Recommend lossless media player for XP

[vulcanman]

The plan is to rip all my CDs to lossless files on my hard drive.

This morning, I ordered this EMU 0404 Audiophile USB digital sound unit. It will connect to the PC via USB and output high-resolution audio to my sound system.

The PC runs windows XP.

Which lossless format should I use ... is there a freeware utilily to do that ? Also ... is there a good front-end to play the media files ... something that will display the titles in large format so its readable from a distance ?

Thank you.

 

[PurdueRy]

Well in my case, I don't have a server...but I use FLAC and output via the EMU 1212m w/ ASIO drivers in foobar2000. I would suggest this setup as it works rather well.

 

[Schadenfroh]

Which lossless format should I use

FLAC

is there a freeware utility to do that ?

CDex

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh

Which lossless format should I use

FLAC

is there a freeware utility to do that ?

CDex

Yup I use CDex primarily. dBpoweramp can also do it and obviously EAC.

 

[vulcanman]

Great info ! Foobar2000 also does ripping ... is that not as good as CDEx ?

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: vulcanman
Great info ! Foobar2000 also does ripping ... is that not as good as CDEx ?

Foobar is a player...I don't think it does any ripping. It just has the capability to do ASIO which is why I use it.

 

[vulcanman]

Alright ... I downloaded Foobar2000 ... and confirmed that it does have ripping feature ... but requires flac.exe executable which I downloaded from another site. It worked fine. I have to patiently wait for my 0404 to arrive.

 

[Tiamat]

yeah Foobar2k and either ASIO or kernal streaming with .wav or .flac or monkey audio

 

[scootermaster]

Originally posted by: Tiamat
yeah Foobar2k and either ASIO or kernal streaming with .wav or .flac or monkey audio

Does ASIO or kernel streaming make a big difference sound-wise (versus directsound or other Windows drivers?)

And why does everyone on over at AVS forums buy expensive sound cards and then do analog outs to their HT setups versus digital? (There was a whole debate over there about how the SNR of even a midrange card is better than any preamp on most people's receivers, etc etc).

I guess maybe that's why, but is that really true? You're not better off going SPDIF/optical out from the PC to the receiver?

 

[biggestmuff]

Why'd you spend money on that audio interface? You just need a card with good DAC that'll convert 44.1/16.

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: biggestmuff
Why'd you spend money on that audio interface? You just need a card with good DAC that'll convert 44.1/16.

Bitperfect

And some of us use them for some recording tasks as well where signal to noise ratio on the outputs AND inputs is critical.

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: scootermaster

Originally posted by: Tiamat
yeah Foobar2k and either ASIO or kernal streaming with .wav or .flac or monkey audio

Does ASIO or kernel streaming make a big difference sound-wise (versus directsound or other Windows drivers?)

And why does everyone on over at AVS forums buy expensive sound cards and then do analog outs to their HT setups versus digital? (There was a whole debate over there about how the SNR of even a midrange card is better than any preamp on most people's receivers, etc etc).

I guess maybe that's why, but is that really true? You're not better off going SPDIF/optical out from the PC to the receiver?

Well there are a number of possible reasons. For games and videos not encoded in a standard digital sound format, analog is the only way to get surround sound.

As you mentioned it could also be that their sound card sounds better than the DAC in their receiver. I doubt it's true for most cases but I wouldn't be surprised.

One reason I try to avoid analog outs from my computer to my receiver is the annoyance(I have done it before...it wasn't worth it IMO). You have two devices that need to have their levels set correctly at all times to get the sound you want. You can generally set the channel levels in software and also on the receiver. Controlling two devices can be rather tedious.

I prefer to use a simple digital connection and know that my receivers settings are the only place where the sound is messed with.

Using ASIO avoids resampling. I can see the sampling frequency change based on what song I play automatically. Bypassing directsound and such is just another added benefit.

 

[biggestmuff]

Originally posted by: PurdueRy

Originally posted by: biggestmuff
Why'd you spend money on that audio interface? You just need a card with good DAC that'll convert 44.1/16.

Bitperfect

And some of us use them for some recording tasks as well where signal to noise ratio on the outputs AND inputs is critical.

And what situation would that be?

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: biggestmuff

Originally posted by: PurdueRy

Originally posted by: biggestmuff
Why'd you spend money on that audio interface? You just need a card with good DAC that'll convert 44.1/16.

Bitperfect

And some of us use them for some recording tasks as well where signal to noise ratio on the outputs AND inputs is critical.

And what situation would that be?

Making frequency response measurements

 

[scootermaster]

Originally posted by: PurdueRy

Originally posted by: scootermaster

Originally posted by: Tiamat
yeah Foobar2k and either ASIO or kernal streaming with .wav or .flac or monkey audio

Does ASIO or kernel streaming make a big difference sound-wise (versus directsound or other Windows drivers?)

And why does everyone on over at AVS forums buy expensive sound cards and then do analog outs to their HT setups versus digital? (There was a whole debate over there about how the SNR of even a midrange card is better than any preamp on most people's receivers, etc etc).

I guess maybe that's why, but is that really true? You're not better off going SPDIF/optical out from the PC to the receiver?

Well there are a number of possible reasons. For games and videos not encoded in a standard digital sound format, analog is the only way to get surround sound.

As you mentioned it could also be that their sound card sounds better than the DAC in their receiver. I doubt it's true for most cases but I wouldn't be surprised.

One reason I try to avoid analog outs from my computer to my receiver is the annoyance(I have done it before...it wasn't worth it IMO). You have two devices that need to have their levels set correctly at all times to get the sound you want. You can generally set the channel levels in software and also on the receiver. Controlling two devices can be rather tedious.

I prefer to use a simple digital connection and know that my receivers settings are the only place where the sound is messed with.

Using ASIO avoids resampling. I can see the sampling frequency change based on what song I play automatically. Bypassing directsound and such is just another added benefit.

Interesting...I started another thread about which player to use from couch. (Thread is here).

One of the knocks for going with iTunes (other than no flac support) is no ASIO support (right?) For my HTPC, I'm pretty much going to want to do recorded TV, movies (including HD/BluRay), and most importantly, music. No gaming (other than emulation). So for my purposes, digital out should suffice, right? I know I won't get TrueHD or anything, but my receiver (Denon 3801) doesn't support that anyway. In fact, initially, I'm mostly interested in Tivo-like functions and having random access to every track in my CD collection (of about 300, as of now).

So, any ideas on what sound card/software would be best for this? Any sound card and Windows Media Center? A super nice sound card and iTunes? Foobar and a couple of tin cans?

Thoughts?

 

[potato28]

Originally posted by: biggestmuff
Why'd you spend money on that audio interface? You just need a card with good DAC that'll convert 44.1/16.

Thats a beefed up DAC, along with a half decent amp packaged into a little bundle.

 

[biggestmuff]

Originally posted by: potato28

Originally posted by: biggestmuff
Why'd you spend money on that audio interface? You just need a card with good DAC that'll convert 44.1/16.

Thats a beefed up DAC, along with a half decent amp packaged into a little bundle.

A headphone amp, but most of those external audio interfaces include them.

 

[mshan]

Windows has KMixer, which can subtly garble a musical signal.

Apple computer is what I would use, but if you must stick with Windows, you could use iTunes and stream wirelessly to an Airport Express, and use it optical digital input to your stereo.

As long as you disable things like the equalizer and sound enhancer, sound check, etc. you should get bit perfect output.

Itunes interface is nice and simple and it offers the Apple Lossless format.

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: scootermaster

Originally posted by: PurdueRy

Originally posted by: scootermaster

Originally posted by: Tiamat
yeah Foobar2k and either ASIO or kernal streaming with .wav or .flac or monkey audio

Does ASIO or kernel streaming make a big difference sound-wise (versus directsound or other Windows drivers?)

And why does everyone on over at AVS forums buy expensive sound cards and then do analog outs to their HT setups versus digital? (There was a whole debate over there about how the SNR of even a midrange card is better than any preamp on most people's receivers, etc etc).

I guess maybe that's why, but is that really true? You're not better off going SPDIF/optical out from the PC to the receiver?

Well there are a number of possible reasons. For games and videos not encoded in a standard digital sound format, analog is the only way to get surround sound.

As you mentioned it could also be that their sound card sounds better than the DAC in their receiver. I doubt it's true for most cases but I wouldn't be surprised.

One reason I try to avoid analog outs from my computer to my receiver is the annoyance(I have done it before...it wasn't worth it IMO). You have two devices that need to have their levels set correctly at all times to get the sound you want. You can generally set the channel levels in software and also on the receiver. Controlling two devices can be rather tedious.

I prefer to use a simple digital connection and know that my receivers settings are the only place where the sound is messed with.

Using ASIO avoids resampling. I can see the sampling frequency change based on what song I play automatically. Bypassing directsound and such is just another added benefit.

Interesting...I started another thread about which player to use from couch. (Thread is here).

One of the knocks for going with iTunes (other than no flac support) is no ASIO support (right?) For my HTPC, I'm pretty much going to want to do recorded TV, movies (including HD/BluRay), and most importantly, music. No gaming (other than emulation). So for my purposes, digital out should suffice, right? I know I won't get TrueHD or anything, but my receiver (Denon 3801) doesn't support that anyway. In fact, initially, I'm mostly interested in Tivo-like functions and having random access to every track in my CD collection (of about 300, as of now).

So, any ideas on what sound card/software would be best for this? Any sound card and Windows Media Center? A super nice sound card and iTunes? Foobar and a couple of tin cans?

Thoughts?

I am pretty sure that the Chaintech AV-710 can do ASIO. It's cheap to boot!

 

[Slammy1]

Hmm, I use EAC to rip my CDs. I used to use CDex, but prefer EAC for better error correction. I think the best format is dependent on other softwares you have as well. I started WMA lossless when it first came out as my burning program supported it, kinda stuck with it despite the improvements in tech. I find ASIO to be not better to my ears. Perhaps I'm trained to like crap, but I do some slight mods to the music that I seem to enjoy. Then again, my receiver's going on 10 years old so I probably have superior DACs in my sound card.

 

[scootermaster]

Originally posted by: PurdueRy

Originally posted by: scootermaster

Originally posted by: PurdueRy

Originally posted by: scootermaster

Originally posted by: Tiamat
yeah Foobar2k and either ASIO or kernal streaming with .wav or .flac or monkey audio

Does ASIO or kernel streaming make a big difference sound-wise (versus directsound or other Windows drivers?)

And why does everyone on over at AVS forums buy expensive sound cards and then do analog outs to their HT setups versus digital? (There was a whole debate over there about how the SNR of even a midrange card is better than any preamp on most people's receivers, etc etc).

I guess maybe that's why, but is that really true? You're not better off going SPDIF/optical out from the PC to the receiver?

Well there are a number of possible reasons. For games and videos not encoded in a standard digital sound format, analog is the only way to get surround sound.

As you mentioned it could also be that their sound card sounds better than the DAC in their receiver. I doubt it's true for most cases but I wouldn't be surprised.

One reason I try to avoid analog outs from my computer to my receiver is the annoyance(I have done it before...it wasn't worth it IMO). You have two devices that need to have their levels set correctly at all times to get the sound you want. You can generally set the channel levels in software and also on the receiver. Controlling two devices can be rather tedious.

I prefer to use a simple digital connection and know that my receivers settings are the only place where the sound is messed with.

Using ASIO avoids resampling. I can see the sampling frequency change based on what song I play automatically. Bypassing directsound and such is just another added benefit.

Interesting...I started another thread about which player to use from couch. (Thread is here).

One of the knocks for going with iTunes (other than no flac support) is no ASIO support (right?) For my HTPC, I'm pretty much going to want to do recorded TV, movies (including HD/BluRay), and most importantly, music. No gaming (other than emulation). So for my purposes, digital out should suffice, right? I know I won't get TrueHD or anything, but my receiver (Denon 3801) doesn't support that anyway. In fact, initially, I'm mostly interested in Tivo-like functions and having random access to every track in my CD collection (of about 300, as of now).

So, any ideas on what sound card/software would be best for this? Any sound card and Windows Media Center? A super nice sound card and iTunes? Foobar and a couple of tin cans?

Thoughts?

I am pretty sure that the Chaintech AV-710 can do ASIO. It's cheap to boot!

But doesn't the mediaplayer/jukebox (i.e. iTunes) have to support this as well? This is one of the [only] negatives (I thought) about iTunes. No ASIO support. Other than the fact it doesn't do flac (not a big issue) and rumblings i've heard about it not handling very well libraries over 20,000 songs.

Assuming it'll handle big libraries, I can live with AA3 or whatever it is, if iTunes supports ASIO.

 

[mshan]

Use the digital output from an Airport Express, disable all dsp in the iTunes preferences, and you will get bit perfect output, even when using Windows (KMixer).

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: scootermaster

Originally posted by: PurdueRy

Originally posted by: scootermaster

Originally posted by: PurdueRy

Originally posted by: scootermaster

Originally posted by: Tiamat
yeah Foobar2k and either ASIO or kernal streaming with .wav or .flac or monkey audio

Does ASIO or kernel streaming make a big difference sound-wise (versus directsound or other Windows drivers?)

And why does everyone on over at AVS forums buy expensive sound cards and then do analog outs to their HT setups versus digital? (There was a whole debate over there about how the SNR of even a midrange card is better than any preamp on most people's receivers, etc etc).

I guess maybe that's why, but is that really true? You're not better off going SPDIF/optical out from the PC to the receiver?

Well there are a number of possible reasons. For games and videos not encoded in a standard digital sound format, analog is the only way to get surround sound.

As you mentioned it could also be that their sound card sounds better than the DAC in their receiver. I doubt it's true for most cases but I wouldn't be surprised.

One reason I try to avoid analog outs from my computer to my receiver is the annoyance(I have done it before...it wasn't worth it IMO). You have two devices that need to have their levels set correctly at all times to get the sound you want. You can generally set the channel levels in software and also on the receiver. Controlling two devices can be rather tedious.

I prefer to use a simple digital connection and know that my receivers settings are the only place where the sound is messed with.

Using ASIO avoids resampling. I can see the sampling frequency change based on what song I play automatically. Bypassing directsound and such is just another added benefit.

Interesting...I started another thread about which player to use from couch. (Thread is here).

One of the knocks for going with iTunes (other than no flac support) is no ASIO support (right?) For my HTPC, I'm pretty much going to want to do recorded TV, movies (including HD/BluRay), and most importantly, music. No gaming (other than emulation). So for my purposes, digital out should suffice, right? I know I won't get TrueHD or anything, but my receiver (Denon 3801) doesn't support that anyway. In fact, initially, I'm mostly interested in Tivo-like functions and having random access to every track in my CD collection (of about 300, as of now).

So, any ideas on what sound card/software would be best for this? Any sound card and Windows Media Center? A super nice sound card and iTunes? Foobar and a couple of tin cans?

Thoughts?

I am pretty sure that the Chaintech AV-710 can do ASIO. It's cheap to boot!

But doesn't the mediaplayer/jukebox (i.e. iTunes) have to support this as well? This is one of the [only] negatives (I thought) about iTunes. No ASIO support. Other than the fact it doesn't do flac (not a big issue) and rumblings i've heard about it not handling very well libraries over 20,000 songs.

Assuming it'll handle big libraries, I can live with AA3 or whatever it is, if iTunes supports ASIO.

True, and that's why I suggested he use Foobar2000

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: mshan
Use the digital output from an Airport Express, disable all dsp in the iTunes preferences, and you will get bit perfect output, even when using Windows (KMixer).

You get less "messed with" sound...but it still won't be bitperfect.

 

[s44]

Foobar is great -- it has adjustable error correction as well as accounting for sample offset.

The only problem is that it's a pain to set up/understand if you've never used it before.