SRS WOW effect in WMP

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SRS WOW effect in WMP

2006-03-26 02:41:31

How good is the SRS WOW effect in Windows Media Player? Is it really worth activating on movies with mp3 encoded sound when there's no 5.1? Or is it just another 3D? What about music (although I think it's worthles concerning music)? And is it superior to Audiotrak Prodigy's Qexpander?

SRS WOW effect in WMP

Reply #1 – 2006-03-26 02:44:57

I remember asking this a while ago (for the SRS WOWThing plugin for Winamp) and most people say that for music, there are much better plugins for virtual surround and bass.

SRS WOW effect in WMP

Reply #2 – 2006-03-26 02:49:33

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I remember asking this a while ago (for the SRS WOWThing plugin for Winamp) and most people say that for music, there are much better plugins for virtual surround and bass.
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=375286"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I'm talking specificly about WMP, not Winamp or any other plug-ins concerning the WOW effect.
I'm asking because there is someone who's trying to convince me that the SRS WOW effect is a fantastic improvement.
While we're on the subject: is WMP's equalizer superior to Winamp's?

SRS WOW effect in WMP

Reply #3 – 2006-03-26 04:29:52

SRS WOW on WMP is superb if you're one of those treble-&-bass-deprived music listeners with media libraries full of transcoded mp3s. I'm using a hyperbole to drive the point home.

I find the audio output with the WOW slider maxed extremely annoying. It is like a simulation of 48 kbps wma playback (metallic artifacting).

SRS WOW effect in WMP

Reply #4 – 2006-03-26 04:54:58

I think you're comapring SRS WOW with Winamp's EQ. That's not what I had in mind.
Let's make it clearer:
1) Which equalizer is superior, WMP's or Winamp's?
2) Is SRS WOW worth it or is it overrated?

SRS WOW effect in WMP

Reply #5 – 2006-03-26 07:41:22

pretty much all dsp's are simply a matter of preference. they morph (or distort, depending on how you look at it) the sound in some way, and some people like it, and others don't. i don't think there any dsp is objectively better than any other. this at least applies to the WOW effect part of your question. imho, i'd rather not use dsp's. i am careful to see that my music is properly ripped and encoded, with settings that are sufficient for my ears, and then i'm happy, know that it is transparent w/ the source, which was my goal. changing the sound w/ a dsp is exactly opposite of my goal!

with regard to equalizers, i can understand their use for the purpose of compensating for poor equipment (eg. speakers w/ poor bass response), but again, not for simply changing the sound of the music. isn't that why its called an equalizer; it equalizes the differences between the source, and the output, making them equal, not changing them more! i don't understand why people would want to have different eq. presets for different "types" of music. the artist mixes and balances the music the way he wants it to be heard, and that is how i like to reproduce it, or as close as reasonably possible. again though, i guess it is just a matter of preference. i don't mean to be harsh...

with that said, i don't know about the actual methods of different equalizers. while i've never had the most discerning ears, i do remember that back in my winamp using days, i could tell that winamp's equalizer distorted the music, more than simply changing the levels of different frequency ranges (as eq. are meant to do), so i stopped using it. i wouldn't be surprised if windows media player did the same thing, but haven't tried it, and now that i'm using windows anymore, i don't plan to.

just my 2 cents, plus a little extra...

SRS WOW effect in WMP

Reply #6 – 2006-03-26 12:04:22

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with regard to equalizers, i can understand their use for the purpose of compensating for poor equipment (eg. speakers w/ poor bass response), but again, not for simply changing the sound of the music. isn't that why its called an equalizer; it equalizes the differences between the source, and the output, making them equal, not changing them more! i don't understand why people would want to have different eq. presets for different "types" of music. the artist mixes and balances the music the way he wants it to be heard, and that is how i like to reproduce it, or as close as reasonably possible. again though, i guess it is just a matter of preference. i don't mean to be harsh...[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=375319"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

You forget the other use for equalisers. Equalisers can be used to compensate for a rooms particular acoustic characteristics. This has nothing to do with poor equipment or altering the sound in order to bastardise it. This is a perfectly legitimate use of an equaliser but is hard to carry out effectively without the proper equipment.

SRS WOW effect in WMP

Reply #7 – 2006-03-26 12:08:01

Yes, I'm fully aware that equalizer is called that way due to it's purpose to compensate for the equipment. What I had in mind was that may be WMP processes sound differently than Winamp does. Let's call it better algorithms so the changes would be more "natural". Just like foobar handles mp3s better and produces better sound than most (all) other players.

SRS WOW effect in WMP

Reply #8 – 2006-03-26 12:57:55

Quote

I'm talking specificly about WMP, not Winamp or any other plug-ins concerning the WOW effect.
I'm asking because there is someone who's trying to convince me that the SRS WOW effect is a fantastic improvement.
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=375287"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Well, AFAIK, the algorithms used in SRS WOWThing plugin for winamp and SRS in WMP are exactly the same.

SRS WOW effect in WMP

Reply #9 – 2006-03-26 13:15:52

This is getting annoying! Am I that hard to understand? How simple must I ask to get the idea across? It occurs to me that the SRS WOW plug-in for winamp and in WMP are the same. But I never asked anything about plug-in for winamp.
Again: Winamp's or WMP's equalizer (here EXCLUDING SRS, ONLY EQs) has more natural processing of sound data? If any.
About SRS: so it appears it's just another 3D thing and nothing special.

SRS WOW effect in WMP

Reply #10 – 2006-03-26 15:56:47

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This is getting annoying! Am I that hard to understand? How simple must I ask to get the idea across? It occurs to me that the SRS WOW plug-in for winamp and in WMP are the same. But I never asked anything about plug-in for winamp.
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=375367"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

But they're exactly...the same...thing.... why are you contradicting yourself

Quote

I'm talking specificly about WMP, not Winamp or any other plug-ins concerning the WOW effect.
I'm asking because there is someone who's trying to convince me that the SRS WOW effect is a fantastic improvement.
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=375367"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

You're asking about the SRS WOW effect itself. At this point, it doesn't matter what player you're using it with.

SRS WOW effect in WMP

Reply #11 – 2006-03-26 16:11:51

I could understand using SRS WOW in WMP if/only for instance someone was using speakers in an acoustically dead room, e.g.; a room with allot of furniture, wrong shape, etc.

I however am not a big fan of it SRS WOW, or any other DSP effects that change the original sound, and most likely never will be.

SRS WOW effect in WMP

Reply #12 – 2006-03-26 16:28:29

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Just like foobar handles mp3s better and produces better sound than most (all) other players.
[{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

No, it doesn't. Playback of MP3s in Foobar2000 should be equal to that of any other MP3 player (taking all DSPs or other artificial sound processing out of the equation) under normal listening conditions*.

* = [a href="http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=17728]http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index....showtopic=17728[/url]

SRS WOW effect in WMP

Reply #13 – 2006-03-26 17:52:36

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I think you're comapring (sic) SRS WOW with Winamp's EQ.

I think I am not, unfortunately.

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That's not what I had in mind.

Hey, me neither. THIS is what I had in mind:

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SRS WOW on WMP is superb if you're one of those treble-&-bass-deprived music listeners with media libraries full of transcoded mp3s. I'm using a hyperbole to drive the point home.

I find the audio output with the WOW slider maxed extremely annoying. It is like a simulation of 48 kbps wma playback (metallic artifacting).

Quote

Let's make it clearer:
1) Which equalizer is superior, WMP's or Winamp's?

I did not answer this question in the first place and I had chosen not to. I choose to repeat my earlier choice.

Quote

2) Is SRS WOW worth it or is it overrated?

According to my previous post, it is overrated.

SRS WOW effect in WMP

Reply #14 – 2006-03-26 18:25:25

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This is getting annoying! Am I that hard to understand? How simple must I ask to get the idea across? It occurs to me that the SRS WOW plug-in for winamp and in WMP are the same. But I never asked anything about plug-in for winamp.
Again: Winamp's or WMP's equalizer (here EXCLUDING SRS, ONLY EQs) has more natural processing of sound data? If any.
About SRS: so it appears it's just another 3D thing and nothing special.
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=375367"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Perhaps it is because very few people around here use WMP. They are trying to find the only comparable thing they have any experience about.

SRS WOW effect in WMP

Reply #15 – 2006-03-26 18:27:10

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Yes, I'm fully aware that equalizer is called that way due to it's purpose to compensate for the equipment. What I had in mind was that may be WMP processes sound differently than Winamp does. Let's call it better algorithms so the changes would be more "natural". Just like foobar handles mp3s better and produces better sound than most (all) other players.
[a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=375350"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

You wouldn't happen to have any support for your claim about Foobar2000 would you? There are lots of points in its favor but AFAIK it won't play back a given mp3 file any differently than any other player will.

SRS WOW effect in WMP

Reply #16 – 2006-03-26 19:23:57

I thought foobar is the choice of many due to its better mp3 handling.
Anyway, I could be in error here, I will not argue. Besides this is not what the topic is about.
Yes, all I wanted to know is if SRS WOW as a technology is worth using or not, regardless of player. It appears it's nothing too special.
We cleared that.
Yes, I realize now that quite few people use WMP. This question wasn't as important as the previous one but I'd be happy if someone who has had enough experience with both players gives his opinion on the matter.
Thank you for your time.

SRS WOW effect in WMP

Reply #17 – 2006-03-27 11:18:11

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This is getting annoying! Am I that hard to understand? How simple must I ask to get the idea across? It occurs to me that the SRS WOW plug-in for winamp and in WMP are the same. But I never asked anything about plug-in for winamp.

You asked about the WOW effect so I informed you about what others thought about it in the past, when I asked them about WOWThing. The algorithms are exactly the same, so the WOW effect is not characteristic of any particular player. So the opinions were related to the SRS WOW algorithm itself, not the winamp player, hence I deemed it as being relevant to your question.

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