Why Foobar 2000?

[Headphoner]

To play CD's on my computer, I use Windows Media Player, I Tunes, or Musicmatch Jukebox. They sound the same to me and they sound good. Forum posters have endorsed Foobar 2000. I checked the Foobar web site and Foobar looks like a real pain to download, set up, and learn. Are there any reasons why one should go through the hassle of obtaining Foobar?

 

[socrates63]

For me, the main reason one puts up with the lackluster UI and learning curve is because none of the three you listed can provide ASIO output and bypass the Windows kmixer. I wasn't a believer until I tried it myself and it sounds fantastic -- definitely a WOW moment.

More than anything, the configuration portion may put some people off but there are plenty of guides on how to set it up. And what's difficult about downloading it?

There is a plug-in for iTunes that lets you use iTunes as the front-end for foobar. But you still need to install and setup foobar first.

There are other players that allow for ASIO output like jriver Media Center but foobar is free.

Having said all this, I'm no expert. I searched and gleaned just enough information to get things working.

 

[Redo]

Because ASIO or KS is so easy to accomplish on foobar2000. Not only that, but Foobar2000 runs so efficiently. I have NO CLUE why iTunes or MusicMatch have to be such monsterous system hogs.


Once you get ASIO bit-perfect setup properly, there's no going back

 

[Scrith]

And, once you get the hang of it, you can make a UI (or use an existing one) that is much nicer (and more flexible) than the UI any of those other programs provides.

ASIO Support, FLAC support, better support for DSP features, better UI with support for customization...works for me.

 

[Garbz]

Usability. Windows media player since version 6 or 7 has been unable to simply play songs, now sorting them in all sorts of non-customisable way.

Asside from the fact I would never use any media player in windows which did not support ASIO, I can do anything I want in foobar at the touch of a button. I can rename entire albums to conform to my naming system. I can download id3 tags from freedb, I can send files or albums to the ipod, convert any format into any other format I have an encoder for, I can apply complex resampling algorthims such as SSRC PPHS and simple rabbit code, and most of this hasn't even touched the surface of the plugins available for it.

Can your software do that

. It has a bit of a learning curve for setup, but once you got the program running you way everything just works.

 

[Headphoner]

Thanks for your replies. A number of you mentionned ASIO. What is ASIO?

 

[Zorander]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Garbz Usability. Windows media player since version 6 or 7 has been unable to simply play songs, now sorting them in all sorts of non-customisable way. Asside from the fact I would never use any media player in windows which did not support ASIO, I can do anything I want in foobar at the touch of a button. I can rename entire albums to conform to my naming system. I can download id3 tags from freedb, I can send files or albums to the ipod, convert any format into any other format I have an encoder for, I can apply complex resampling algorthims such as SSRC PPHS and simple rabbit code, and most of this hasn't even touched the surface of the plugins available for it. Can your software do that . It has a bit of a learning curve for setup, but once you got the program running you way everything just works.

I was not aware of this! How do you do that?

 

[Garbz]

download foopod and the lame mp3 encoder, or an aac encoder. The second I found out about this I uninstalled itunes!

ASIO - Audio Steam Input/Output. It is like direct sound / wave out / kernel streaming except it has some clear advantages. For soundcards which have ASIO compatibility written into their drivers any data sent via ASIO completely bypasses the windows kernel mixer which is known for messing with data, not producing bigperfect outputs, and generally not being able to be controlled.

It is quite possible you may receive a significant performance boost when using ASIO over direct sound as this is raw untouched data being fed over to your soundcard. Whether your soundcard keeps it raw is another question entirely

 

[Zorander]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Garbz download foopod and the lame mp3 encoder, or an aac encoder. The second I found out about this I uninstalled itunes!

Would you know of foobar plug-ins that would work with other (non-iPod) DAPs?

Thanks!

 

[rincewind]

This has been answered many many times before...

 

[tim_the_gamer]

I'm a believer!

I've been using foobar for quite some now since I enjoy its small memory footprint, it's not bloatware, and it sounds just as good as other players. After reading this thread (and many others), I wanted to see what all the fuss about ASIO is and installed ASIO (ASIO4ALL) for use with my Corda Aria. I configured foobar to use it with the asio plug-in and then... HOLY!

What a nice difference especially in the areas of DyNAmiCs and separation. What used to sound flat and somewhat lifeless is now aural bliss. I don't know about other DAC's / soundcards, but Aria owners owe it to themselves to set this up at once!

 

[Garbz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zorander Would you know of foobar plug-ins that would work with other (non-iPod) DAPs? Thanks!

Nope, but that's not to say they don't exist. This would probably be a question for the hydrogen audio forums, quoting your specific player.

 

[narticus]

Anyone know if the Chaintec AV-710 Soundcard can use ASIO?

 

[Nugget]

For the time being, my computer source is an X-Fi wired directly into my amp, no external DAC. Is there any point to using ASIO/foobar in a setup like that?

 

[rreynol]

Quote:

Originally Posted by narticus Anyone know if the Chaintec AV-710 Soundcard can use ASIO?

It can and is well documented somewhere.