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Support - (fb2k) / Re: Foobar2000 v2.* playback sound quality lower than v1.X
Last post by Case -I've compared both versions with the same output device/driver, Playback->Processing set to "none" (that's my change, since "apply gain" is the default value, this change did not affect the differences I heard, - just wanted to eliminate any "extra" factor), and no DSP processing. Is there any other options which impact the sound?If we entertain for a moment the idea that there is a difference, 2.x includes different decoders and supports more formats out-of-the-box. If your use case was for example that you didn't use your sound device as a DAC but bitstreamed data to external receiver for decoding, DTS-in-PCM container could produce differences. New foobar2000 decodes the audio data by default which could be done differently than receiver does it, receiver could do some dynamics processing or other alterations. And if the connection has limited bandwidth, like toslink, the receiver will only get stereo output instead of the proper multichannel audio.
Lossy formats will be decoded differently with different decoders. I just compared a random vorbis file between 1.6.17 and 2.1.5 and there were differences -128 dB below digital fullscale. Such things are inaudible even to bats, but in theory a broken system might react differently to a different signal.
Another difference is the output device bitdepth support. In old foobar2000 exclusive outputs had a single bitdepth configuration box in the main output device selection screen. It defaulted to 16 bits. New foobar2000 allows configuring bitdepths (and DSP chains) for each device separately and defaults to highest bitdepth supported by the device. If these settings are not touched it's possible there is a difference. Though it should be that the v1.6 output with 16 bits would be worse, it could not be enough if one uses incorrect volume levels and the lowered signal is amplified in receiver/speakers. Or the defaulted highest bitdepth in 2.x might not work, perhaps your audio device drivers lie to support 32-bits but produce noise instead.
And then there's the new 2.x feature where each output device volume setting is remembered. If you set volume to max 0.0 dB in foobar2000 v1.6.x, it stayed there no matter what output you picked. In foobar2000 v2.x you can control volume of each device separately, so if you aren't careful, you may be comparing playback at different volume levels.
You people haven't mentioned anything about what kind of stuff you even play. Only very crazy claims that there is a difference in quality.
I have recorded the digital output of foobar2000 v1.6.17 WASAPI output against 2.x WASAPI when playing lossless material and they are bit-perfectly identical. There is no jitter, there is no difference in decay, there is no difference in soudstage. The signal is the exact same.
You people claiming to have a difference can very easily prove it. For example @misio's ESI Juli@ has nice high quality analog inputs. Just connect cables from outputs to inputs, play a demo track in both foobars while recording the output and share the recordings here. I at least would love to examine the claimed differences.
Doing the recording digitally would make comparison easier, but that would require getting a device that can record the digital output of the card. And you probably don't trust recording done inside the computer on driver level.