Skip to main content ↑ ↓

Notice

Please note that most of the software linked on this forum is likely to be safe to use. If you are unsure, feel free to ask in the relevant topics, or send a private message to an administrator or moderator. To help curb the problems of false positives, or in the event that you do find actual malware, you can contribute through the article linked here.
Topic: Making MediaMonkey Sound Better (Read 39595 times) previous topic - next topic
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Making MediaMonkey Sound Better

Hi, all... first time poster, long time lurker (on and off). Hydrogenaudio has been my little haven for when I needed questions answered about sound quality from, well, people who care about sound quality more than glitzy affects, perfect navigation, and a pretty interface/case.  So thank you! Now I want to try and give a little back.

One problem that I have run into is finding a suitable application for tagging, renaming folders and MP3s based on ID3 info, and album art integration. Well I found one, MediaMonkey v3. But there was a catch, It sounded like CRAP. To tell you the truth, the only thing I didn't like about MediaMonkey was audio quality, and a lame EQ. At first, I dealt with it, because I loved the interface and management so much, and only heard a significant sound difference on my headphones (I have old 2.1 Advent speakers, anyone remember Advent?), but I went searching for work-arounds as I stumbled across ASIO4ALL a while back and went, "hmm, what's this?" and forgot about it. Then I made the recent mistake of buying a soundcard with a glorious C-Media Oxygen HD CMI8788 sound chip but it didn't have ASIO support! (Razer AC-1) Then I was really hosed, or so I thought.

Long story short,  I got MediaMonkey sounding exacly how I wanted it to, and with a choice between Kernel Streaming and ASIO (whee!). So here is a compilated how-to.


How to Make MediaMonkey v3 sound better:

-Download, install, and configure ASIO4ALL  http://www.asio4all.com/
-Download Steve Monk's Kernel Streaming plugin for Winamp  http://www.stevemonks.com/ksplugin/
-Download Otachan's ASIO dll plugin for Winamp  http://otachan.com/foo_output_asio(dll)_051.7z
-Download the Electri-Q EQ (free version) http://www.aixcoustic.com/index.php/Electr...osihfopit/30/0/
-Download the mpg123 decoder plugin for Winamp ('in_mpg123.dll', not 'in_!mpg123.dll') http://home.scarlet.be/ruben.castelein/MM/MM-Plugins.htm
OR
-Download the MAD MP3 plugin http://www.mars.org/home/rob/proj/mpeg/mad-plugin/

Most people prefer the mpg123 version, but MAD MP3 has slightly higher compatability in my experience.


I can't walk you through the ASIO4ALL configuration as it's going to be individual to each system, so you are better off reading the FAQ page and playing with it.


Close MediaMonkey of it is open, and copy the dll files for Kernel Streaming, ASIO, and mpg123 into the C:\Program Files\MediaMonkey\Plugins directory, or wherever you installed it. Next, rename the "in_wmp3.dll" to  "in_wmp3.dll.off" or something in the Plugins directory. If you would rather use the MAD MP3 plugin, install it real quick and copy it from the Winamp\Plugins folder to the MediaMonkey\Plugins folder, and rename the "in_mpg123.dll" to "in_mpg123.dll.off"

Now you can install the Electri-Q EQ, just make sure you check the box to install the Winamp plugin too, as it will only install the VST plugin if you accept all the defaults upon installation. Don't forget to copy the dll from the Winamp\Plugins directory to the MediaMonkey directory.

Now you can run MediaMonkey. You will need to go to Tools->Options->Player->Input Plug-Ins and highlight the mpg123 or MAD mp3 plugin and click configure, then OK. Check to see that your MP3s still play. Next, go to Player->Output Plug-Ins and select either Kernel Streaming, or ASIO and hit configure. If you choose ASIO, make sure that it sees either your ASIO compatable sound card, or the ASIO4ALL v2 device, then hit OK. Again, check to see that your MP3s still play ok. One thing I ran into with the ASIO plugin and  ASIO4ALL, was garbled output due to selecting the Hardware Buffer checkbox in ASIO4ALL config.

If all is well, open up the Plugins configuration again, and go to the DSP menu. Select the EQ plugin, and go back to playing an MP3. Now you can go back into the EQ config and tweak the sound on-the-fly. Click in the graph area of the EQ and hit the down arrow on the little scroll-through box to setting 22 and tweak as much as you like. Keep in mind that this free version will like nag you to register if you edit the thing like a whole bunch of times and it will then force you to restart MediaMonkey to get back into it and will reset the EQ back to flat. So remember roughly what you did as you are working on tweaking the EQ.


Happy listening!

Making MediaMonkey Sound Better

Reply #1 –
Are you assuming that winamp is already installed?

Thx
TS
...no one can hear you scream in /dev/null...

Making MediaMonkey Sound Better

Reply #2 –
Statements about sound quality need to be verifiable. It is very unlikely you hear any difference in audio quality between say MediaMonkey and foobar2000, nor between most audio players' outputs. There are a few concerns about the audibility of kmixer.dll, but I've yet to see anything substantive that the change is even audible, presuming it is present.

Making MediaMonkey Sound Better

Reply #3 –
There are differences in speakers  and headphones. I don't think I hear differences between my cheap Sansa, Laser or expensive Creative DAP at the same volume. Sometimes I think I do but its probably wishfull thinking. Stereophilles will want to burn me at the stake .. I think the mind is a powerfull drug.

Making MediaMonkey Sound Better

Reply #4 –
Quote from: Canar on
Statements about sound quality need to be verifiable. It is very unlikely you hear any difference in audio quality between say MediaMonkey and foobar2000, nor between most audio players' outputs. There are a few concerns about the audibility of kmixer.dll, but I've yet to see anything substantive that the change is even audible, presuming it is present.

I understand what you are saying, but directSound doesn't do gapless playback does it?

That would at least be audible, although I doubt it is what the OP is talking about.
elevatorladylevitateme