Foobar and CD player of PC

[noknor]

My setup
Laptop (foobar2000)-> HRT Music Streamer ii USB DAC -> Yamaha AS-500

Foobar Settings
WASAPI (Event) : Speakers (2-Music Streamer II)
Buffer Length : 15780 ms
Output format : 24-bit

The problem
When I play Audio CD from the cd player on my laptop, nothing happens. I do not even know if it is playing. However if I do not use the DAC and send the output to the default speakers on the laptop then I can hear the music.
When I play music stored in my harddisk (FLAC , 1821 kbps, 48kHz, 24bits) it plays normally through the DAC and I hear the music.

 

[musicbee]

You have probably enabled exclusive mode for WASAPI for the HRT DAC.

Either disable exclusive mode (Windows playback devices > Advanced tab) or release the output device (the DAC) from Foobar. Typically stopping Foobar playback should do this, but you can try shutting down Foobar and see how it goes.

 

[noknor]

Thanks musicbee, it works. I disabled exclusive mode from the Windows speaker settings and it solved the problem.

Does it mean that when using WASAPI one should not have the exclusive mode enabled in Windows?

 

[musicbee]

Thanks musicbee, it works. I disabled exclusive mode from the Windows speaker settings and it solved the problem.

Does it mean that when using WASAPI one should not have the exclusive mode enabled in Windows?

You can but it makes it exclusive to only one device. I have it set up that way, but I have multiple audio devices and Foobar has exclusive access to the AVR via optical (for music). Everything else I use PC speakers (non-exclusive mode) connected to another audio device (a 2nd sound card).

 

[saheb11123]

Usually stopping the playback from foobar does it for me. But if foobar is playing I cannot hear anything from any other playback.

 

[noknor]

The DAC should ideally have a USB input and RCA output. You connect the usb to the computer and the RCA to the amplifier.
Then download foobar2000 and also the WASAPI component. Configure the output setting in foobar2000 to use WASAPI (event) of the DAC that you would use(It will show the name of the DAC). That's all you need to do.

To listen to CD format music, buy CDs rip them using foobar2000 on FLAC format. Download music if it is in FLAC format.

The CDs I buy usually cost around Rs 99 - Rs 150.

Buy a DAC that is asynchronous and buy a good one because a DAC matters most in computer playback.

 

[reignofchaos]

Rip the CD and then listen to it. Direct playback from a laptop drive sounds pretty bad.

 

[musicbee]

FLAC is the same as an audio CD, it is lossless. That said a CD player can sound better especially with even mid-range CD players unless the PC is setup well for audio playback.

I'd highly recommend getting on internet radio and streaming services for the latest music, check them out this way and only then buy a CD. Most albums and artists have only 1 hit song these days sadly.

Music playback via a PC is more of a convenience thing... you have all of your music easily accessible and it saves you the trouble of changing CDs each time you want to listen to a song. The CDs also serve as a backup and don't undergo the usual wear and tear/scratches. Also, there is the social aspect with a PC, I use sites like Last.fm that collage/aggregate the music I play and then recommend new music based on my listening preferences, I get to make new friends, network with other folks on forums like this one, etc.

I use EAC, but most media players (Foobar, MusicBee, MediaMonkey) will also rip CDs. Not much of a difference really between them.

For good quality via PC invest in a good DAC, that's probably the most important thing. You don't need an external DAC, a good soundcard like the Asus Xonar series will do the well too, but its the minimum you need for good quality sound from a PC. For players I recommend Foobar and JRiver (paid but really good).

As you must have guessed, there will be a bit of work involved in using a PC for audio playback, and some investment of time and money too.

 

[jls001]

@Yogibear: what CDs are these that cost 700-1500? Compilation box sets, perhaps? Try flipkart. Or better yet try Magical Moments ... Buy online Indian and International CDs, LPs, Blu-rays, DVDs and VCDs | Rhythm House - they'll ship to anywhere in India. Indian titles are much cheaper (say <Rs 200). Foreign titles range from Rs 399 to Rs 499. Of course some labels do cost more (like Water Lily, ECM).

@noknor: try playing around with (much) lower buffer size in foobar.

 

[musicbee]

Yup.

I've multiple devices that play music (and movies) wirelessly to phablets, tablets, sounddocks, Bluetooth speakers and even WiFi speakers.

PS - Bluetooth streaming is limited to Audio CD standards, so any HD audio will get downsampled. Also, streaming over the internet and not over the local WiFi network will downsample depending on the player (typically its 320 kbps MP3).

 

[manniraj]

Is there an alternative to foobar for Mac? Does anyone strip CDs and play from Mac?

Thanks.

I think the most used on Mac is Audirvana, try and see if you like it.

 

[musicbee]

Is there an alternative to foobar for Mac? Does anyone strip CDs and play from Mac?

Thanks.

What's wrong with iTunes? Does playback and CD ripping too.

Be careful with the cult of Mac... more snake oil salesmen and more susceptibility to buying stuff that does not work better than freeware.

Yup, lots of folks use a Mac... more specifically Macbook Pro or Air + Amarra... but honestly you can get same results with Foobar or JRiver + RAM playback.

 

[musicbee]

Thanks, am kind of scared of running any freeware or third party stuff to run window based softwares on Mac.

As I said earlier I have almost no experience of playing music/downloading/ripping CD, doing this kind of stuff on PC.

Just switched to Mac Pro Retina and found foobar will not run on Mac.:sad:

Why guys in US always looking for some kind of arrangement to run foobar on Mac instead of using iTunes? Is it because, anything that has to do with playing/downloading/Cd ripping thru iTunes, costs money?

Every time you do something like this, does iTunes store says, "Pay up" ?

Thanks.

Check out Vox, its freeware that plays FLAC. (This is purely based on a Google search, I've not used/tested it).

iTunes is pretty much locked down and does not support many formats including FLAC, but that's true for the entire Apple ecosystem. You need to pay pretty much for everything. I've not used iTunes in a long time and back then it was only to load music on my iPod, but I'm thinking iTunes might not play music that has not been bought from the Apple Store. I'm not sure, but that's a possibility, will wait for other iTunes users to weigh in here.

I'd recommend using a Windows PC for FLAC playback... or you'll need to jump through many hoops or convert the audio files to Apple Lossless if you want to play them on a Mac.

 

[manniraj]

Check out Vox, its freeware that plays FLAC. (This is purely based on a Google search, I've not used/tested it).

iTunes is pretty much locked down and does not support many formats including FLAC, but that's true for the entire Apple ecosystem. You need to pay pretty much for everything. I've not used iTunes in a long time and back then it was only to load music on my iPod, but I'm thinking iTunes might not play music that has not been bought from the Apple Store. I'm not sure, but that's a possibility, will wait for other iTunes users to weigh in here.

I'd recommend using a Windows PC for FLAC playback... or you'll need to jump through many hoops or convert the audio files to Apple Lossless if you want to play them on a Mac.

iTunes allows you to play music bought outside the Apple ecosystem, no issues in that but as you said the FLAC does not play we need to convert them to ALAC. Coming to other players I have recently used the Audirvana which allows to play all formats on Mac and I think even Amarra as well. I recently brought a Macbook Pro laptop and played over my Audio-gd DAC from Audirvana. But I still prefer to use my dedicated windows 7 based fanless PC with Foobar.

 

[musicbee]

Yes to all.

Just play it by ear and tweak what works best. Anyways if its Bluetooth the speakers would not be audiophile grade (I'm assuming you are using Bluetooth speakers or a sounddock), unless of course you are using Bluetooth to send to an AVR (in which case Ethernet is also a good option to consider).

Either way enjoy the music, going wireless is a huge convenience. I stream all over my house and even when traveling (limited to smartphone/tablet and Bluetooth speakers), but end of the day its the easiest way to listen to your music and beats internet radio by a long way.

 

[jls001]

Thanks so much. I intend to use bluetooth to send it over to my preamp. Then the sound card of the PC/Laptop would matter ?

I am just trying to see if this works well format wise, it will not require a DAC.

My chain would be like: foobar on laptop and beaming the music via bluetooth to my preamp.

Would the music format beamed this way be CD/FLAC format?

Thanks.

Does the preamp have BT module built in? If not, are you planning to use an outboard BT module/box that will accept the audio signal coming over the air from the PC/laptop? Will this module/box give analog line level output suitable for the preamp?

How do you plan to stream the audio being played on the PC/laptop via BT? Is there some way to re-direct the output of the sound card (whether onboard as part of the motherboard or some add-on PCIx card) as a BT stream?

Assuming you have figured out the above questions, I think the BT will not "shape" the audio signal that it is carrying in any way. BT is just the carrier.

My understanding is when you play your flac music on the PC/laptop it gets decompressed first into a PCM stream (please correct me if I'm wrong with my understanding here). Then the PCM stream is converted from being a digital signal to analog, as the preamp can process analog line level signal. If the signal that reaches the preamp is still in flac or wav format, then it means that the sound card has sent the audio signal in digital format, and therefore the preamp needs some means to convert it to analog.

Also, if the output of the sound card is analog, then it needs to be modulated as per bluetooth standards, then upconverted to Intermediate Frequency and then finally to bluetooth Radio Frequency. The reverse needs to happen at the receiving end. It is a complete RF communication chain! Isn't it too complex? BT is for short hop communication and works on line of sight so in any case you can't keep the source and preamp too far apart. Why not just use a wired connection?

 

[musicbee]

To my knowledge Bluetooth is digital (open to correction here), and no the soundcard of the PC or laptop will not matter as its not being selected as the output/sound device.

Don't overthink it, sound via Bluetooth and Wi-Fi (if you have Wi-Fi enabled speakers) sounds pretty good. Of course I've not done A/B testing, but digital optical cable from PC to AVR sounds the best, but then it also costs a lot more. That said I enjoy music wirelessly too and nothing beats the convenience of being able to stream your music without wires.

 

[musicbee]

Just a heads up...

If you thinking of the future then I'd highly recommend WiFi, think Sonos or maybe Devialet. At least if you are thinking of spending on hardware, that's the route I'd recommend.

Bluetooth is good, but extremely limited in terms of range. I live in a largish house (nearly 3000 sft) and have connected 2 routers running an AC network. This covers the entire house for wireless streaming, both music and movies. Bluetooth will never cover that much distance (typically limited to 30 feet but really good for streaming audio to around 10 feet). Also, with WiFi you can connect multiple devices all at the same time and even run multiple networks.

 

[manniraj]

Thanks for your suggestion.

It may appear a surprise but the preamp is very pocket friendly. I would be sitting rather close, kind of line-of-sight wrt bluetooth transfer.

Want to try this out though I would also like to know if FLAC format can be beamed up thru bluetooth from an android and iphone.

Thanks.

I would also suggest to try out the Rocki player which was around $49 with wifi option last year. I have used for sometime but because of its limitation with the network streaming (I think this app should have been launched by now try and see if you like it) I started using the Pi along with my ODAC. But this Rocki is a tiny device which allows you to playback the music from your phone/tab over wifi and the device has a built-in DAC which is good for its price.

 

[musicbee]

I would also like to know if FLAC format can be beamed up thru bluetooth from an android and iphone.

Yup (to Android), Apple won't let me stream for free unless I pay $5 for an app, which I refuse to when I can stream for free on Android.

Bluetooth is only the channel, upsampling & downsampling will only be done by the DAC or the sound card or specific software if you are looking to stream your music online.