PC For Music listening

Audiolab 7000N Play Network Streamer with DAC
Lilith Audio Player

I've now tried it. I used the link provided on this page by XSAlliN.

I unpacked it, then used the updater and updated to 0.992 (if I did it right by checking the 0.992 and unchecked the 0.991).

I then followed the guide on the first page on this thread to get asio out.

When I first played a song, I did indeed hear a difference to my foobar2000 0.9.5.5 ASIO, but I did NOT think it was an improvement however.

I managed to find the equilzer in Lilith, and saw that it was activated with preset Jass (IIRC). I turned the equilizer off and listened again.

This time I could not hear a difference between the two players. I might think I hear a difference, but then I listen again and find that both sound the same. I've listened by using the same song at the same place, listening about 3 seconds with one and then the same 3 seconds with the other.

Conclusion:
The conclusion of this short listening test, when the EQ of Lilith is turned off, they sound the same to me.
Click to expand...

I have tried all possible linux players, and many many windows ones.
Till date I have not found any difference between any two, if all DSPs are switched off.
Let me also test this Lilith.
 
Some days my mouse works, other days it is very ropey. I have got through many mice, but, this time, I do not think it is a hardware problem.

PCs just seem to do stuff like this. Windows is famous for it, but even Linux, sadly, does not seem immune. Maybe it is the underlying architecture.

So, sometimes, I think that when I try a different player and think it it sounds different, or just that my PC sound system is better today that yesterday, that just maybe it is really happening --- but mostly I think it is down to my ears and brain.

I do wonder about applying the word "audiophile." Recently, I saw several players described as audiophile players, including foobar. We used to use foobar, VLC, etc because the alternative was microsoft, and maybe we didn't want a bloatware player, or maybe when we tried playing some file format it just told us to go and buy the codec. Now these players have become so established as to be, for many, the default choice. Does Foobar really sound better than Windows Media Whatnot? Well, I don't know, and, being a penguin I'm not going to try.

I'm seriously sceptical and deeply suspicious of some claims made by a commercial product --- especially as the claims made on their site are very assertive but also vague and completely without technical justification of any kind. OK, I admit I'm not giving them a try, which would be fair, beacause I'm not going to run Windows for them. So call me prejudiced, and I won't deny it --- but what they say and how they say it rings my alarm bells.

I do find the answer of the foobar developers interesting on this one:
Does foobar2000 sound better than other players?

No. Most of sound quality differences people hear are placebo effect (at least with real music), as actual differences in produced sound data are below their noise floor (1 or 2 last bits in 16bit samples). foobar2000 has sound processing features such as software resampling or 24bit output on new high-end soundcards, but most of the other mainstream players are capable of doing the same by now.

Click to expand...

Of course, they are not selling their product. At least, not for cash, but even with free software it would only be natural for a little ego to be there...



.
 
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Lillith is second only to the mighty cPlay! The rest of the players - as foobar2000 rightly says are all on the same page. If all DSPs are off.

Problem with Lillith is that it is hard to find a decent build with English translation! And I could put up with seeing funnily drawn characters and guessing about their functions for so long :)

I used to think that an old player called Apollo sounded good, but that was a very long time ago, and I do not recall if it was just placebo or well considered :)
 
Thad E Ginathom said:
Some days my mouse works, other days it is very ropey. I have got through many mice, but, this time, I do not think it is a hardware problem.

PCs just seem to do stuff like this. Windows is famous for it, but even Linux, sadly, does not seem immune. Maybe it is the underlying architecture.

So, sometimes, I think that when I try a different player and think it it sounds different, or just that my PC sound system is better today that yesterday, that just maybe it is really happening --- but mostly I think it is down to my ears and brain.

I do wonder about applying the word "audiophile." Recently, I saw several players described as audiophile players, including foobar. We used to use foobar, VLC, etc because the alternative was microsoft, and maybe we didn't want a bloatware player, or maybe when we tried playing some file format it just told us to go and buy the codec. Now these players have become so established as to be, for many, the default choice. Does Foobar really sound better than Windows Media Whatnot? Well, I don't know, and, being a penguin I'm not going to try.

I'm seriously sceptical and deeply suspicious of some claims made by a commercial product --- especially as the claims made on their site are very assertive but also vague and completely without technical justification of any kind. OK, I admit I'm not giving them a try, which would be fair, beacause I'm not going to run Windows for them. So call me prejudiced, and I won't deny it --- but what they say and how they say it rings my alarm bells.

I do find the answer of the foobar developers interesting on this one:


Of course, they are not selling their product. At least, not for cash, but even with free software it would only be natural for a little ego to be there...



.
Click to expand...

My knowledge in such matters is very limited, but I can say that at least in my case Foobar with WASAPI and SPDIF Out through my Xonar DX does sound much much better than WMP or iTunes among others. I channel the output to Optical In of Yamaha 371.
 
General point about computer music playback:

Do not even think about latency!

...Until you invite the band around for a recording session and want to overdub stuff.

The trouble with audiophiles looking at specs is they want even the irrelevant numbers to look good. And it is irrelevant. It has no effect on music quality at all. So forget about shaving off the milliseconds, it is not worth the trouble.
 
I think they have released the new version of Lilith player. Look at the post#440 in this link. I just downloaded it but yet to try it out.

Thanks
 
thevortex said:
Lillith is second only to the mighty cPlay! The rest of the players - as foobar2000 rightly says are all on the same page. If all DSPs are off.

Problem with Lillith is that it is hard to find a decent build with English translation! And I could put up with seeing funnily drawn characters and guessing about their functions for so long :)

I used to think that an old player called Apollo sounded good, but that was a very long time ago, and I do not recall if it was just placebo or well considered :)
Click to expand...
There is one with half English language support.
Index of /download/uLilith/stable
Try " uLilith_beta.2.1_x86.exe.exe" from the list & you can read half the options.

I have upload which I have-
http://www.sendspace.com/file/lia7eu
It has some shortcuts in English.Screenshot-



 
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I think most of the low profile players other than Foobar2000 does not have the app support over either iphone or andriod. I use my andriod mobile to control the Foobar it is too good and no need to switch on my TV. In fact since more than 6 months of using my music-pc I haven't used the TV for display to look into the same. There are andriod apps to even copy the music from pc to another over the mobile itself. I recently more than a month back got the Foxconn barebones PC for $99 during a sale in Newegg.com and converted this to a foobar music pc and torrent downloader. The booting is very fast with a 64gb SSD which came free with the pc. In fact by the time my Denon amplifier boots the PC is ready to play with windows bootshell I do not load explorer at all only the foobar and bit torrent.

Thanks
 
spirovious said:
There is one with half English language support.
Index of /download/uLilith/stable
Try " uLilith_beta.2.1_x86.exe.exe" from the list & you can read half the options.

I have upload which I have-
Download uLilith_beta.2_x86.exe from Sendspace.com - send big files the easy way
It has some shortcuts in English.Screenshot-



Click to expand...

The link I posted earlier from the avsforum thread is completely in English. So do check it out I installed it in my laptop and tried it but yet to try it on my music-pc.

Thanks
 
Thanks manniraj,Downloaded from that link & yes its in English language,settings cam be done easily.
 
Anyone in bangalore running a jriver/jplay/foobar/asio setup wants to do shootout with a Linux audio pc running low latency kernel? If you are up for the challenge let me know :)

G0bble
 
gobble said:
Anyone in bangalore running a jriver/jplay/foobar/asio setup wants to do shootout with a Linux audio pc running low latency kernel? If you are up for the challenge let me know :)

G0bble
Click to expand...

Hi Gobble, not looking for a competitive challenge...but am curious for myself. I use a tweaked version of Foobar (no JRiver/JPlay etc.) and would like to figure out if any difference is discernible between this and other ways of playing the same recording. Personally I don't believe I would be able to tell any difference between the various systems.
My machine is a bit heavy and bulky, but happy to have you over to my place to listen and test both, if it is of interest. We can try it with a digital input using the same DAC in each case, or if you prefer an analogue input into the pre-amplifier.
 
Staxxx said:
Hi Gobble, not looking for a competitive challenge...but am curious for myself. I use a tweaked version of Foobar (no JRiver/JPlay etc.) and would like to figure out if any difference is discernible between this and other ways of playing the same recording. Personally I don't believe I would be able to tell any difference between the various systems.
My machine is a bit heavy and bulky, but happy to have you over to my place to listen and test both, if it is of interest. We can try it with a digital input using the same DAC in each case, or if you prefer an analogue input into the pre-amplifier.
Click to expand...

Yeah sure. It wasn't meant to be a competition in the true sense, just a means of judging what can be improved upon in which department.

I can bring my pc over. Tell me when.

G0bble
 
Very interesting. Does one OS really sound different to another? Sometimes I think I can hear just an OS upgrade! But I doubt that I can.

I'd like to even hear my PC played through a good, well-set-up hifi --- but, although the fact that it is a big box is handleable, I hate the thought of shaking the 1kg CPU cooler :eek:
 
Excellent! This sounds like it's going to be an interesting comparison. Do keep us updated, gobble & Staxxx.
 
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