Quadraphonic Output with Flac/MLP (Serious)

lokkerman · 22nd April 2010, 23:53

Guys
I have been an incredible champion of Winamp; I have a massive collection of lossless tracks (50K), most importantly around 10k of these are in Hi-Res and Quadraphonic and #5.1 format. Winamp was my player of choice for my HMPC (music, not theatre) it copes with a great database and with ASIO4ALL sounds great (I use XP Pro) - only problem is that, over a period I've been beginning to doubt the output from Winamp matches the source. Particularly with #4.0. Doubts initally crept in that it was the mlp decoder and I've had conversations (through other folk) that this had a design issue, so much so that the mlp plugin designer created test files for me and others to check my theories.
Anyway let's cut to the chase; I've been handed a master-tape that needs restoring, it is #4.0 with 4 distinct and discrete channels.
Only problem is on Winamp on 4 different PCs/soundcards it won't play back discrete; it is a blended sound.
So I suspected soundcards and drivers (although my editing software plays back each channel correctly). I have two Asus Xonar cards; and set these to 4 speakers, still an issue. Prodigy 192 same problem.
To test out whether this was my configuration, I DL'd Foobar; guess what - on all 4 PCs without changing hardware driver parameters, each card outputted correctly.
Proper #4.0.
So all, this is fundamental, as the basic in equals out of Winamp is lacking credibility.
Ideas please; BTW it is the same with wav.

lokkerman · 26th April 2010, 13:52

Well I've tracked it down even further and I have another couple of questions:
What output driver should Winamp be using - Nullsoft Direct or WaveOutput?
How is the audio routed if ASIO4ALL is used?
How does this compare with Foobar?

22nd April 2010, 23:53	#1
lokkerman Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: East Midlands, UK. Posts: 3	Quadraphonic Output with Flac/MLP (Serious) Guys I have been an incredible champion of Winamp; I have a massive collection of lossless tracks (50K), most importantly around 10k of these are in Hi-Res and Quadraphonic and #5.1 format. Winamp was my player of choice for my HMPC (music, not theatre) it copes with a great database and with ASIO4ALL sounds great (I use XP Pro) - only problem is that, over a period I've been beginning to doubt the output from Winamp matches the source. Particularly with #4.0. Doubts initally crept in that it was the mlp decoder and I've had conversations (through other folk) that this had a design issue, so much so that the mlp plugin designer created test files for me and others to check my theories. Anyway let's cut to the chase; I've been handed a master-tape that needs restoring, it is #4.0 with 4 distinct and discrete channels. Only problem is on Winamp on 4 different PCs/soundcards it won't play back discrete; it is a blended sound. So I suspected soundcards and drivers (although my editing software plays back each channel correctly). I have two Asus Xonar cards; and set these to 4 speakers, still an issue. Prodigy 192 same problem. To test out whether this was my configuration, I DL'd Foobar; guess what - on all 4 PCs without changing hardware driver parameters, each card outputted correctly. Proper #4.0. So all, this is fundamental, as the basic in equals out of Winamp is lacking credibility. Ideas please; BTW it is the same with wav.

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26th April 2010, 13:52	#2
lokkerman Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: East Midlands, UK. Posts: 3	Well I've tracked it down even further and I have another couple of questions: What output driver should Winamp be using - Nullsoft Direct or WaveOutput? How is the audio routed if ASIO4ALL is used? How does this compare with Foobar?