fb2k 2.1.1 fails to work with Windows Spatial Audio, v 1.6.17 works

2024-01-20 20:24:17

I just noticed with an 8 channel .ogg file sampled with 48 kHz that Windows Spatial audio fails to engage at all in the newest version of foobar. However my older installation on version 1.6.17 does work. There should be no configuration difference done by me to explain this behaviour. Other software like VLC also does not have this problem. Windows 10 Pro, Build 19045.3930.

Re: fb2k 2.1.1 fails to work with Windows Spatial Audio, v 1.6.17 works

Reply #1 – 2024-01-20 21:42:20

You are mistaken. foobar2000 has used WASAPI since v1.6 and that bypasses the built-in spatial audio wrappers that DirectSound has.

Re: fb2k 2.1.1 fails to work with Windows Spatial Audio, v 1.6.17 works

Reply #2 – 2024-01-20 22:32:43

So they should behave identical when both use WASAPI, but they don't?

Re: fb2k 2.1.1 fails to work with Windows Spatial Audio, v 1.6.17 works

Reply #3 – 2024-01-21 08:31:39

I'm suggesting that you may misremember. foobar2000 v1.5.x used DirectSound and your spatial addon should work with that.

Re: fb2k 2.1.1 fails to work with Windows Spatial Audio, v 1.6.17 works

Reply #4 – 2024-01-21 21:42:48

I tested it yesterday and checked the verison number. I have both of them installed for some reason. Probably never removed 1.6 after installing the new one.

Re: fb2k 2.1.1 fails to work with Windows Spatial Audio, v 1.6.17 works

Reply #5 – 2024-01-22 06:57:30

What is your test procedure? I don't have a habit of making unverified claims either so before I posted anything I tested versions 1.5.11, 1.6.17 and 2.1.1. Only 1.5.x sounded different with 8 channel music and only 1.5.x shows spatial audio enabled when playing anything in foobar2000.
All tests done with the default output, no added components.

Re: fb2k 2.1.1 fails to work with Windows Spatial Audio, v 1.6.17 works

Reply #6 – 2024-01-23 23:26:44

I have played the .ogg 8-channel surround test file from HeSuVi. When Dolby Atmos for Headphones is active it will show up as being used in the bottom right volume panel. The foobar 1.6.17 version is the one from the Windows Store. They sound so massively different there is no doubt which one is the one active.

Re: fb2k 2.1.1 fails to work with Windows Spatial Audio, v 1.6.17 works

Reply #7 – 2024-01-24 06:23:33

Ok, so this was not about foobar2000 v1.6.x vs v2.x, but about Store version vs non-Store version.
I don't see this documented anywhere, but apparently just by bundling the software for Store adds extra compatibility layers that forward the WASAPI paths to also Spatial Audio processors. This also happens with Store version of version 2.x of course.

Re: fb2k 2.1.1 fails to work with Windows Spatial Audio, v 1.6.17 works

Reply #8 – 2024-01-24 15:20:28

Thank you very much for this explanation. I can sleep again well at night knowing what causes it.

Re: fb2k 2.1.1 fails to work with Windows Spatial Audio, v 1.6.17 works

Reply #9 – 2024-02-08 17:08:09

For anyone interested, I created a new output component that uses the XAudio2 interface. It supports spatial audio features natively.
I don't know if Wine does XAudio2 API, but I also made it try to initialize the engine with source file sample rate, so in theory could avoid unnecessary resampling some Wine users have complained about in other threads.

Component is fresh out of the oven, not listed on any component repository. It can be downloaded here: https://foobar.hyv.fi/foo_out_xaudio2.fb2k-component.

Edit: Updated the build at the link just now with fix to noise after seeking and inability to stop during pause.

Edit2: Created a page for the component: https://foobar.hyv.fi/?view=foo_out_xaudio2.