iTunes or Foobar 2k for music playback?

Gareth82

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Hi everyone,

Out of iTunes and Foobar 2k which would be the best to use for computer based music played through a DAC?

Also can iTunes and Foobar be set up so the volume control and mixer are not used so that i can get a bit perfect stream to the DAC?

And if so, how would i do this on a netbook/laptop running windows 7?

Thanks
 

paradiziac

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Google "well tempered computer" -- lots of good advice there.

In simple terms, keep the volume at 100% and turn off system sounds (like email notifications etc!).

Personally I found that iTunes on Windows adds a kind of muddiness to the sound, even with all the EQ turned off. Probably something to do with the audio being fed to Quicktime and then the Windows mixer.

Foobar, in "Kernel streaming" or "WASAPI" mode bypasses more of the processing done by the OS, so sounds cleaner/clearer. I wouldn't get too hung up about "bit perfect" as most DACs upsample anyway. Just play around with a few settings and pick the best sounding. If it all sounds the same, don't worry about it!
 
T

the record spot

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I use iTunes, through a Fujitsu Lifebook laptop running Win7, into a Spitfire 2 DAC. There's no muddiness here as the DAC handles the digital conversion, bit by bit. The sound isn't a million miles off my Marantz CDP and for simplicity, iTunes is straightforward to use, offers enough for my needs (WAV files) and of course offers much more thanks to the iTunes store.
 

Gareth82

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Thanks for the replies.

I must admit that i use itunes for my iPod and i am familier with it and it is straight forward to use. I have just downloaded Foobar 2k and i am in the process of having a play around with it and see what it can do.

What would be the best Dac for between £200-£300 to use with a netbook?

I was looking at the DacMagic, rDac, MF V-Dac, Matrix Mini i Dac and Heart Music Streamer and Firestone DAC.
 

pwiles1968

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Some tips I have picked up for optimising sound quality of streamed audio over the last few months, some of them may be pretty obvious but Im going to put them down fr the sake of completeness.

Source material, high bit rate comprsses audio is not bad but Lossless is best, how much better will depend on your system but there is a difference.

If you are playing your music back via a computer turn off all audio processing, room effect EQ etc, specifically for iTunes turn off Sound check and sound enhancer.

If playing back via PC make sure your sound card is set up to be the same as the source material you are playing if you ripped a CD this will be 44.1 kHz & 16 Bit. If you have anything else set the sound card will be re-clocking the digital stream and creating bit errors.

If you are using an external DAC to feed in to an amp make sure that your source volume is at 100%, this means iTunes volume and the PC master volume if you are using the digital out from a streaming device to a DAC the same applies, any volume adjustment is done in the digital domain, reducing volume in the digital domain hotmail generally is done by reducing resolution, I.e. Going from 16 bits to 8 bits this is not good. There are some exeptions but they are generally high end kit.

Playing back iTunes from a PC specifically in order to get bit perfect audio playback you need to open up Quick Time go to Preferences and in the audio tab select Windows Audio Session, I am not a PC expert but it bypasses some of the windows internal processing.

Ripping audio with iTunes again make sure in the ripping options (Import Settings) that you have ticked the box for Use Error Correction, it may take a little longer but Rips will be better.
 

tino

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Why not install both and experiment ... it's all free software after all? There is a lot of internet chat on how to do the things you are asking, more than can be answered in a forum post. I sometimes use F2K (SB Touch used in preference at the moment), but have yet to tweak the audio settings. You can try out F2K WASAPI plug-in here ... http://www.foobar2000.org/components/view/foo_out_wasapi.

If you are a tweaker, then get F2K and experiment. For me it gets the vote because it can be heavily customised or pared down to the basics as you wish. Speed, stability and sound quality are the drivers behind F2K, as opposed to usability, library management, or online shopping(!).

And try out some of the skins on http://br3tt.deviantart.com/ ... I like HiFoo and Spotifoo.
 

Cpt.Issues

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I'm a fan of Foobar2000, I rip everything to FLAC using a program called Exact Audio Copy (EAC) then play via Foobar2000 which supports WASPI playback too thus nothing else can interrupt the sound either :)
 

Gareth82

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Thanks for the replies everyone.

So if i download the WASPI plug-in for foobar would this overide the netbooks soundcard and sound mixer etc?
 

acalex

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Sorry for posting this, but I might get rid of my rDAC which is still 3 months old because I am upgrading the whole lot to something more advanced. Just get in touch if you think it can be interested. Not sure why there is not any place where we can trade hi-fi stuff, would be nice.

regarding your original question, I tried to use Foobar with KS and I found some improvements over using the Windows Mixer. The WASAPI never really worked with the rDAC, lot of pops and interruptions even lowering a lot the buffer.
 

paradiziac

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acalex said:
Not sure why there is not any place where we can trade hi-fi stuff, would be nice.

I think we are supposed to buy the latest and greatest new gear!

There are "other" forums for doing what you suggest!
 

Gareth82

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Yes i would be interested in the rDAC, but i wouldn't be able to get it untill in the new year as i have just bought my Roksan Kandy and my wife's second child is due any day now so funds will be abit tight untill the new year so it depends how quick you want to get rid of the rDac really.
 

acalex

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Gareth82 said:
Yes i would be interested in the rDAC, but i wouldn't be able to get it untill in the new year as i have just bought my Roksan Kandy and my wife's second child is due any day now so funds will be abit tight untill the new year so it depends how quick you want to get rid of the rDac really.

I am not in a rush, do not worry :)! I also won't buy the new DAC before next year... :cheers:
 

Gareth82

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Ok, message me here ????????????? and we can see if we can sort something out
grin.gif
 

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