How to get best audio quality with foobar
Reply #27 – 2012-01-29 14:40:06
Got ABX tests to back up your claims? Well, what I heard from that onboard was so clear, that I did not bother setting up ABX, which in this case would be somewhat cumbersome. I mean, it wasn't a difference in any quality of music, I heard additional sounds. I can try do do it, I am curious myself. Once (long time ago) I was sure I heard audible difference between two level-matched headphone amps, which, when I tried them blindly, disappeared altogether. But again, these were (illusory) subtle changes of timbre, not additional clicks and whines. So I guess I would have to add another, non-onboard soundcard to the computer, play music via the onboard and via the other card, each time re-recording the output into another good soundcard, and then ABX the results in foobar after intensity-matching, right? Really cumbersome, especially that this is a work computer, but doable. I am also a bit concerned about impedance, I can hear the noises when I plug in headphones directly into the output of the onboard card, could it diminish or disappear when the output is connected to line-in of another card, not to headphones? But this will only become a real concern if ABX as described above shows nothing. But is there an established way ABXing two soundcards without re-recording? Would you accept results of test when I listen via headphones, and another person switches computer outputs, connects headphones to one or the other output, and starts and stops music?