I'm looking for a high quality music player for my PC. I'm currently using WinAmp or Windows Media Player. I like WinAmp for it's simple use and none of the stupid play list shit when I want to add music. The problem with WinAmp is that it's lacking in audio punch even with some graphic equalizer tuning. Windows Media player does sound louder and has a much wider sound but it's annoying to use and has an awful fluttering with audio volume balance. Is there a player out there that is simple and tidy with high quality sound? Yakumo
Foobar2000 is good, but comes with a "open source that you'll have to tweak a hell of a lot and which looks like crap" warning. Now I'm lazy and just play all my music through Spotify, though.
Foobar you say? I'll give it a try tonight. WinAmp was fantasic but ever since upgrading to Studio quality HD audio and buying a nice pair of BOSE headphones I've noticed the lack of punch when it comes to bass and alround flatness of the audio. I'm wondering if there is an audio enhancer plug in for WinAmp? Yakumo
I loved Foobar2000 back when I had a PC. It was really amazing, so simple yet comprehensive in organization. Since there's no Mac version I'm basically forced to use crappy iTunes. Which I hate to this day! It's been 2.5 years and I'm still wishing I could use foobar2000 every time I boot this pile of shit that Apple forces upon their users.
iTunes is shit all the way. I hate that crap. The only reason it's on my laptop is so I can tether the internet via the iPhone. Well, downloaded FooBar2000 to my laptop here in work and must say that it does look a bit ugly however I really like the flexibility of it and amount of support it has. The main question is, how good does it sound? I'll download it tonight to my desk top since that's the PC with the HD Sound system. Fingers crossed this will suit my fussy needs. Yakumo
with a good audio card you can use ASIO drivers, foobar is one of those few players that can use them. Do you use a separate audio card? A separate audio card can make the difference, even if you listen crappy mp3 with bad speakers.
I don't understand why people dislike iTunes so much. Granted, the PC version is a little buggy, but not the Mac version. Personally I like it because it simplifies things - it puts everything in one place and organizes it, and it gives you a lot of options for importing, changing metadata, artwork, etc. To be honest though, I don't use iTunes for playing music much anymore since I got my new CD player. One really cool feature about iTunes is that you can control it with your iPhone using an app called Remote. It works just like the iPhone's music player, so you can browse your entire library, make playlists, etc. It nice for when you're in another room and want to change the music, or if you're lying down and don't feel like getting up to use the computer. If you have good speakers, you shouldn't need to do a lot on the software side to make the audio sound good. Conversely, there's not much you can do to make up for crappy speakers.
You won't get much difference in sound from different players, at least without configuration. You're best off buying an internal sound card as an upgrade Yakumo. An ASUS Xonar DG is inexpensive and has a built in headphone amp which your BOSE may benefit from. foobar2000 is my preferred music player too.
@la-li-lu-le-lo, the main reason why I don't like iTunes (PC version) is because it takes way too long to boot, it's slow, it doesn't list music trackz how I want. It's bloated with al-sorts of crap I don't need and it has poor audio. @Segata Sanshiro. You'd be surprised at just how much difference well written audio software can change the hardware. For example, a standard iPod or iPhone has pretty shit audio settings. Sure, they keep the average Joe happy but for someone who grew up in the 80's with graphic equalizers on everything the audio is standard at best. Download one of the good equalizer apps and your i-device suddenly sounds a million times better. Personally I use some pretty nice yet quite afordable Creative speakers which really do give a good kick in the base and clear high end sound. Not up there with real high end audio equipment but still pretty impressive. My new headphones are BOSE AE2. I didn't need noise cancellation ones so these suited me perfectly. Anyway, I've just spent the last hour or so messing about with FooBar2000 and can honestly say that the results are fantastic. This bit of software blows away WinAmp (which I've been using for over 10 years!) and poops on Windows Media Player which isn't too hard I guess. I seriously recommend it to anyone who enjoys good audio. Don't let the menus or configuration put you off. It's really not that hard to work out. Here's what settings I use. I've tried it with many types of music and have to say everything sounded great. Yakumo
Did you use any plugins? I've been trying to find out for years how to make Foobar less...plain looking.
the best enhancer plugin I have used (and still use) for winamp is called enhancer. And it works like a fucking charm. Even on the newest version of Winamp. http://www.winamp.com/plugin/enhancer-017/81361
Not yet. the screen shot above is just using the standard Foobar colour options. I probably will skin it though. The smaller equalizer is actually my sound card's own. I use that in conjunction with Foobar. If I don't use my PC's own equalizer then things tend to sound a little flat. Yakumo
You should try with Wine or Crossover. In fact I'll be trying it soon under Linux with Crossover... it has a Gold rating, so it should work pretty well EDIT: just checked the Gold rating; it's for the Mac version of Crossover, so you should give it a try with either Wine or Crossover.
It's not really a matter of resources, but which Win32 APIs does it use and how does it use them... I guess, since WINE is an implementation of the Win32 APIs under Linux/Mac.
I was going to post a topic just like this. Will try foobar2000. WinAmp got too bloated over the years.
That's a silly thing to say. An EQ is there to bring out more in the sound. It's to allow personal preference. Needing an EQ doesn't mean shit hardware at all. My 35'000 yen pioneer car stereo sure isn't shit and that has an EQ on it along with all manner of other sound DSPs. If I'm understanding what you said that would mean plugging the crap earphones that Apple still give you with an iPod would make them sound fantastic if I used an EQ. Defiantly not the case. Those earphones sound shit because they are shit.
EQ is always needed if you need to get quality sound, preferably real hardware one because of one small thing - all speakers/headphones have different sound, some have "flat" sound, some too much bass etc. Speakers (i mean real ones, meant for music, some cheap plastic computer beepers) always require some adjustments to your room etc - i have 150W 3-way speakers and when i play some tracks as is even at low volume (less than 4 watts output), glass in a window starts to resonate, i move 62Hz sliders on EQ about 1mm down - no resonance, without any change in sound And yeah i use equalizer with both HD-600 and MDR-CD780, both are way above porta pro XD. I use HD-600 when i need to record something or just to get the best sound, CD780 are more comfortable and they have one detachable cable -better when you need to move a lot without risk of damaging the cable, and also sound very good after some modifications.
