XBMC better than Foobar via WASAPI for stereo?

[BLASTO]

Hi Guys,

I setup my HTPC recently.

I have installed WASAPI drivers for the card (Esi Juli@) and am using it to send digital signals to Musical fidelity M1 DAC via coax.

There is difference between the sound when played the same song from Foobar and XBMC using same drivers.

I just tried XBMC because file management in foobar is pretty hard comparatively.

It turns out, In my setup XBMC is sounding richer and more dynamic than the foobar while the whole world says the opposite. Even the volume is a bit higher than the foobar (full volume).

Does anyone have similar experience?

I wonder if foobar's performance can be improved somehow. Honestly I wouldn't have cared if I have used only foobar but since XBMC is sounding better, it makes me wonder if there are any tweaks in foobar that I did not make.

For the record,

Equalizer is off in both (I dint even figure out an eq in XBMC)
Output set to WASAPI SPDIF out Juli@.
Played directly frm audio CD from DVD drive (did not build lossless library yet)
Both are latest versions downloaded from their respective websites. (had updates as late as a month ago).

One last thing,

When I set the output to WASAPI Analog Juli@ in XBMC, there is digital signal sent through Juli@ coax much to my surprise and it is as better or even slightly better than direct digital WASAPI out.

All the above differences I am sure will not be perceivable through double blind test to me I guess.

Iam leaning towards dumping Foobar for XBMC. I anyone hears perceptible difference in favour of Foobar, let me know if I missed anything.

P.S: Man, XBMC amazes me. Any number of youtube videos would not have set me up for the spectre it is. Transparency skin is a Killer!!

 

[BLASTO]

OOPS. Mods, please move it to the HTPC section before someone bites me.

 

[Oakley]

I prefer the xbmc Linux version with ALSA,

If you are on windows, make sure of this

Replay gain off
Cross fading off
Menu sound off

Output device & pass thru device same

Make your jui@ default card with preference and shared sample rate.

Most important keep your digital volume in xbmc full do not adjust

There are many more tweaks which can be done via advance settings xml

Now your on bit perfect

It's pity that many are blind folded towards foobar.

Oak

 

[anm]

is it a good idea to make it the default audio device? system sounds would get mixed into it which means your audio will go via a mixer software?

 

[haisaikat]

Did you try Foobar WASAPI with the SOX Resampler plugin and check if the same difference persists.

Foobar2000 + WASAPI + SoX?

 

[baijuxavior]

Congratulations blasto. Please post pictures of your htpc build. Which version of xbmc are you using?

 

[Oakley]

Did you try Foobar WASAPI with the SOX Resampler plugin and check if the same difference persists.

Foobar2000 + WASAPI + SoX?

What's the point, when you are looking for bit perfect raw audio, why do you want to use resampler dsp, it will process sound and send to external dac.

Send raw signal to dac and let the dac do its duty.

Oak

 

[ranjeetrain]

It turns out, In my setup XBMC is sounding richer and more dynamic than the foobar while the whole world says the opposite. Even the volume is a bit higher than the foobar (full volume).

Does anyone have similar experience?

IMPO, foobar is way overrated (YMMV). Once level-matched with WinAmp and all processing defeated, there is virtually no difference between WinAmp sound and Foobar sound. I have spent 100+ hours doing A/B between Foobar and WinAmp, couldn't hear a difference. But that was after I level-matched them. Usually Foobar output is 4-5 dB higher than that of WinAmp. Its quite obvious Foobar sounded nicer with default settings.

Try level-matching Foobar and XBMC before drawing a conclusion. Louder almost always sounds more detailed and nicer.

 

[spirovious]

Some of the songs sound better in MPCHC like XMBC.

 

[mowgli80]

If you are using frodo with new audio engine, you can passthrough the audio without any tampering. But with this, you lose ability to control volume through PC.

AudioEngine - XBMC

 

[BLASTO]

Congratulations blasto. Please post pictures of your htpc build. Which version of xbmc are you using?

The released version.
11 I think.

There was a Beta-2 which I dint download since I found small glitches in the released version itself.

 

[BLASTO]

Some of the songs sound better in MPCHC like XMBC.

I too heard only few songs. Will try others and conclude.

BTW, the eq of foobar is very bad. Anyone succeeded using it? Cuts of lots of frequencies without improving anything.

 

[BLASTO]

Try level-matching Foobar and XBMC before drawing a conclusion. Louder almost always sounds more detailed and nicer.

Where is volume control in XBMC UI? (I don't have any ipad/phone app yet)

 

[manniraj]

I too heard only few songs. Will try others and conclude.

BTW, the eq of foobar is very bad. Anyone succeeded using it? Cuts of lots of frequencies without improving anything.

May be the stock equalizer is bad but I have these presets downloaded from this site. And these presets are good and you can use it default or change to your liking. I am using Foobar2000 over ODAC to my 571 receiver and it sounds very good. I tried the Dharma edition of xbmc and it was very bad not sure about the latest version which has the AE (audio engine).

Thanks

 

[baijuxavior]

XBMC V11 is Eden and is the current stable one. The new version 12 called Frodo is in beta state and I'm using it. It supports HD audio passthrough.

Volume controls are F8 - mute, F9 - decrease and F10 - increase.

 

[haisaikat]

What's the point, when you are looking for bit perfect raw audio, why do you want to use resampler dsp, it will process sound and send to external dac.

Send raw signal to dac and let the dac do its duty.

Oak

I know what you say is ideal, but at least to my ears it did make a difference making songs heard better. I cannot confirm whether it adds coloration but worth trying if someone has not tried already. With XBMC 11 (HD Audio Patch) set with WASAPI the sound was blunt in comparison with foobar.

Foobar + SoX resampler

 

[mowgli80]

Where is volume control in XBMC UI? (I don't have any ipad/phone app yet)

You could buy a "media center remote" (ebay) which should work out of the box with XBMC.

 

[manniraj]

I know what you say is ideal, but at least to my ears it did make a difference making songs heard better. I cannot confirm whether it adds coloration but worth trying if someone has not tried already. With XBMC 11 (HD Audio Patch) set with WASAPI the sound was blunt in comparison with foobar.

Foobar + SoX resampler

Yes I have this combination and it sounds very nice/crisp/clear/neutral to my ears over the ODAC. Now a days I listen only to the Foobar2000+WASAPI+SOX-Resampler+ODAC+Yamaha 571+Direct --> Yamaha NS-F140 floor standers.

Thanks

 

[haisaikat]

Yes I have this combination and it sounds very nice/crisp/clear/neutral to my ears over the ODAC. Now a days I listen only to the Foobar2000+WASAPI+SOX-Resampler+ODAC+Yamaha 571+Direct --> Yamaha NS-F140 floor standers.

Thanks

Me too in similar setup, and I have forgotten using my sub for music.

 

[BLASTO]

Foobar + SoX resampler

Getting access denied. Anything special need to be done?