[buschfsu]

i see foobar alot on this forum, is there a reason why you all use it over say.. winamp or the window media player? i have a 1820m that i use for recording and playback
thanks

 

[breez]

It has very good functionality and can be customized very well (with plugins, like Winamp). I like the tagging facilities, ability to transcode easily with the diskwriter, high precision DSP chain (when DSP is needed) and it just works rock solid!

 

[virometal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by breez It has very good functionality...... it just works rock solid!

Exactly, I used Winamp for years before this forum introduced me to FB. For me it turned out to be a godsend. It is clean, stays out of the way, and simplifiies file management.

Great program

 

[mtbaird5687]

opens fast, handles large playlists with ease. i like how it looks with columns_ui and the skin i have.

and i like being able to tell people i use it and have them go "whats that"!?!?" i feel like a badass

 

[jerb]

its not supposed to look good (unless you want it to) but instead just function. everything is easy to find and easy to change, there are countless plugins and features and it uses very little recources (loads fast and can enque lots of songs without lagging)

 

[Drakemoor]

It doesn't sound better than other media players unlike what people will tell you but for sheer functionality, customisation and speed it gets my vote with ease.

 

[riffer]

I don't know if it is currently the case, but it just sounded better a few years ago when I made my decision. Also, it was one of the first to handle .flac files.

Also, I like the simple interface.

 

[bLue_oNioN]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drakemoor It doesn't sound better than other media players unlike what people will tell you but for sheer functionality, customisation and speed it gets my vote with ease.

I'd like to learn more about this point here -- Foobar2k seems to have a sound of its own when compared side by side with iTunes and (especially) Winamp. I've heard people argue from both sides of aisle (sounds different vs. sounds same), not sure what correct answer is?

 

[necropimp]

well if you turn off all DSP/EQ/replay gain and have winamp and foobar set to waveout... they sound the same

 

[virometal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bLue_oNioN I'd like to learn more about this point here

I would too. Just a couple days ago, I jumped between the two by playing the same album on each than single tracks.

At first, I perceived more bass impact on the winamp, but perceived is the key word.

To my ears, there is no difference.

 

[floodo1]

foobar is the most customizable.

just check out this thread on hydrogenaudio -> Foobar Gallery, Everyone post your foobar or Foobar2000 format strings, Show us your favourites : )

you can do things like create a "hotness" rating based on for example times played total, times played in XX last days, averaged out over days since you first added it. whatever.
you can do things like make a column display whether a file contains replaygain information, and if it does disply the track gain, if it doesnt dispaly "no"

customization man

all this has a downside tho: it looks like CRAP until you spend some time researching and customizing. but the more time you spend doing that the more foobar becomes tailored to your exact needs and listening habits.


its kinda like DS and PSP, they do the same thing (play games portably) but they're really for different purposes. same thing with winamp and foobar. foobar is about being an audio MANAGER (which of course is a player as well) that does what you want how you want because YOU made it do that. winamp is a generic simple (relatively) easy to use media player (does more than audio) with good viz plugins.

 

[patricklang]

Give j.river media center a try, its much less hassle, has good codecs preconfigured, and has a wonderful ripper that supports secure rip. It actually does better than EAC with my Sony cdrw/dvd combo drive. It is not free, but if you're spending hundreds on your amp and sound card, $25 is nothing. There is a free 30 day trial, and if you register, they allow you to use the same serial on two computers (work/home) no questions asked.

My favorite features: ASIO, good ripping built-in, good FreeCDDB backend, automatically downloads album covers, media servers for upnp and tivo that can cross-code on the fly (store your music lossless, encode to mp3/wma on the fly for devices), good portable syncing support. You could do all this minus ripping in foobar, but you'd lose a few days setting it up...

http://jrmediacenter.com/

 

[uzziah]

ok. foobar by itself does not necessarily make things sound better, but it's erroneous that it cannot. features such as replaygain, different bit choices, crossover, etc. etc. allow for maximum creativity, tweakability, and improvmeent. sound is subjective, foobar's features might give you music in ways you might enjoy it more.

 

[floodo1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by patricklang You could do all this minus ripping in foobar, but you'd lose a few days setting it up...

few days??? man you must be diligent to setup foobar to your liking in a few days !

hehe foobar is a lifetime of setup

but also a lifetime of fulfillment

heheh





also replaygain is something not to be overlooked, quite a nice feature, esp since most albums that i've ripped are way to hot, average replaygain per album is usually -6db or more

 

[cerbie]

Fast, like Winamp 2.
Comes out of the box able to play most formats.
It is a big playlist. I actually found out about Foobar2000 while trying to make a Winamp modern skin that would have been very similar.
Very easy to use conversion, replygain scanning, and tagging (great for fine-tuning tags on whole albums and such).
Add foo_winamp_spam and foo_shuffle (random by album, and keeps a history), and it's a great media player, capable of being used in place of Winamp, even for external plugins.

For Creative Audigy cards, it could make it sound better, as it has a nice software resampler. However, even in that case, you'd need to turn it on. It also has kernel streaming, but I have not been able to hear a difference (I still use it, though

).