# PC Users; What do you use for wav and mp3 playback?



## Studio E (Jan 28, 2022)

I just finished a new build with windows 11. On my last machine (Win 10), I could just double-click on any mp3 or wav, and the "Groove Music" player would just open up and play it. Since getting the new PC up, I can't seem to play anything on this player, or windows media player. It basically just says it can't play it. Any ideas?


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## rdd27 (Jan 28, 2022)

I use VLC for most file playback and Musicbee for my music library - either of these might be worth a try. To be honest, I stopped using the default Windows players quite a few years ago - they just seem to get worse with every release!


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## scherzo (Jan 28, 2022)

Still using WinAmp. With the classic skin, of course.

It really whips the llama's ass.


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## wickedw (Jan 28, 2022)

Yeah this is supposed to just work with the default apps though. Sounds like perhaps windows doesn't recognise your audio interface or the default output isn't configured? Have a look at the windows sound settings and see if there's something off/missing there.


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## Studio E (Jan 28, 2022)

I’ll look into other options, but yeah, I wish the included MS junkware would just function, vs me piling more stuff onto a brand new build.


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## Hadrondrift (Jan 28, 2022)

I uninstalled Microsoft Groove Music, it is one of the most impractical media player software I know. I also try to get by without additional software as much as possible to keep complexity down, but Microsoft's media players are really an unusable disaster.

For straightforward simple playback of nearly every music and video format I use the pretty and free "Media Player Classic - Black Edition" (https://sourceforge.net/projects/mpcbe/, >20k downloads this week )

You can't go wrong with VLC Media Player either.


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## Timberland70 (Jan 28, 2022)

Not flawless yet, but the Resonic Player has some nice features and is very usable: https://resonic.at/


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## Studio E (Jan 28, 2022)

Thanks for the suggestions everyone!


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## MartinH. (Jan 28, 2022)

Studio E said:


> I’ll look into other options, but yeah, I wish the included MS junkware would just function, vs me piling more stuff onto a brand new build.



You really should consider using winamp, it was made by the guy who started Reaper. But don't use any of the new versions, old software sounds warmer and more vintage. I still use a version from 2007 that I have been taking with me from PC to PC. Haven't tried it on my new win10 PC yet, but I assume it will work just fine.

Jokes aside, if you are worried about "bloat" from installing stuff, then don't install stuff, use portable apps instead. I use everything I can get portable as a portable install, which means I can just move those folders over to the new PC and they will work without needing to install anything. It is one of the many great features of Reaper that you can use it that way. This also allows to easily use and compare different versions of the same program in parallel. It's just better in every way that I can think of.
I go here to get my portable apps:





Portable App Directory (over 400 free) - PortableApps.com


Over 450 Real Portable Apps (49GB!) Some with up to 150 locale, beta packages, etc Over 1 BILLION Downloads! Free, Legal, Safe, and Fully Portable No Shovelware. No Bundleware.The PortableApps.com Platforminstalls and automatically updatesyour apps and let's you view by category, title, new, or...




portableapps.com








Hadrondrift said:


> For straightforward simple playback of nearly every music and video format I use the pretty and free "Media Player Classic - Black Edition" (https://sourceforge.net/projects/mpcbe/, >20k downloads this week )


Never heard of it, but I've used MPC - home cinema edition for over a decade. If the black edition is... black... that might be a nice bonus. I'll give it a go on the new PC, thanks for the link.


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## Hadrondrift (Jan 28, 2022)

MartinH. said:


> I've used MPC - home cinema


Same here, used MPC-HC for years and switched to MPC-BE. Black edition is basically the same code base but looks better, is better maintained and has some more built-in features (stream and download YouTube videos for instance).


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## cloudbuster (Jan 28, 2022)

I've been using foobar since WIN XP and it still cuts it for me. One of the features I like the most is the A/B tool that lets you run blind tests with two different audio files (e.g. wav vs. compressed).


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## Tim_Wells (Jan 28, 2022)

MartinH. said:


> You really should consider using winamp, it was made by the guy who started Reaper. But don't use any of the new versions, old software sounds warmer and more vintage.


That's because it used a proprietary combination of Sovtek 12AX7LPS tubes and NOS MP16A Russian PNP Germanium transistors.


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## Pictus (Jan 28, 2022)

For audio VLC and for video MPC-BE + madVR.
I calibrate my display with _DisplayCAL_(need hardware)
and it also creates a 3DLUT from the calibration for madVR.
The reason to use MPC-BE is that it is color aware, it
understands monitor calibration and madVR further
expands with better algorithms for scaling, sharpening,
debanding, dithering and etc.

I do photo retouching and need the display to be proper calibrated.








Retouching


Retouching and creative works




www.flickr.com





BTW, madVR is no good for old or weak GPU. YMWV


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## MartinH. (Jan 28, 2022)

Pictus said:


> I do photo retouching and need the display to be proper calibrated.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



That squirrel on the fence is impressive, how did you sharpen it? Topazlabs Sharpen AI?




Hadrondrift said:


> and download YouTube videos for instance).



That alone would make it worth a try for me, thanks again!


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## Pictus (Jan 28, 2022)

MartinH. said:


> That squirrel on the fence is impressive, how did you sharpen it? Topazlabs Sharpen AI?


Thank you, I did that in 2010 
https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/35330723
No AI stuff at that time, long time ago, maybe it was FocalBlade.





The Plugin Site - FocalBlade - Main


The Plugin Site - Photoshop plugins, Photoshop Elements plugins, Lightroom plugins, free plugins




www.thepluginsite.com


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## Øivind (Jan 28, 2022)

Another Resonic user here, but lately I have been reaching more for VLC.


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## md11 (Jan 28, 2022)

for audio: foobar2000! great player with tons of functions and tools/add ons.





foobar2000


foobar2000




www.foobar2000.org


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## Thomas Kallweit (Jan 28, 2022)

Mediamonkey all the way. Lots of tagging options, can covert to flac etc.
Using the 4.0 version. The 5.0 is different - some addons do not work.


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## Wedge (Jan 28, 2022)

For albums I use Music Bee.


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## Henrik B. Jensen (Jan 28, 2022)

foobar2000


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## poly6 (Jan 28, 2022)

MartinH. said:


> You really should consider using winamp, it was made by the guy who started Reaper. But don't use any of the new versions, old software sounds warmer and more vintage. I still use a version from 2007 that I have been taking with me from PC to PC. Haven't tried it on my new win10 PC yet, but I assume it will work just fine.


But you can't forget you need to pair this up with a Soundblaster Live card, especially the Soundblaster Live 16 (full 16-bit glory - all you ever really can hear and need anyway)! You lose so much warmth with this new 24-bit 192khz digital crap. Look at all these new "LoFi" plugins trying to remove all that pristine digital coldness.


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## poly6 (Jan 28, 2022)

(tongue firmly planted in cheek in case it's not obvious )

More seriously, this thread has made me look into media players I've never heard of like foobar2000


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## vitocorleone123 (Jan 28, 2022)

Another for Foobar2000. I was literally using it as I saw this thread, playing back the mp3 of the most recent track I actually finished.

Foobar2000 originally came out just over 20 years ago.


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## Thomas Costantino (Jan 28, 2022)

I find it fascinating that Windows Groove isn’t drag and drop, nor has visuals of the album art next to the tracks. I do enjoy the black layout and the sound quality playback. Tried Music Bee but haven’t made the switch. 

I miss how easy iTunes was in the Mac. Has anyone tried using on Windows 10 ? 

Heard VLC has been solid for years. Does it have a dark/black layout ?


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## Henu (Jan 29, 2022)

Llama's ass.


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## Mr Greg G (Jan 29, 2022)

I think AIMP is the best audio player out there. You can tweak literally everything (audio, design, shortcuts etc), lots of skins are available.Way more powerful than grandpa Winamp and flexible than foobar or VLC. You even have a Winamp skin if you feel so nostalgeek 😅 Or Fruity Loops skin, cassette decks etc.

I use the Soot skin, very clean and customizable. Won’t be looking anywhere else.






AIMP


AIMP : Free Audio Player : Официальный сайт программы




www.aimp.ru


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## d.healey (Jan 29, 2022)

VLC


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## CATDAD (Jan 29, 2022)

Reaper, may as well keep all my audio needs in one place!

…just kidding, I use Foobar2000. Pretty customizable, you can make it show everything you want, and nothing you don’t. Many options for changing playback settings as well, in case you want to be sure there’s no normalizing nonsense or other post-processing going on.

VLC is probably fine these days, but when I was getting comfortable with a Winamp replacement in the 2000’s it was a little bloated and prone to crashing!


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## TomislavEP (Jan 29, 2022)

On my DAW system, I only have a VLC installed. IMO, more than enough for previewing various media files when needed, and also as an engine for video playback in REAPER.

For more serious listening to music, I use AIMP for Windows and Poweramp for Android. Never been much of a fan of music organizers apps, but the mentioned two are quite capable of this task as well. Also, they've proven stable and reliable while supporting a wide range of formats and options.

To be honest, I'm hoping that the announced VLC 4.0 could finally bring a near-perfect all-in-one solution for media playback. It is already quite powerful and useful thanks to its long tradition, but still somewhat crude and spartan in certain departments, especially when it comes to audio.


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## easyrider (Jan 29, 2022)

Foobar.


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## Stef321 (Jan 29, 2022)

Foobar2000 for audio, I only use VLC for videos.


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## Thomas Costantino (Apr 21, 2022)

Ok, so its time I have to get serious about making the switch. Still very undecided. Narrowed it down to 3 factors: 1.) Sound Quality 2.) Dark Mode or Black skin/layout 3.) Mini album art next to tracks like iTunes ( visually necessary for how I work, but not a deal breaker )

Right now I have Music Bee, Groove, & Windows Media Player. Theres a very noticeable difference in playback quality with Music Bee, so thats out. Groove sounds great but constantly crashes- thats out. Windows Media Player sounds good, not dark, and features are garbage- out.

Based on this thread and what I need, I'm gearing towards VLC, AIMP, or FoodBar. Wondering if anyone with each of these has measured up the sound quality to Groove. As much as Groove fails short, the playback quality is mint.

Also wondering if anyone has experience with iTunes for Windows? Not trying to be a Mac snob but iTunes sure did its job; Sounds good and the mini track art does wonders when scrolling through hundreds of tracks in a playlist- although I never got the chance to measure the playback quality to anything else.

So far only free apps have been listed. I'd also be open to a paid app if its worth it.


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## Denkii (Apr 21, 2022)

Foobar


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## cedricm (Apr 21, 2022)

I also use foobar mainly on my work computer and Kodi on my media center PC (connected in 5.1 to Magnepan loudspeakers).
A great alternative, but not free, is JRiver Media Center - even for audio-only playback.


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## Thomas Costantino (Apr 21, 2022)

cedricm said:


> I also use foobar mainly on my work computer and Kodi on my media center PC (connected in 5.1 to Magnepan loudspeakers).
> A great alternative, but not free, is JRiver Media Center - even for audio-only playback.


The screenshots on the Foodbar website look extremely basic. Am i missing something or on the wrong site?


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## vitocorleone123 (Apr 21, 2022)

Thomas Costantino said:


> The screenshots on the Foodbar website look extremely basic. Am i missing something or on the wrong site?


Consider Foobar the Reaper of music players.


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## Thomas Costantino (Apr 21, 2022)

vitocorleone123 said:


> Consider Foobar the Reaper of music players.


So I should pass then lol ? J/K... Have you stacked up its playback quality to Groove?

And I'm not 100 percent sure what that means as I havent dabbled in Reaper... On the website it looks junk compared to AIMP, I'm assuming its customizable?


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## Stef321 (Apr 21, 2022)

Give a try to foobar w/Georgia Reborn theme (it's got a dark theme variation), you shouldn't be disappointed.


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## cel4145 (Apr 21, 2022)

Thomas Costantino said:


> Theres a very noticeable difference in playback quality with Music Bee, so thats out.



Shouldn't be. 

Go into to preferences and under player, you can select the output device. If you thought Windows Media Player sounded better, make sure you have Musicbee using the same sound output mode you have Windows audio set to. And try some of the other output modes.


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## Thomas Costantino (Apr 21, 2022)

cel4145 said:


> Shouldn't be.
> 
> Go into to preferences and under player, you can select the output device. If you thought Windows Media Player sounded better, make sure you have Musicbee using the same sound output mode you have Windows audio set to. And try some of the other output modes.


All the outputs are the same and I still notice a difference between the music players.


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## Vladinemir (Apr 21, 2022)

I used foobar a lot in W7 because it supports ASIO driver. With default Windows driver the sound was narrower and duller. I don't know if this is still the case in newer versions of Windows.


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## Thomas Costantino (Apr 21, 2022)

Vladinemir said:


> I used foobar a lot in W7 because it supports ASIO driver. With default Windows driver the sound was narrower and duller. I don't know if this is still the case in newer versions of Windows.


It sounds much more narrow and less smooth than Groove, VLC or Windows Media Player. I tried 6 different players today. Not happy with the results. Now i'm searching on how to fix Groove and make the most out of it. Certainly the best sound quality.


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## AceAudioHQ (Apr 21, 2022)

I use Sound Forge Pro


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## brek (Apr 21, 2022)

Having recently commented in the Mac/PC debate, Resonic is a pretty strong anchor for me on Windows. 

What I need/want most:
- Waveform view
- Built in file/folder navigation
- Variety of viewable and sortable metadata

What I don't need:
- Album art


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## Thomas Costantino (Apr 21, 2022)

brek said:


> Having recently commented in the Mac/PC debate, Resonic is a pretty strong anchor for me on Windows.
> 
> What I need/want most:
> - Waveform view
> ...


Looks interesting. I dont exactly need the art either, but I do like the spacing between tracks when you have the thumbnail image on the right, much like iTunes. Honestly, this has been a true pain in the rear. I cant believe how each all of these players fall short in one category or another. I know I'm sounding anal, but I'm 7 Media players deep and not thrilled with anything.


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## cel4145 (Apr 21, 2022)

Thomas Costantino said:


> All the outputs are the same and I still notice a difference between the music players.



There must be some setting that's different, somewhere. Because the music player is not going to change the sound unless you have some kind of audio effect turned on.

Unless it's playing in a different volume, in which case you're just experiencing a perceptual bias.


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## Thomas Costantino (Apr 22, 2022)

cel4145 said:


> There must be some setting that's different, somewhere. Because the music player is not going to change the sound unless you have some kind of audio effect turned on.
> 
> Unless it's playing in a different volume, in which case you're just experiencing a perceptual bias.


Wish perceptual bias was the main factor- then I'd be settled on something. Going back in today to test 9 different media players. Lets see what happens.


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## Thomas Costantino (Apr 22, 2022)

Dare I ask, has anyone used iTunes on Windows? Thats the last major media player I could add to this experiment.


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## cedricm (Apr 22, 2022)

I'll have to check AIMP, which looks great (where's the 64-bit Windows version though?). There's no quality issue with Foobar. On the contrary, it offers options often not found in other players, such as using an ASIO driver.

In addition, it offers ReplayGain: "the name of a technique invented to achieve the same perceived playback loudness of audio files. It defines an algorithm to measure the *perceived* loudness of audio data." And it's compatible with EBU R.128.

The file types it can read are extensive, as are its advanced options.

The scanning works flawlessly. I ripped all my CDs and DVDs in FLAC and it had no issue with 300+ GB of indexing.

The comparison with Reaper is good: the default UI sucks (IMHO) but it's tweakable to death.


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## TomislavEP (Apr 22, 2022)

cedricm said:


> I'll have to check AIMP, which looks great (where's the 64-bit Windows version though?). There's no quality issue with Foobar. On the contrary, it offers options often not found in other players, such as using an ASIO driver.


IIRC, AIMP also supports using the ASIO driver. IMO, overall it provides a better out-of-the-box experience than foobar2000. Its strength lies in being truly modular but not in superior audio quality as do many believe. In fact, I seem to recall that the developer had a disclaimer of sorts explaining this on foobar's website.



cedricm said:


> The comparison with Reaper is good: the default UI sucks (IMHO) but it's tweakable to death.


Using REAPER as my primary DAW I heartily disagree, though I see what you mean. 

BTW, I don't like the default AIMP skin very much but there are several extremely polished ones available, especially in AIO (all-in-one) format and dark mode.

It would be nice to see a 64-bit version in the future, though I'm guessing that the benefits would be the most obvious when using the built-in converter and RG scanner rather than the player itself.


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## Superabbit (Apr 22, 2022)

I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned bit-perfect playback. What that means in Windows is that the player bypasses Windows' built-in mixer and any effects set in the OS like equalization and spatial "enhancements." The Windows mixer is built for performance, and the ability to mix a large number of audio streams, not quality.

I think most of the people on here (I'm brand new) produce sound for other people to listen to. When I do that, I like to listen to my output (and that of others) with as little fiddling between me and the source.

Bit-perfect playback requires the player to support either WASAPI Exclusive or ASIO, which both MusicBee and foobar do. iTunes, Groove Player, and Windows Media Player don't. Pretty much any player that doesn't allow the user "under the hood" is going through the Windows mixer. There's a way to enable it with VLC, but it requires some deep diving into advanced audio settings.

I personally don't like Replay Gain, so I disable it in Music Bee (my favorite player). It seemed to be doing something other than just adjusting level.

My ears seem to be sensitive to the spatial information in transients, so anything that rounds them off (like the resampling done by the Windows mixer or lossy encoding) can sound "smaller" to me, like the stereo image doesn't extend past the speakers. My perception threshold seems to be around 256K MP3's, but I just stick to FLAC's.

By all means, YMMV. I don't know if most people can hear the difference, but it pops right out at me. If players that go through the Windows mixer (and possible enhancements and processing) sound better to you, then that's the way to go. The true test is to listen and then choose what _you_ prefer.


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## Thomas Costantino (Apr 22, 2022)

Superabbit said:


> I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned bit-perfect playback. What that means in Windows is that the player bypasses Windows' built-in mixer and any effects set in the OS like equalization and spatial "enhancements." The Windows mixer is built for performance, and the ability to mix a large number of audio streams, not quality.
> 
> I think most of the people on here (I'm brand new) produce sound for other people to listen to. When I do that, I like to listen to my output (and that of others) with as little fiddling between me and the source.
> 
> ...


Excellent post. I think you actually nailed the differences I’m hearing !

AIMP and Media Monkey sound similar. Texture is solid but the imaging is lacking. I find MusicBee to be vastly different from other players. Sounds a little louder and more condensed in the stereo imaging and the high end is super clear but harsh. That gain is deactivated, but I’m diving into the settings to see what your talking about.

I’ve settled on iTunes for Windows. The full version off Apple’s site, not the Windows Marketplace versions. It seems to have a good balance of delivery compared to Groove, VLC, and FoodBar. Using it strictly as a music player with no iCloud or streaming service. The pure Sonics seem to carry a bit more weight and depth to the instrumentation.

I haven’t dabbled with the new player on Windows 11, as I’m in no hurry to upgrade. Hopefully they went with Grooves algorithm and not the Media Player.


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## Superabbit (Apr 22, 2022)

Thomas Costantino said:


> I’ve settled on iTunes for Windows. The full version off Apple’s site, not the Windows Marketplace versions. It seems to have a good balance of delivery compared to Groove, VLC, and FoodBar. Using it strictly as a music player with no iCloud or streaming service. The pure Sonics seem to carry a bit more weight and depth to the instrumentation.


I'm glad if I helped. To give you even more options, you can go to Edit/Preferences/Playback in iTunes and down in the bottom pane, you can choose between "Windows Audio Session," which I _think_ is WASAPI Shared (means it goes through the Windows mixer and you can still hear sounds from other apps while it's playing), and Direct Sound, which is an earlier audio API. So you can see which one you like best. It also lets you choose sample rate and bit depth.

It's great to have choices, but shoot, why do music players have to sound _different_? As a result of this thread I discovered Resonic Player, which is slaughtering MusicBee and foobar on my studio system. By my understanding, if they're all using WASAPI Exclusive they should all sound identical! I think I wanna weep....


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## c t (Apr 23, 2022)

I'm still whipping the llama' s ass, with a nice set of curated milkdrop presets for the afterparty


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## Thomas Costantino (Apr 23, 2022)

Superabbit said:


> I'm glad if I helped. To give you even more options, you can go to Edit/Preferences/Playback in iTunes and down in the bottom pane, you can choose between "Windows Audio Session," which I _think_ is WASAPI Shared (means it goes through the Windows mixer and you can still hear sounds from other apps while it's playing), and Direct Sound, which is an earlier audio API. So you can see which one you like best. It also lets you choose sample rate and bit depth.
> 
> It's great to have choices, but shoot, why do music players have to sound _different_? As a result of this thread I discovered Resonic Player, which is slaughtering MusicBee and foobar on my studio system. By my understanding, if they're all using WASAPI Exclusive they should all sound identical! I think I wanna weep....


Gave Resonic a go today. Was cool seeing instantaneous file uploads of my entire Library. Seems like this operates like a chain to your computers file manager (similar to VLC), rather than a standalone media library. Really cool features. Seeing the wave form like a DAW is a huge plus. The visual time stream of the wave is what we're constantly clicking on and interacting with. Bravo to them for making it a huge centerfold of the application. Beyond me why most players display this as a barely visible sliver. 

I don't see an option to create custom Playlists- which is a must for me. Sonically, it certainly crushes MusicBee, AIMP, FoodBar and MediaMonkey. I just havent come across anything that delivers like Groove and iTunes. Will be keeping Resonic in the toolbox though.


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## RogiervG (Apr 23, 2022)

default player that comes with the OS.


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## Thomas Costantino (Apr 23, 2022)

RogiervG said:


> default player that comes with the OS.


Better than 90% of the lot


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## kitekrazy (Apr 23, 2022)

I've gotten use to Groove Music. Why is it developers like to piss on things that worked before. 
I also use Winamp 2.


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## Thomas Costantino (Apr 23, 2022)

kitekrazy said:


> I've gotten use to Groove Music. Why is it developers like to piss on things that worked before.
> I also use Winamp 2.


Groove has potential to be the best player by leaps and bounds. I believe its less the developers and more from the higher up decision makers. They just see the 'Groove Streaming Marketplace' as a failure. I get that they're trying to consolidate everything, but Groove could still exists as a standalone music player. 

Trying to browse the Winamp site. Its a mess. I dont see a download page. Only a newsletter sign up and something about NFT's, which makes me want to immediately leave the site.


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## cel4145 (Apr 23, 2022)

Superabbit said:


> I'm glad if I helped. To give you even more options, you can go to Edit/Preferences/Playback in iTunes and down in the bottom pane, you can choose between "Windows Audio Session," which I _think_ is WASAPI Shared (means it goes through the Windows mixer and you can still hear sounds from other apps while it's playing), and Direct Sound, which is an earlier audio API. So you can see which one you like best. It also lets you choose sample rate and bit depth.
> 
> It's great to have choices, but shoot, why do music players have to sound _different_? As a result of this thread I discovered Resonic Player, which is slaughtering MusicBee and foobar on my studio system. By my understanding, if they're all using WASAPI Exclusive they should all sound identical! I think I wanna weep....



Have you tried measuring the output with a precise voltmeter? Maybe the player is putting out an extra 0.5db of volume. Which is not enough to necessarily recognize as a volume increase, but would make it sound better.


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## cel4145 (Apr 23, 2022)

Thomas Costantino said:


> Groove has potential to be the best player by leaps and bounds. I believe its less the developers and more from the higher up decision makers. They just see the 'Groove Streaming Marketplace' as a failure. I get that they're trying to consolidate everything, but Groove could still exists as a standalone music player.
> 
> Trying to browse the Winamp site. Its a mess. I dont see a download page. Only a newsletter sign up and something about NFT's, which makes me want to immediately leave the site.


I kind of feel like Microsoft doesn't intend to continue the development of Groove other than to keep it stable through future versions of Windows and Xbox



> We’ll continue to update the Windows 10 Groove Music apps for PC, Xbox, and Windows Phone so you can play your purchased music. On December 31, 2017, the option to stream, purchase, and download music from Groove Music was discontinued. If your purchased music was downloaded, you’ll still be able to listen to it.








Groove Music and Spotify: FAQ


Groove Music Pass is being discontinued, see the following info on Groove's partnership with Spotify.




support.microsoft.com


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## Superabbit (Apr 25, 2022)

cel4145 said:


> Have you tried measuring the output with a precise voltmeter? Maybe the player is putting out an extra 0.5db of volume. Which is not enough to necessarily recognize as a volume increase, but would make it sound better.


I tried fiddling the volume between them, but not with any measuring tool other than my ears. I'm trying to think of some way to record the outputs and then doing a "null test" to see what the differences actually are.


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## cel4145 (Apr 25, 2022)

Superabbit said:


> I tried fiddling the volume between them, but not with any measuring tool other than my ears. I'm trying to think of some way to record the outputs and then doing a "null test" to see what the differences actually are.



Maybe this will help. I've never used it, but I believe VB Cable can be used to route output from a music player into your DAW or whatever device you're going to use to do a null test.






VB-Audio Virtual Apps


VB-Audio Virtual Cable and App's




vb-audio.com


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## Thomas Costantino (Apr 25, 2022)

Superabbit said:


> I tried fiddling the volume between them, but not with any measuring tool other than my ears. I'm trying to think of some way to record the outputs and then doing a "null test" to see what the differences actually are.


That would be very interesting. At the end of the day we just have to select one that sounds the best or suits our needs. For instance, I’m going with the player that doesn’t necessarily sound the best, but is most revealing of differences in my mastered tracks compared to commercial releases. I’m comfortable with the sonic delivery and I find it to be one small notch down from the one I ‘perceive’ to sound best. 

But a true test like you describe would be YouTube worthy. Glad I found this thread and went down this media player journey. We can find threads all day that talk about differences in DAW’s, so it’s nice to analyze the actual music players- especially with everyone’s input. 

If you achieve an accurate playback recording, it would be awesome to set up a file or video to do a blind test in this thread !


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## TomislavEP (May 9, 2022)

Yesterday, I've learned that a 64-bit version of AIMP will be available soon. According to an official website, public beta testing has already begun.

Although I've always liked the idea and concept of foobar, I must say that AIMP seems to have an edge these days. Not only that it is updated on a more regular basis but it also feels like a more modern application that offers a better out-of-the-box experience. Also, the announced 64-bit version could be the additional boon when choosing an optimal music player for PC.


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## TomislavEP (Jun 21, 2022)

I've just learned that the first stable 64-bit version of AIMP has been released. See here:






AIMP


AIMP : Free Audio Player : Официальный сайт программы




www.aimp.ru





Apparently, from now on, it will be possible to download both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the program.


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## Pictus (Jun 21, 2022)

I changed from VLC to AIMP 64-bit, better user experience.


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## ScoringFilm (Jun 21, 2022)

+1 for Resonic as an everyday player
FooBar for Hi-Res Audio
K-Lite Codec pack to ensure your PC can decode all formats:





Codec Guide: K-Lite Codec Pack - For Windows 11 / 10 / 8.1 / 7


The K-Lite Codec Pack is a free software bundle for high quality playback of all your music and video files. It is easy to use, but also very flexible with many options. Enjoy problem free playback of MKV, MP4, AVI, FLV, and all other multimedia file formats.



www.codecguide.com


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