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Help with Foobar2000 audio output settings


hdls

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I use Foobar2000 on a small Samsung laptop (2013, SSD, 8gb RAM, Windows 8.1, 64bit) to stream music from a Synology NAS to an Asus Essence One USB DAC (I know, not the best but a setting that fits my limited budget...). My 300 GB of music files include downloaded MP3s, lossless high-res and CD quality FLAC files and WAV files, as well as FLAC files ripped from my CD collection. Therefore, bitrate varies considerably between tracks.

My problem is how to select the best audio output settings. The Foobar2000 website advises using the Windows settings which allow to select up to 24 bit / 192 kHz output. The problem is that I then need to manually select the bit / kHz settings each time, otherwise it would modify all files to fit the selected numbers (eg a 16bit / 44100 Hz file would undergo processing to become a 24bit / 192 kHz file which I obviously don't want). The alternative is using an ASIO plugin which I have done, however I read lots of people resent doing that for many reasons, and I am sometimes annoyed by "clics" at the beginning and end of tracks (an issue I have read others have also experienced).

I am thankful for any comment / suggestion on which Foobar2000 audio output settings would best fit my needs and automatically adapt to different bit rates. I know some people may advise me to start using JRiver, but though I might do just that at some point, I still like Foobar2000 which is free and has served me very well so far.

I also take advantage of this thread to thank Chris and all CA contributors for their hard work

Thanks,

Chris

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Download the Kernel Streaming plugin here.

 

Install that (just copy the file into the Foobar2000 directory. Once done and foobar2000 restarted, you should see it listed in your components (not my screen shot, just grabbed from google).

Foo_components.png

 

This means it sees the plug and you're good. Now go to Playback -> Output. In the Menu drop down you should see KS: <device name> ... guessing Asus Essence One. This means Foobar2000 will output the files exactly as they are (native bit rate). Only issue with this could be if the Essence One doesn't support 24/192k files then there could end up being an issue where it can't play a file.

 

I would also recommend in the windows device for the Essence One (Control Panel, Sound, Device), setting the Levels to 100% (I believe the Essence has it's own volume control on it?), under enhancements, check "Disable all enhancements" and under Advanced set to 24/192k and make sure the Exclusive Mode boxes are both checked.

 

This should give you some great sound, there's more tweaking that can be done, but this should provide a great start.

 

Kernel Streaming is better than ASIO in my opinion... I've done a LOT of testing and I've found a couple tracks where there's definitely a difference that ASIO can not resolve detail where Kernel Streaming can. I was a huge ASIO/WASAPI person until I happened to stumble across the tracks that showed a noticeable difference. So the way to go with Foobar2000, I believe, is Kernel Streaming.

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I've just done some reading on the Foobar2000 website, more specifically on KS and the 2 other plug-ins for bit-perfect streaming (ASIO and WASAPI). I still find it odd that they recommend NOT using those plug-ins and rather sticking to the "Primary Sound Driver", given that in that case, one has to either manually adapt the bitrate output or risk having Windows up- or down-sample music files.

Maybe I should suggest to Peter (the creator of Foobar2000) an improvement for future versions of his (otherwise excellent) program: built-in automatic selection of adequate bitrate & sample frequency...

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I've just done some reading on the Foobar2000 website, more specifically on KS and the 2 other plug-ins for bit-perfect streaming (ASIO and WASAPI). I still find it odd that they recommend NOT using those plug-ins and rather sticking to the "Primary Sound Driver", given that in that case, one has to either manually adapt the bitrate output or risk having Windows up- or down-sample music files.

Maybe I should suggest to Peter (the creator of Foobar2000) an improvement for future versions of his (otherwise excellent) program: built-in automatic selection of adequate bitrate & sample frequency...

 

I am on the same boat on HDLS as I am trying to stick to Foobar. I have connected my PC to the Cambridge Audio DacMagic Plus using the Toslink connection, rather then USB. The KS plug in should work for me also, right?

Reference -> WIIM Pro Plus powered by Larry's HDPlex-> CA DacMagic Plus -> AudioResearch DS225 Audioquest XLR -> Sonus Faber Olympica 2 Kimber Speaker Wire

Family Room -> ALOO DIGIONE -> SPDF-> Onkyo TX-NR609 -> 7.1 In Wall Polk Audio SVS Sub (Home Theatre)

Living Room-> BlueSound NODE Gen3-> Carver THX Amp -> NHT Zero + SVS SB-1000 (LivingRoom)

 

 

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Simply install into Foobar2000 all 3 types of plugins: WASAPI, Kernel Streaming and ASIO.

Here you can find them: foobar2000: Components Repository

Then go to 'File | Preferences | Output' and display the Device drop down list.

I recommend you to use USB with your DacMagic, but simply choose the one which sounds best for you.

ASIO is only available in the list if your device driver supports it.

i7 11850H + RTX A2000 Win11 HQPlayer ► Topping HS02 ► 2x iFi iSilencer ► SMSL D300 ► DIY headamp DHA1 ► HiFiMan HE-500
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Simply install into Foobar2000 all 3 types of plugins: WASAPI, Kernel Streaming and ASIO.

Here you can find them: foobar2000: Components Repository

Then go to 'File | Preferences | Output' and display the Device drop down list.

I recommend you to use USB with your DacMagic, but simply choose the one which sounds best for you.

ASIO is only available in the list if your device driver supports it.

Will do. Just waiting for the AUDIOQUEST USB. Cable to show up. Looked at the drivers for DACMAGIC and should be able get going.

Reference -> WIIM Pro Plus powered by Larry's HDPlex-> CA DacMagic Plus -> AudioResearch DS225 Audioquest XLR -> Sonus Faber Olympica 2 Kimber Speaker Wire

Family Room -> ALOO DIGIONE -> SPDF-> Onkyo TX-NR609 -> 7.1 In Wall Polk Audio SVS Sub (Home Theatre)

Living Room-> BlueSound NODE Gen3-> Carver THX Amp -> NHT Zero + SVS SB-1000 (LivingRoom)

 

 

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I think the people on the foobar support forum are pretty adamant that the built-in resampler in Windows is "good enough", and would challenge you to prove otherwise. So I wouldn't worry about it and just enjoy the music. You can also install the Sox plugin (or some other resampling plugin) to automatically resample everything for you, in case you are one of those people that like to tweak settings and hear differences between them.

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Thanks a lot beanbag for your input. So if I understand you correctly, in your opinion the Windows built-in resampler is good, which would imply that even if it up-samples everything to 24/192 (except those rare files already in 24/192) it wouldn't matter at all ? (i.e. I most probably wouldn't hear the difference) ?

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Simply install into Foobar2000 all 3 types of plugins: WASAPI, Kernel Streaming and ASIO.

Here you can find them: foobar2000: Components Repository

Then go to 'File | Preferences | Output' and display the Device drop down list.

I recommend you to use USB with your DacMagic, but simply choose the one which sounds best for you.

ASIO is only available in the list if your device driver supports it.

 

Will the kernel streaming plugin work for dsf & dff files playing to Korg DSD dac up to 512?

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Will the kernel streaming plugin work for dsf & dff files playing to Korg DSD dac up to 512?

 

Only if Korg DSD DAC supports DoP for that bitrates. I don't know Korg DSD DAC.

ASIO is generally preffered, it gives the way to use native DSD playback. You need to install USB driver. That's for Windows, I am not familiar with Mac.

i7 11850H + RTX A2000 Win11 HQPlayer ► Topping HS02 ► 2x iFi iSilencer ► SMSL D300 ► DIY headamp DHA1 ► HiFiMan HE-500
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It'll take a lot NOT to notice the difference between ASIO/KS and the Windows Native Primary Sound Driver and Resampler.

 

I noticed immediate improvement over the native and taking away all the processing Windows is doing. Remember Windows primary sound driver is for compatibility and convenience of working with anything plugged into it (or for it to output to). Nothing it does is "optimized" for playback.

 

KS > ASIO/WASAPI > Primary sound driver.

 

Bogi is right, if you want native DSD playback support for your DSD DAC you should use ASIO.

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Only if Korg DSD DAC supports DoP for that bitrates. I don't know Korg DSD DAC.

ASIO is generally preffered, it gives the way to use native DSD playback. You need to install USB driver. That's for Windows, I am not familiar with Mac.

Yea, i have it working with foobar and asio/usb/korg drivers..i was just wondering if the kernel streaming would also work for dsd.

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You can use Kernel Streaming, however it's not going to be native, Foobar2000 will convert it to PCM and output it to the DAC. That's why I suggest if you want to keep the DSD native you use ASIO.

 

Though I have experimented a little with DSD and from what I've also read, the KS is almost as good (if not as good) as the Native DSD that's sent out. I'm sure there will be people to jump on and say it's not true...but I think they are very close. I would still give the DSD natively sent slightly better... I'm a big proponent of not converting between formats and leaving them in their native state.

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You can use Kernel Streaming, however it's not going to be native, Foobar2000 will convert it to PCM and output it to the DAC. That's why I suggest if you want to keep the DSD native you use ASIO.

 

Though I have experimented a little with DSD and from what I've also read, the KS is almost as good (if not as good) as the Native DSD that's sent out. I'm sure there will be people to jump on and say it's not true...but I think they are very close. I would still give the DSD natively sent slightly better... I'm a big proponent of not converting between formats and leaving them in their native state.

 

I am up and running with ASIO with DacMagicPlus and am very pleased with the result. I am listening to an old BigCountry album in AAC called Steel town and atleast getting a little bit more depth. I did have to look up a few times in the Cambridge audio site as install was not that seemless but they have the right information. Now need to see, if I can improve o the library view of Foobar.

Reference -> WIIM Pro Plus powered by Larry's HDPlex-> CA DacMagic Plus -> AudioResearch DS225 Audioquest XLR -> Sonus Faber Olympica 2 Kimber Speaker Wire

Family Room -> ALOO DIGIONE -> SPDF-> Onkyo TX-NR609 -> 7.1 In Wall Polk Audio SVS Sub (Home Theatre)

Living Room-> BlueSound NODE Gen3-> Carver THX Amp -> NHT Zero + SVS SB-1000 (LivingRoom)

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
have a read through this

 

how do you display album cover in Foobar? (Page 1) - Media - AVI HiFi Forum

 

 

lots of others if you search here

 

Browse Art - deviantART

 

 

atb

 

 

Ronnie.

 

Thank you so much, Ronnie. The instrucions were fabulous and what i needed.

Reference -> WIIM Pro Plus powered by Larry's HDPlex-> CA DacMagic Plus -> AudioResearch DS225 Audioquest XLR -> Sonus Faber Olympica 2 Kimber Speaker Wire

Family Room -> ALOO DIGIONE -> SPDF-> Onkyo TX-NR609 -> 7.1 In Wall Polk Audio SVS Sub (Home Theatre)

Living Room-> BlueSound NODE Gen3-> Carver THX Amp -> NHT Zero + SVS SB-1000 (LivingRoom)

 

 

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This is what my foobar looks like... has the album flow back and forth and I think works out well. Can adjust all the windows to fit your screen the best... I think it at least makes foobar look like it's not from 10 years ago (like it really is). ha ha

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]15867[/ATTACH]

 

Indeed nice work. Looks like you took those three vertical areas and where able the artwork. How did you do the right side bar?

Reference -> WIIM Pro Plus powered by Larry's HDPlex-> CA DacMagic Plus -> AudioResearch DS225 Audioquest XLR -> Sonus Faber Olympica 2 Kimber Speaker Wire

Family Room -> ALOO DIGIONE -> SPDF-> Onkyo TX-NR609 -> 7.1 In Wall Polk Audio SVS Sub (Home Theatre)

Living Room-> BlueSound NODE Gen3-> Carver THX Amp -> NHT Zero + SVS SB-1000 (LivingRoom)

 

 

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  • 3 months later...
I am up and running with ASIO with DacMagicPlus and am very pleased with the result. I am listening to an old BigCountry album in AAC called Steel town and atleast getting a little bit more depth. I did have to look up a few times in the Cambridge audio site as install was not that seemless but they have the right information. Now need to see, if I can improve o the library view of Foobar.

 

Hi, Greetings from Croatia!

I need help about installing CA DacMagic Plus with Foobar2000.

CA is set in USB mode 2. ASIO CA is the main output.

Led lamp is always standing in the same position 44.1 khz, even though playing the record 19.2 khz. Foobar shows 19.2 khz but not DacMagic Plus. At the forum I read that I need to install Foobar component foo_out_asio.zip (version 1.2.7). This component can not be found anywhere, the download link.

Please help.

Hello everyone,

Damir

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foobar2000: Components Repository - ASIO support

 

The information about zip file is obsolete. Download the file foo_out_asio.fb2k-component from the link above and install it from Foobar2000: File | Preferences | Components ... | [install]

 

Hi,

I think I correctly install ISO2DSF v1.2.2 but still the same problem.

I plays the tracks from 192 kHz, Foobar recognizes, but CA Dac led is still standing at the position 44.1 hz.

I enclose a picture.

Redirecting

 

Redirecting

 

Redirecting

 

Am I mistaken in setting Foobar?

greetings

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