[deadman_uk]

deadman_uk you need to chill and stop arguing with everybody. You've got 20 posts and you're arguing with members who have considerably more knowledge and experience; you're building a bad reputation quickly.

I am not arguing, I just got offended by the laid back answers from jbloudg20.

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The go outside comment refers to the endless pursuit of audiophiles to try to create the perfect reproduction of sound - often live sound. The irony is that you can listen to live sound everyday outside and by seeing bands etc.

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Originally Posted by bigshot /img/forum/go_quote.gif The irony is that there are so many factors involved in live aural perception that expecting a box of electronics to get anywhere near that is ridiculous. See ya Steve

Now you've explained it to me, I now know it's not possible to get realistic sounds with the equipment I have, but I didn't know this until now. Anyway, I didn't expect to get perfect realistic sounds with my £70 sound card, £75 headphones and £100 speakers... I just wanted the best my system can produce.

I heard holophonic sounds and those were as realistic as I have heard on a computer. I just wanted to hear more of this type of content and bring my music collection out a little more.

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The suggestion to search through this site is an excellent one, you could also choose to use google; both are excellent resources.

As I've said, I already did search on both the forum and google. Yes I could of searched a little more and if I knew people would bite my head off for asking obvious questions (obvious to you anyway) I wouldn't of even post here.

I have a low budget sound system (but by no means rubbish) that sounds nice to me, I have limited sound knowledge but I am by no means a complete newbie at this, I do know somethings.

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If you relax a little and take the advice, you head-fi experience will be far more enjoyable and you will benefit from the almost limitless experience of this community. Stop arguing with people (this is not some teenage board)

Read back my comments and you will see I was relaxed and calm. I don't see where I was arguing.

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I think deadman_uk has left for friendlier climes..

I came here to learn and I will remain here (even if I don't post much)

Many thanks to all your help

 

[fordgtlover]

^

I understand what you are trying to do, we all start out that way; a limited budget and wanting the best sound.

This forum is an excellent resource, and people will go to great lengths to help you. Be careful not to get offended (the comment from jbloudg20 was not offensive - flippant yes, but not offensive).

Instead of telling people to bugger off (or similar), maybe you could ask them what is behind their response (I don't understand your post), or ignore it. Nobody has bitten your head off. Your thread was going well until you started berrating jbloudg20.

I am not attacking you, quite the opposite. There is no need to be defensive or try to convince me of anything.

I seems that you are now seeking the best quality recordings - binaural and standard - to get the best advantage of your current rig. I'd suggest going to the music forum and look around in there. Of coursein addition to head-fi there are other places that specialise in this type of information such as Steve Hoffman Music Forums.
http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/

Enjoy the audio ride - it will take you on a lifetime journey.

 

[Sir Nobax]

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Originally Posted by TheVinylRipper /img/forum/go_quote.gif First he was made fun of, then he was told his rig was trash and after that he was told his program material was trash.

Ah well, i already thought "Welcome to Head-Fi, sorry for your wallet" was becoming a bit boring. Is this the new way to greet 'new' (two months old) members.

That'll be good times, i think

.

 

[jbloudg20]

My first comment was a joke, its not my fault you took it to heart, and started crying.

You want to hear realistic sounds? Get a full orpheus setup. That's as close as you are going to come.

 

[Zarathustra19]

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Originally Posted by deadman_uk /img/forum/go_quote.gif I am not arguing, I just got offended by the laid back answers

Well, I hate to be the one to break it, but this forum is kind of laid back, we like to joke around a little bit from time to time, we're not always hardcore "THIS DAC, THAT PAIR OF HEADPHONES, TECH TECH TECH!" We like to help, but don't get offended when we throw in a little audio humor.

And as others have already said, it is pretty necessary to throw some money into the hobby to get superior sound. The only things you can do are software based in the form of FLAC, ASIO, and upgrade to your audio player (Foobar), and re-ripping whatever you have. The search function is a great way to find these resources, as was also stated before.

We're not such bad people man, just gotta lighten up.

 

[Joshatdot]

The OP, he wants more "Holophonic" or binaural recordings. He does not want to buy the best realistic setup that money can buy.

As Assorted said in his reply, go check the Legally Download-able Binaural recordings links.

 

[Seaside]

I think the OP needs to define what's "realistic" to him.
I am sure he wants some improvements, but the thing is, we may not able to help him unless he told us what he think is realistic. Without that, I am afraid that all we can tell him is... buy better stuffs.

 

[deadman_uk]

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Originally Posted by Zarathustra19 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Well, I hate to be the one to break it, but this forum is kind of laid back, we like to joke around a little bit from time to time, we're not always hardcore "THIS DAC, THAT PAIR OF HEADPHONES, TECH TECH TECH!" We like to help, but don't get offended when we throw in a little audio humor.

OK, I understand.

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And as others have already said, it is pretty necessary to throw some money into the hobby to get superior sound. The only things you can do are software based in the form of FLAC, ASIO, and upgrade to your audio player (Foobar), and re-ripping whatever you have. The search function is a great way to find these resources, as was also stated before. We're not such bad people man, just gotta lighten up.

Spending money is the only thing I don't want to do at this point. Yes I have made a handful of posts but those were recommendations for new headphones. I have the headphones I have because of this forum.

I would like to hear more about ASIO, this has been suggested several times to me but I don't know what it is or how to use it. I've read a wiki on it but I don't really understand. I know it stands for Audio Stream Input/Output.

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Originally Posted by Joshatdot /img/forum/go_quote.gif The OP, he wants more "Holophonic" or binaural recordings. He does not want to buy the best realistic setup that money can buy. As Assorted said in his reply, go check the Legally Download-able Binaural recordings links.

This is correct but searching the internet suggests there aren't many samples around (at least for holophonic). The link is great though, I did check it when it was originally posted. My thread has shifted towards this AISO and software based enchancements.

What can Foobar provide that my current media player (Winamp) can't?

I already have a PM from a member suggeting to try this dolby headphone dll file. This does enchance some of my songs but it also makes some sound worse. It's fun to play around with this dll though as it does make a difference.

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Originally Posted by Seaside /img/forum/go_quote.gif I think the OP needs to define what's "realistic" to him. I am sure he wants some improvements, but the thing is, we may not able to help him unless he told us what he think is realistic. Without that, I am afraid that all we can tell him is... buy better stuffs.

Realistic to me is the samples I posted of holophonic sounds.

 

[poo]

OK guys - he has got the point. Now lets provide some answers OK?


First - forget holophonic

Second, ASIO: When I asked google "what is asio?" it told me to tell you...
Basic explanation:
http://www.tropicalcoder.com/ASIO.htm
A little more detail:
http://www.soundblaster.com/resource...id=53937&cat=2

Master google also suggested you try harder... not sure why it said that...


As far as holophonic sounds being the realistic sounds you are after, take a few moments to think about it. When you hear a band play music, is that kind of sound that you hear? DO you hear it 3 dimensionally(ish)? DO you hear a band move around like they are in a room? Or do you hear the sound come from a stage towards you. I think (to some degree) it depends on the music you listen to. Some music played in acoustically designed venues can sound as though it surrounds you - and perhaps this is the effect you are after.

If you prefer winamp, try DFX pluggins. I don't like sound enhancement any more personally, but I noticed that when I had cheaper equipment it sometimes made the sound nicer. This is not intended as some sort of cheap insult BTW - I still am a believer in some cheap gear sounding as good as the expensive stuff in some cases...


Third - Foobar. Right now it probably won't offer you anything. Truth be told, right now, it will probably offer you significantly less than you are used to with apps like winamp or iTunes. Both are great applications in many ways, and sound like they will suit you right now. Foobar will offer you much better (IMO) audio benefits - it is made specifically for audio, whereas most other music applications are made to play music, but with other priorities like video, effects, GUI and so on.

I still get the impression that you have not tried alot of what has been suggested on these pages though - let us know what your thoughts are on what you have tried so far - might make things more interesting...

 

[LeonvB]

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I now have some FLAC files.

Were those recordings any good, as in: better sounding to you?

 

[deadman_uk]

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Originally Posted by poo /img/forum/go_quote.gif OK guys - he has got the point. Now lets provide some answers OK? First - forget holophonic Second, ASIO: When I asked google "what is asio?" it told me to tell you... Basic explanation: http://www.tropicalcoder.com/ASIO.htm A little more detail: http://www.soundblaster.com/resource...id=53937&cat=2 Master google also suggested you try harder... not sure why it said that...

Ok I've downloaded something called "ASIOSigGen" and another thing called "MStreamPlayer". ASIOSigGen lets you generate pink noise and sweep waves, and other things .. all of which I have no idea. Here is a screenshot...

MStreamPlayer appears to be a media player. When listening to music on it, I hear no difference between this and something like Winamp. Here is a screenshot.

I am really lost with this AISO thing, I have no idea what I'm doing. Instructions would be appreciated.

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As far as holophonic sounds being the realistic sounds you are after, take a few moments to think about it. When you hear a band play music, is that kind of sound that you hear? DO you hear it 3 dimensionally(ish)? DO you hear a band move around like they are in a room? Or do you hear the sound come from a stage towards you. I think (to some degree) it depends on the music you listen to. Some music played in acoustically designed venues can sound as though it surrounds you - and perhaps this is the effect you are after.

Like you said, it depends on the music. I just want clear sounding music which is good quality. Downloading 4 or 5 FLAC files, I have come to the conclusion that FLAC is nice. Playing an MP3 at 192 bitrate and playing the same song in FLAC format.... I do hear a slight difference in 4 of the 5 songs. However at 320 bitrate, I hear no difference at all.

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If you prefer winamp, try DFX pluggins. I don't like sound enhancement any more personally

I don't know if this is the same but I downloaded an enchancer for winamp and played around with it. I don't really like it. Sure it makes my music sound different but in most songs, its adding effects I don't want. There are a few dozen presets to load but nah, in most causes the songs sound worse.

I now run Winamp with the equalizer off. I have even downloaded Foobar and compared with Winamp, there is a VERY TINY improvement in Foobar between 2 of the 5 songs I tested. Foobar is probably the player I will use from now on. I don't appreciate the minimal monotone interface though. I will have to find some skins for it.

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I noticed that when I had cheaper equipment it sometimes made the sound nicer. This is not intended as some sort of cheap insult BTW - I still am a believer in some cheap gear sounding as good as the expensive stuff in some cases...

Oh I completely understand. I have £75 headphones, a £60 sound card and a £100 pair of speakers. I understand I could get much better hardware but to be honest, it's not worth my money. I could spend thousands but I won't.

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I still get the impression that you have not tried alot of what has been suggested on these pages though - let us know what your thoughts are on what you have tried so far - might make things more interesting...

I checked out the Milwaukee Symphony link but I either have to buy the CD from Amazon or pay a small fee to download MP3 files, so I left that site.

The links to the external computer converters are not of interest. I don't wish to spend more money.

The suggestion of re-ripping my CD collection doesn't apply to me since I don't own a single audio CD.

The link to modifying my sound card is interesting but not for me. I can not solder, and I am far out of my comfort zone physically modifying my sound card.

The legally downloadable binaural thread is interesting, a spent a long time listening to samples but only a few stood out to me. I haven't viewed everything in this thread though.

I haven't visited the http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/ link yet, this is something I will do later this evening.

I want to get this ASIO thing implemented but I am still very confused.

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Originally Posted by LeonvB /img/forum/go_quote.gif Were those recordings any good, as in: better sounding to you?

 

[jilgiljongiljing]

If you havent tried ASIO4all yet, give that a shot, I distinctly remember it worked with my external creative soundcard. just google ASIO4all and follow the link, download it and install it. It will show you list of audio devices on the top lef t of the interface, enable the device you want to use, in your case the XFI, it should highlight in green. I usually disable the other devices just to make sure.

Then open Foobar, go to file->preferences. (Before this, google asio for foobar and download the dll file for enabling ASIO in foobar, put that in the components folder in your foobar install directory and restart foobar)

In preferences, go to output, ASIO devices, and say add new (this whole section wont show up if you dont do the previous step). Then you will see a window that will say ASIO4all and show you the channels on your card. Select a left and right channel and hit ok. Then in the output screen you have to select the ASIO4all device, hit apply and ok. You should be good to go.

If you experience popping or clicking, search around for popping/clicking when using ASIO/ASIO4all, you will find some threads/links that show you how to optimize the settings for your system.

Hope this helps

 

[deadman_uk]

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Originally Posted by jilgiljongiljing /img/forum/go_quote.gif If you havent tried ASIO4all yet, give that a shot, I distinctly remember it worked with my external creative soundcard. just google ASIO4all and follow the link, download it and install it. It will show you list of audio devices on the top lef t of the interface, enable the device you want to use, in your case the XFI, it should highlight in green. I usually disable the other devices just to make sure. Then open Foobar, go to file->preferences. (Before this, google asio for foobar and download the dll file for enabling ASIO in foobar, put that in the components folder in your foobar install directory and restart foobar) In preferences, go to output, ASIO devices, and say add new (this whole section wont show up if you dont do the previous step). Then you will see a window that will say ASIO4all and show you the channels on your card. Select a left and right channel and hit ok. Then in the output screen you have to select the ASIO4all device, hit apply and ok. You should be good to go. If you experience popping or clicking, search around for popping/clicking when using ASIO/ASIO4all, you will find some threads/links that show you how to optimize the settings for your system. Hope this helps

Thanks very much, all appears to work. A few questions though... When I selected ASIO4all, I also had a Creative ASIO option... what is this?

You mentioned at the start to download ASIO4all, now that I have done what you said with ASIO4all, what do I do with it now? It seems Foobar and the foobar ASIO dll are the only things needed?. ASIO4all seems to have lots of settings like IN: (32 samples) OUT: (32 samples), Use hardware buffer, Force WDM driver, Kernel buffers etc... what's all this for?

 

[Mansize_tissue]

Have a look here.

 

[jilgiljongiljing]

The above link is an awesome write up on ASIO4all and its uses.

Briefly though, ASIO4all is an universal ASIO driver. Not all soundcards come with ASIO drivers, and some have poorly written ones. Your best bet is to try the Creative ASIO option and then try the ASIO4all one, see if they sound any different.

I dont expect any SQ differences, but performance and efficiency wise, they might be different. Try 'em out.

Also, the link above explains all the fields in ASIO4all and what they do with screenshots.

Edit: And by try both out, I meant adding ASIO devices in the foobar preferences and then selecting the device in the output section. ASIO4all neednt be up and running, once you save the settings in it, you can close it, for most applications, it works with default settings, so you neednt tweak those for now.