[Audio-Me]

I'm thinking of writing up a guide to hi-fi pc sound, but only if the interest is there. Also have experience with a unique little plug-in to give solid state users a small taste (wet your feet general sense) of what sound characteristics a tube amp can give you.

Any comments or questions are welcome.

 

[shivohum]

What would the guide cover?

 

[Flasken]

I frequently search for which pulgins and eq.'s to use on my pc for better sound, and I listen at the computer alot. So - yes - seems like a really good idea. Would be much appreciated.

 

[Audio-Me]

It would cover the following:

Sound cards
Software/process pertaining creating MP3s, burning Audio CDs, playback
File editing/management (restoration, EQ, organizer/playlist, etc ), plug-ins (input, DSP)
How to use your CD/DVD drive as a transport with or without s/pdif connection to the soundcard

The guide would be simplified giving general information with recommendations and links, but detailed instructions/info can be obtained upon request.

 

[MirandaX]

I would definitely be interested, especially if you slanted things towards audiophile sound. There are a lot of 'how to' guides for MP3 listening, etc. out there, but a lot fewer on getting really, really good quality sound, and lossless compression formats, etc. The only reason I use raw .wav and lossless .ape files is because I couldn't figure out how to get any of the other lossless file formats (shorten, flac, etc.) to work with any decent jukebox-style program. (.ape works great with Media Jukebox, by the way.)

 

[Audio-Me]

The entire guide will be geared toward high-fidelity pc sound only. I have not tried lossless compression audio formats, only rar archiving of uncompressed wav files, I'd appreciate any help on that matter. I can however offer ways of achieving highest quality mp3 compression. I don't use average or variable bitrate compression techniques, but I have experimented with good results averages ending up between 160-220kbps.

 

[Joe Bloggs]

LPAC is a lossless music compression format that works with Winamp with a plugin.

You don't use VBR for mp3? Why?

 

[Audio-Me]

It's not CD quality. Full bandwidth mp3s generally give 4:1 compression and that's good enough for me.

 

[Joe Bloggs]

Umm, only 320kbps mp3s can be considered higher quality than most VBR mp3s, but I see that's not you are using (160-220?)

At all bitrates below 320, VBR gives higher quality for the average bitrate. At least when using the LAME encoder--arguably the highest-quality encoder anyway.

 

[Audio-Me]

I only encode in 320kbps without any filters (no ATH, low pass, etc). When I experimented with VBR, I used the highest quality preset -V0 and it gave good results (that's where the 160-220 comes from).

 

[Audio-Me]

Two more positives and the guide is a go. If not, I'll do it anyway.

 

[Joe Bloggs]

Oh I see, I read your post wrong

 

[disturbed]

I'm intrested in a PC combo....as I have a tons of cds so what I plan to do is use a good soundcard with optical out....rip all my cds to wavs (at least the ones I want to record) and transfer them to MD as I please using a nice playlist. Much easier as you can have so many songs on a large hardrive as wav files and output em to minidisc.

CD's stay home safe....I have my MD which is small and my etys...portable bliss

One question...does it make a difference what wav player you use? Do some wav players sound better then the other?
I dont plan to use any EQ's etc.. Pure natural sound...how it was ment to be

 

[Audio-Me]

There's no decoding involved in wav playback, the windows Sndrec32.exe wav player should do just fine. But if you're worried about skipping, you might want to use a player that uses a larger buffer or allows you to set it. Winamp does fine, but do not use directsound output, rather the wav out(duh,

). The only way different wav players can sound different is if they apply any DSP filters or EQ. I've become quite fond of a crossfeed DSP plug-in for winamp lately, I will supply info on it in the guide. This might be quite interesting to use when you record onto your MD.
In your case, you do not need a high quality sound card, rather a reliable one which has a good digital out (toslink).

I will try to write up the guide sometime this afternoon or night.

 

[disturbed]

Quote:

Originally posted by Audio&Me There's no decoding involved in wav playback, the windows Sndrec32.exe wav player should do just fine. But if you're worried about skipping, you might want to use a player that uses a larger buffer or allows you to set it. Winamp does fine, but do not use directsound output, rather the wav out(duh, ). The only way different wav players can sound different is if they apply any DSP filters or EQ. I've become quite fond of a crossfeed DSP plug-in for winamp lately, I will supply info on it in the guide. This might be quite interesting to use when you record onto your MD. In your case, you do not need a high quality sound card, rather a reliable one which has a good digital out (toslink). I will try to write up the guide sometime this afternoon or night.

Heh...I use the crossfeed plugin also and it sounds nice on md but depends on the song.

Well everone needs a card that

DOESNT RESAMPLE as most sb live crap resamples at 48khz

I have this card in mind for now....
http://midiman.net/products/m-audio/dio2496.php

but I am not sure it is what I need...though I hear midiman has good software updates and their soundcards sound great...

Though I find them a bit pricey...I wonder if theres anything cheaper with a digital/optical out which DOESNT RESAMPLE and sounds good?

Hey chych dont you have that midiman soundcard I mentioned above?