Trying to get bit-perfect playback (Foobar2000 & ASIO)

[Serratus]

I've done the homework, but it seems i've failed the test..

I’ve spent the last few hours trying to get bit-perfect playback from my PC, without any external amps or DACs (just setting out on the audiophile adventure…). I’m trying to get a few DTS .wav files to playback, but I get only static when trying to play them through Foobar2000 (with ASIO4all and the relevant plug-in set up correctly, according to this guide). They play back fine in both Windows Media Player 10 and WMP Classic.

I’m using two playback methods:
Foobar2000 (ASIO)-->X-Fi XtremeGamer-->Sennheiser HD555
Foobar2000 (ASIO)-->SoundMax HD (onboard ASUS P5K-E)-->optical out-->Logitech Z-5500

I’ve tried all the possible combinations of players, sound cards, drivers, analog and digital connections, with no difference: Foobar doesn’t give me bit-perfect, while WMP10 & Classic apparently do. From this I would assume something on the software end is responsible, but checking all the settings, including fresh installs of Foobar & ASIO4ALL didn’t help.

Any advice would be great! I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m simply overlooking the simplest of details

.

Cheers

 

[EnOYiN]

You need a plug-in for Foobar to make that work. Foobar doesn't have support for .dts files because Foobar is freeware and DTS decoders aren't.

There has been a plug-in for DTS on HydroGen Audio but it has been removed because it is illegal to make such a decoder.

You could however try to look for that plug-in on the internet, but it's very hard to find nowadays. You could also send me a PM with your email address and I'll mail it to you.

 

[acegazda]

sorry but what exactly is bit perfect?

 

[EnOYiN]

Quote:

Originally Posted by acegazda /img/forum/go_quote.gif sorry but what exactly is bit perfect?

Well, that's what your soundcard is supposed to output. This isn't the case most of the times in Windows XP because of poorly written drivers.

 

[Serratus]

PM sent. Thanks EnOYiN.
I might actually have another issue with upsampling somewhere along the line, as the Z-5500 displays 48KHz instead of 44.1KHz when the files are supposedly working through Windows Media Player. But i'll test out the fix with Foobar first.

Cheers

 

[EnOYiN]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Serratus /img/forum/go_quote.gif PM sent. Thanks EnOYiN. I might actually have another issue with upsampling somewhere along the line, as the Z-5500 displays 48KHz instead of 44.1KHz when the files are supposedly working through Windows Media Player. But i'll test out the fix with Foobar first. Cheers

YGPM

 

[Serratus]

Alright, now i got the DTS tracks to play by changing the .wav extensions to .dts, but i found another complication:

Foobar is sending out the proper 6 channel, 44.1KHz stream, but only two channels are coming through either the speakers or the headphones. And the Z-5500 is still displaying PCM 48KHz through optical out from SoundMax HD onboard audio. Since this problem is appearing with both sound cards and both speaker & headphone, it would seem that the Windows pathways are still upsampling to 48KHz output, meaning ASIO4all isnt doing its job?

Is there any other way to definitively test whether ASIO is active?