[fishski13]

probably not revelatory to most here, but i recently did some comparisons between ASIO4ALL via Foobar and WASAPI via JRiver Media, and prefer the later.  more detailed and transparent, with better dynamics and drive.  i'm ripping with EAC. 
 
i kept getting the blue screen of death whenever opening an album in JRiver Media, but i downloaded a driver update (from '08

) and now have no issues.  i still get a bunch of dropouts and noise when using the mouse with WASAPI output in Foobar, but ASIO4ALL works fine with only occasional dropouts.  i'm really digging JRiver Media Center's UI as well the sonics.

 

[K3cT]

What version of Foobar you have there, fishski13?

 

[fishski13]

Quote:

What version of Foobar you have there, fishski13?

2000v1.0.  i just checked and didn't realize that there was a new version.

 

[K3cT]

Quote:

2000v1.0.  i just checked and didn't realize that there was a new version.

Meh, I've been using the 0.9.5.3 version for God knows how long. Are there any merits upgrading to a newer version?
 
Interesting observation, I shall try out the player later.

 

[thuantran]

You can always read this http://www.foobar2000.org/changelog for any merits and demerits of the latest version. I have always been using the latest foobar version for ten years now .

 

[K3cT]

Quote:

You can always read this http://www.foobar2000.org/changelog for any merits and demerits of the latest version. I have always been using the latest foobar version for ten years now .

Ah, I was referring to *possible* sound quality improvements if there were any.

Will your old 0.9.x skins still work with the latest version?

 

[thuantran]

I don't know for sure, depends on which component you use to "skin" foobar. As I have always used first and endorsed 3rd party components, I didn't run into any trouble. BTW You can install the new foobar in portable mode to test it out without compromising your old installation. Otherwise you can back up your old installation just in case.
 
As for sound improvement I remember reading somewhere on this forum that there is after version 1. But as I've only got my real gears after ver1's released, I don't know if there's any improvement.

 

[Ham Sandwich]

If you're using a USB DAC and getting dropouts due to mouse movements then try another USB port for the DAC.  Some USB ports, especially on laptops, can be on the same hub as the mouse/keyboard/webcam.  So any activity on the mouse/keyboard/webcam can disrupt the audio.  There are software utilities that can tell you what USB bus and hub different devices are on so you can see if USB resources are being shared.  PC Wizard is one, or you can look in Control Panel Device Manager.  But interpreting that info gets a bit geek.  It's easier to just use trial and error with different USB ports to see if you still get dropouts.
 
I generally use ASIO as I find it more reliable for me with my particular DAC (M-Audio FW410).  More resistant to dropouts compared to WASAPI in both Foobar and J River.  The FW410 has a custom ASIO driver (it's not using ASIO4ALL) so not directly relevant to your use comparing ASIO4ALL to WASAPI.  But does point out that ASIO and WASAPI can have different behavior relating to dropouts.  Use whichever interface works better for you. 

 

[ninjikiran]

No sound differences between native ASIO @ 44.1khz(for for giggles 48khz) and WASAPI. 
 
WASAPI doesn't chain me to a single sample rate which is why I use it and they are basically the same exact thing. In reality there should be no SQ differences.
 
I don't experience any dropouts even with 100ms buffer size.

 

[Hybrys]

It's odd that I've had a gazillion problems with ASIO4ALL, but none with WASAPI, and some people find that the other way around.
 
It's ALSO odd that there's a difference between ASIO4ALL and WASAPI, but not one between native ASIO and WASAPI.  Maybe ASIO4ALL isn't bitperfect in Vista/Win7?

 

[fishski13]

ce
Quote:

If you're using a USB DAC and getting dropouts due to mouse movements then try another USB port for the DAC.  Some USB ports, especially on laptops, can be on the same hub as the mouse/keyboard/webcam.  So any activity on the mouse/keyboard/webcam can disrupt the audio.  There are software utilities that can tell you what USB bus and hub different devices are on so you can see if USB resources are being shared.  PC Wizard is one, or you can look in Control Panel Device Manager.  But interpreting that info gets a bit geek.  It's easier to just use trial and error with different USB ports to see if you still get dropouts.
 
I generally use ASIO as I find it more reliable for me with my particular DAC (M-Audio FW410).  More resistant to dropouts compared to WASAPI in both Foobar and J River.  The FW410 has a custom ASIO driver (it's not using ASIO4ALL) so not directly relevant to your use comparing ASIO4ALL to WASAPI.  But does point out that ASIO and WASAPI can have different behavior relating to dropouts.  Use whichever interface works better for you. 

thanks for that.  i'll check PC Wizard out.  i've tried disabling some devices in Device Manager with no success.  right now my y2 DAC is on an "empty" hub on the front of my desktop. 
 

 

[Ham Sandwich]

Quote:

thanks for that.  i'll check PC Wizard out.  i've tried disabling some devices in Device Manager with no success.  right now my y2 DAC is on an "empty" hub on the front of my desktop. 
 

With a desktop computer use the ports on the back of the computer.  The ports on the front of the computer case usually go through a hub and are all shared, sometimes secretly with internal devices.  Even if nothing else is plugged in the hub, just the hub connection itself can cause issues.  The ports on the back are often direct (no hub) and not shared with each other.
 
And since you have a desktop you have the option of adding a dedicated USB card for audio.  Plug in a USB card and dedicate that card just to your USB DAC.  Nothing will be shared and you'll be more likely to get glitch free audio.  USB cards are cheap and worth a try to see if that gets you glitch free audio.

 

[Justin Uthadude]

Fishski13-
I was having some problems like yours and I swapped usb ports like ham sandwich suggested and it got better. I also noticed improvement when I downloaded one of those free driver checker/updaters and made sure all of the drivers on my system were up to date. I also found out I was using an older version of asio4all and updated it to v2.9 which seemed to take care of some occasional freezing problems I was having. It appears to be more of an art than a science to tune your system

 

[fishski13]

Ham Sandwich and Justin,
thanks a lot for the advice.  i'm planning on buying another HD to back up my music files and will add a USB card to the order. 

 

[Scrivs]

Did you also noticed a difference in sound quality betweens WASAPI via Foobar2000 and WASAPI via JRiver Media?
I'm currently using the first so I'm curious...