also recommend installing SoX resampler. I noticed audible improvement with MP3 and other lower Bitrate files.

 

[thegen]

Seems like I got the bit perfect working since my ME2 lights blue when playing an MQA file Thank you!

And I also recommend installing SoX resampler. I noticed audible improvement with MP3 and other lower Bitrate files.

I only use FLAC, not because they sound better but atleast I know no information is lost. My DAC has some kind of upsamling filter built in aswell..

 

[Music Alchemist]

Doing upsampling on the software end during playback can have benefits, but it depends on the DAC.

Chord DACs do very advanced digital processing and are better without it, but most other DACs aren't like that. I heard that all DACs—including NOS (non-oversampling)—do at least some oversampling, but most approach it in a simplistic manner, so stacking (so to speak) could help.

HQPlayer is the best player I know of for software upsampling (and noise shaping, etc.), but it's expensive and the interface is atrocious. Bug Head Emperor / Infinity Blade is free and also has advanced DSP capability...but again, its interface isn't so good. All the relevant plugins I know of for foobar2000 are nowhere near as advanced, but may be worth trying just to see how you like the sound.

 

[cobretti]

I do have all CDs stored on HD in WAV. I am using SoX to upsample to 192kHz to send it to my γ3 DAC, there is slight improvement. I would say the sound is more dynamic.

 

[bixby]

Since discovering good ASIO drivers, I will almost not consider any dac that does not have them. The difference with ASIO in my setups versus Waspi Event (2nd best) is substantial.

And Foobar is just about the best sounding player I have used over the last decade or so. This includes best of breed players on OSX and Linux at the time, in addition to Win 10.

 

[Music Alchemist]

Since discovering good ASIO drivers, I will almost not consider any dac that does not have them. The difference with ASIO in my setups versus Waspi Event (2nd best) is substantial.

With all sorts of DACs, I've never heard a difference between the three bit-perfect output modes I have used (ASIO, KS, WASAPI), but I usually use KS since it has the lowest latency.

The difference you hear with ASIO could be because your DAC simply doesn't play well with the others, in which case it may not apply to other DACs.

And Foobar is just about the best sounding player I have used over the last decade or so. This includes best of breed players on OSX and Linux at the time, in addition to Win 10.

Try Signalyst HQPlayer Desktop. It does advanced digital processing similar to (but nowhere near as advanced as) Chord DACs. (So not recommended for those DACs since it would just result in lower fidelity, but good for most others.)