Basic Foobar configuration (1st&2nd posts)

[Deleted]

Alex, I can't really elaborate on it because is somewhat a random thing. It doesn't happen everytime I use a certain app so it can be traced and analyzed. In fact it doesn't happen most days, maybe my PC is a she and it has these problems those days of the month... It certainly happens more often with WASAPI than with ASIO but it certainly shouldn't be there with neither. It happens with other media players too so it isn't a Foobar thing, probably it is a Windows issue.

[Deleted]

Jul 15, 2012 6:49:01 GMT @javier said:

Alex, I can't really elaborate on it because is somewhat a random thing. It doesn't happen everytime I use a certain app so it can be traced and analyzed. In fact it doesn't happen most days, maybe my PC is a she and it has these problems those days of the month... It certainly happens more often with WASAPI than with ASIO but it certainly shouldn't be there with neither. It happens with other media players too so it isn't a Foobar thing, probably it is a Windows issue.

Hi Javier
Thanks for the reply. A little while ago I even shut down wmpnetwk.exe because Task Manager shows it popping up all the time.I don't use WMP , let alone sharing over a network.
Kind Regards
Alex

[Deleted]

Alex you can try shutting down every service from the task manager, if they are essential you'll get a pop up saying it can't be stopped and it will not do so, ditto for all programs (in case you are not sure read the description column). You can open DPC and stop services/programs one by one and check their impact on the system's latency. Most won't change athing as they are there but have little to no activity, others have a higher impact and closing them can help lowering latency. The good thing about this is that if you screw up a simple reboot will bring everything back to normal.


BTW, Chong, Foobar has an auto update feature in the option panel. It is not triggered automatically like Windows Updates, you have to click the button pointed by the red arrow in the pic below but if it finds any updates it will ask you which ones you want and once confirmed will do it automatically for you:



I use direct mode in SACD plugin on KISS principles, less is more, and one conversion, if done properly, should be enough.

[Deleted]

Alex you can try shutting down every service from the task manager, if they are essential you'll get a pop up saying it can't be stopped and it will not do so, ditto for all programs (in case you are not sure read the description column).

Hi Javier
I have shut down most non essential start up programs etc. already by by using Ashampoo Win Optimiser advices. I just don't try listening to music when scheduled things like an Image Backup and Defrag are scheduled to run, or when I have email program open.
Kind Regards
Alex

[XTRProf]

Sorry, I'm surely missing something. You mean you guys have popping sound with Foolbar thru a soundcard? I don't recall hearing any of that on start up even thru Wifi when Wifi is stable enough and my obviously low end soundcards that came with the PCs.

Care to elaborate a bit more so that I can identify that problem when it appears.

[XTRProf]

Jul 15, 2012 7:18:22 GMT @javier said:

Alex you can try shutting down every service from the task manager, if they are essential you'll get a pop up saying it can't be stopped and it will not do so, ditto for all programs (in case you are not sure read the description column). You can open DPC and stop services/programs one by one and check their impact on the system's latency. Most won't change athing as they are there but have little to no activity, others have a higher impact and closing them can help lowering latency. The good thing about this is that if you screw up a simple reboot will bring everything back to normal.

I guess I wouldn't be needing to shutdown much services and processes when I have a dedicated AV PC.

Jul 15, 2012 7:18:22 GMT @javier said:

BTW, Chong, Foobar has an auto update feature in the option panel. It is not triggered automatically like Windows Updates, you have to click the button pointed by the red arrow in the pic below but if it finds any updates it will ask you which ones you want and once confirmed will do it automatically for you:

I did try that and some of the dlls were not updated autimatically and the latest ones have to be found. All that comes with the Foolbar package, and not what were installed, all updated though. Is this the correct action expected for the updater?

Jul 15, 2012 7:18:22 GMT @javier said:

I use direct mode in SACD plugin on KISS principles, less is more, and one conversion, if done properly, should be enough.

You got a point there but the papa sees it otherwise and he also got a good reason for that. Too much aliased high frequency noise, better do it one stage so that that don't make the situation worse by doubling or tripling it thru multistage processing if I understand it correctly. So direct. No such aliased noise around, multistage for faster processing. In hirez, surely there is less aliased high frequency noise to be heard as those will happen much higher than what the audio band width generated by the hirez to have a chance for aliasing. This is unlike CD. Hope I have dissected it correctly there to be in line with papa.

Any correction here by the experts?

[XTRProf]

Jul 15, 2012 6:18:19 GMT @javier said:

The advantages of Event mode can be found here:

wiki.jriver.com/index.php/WASAPI

Thanks for the link. More OCD read needed!

Jul 15, 2012 6:18:19 GMT @javier said:

Chong, if you ever get to build the EXA2UI and Buffalo III combo you will be truly amazed. Though be warned, it is not only expensive, it is also quite complex to build and get working. There are plenty of options for everything, from power supplies to working modes (sync Vs async). Just make sure you don't use a valve output stage, you'll kill the incredible THD and THD-N of the beast

It wouldn't happen any sooner. When it happens, it could be already Buffalo 4. Er, not the cheap stuff Buffalo I have.

Valves it will be as I already have 2 stereo valve modules when plannin for it until plan kaput now. Don't worry, I will do it the MF way, Valve AND SS outputs. So all the Tube and SS gurus happy now?

[dalethorn]

When I run Foobar2000 on my cheap netbook laptop that has never been on a network, I never get a glitch - just pure clean sound. On the networked/internet desktop, nothing seems to eliminate all the interruptions.

[XTRProf]

Jul 15, 2012 12:15:25 GMT @dalethorn said:

When I run Foobar2000 on my cheap netbook laptop that has never been on a network, I never get a glitch - just pure clean sound. On the networked/internet desktop, nothing seems to eliminate all the interruptions.

Thanks for the feedback. It seems Foolbar is more meant for the dedicated AV PC environment. Thank God I'm going there!

Btw, what CPU, RAM and OS power are in that DT?

[dalethorn]

My desktop is a Dell Optiplex 990 with 16 gb RAM, Win7 64-bit, CPU == Intel i7-2600 @3.40 ghz

Funny how that '2600' number pops up again.

[dalethorn]

BTW when you think about the radical difference between the desktop and the little netbook with Intel Atom CPU and 1 (one) gb of RAM, I could never imagine that the desktop would have problems playing music tracks. I don't think Windows Media Player has that problem, so Microsoft probably provides their own solution internally.

[Deleted]

Bad or underperforming drivers can ruin the aggregate performance of a PC. Not long ago I updated the drivers for my onboard USB 3.0 and started having lots of stuttering where previously had none I fired DPC tool and found latency had gone through the roof, changing to the previous version brought everything back to normal. Heavy network I/O increases system latency big time, almost as much as video playing. If the drivers are not good or there is misconfiguration they can impact latency no matter how powerful the PC.

[Deleted]

Chong, the auto update will only work on Foobar's own or official components, SACD, DVD-A or Dinamyc Range and any other non official plugins have to be updated manually.

[Deleted]

Here's a question posed more out of a sense of elimination of possibilities, as I suspect another software problem may be the real cause BUT.

With several different audio USB devices Foobar (v1.1.11) will be running happily and then suddenly decide it can no longer find the USB device

Once this has happened Windows also cannot find it (Windows XPpro SP3 bang up to date). A quick fix is reinstalling the laptops driver for its own sound device and all returns to normal.


EDIT I have no other instances of the audio driver needing installing (only with Foobar) and no other driver is dropping out.

[Deleted]

Chris
I have a USB HDD dock that has similar nasty habits, and that's with W7. Just another reason why I hate external USB .
Alex

[Deleted]

Alex, I hear what you're saying but was wondering why this only happens on Foobar.

WMP can play forever without incident or any other music programme I've used in the past.

It's a strange one....

[Deleted]

I have also a random drive disconnection problem with my laptop but I'm using at the same time a USB DAC and JRiver as the media player. It doesn't happen with Foobar.
BTW, V. 1.1.14 is out of the oven. I've updated first post accordingly and also some other things that were outdated.

[Deleted]

Aug 18, 2012 23:48:27 GMT @javier said:

BTW, V. 1.1.14 is out of the oven.

...and into my laptop No probs with update.

On suggestion I've been having a first play about with JRiver, to me it is very WMP like in usage but needs some tinkering in the settings, as standard the SQ is very noticably short of Foobar.

[Deleted]

In addition to which I don't think it's as 'user friendly' as foobar either, particularly for the only partially PC-competent like, errr, me .

[Deleted]

JRiver is as flexible than Foobar or perhaps quite a bit more. It is also extremely powerful and not only plays most available audio but also video, pics, streams both video and audio from the web and you name it, if given the chance, it'll play a slice of salami.
As usual, power and flexibility come at the cost of complexity but for those bold enough it pays by offering fantastic SQ and PQ and all options one could ever want: playing from RAM, 64bit audio porcessing, highest end upsampling and downsampling algorithms (which I don't use), ASIO, WASAPI, Kernel Streaming, multizone media server, it is remote controlable from an iPhone/iPod/iPad or Android device, etc. And best of all, J River support is second to none.

[Deleted]

Aug 19, 2012 12:49:54 GMT @cjarchez said:

On suggestion I've been having a first play about with JRiver, to me it is very WMP like in usage but needs some tinkering in the settings, as standard the SQ is very noticably short of Foobar.

If you are using it with a "true" ASIO compliant soundcard that'd be the preffered method, if not, as you are running XP Kernel Streaming would be 2nd best.

I say "True" ASIO as opposoed to ASIO4All which is not true ASIO, it is Kernel Streaming under disguise so rather pointless when you can do it straight and remove an unnecesary layer that adds nothing.

Also make sure you check the play from memory box and in the "DSP & output settings" make sure you configure as needed (PM if you any help).

[Deleted]

I'm on USB out.

I had found all the necessary settings and the play from memory made the jump in SQ necessary to catch up with Foobar (although they still sound different).

I can't use kernal streaming so am on direct.

On my poor old system I am finding jRiver a little sluggish to commands.

Otherwise the potential, as you said, looks very good. On a dedicated machine this could well be The One
.

[Deleted]

Wot? why no KS? have you checked in the Output settings droplist to see if your device is listed? do you have two soundcards (onboard + USB)?
There should be no probs with KS in XP SP3

[Deleted]

That's right, KS does not work in my setup.

The on board sound is handled by a basic Sigma Tel device but music listening is all done via USB.

Foobar lists the possibility of KS USB speakers ( that is the only name given to my NG27 usb device) but I get the error

Unrecoverable playback error: KS output error: error opening device

jRiver also lists the possibility but I get extreme distortion.

I have been using DS to date.

My own constructed USB sound device (still on bench at home) does come up as another name but with the same result on Foobar, obviously it has not yet met jRiver.

[Deleted]

Aug 19, 2012 22:15:55 GMT @cjarchez said:

That's right, KS does not work in my setup.

The on board sound is handled by a basic Sigma Tel device but music listening is all done via USB.

Foobar lists the possibility of KS USB speakers ( that is the only name given to my NG27 usb device) but I get the error

Unrecoverable playback error: KS output error: error opening device

jRiver also lists the possibility but I get extreme distortion.

I have been using DS to date.

My own constructed USB sound device (still on bench at home) does come up as another name but with the same result on Foobar, obviously it has not yet met jRiver.

The NG27 is based on the PCM2702E which is limited to 16bit and 44.1 or 48KHz. If you are trying to play anything higher rez, that could be the reason for the crash when using KS. Do you get distortion when playing 16/44.1 files too?
EDIT:
I forgot to mention that you should limit KS in both Foobar and JRiver to 16bit output.

Is your home PC XP too? if not you should try WASAPI instead of KS.
It'll be interesting when you receive the new Aune T1 and you compare it to the NG27 which according to what I have seen in ebay looks a little "basic".