Computer Audio Players

Discussion in 'Computer Audiophile: Software, Configs, Tools' started by JoshMorr, Oct 4, 2015.

  1. JoshMorr

    JoshMorr Friend

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    WHat is everyone using to play their FLAC files? I have been using winamp for years, but I always hear about audiophiles using wither foobar2000 or JRiver. What are the reasons to change? Are either of these players offering better sound quality or just the ability to equalize or modify the sound?
     
  2. velvetx

    velvetx Gear Master West/Vendor Spotlight Moderator

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    It's up to you what you use personally I like foobar because it's minimalistic. Jriver is a great media player as well and looks visually pleasing. On Mac I prefer to use Audirvana.

    The music shouldn't sound any different with a player and if it does that is an issue.
     
  3. Judeus

    Judeus Facebook Friend

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    foobar 4 life
     
  4. SoupRKnowva

    SoupRKnowva Official SBAF South Korean Ambassador

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    Foobar on Windows, audirvana+ on Mac and now I primarily use MPD on Linux.
     
  5. JK47

    JK47 Guest

    Foobar on Windows, and VOX on mac (it's free and simple, and so is Foobar)... I like simple.
     
  6. keanex

    keanex Martian Bounty Hunter - Friend

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  7. Maxvla

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    Been using JRiver since MC17 and find the customization nice as well as being able to browse my library in different ways to find something interesting. I really love the theater mode for my touchscreen tablet, too.
     
  8. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    Deadbeef on Linux

    Foobar is the only thing I miss about Windows.
     
  9. Chris F

    Chris F Boyz 4 Now Fanatic - Friend

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    +1 for Audirvana+ on OSX

    I demoed all of them. Vox, Pure Music, Amarra etc... Audirvana/Pure Music/Amarra are very close sonically however Audirvana has a waaaaay better interface and worked flawlessly with any of the AU plugins I might want to use. Pure Music had output stuttering issues with some AU plugs and the interface was pretty meh. Amarra came dead last and for me was buggy as hell.
     
  10. ultrabike

    ultrabike Measurbator - Admin

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    foobar2000
     
  11. Azteca

    Azteca Friend

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    Jriver on Mac and Windows.
     
  12. insidious meme

    insidious meme Ambivalent Kumquat

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    Foobar on the pc
     
  13. drfindley

    drfindley Secretly lives in the Analog Room - Friend

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    +1 for Audirvana for me. I like the output better than some of the others. I also really dislike the UI of most of them, but Audirvana is the least distasteful to me (short of iTunes, surprisingly).
     
  14. jowls

    jowls Never shitposts (please) - Friend

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    Yes! I had been using foobar pretty much since the beginning and it has a special place in my heart...

    Now that I am on OSX it is Audirvana+ for me.
     
  15. drfindley

    drfindley Secretly lives in the Analog Room - Friend

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    Same here. I was shocked that there was nothing equivalent when I switched.
     
  16. Yuanathan

    Yuanathan New

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    Jriver MC21, using it mainly for the WDM driver which i can use to stream TIDAL.
    SQ wise it's subjectively better than foobar for me.
     
  17. shipsupt

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    Mac at home -- Audirvana, Pure Music, iTunes, jRiver... Pretty much in that order of actual use.

    I use a PC at work and use iTunes and stream Tidal.
     
  18. julian67

    julian67 Facebook Friend

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    My music collection sits on my home server (Debian) and is accessible via mpd.

    The server's SPDIF TOSLINK out connects to a DAC and then to my desktop amp. On my desktop I control mpd by using gmpc (or keyboard multimedia buttons). The server's ALSA conf lets me choose between:

    Direct to Hardware (bit perfect)
    BS2B Meier crossfeed
    BS2B Chu Moy crossfeed
    BS2B Default crossfeed

    Actually all the above are hardware direct (no software mixer or resampler) as the server has no other audio duties.

    The server also outputs http streams for ogg and flac. These are also accessible outside my LAN for any mpd client with the topp sikrit password.

    On Android devices I access and control the same mpd server using MPDroid or MUPEACE apps but the audio is passed off to Neutron player because it offers me the same crossfeed options and is generally a very good music player (handles smb/upnp/http as well as local files, and in every non-DRM format I tried so far). Neutron also lets me listen to streaming flac (Galaxy Note II plays flac files but doesn't handle flac streams).

    With wifi or a 4G connection this gives me decent access to my music wherever I am. If the connection is good I stream flac, else ogg vorbis.

    Occasionally I use Windows and then I use the Windows version of gmpc to control mpd (same hardware chain though).

    As far as the mpd streams go they can be listened to with any application or device that supports streaming those codecs. Aside from the crossfeed implementations it should sound identical in VLC or DeadBeef or even WMP (with appropriate directshow filters).

    If I'm going on a trip I always end up spending days or hours in places with lousy connections so I have a 128GB card in my Note, full of flac CD rips, and usually take my almost antique iRiver H140 (with 128GB SSD fitted) and a tiny portable amp (Topping NX 1).

    Assuming the same choice of crossfeed I can't really tell the difference between listening to a flac stream on my Note and listening to the more traditional source>dac>amp. The only big difference is that the smartphone's level is restricted and I can get a lot more oomph from the desktop amp or the iRiver+Topping.

    I think if a software player sounds different then it probably has a fault or it (or the operating system hosting it) is misconfigured.
     
  19. HitmanFluffy

    HitmanFluffy Hoping to see real genitals someday!

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    I'm on deadbeef on linux, thinking of buying JRiver for the metadata editing and better file management.
     
  20. anetode

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    W8/10 forced a switch from Winamp to JRiver. More than enough features/functionality for my use.
     

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