Comments on: Why Foobar2000?

By: Hanzales

Hanzales — Tue, 03 May 2011 10:35:09 +0000

I used Winamp from begining and about year ago I swithed to Foobar. Mainly because I can do following ;o)
Together with DTS processing and good speakers it sounds the best for me:
http://img10.imageshack.us/f/asiofoobardts.png/
Also for example G19 support is very useful.

By: kenP

kenP — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 06:24:58 +0000

very-very good sound processing, i only use common spec. of PC with common headphone, and the foobar2000 produces nice sound into my ear, very clear with goog staging. i already proof it , personally foobar2000 better than other common player

By: moot2000

moot2000 — Fri, 28 May 2010 11:45:41 +0000

Follow up from a year (!!!) ago. Listening to iTunes or WMP will make my ears bleed in 1 min, now that I’ve gotten so spoiled by Fb2k. It just sounds soooo good! I can’t tell you the satisfaction of being able to hear that clarinet or soprano clearly, as a solid, almost tangible audio image, you must experience this if you haven’t. And correction, you don’t need high end stuff to hear this difference, I hear it in headphones and “multimedia” speakers too, now, in just 10 seconds of listening. So, again tried to research out what makes foobar sound so good, and again all I see is those negative types that need to rain on parades for the convenience of being able to remain in ignorant bliss. How dare we find a better solution and actually be happier than they! How dare we hear something they can’t? We must be brought down! We must believe we are wrong, or oh actually, they must believe we are wrong, for their own sanity. Because, you know, the other possibility is they are wrong, and that’ll never fly. So it’s gotta be placebo lol. Or maybe it’s placebo that they can’t hear a difference, since their minds are made up? Ooops! Rule #8! Maybe they should apply their precious “rule #8″ to their placebo claim? You know, goose and ganders thing. Or maybe they just have bad ears? Ooops did I question their hearing abilities? Yah, “I’ll take my chances”. ABX tests are obviously not applicable here, as wonderful as they are for pharmaceutical processes. Can you guess why? How about… there’s big stakes in pharmacy? Foobar in case you didn’t know is free, there’s no cost justification. Anyway I’m not one for irrelevant “science”-backed negativity, that’s like those scientific racists that apply science in the whole wrong way. A little knowledge is a very dangerous thing indeed. And here I thought “over thinking, over analyzing, separates the body from the mind”? What’s this obsession with ABX. If I claim that I can see myself in the mirror, oh I must follow rule #8 and conduct ABX to prove it. So when I asked 100 people to stand in front of the mirror none of them see me in it so it must be placebo lolol. I’m so tired of all the dumb negative people around me needing to sap the blood out of my happiness and success. Seriously there are so many emotional vampires in the world. Foobar was one of the best finds of my audio listening life, and it’s free, and I’m so happy! Placebo this, rule #h8rs. Good article, James.

By: Hendra

Hendra — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:33:09 +0000

Mentioning ASIO above…

Despite the standard foo_out dll, is there any difference in sound reproduction among ASIO drivers?
As we might known there lots of ASIO driver, and not being a fan of bass/treble/loudness, what ASIO driver outweighs in its natural repro and how does it handle soundstage?

Thank you.

By: moot2000

moot2000 — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 07:06:13 +0000

For it to be placebo effect, one has to be predisposed to believe Foobar was better. I disliked Foobar, for its UI, and never was able to figure out its attraction. It wasn’t until recently, when forced to use Foobar again to convert Flac to ALAC, but now with better speakers, noticed now nice Foobar sounds. Upon further investigation, Foobar sounds like it was “wired right”, whereas wmp and iTunes sound like something went terribly wrong in there somewhere. Don’t know about WinAmp, last time I used it was a decade ago and hated it for its UI. iTunes still has the best UI, just unlistenable. Foobar, on the other hand, is the complete opposite of iTunes.

You need some decent speakers to appreciate Foobar’s sound. I now have JBL LSR32′s, and the difference is clear.

By: Michael

Michael — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 02:25:54 +0000

If you can’t hear, it doesn’t mean other can’t.

It has been proven by many user, not just one or two, even some of them are sound engineer who never use other except WaveLab or Cubase for monitoring, just like Jimmy has mentioned before. They can’t accept WinAmp or poor Windows Media Player, but Foobar.

So, I don’t think it’s a placebo, but feel free if you feel it’s a placebo… Perhaps it’s just “ears limitation”?

Thx a bunch.

By: A Non Name

A Non Name — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 01:07:35 +0000

The “better sound” you hear is just a placebo effect. To say that foobar2000 sounds better than Winamp or vice versa is just ignorant. If you still believe that then you should just stay off of computers entirely.

Bunch of noobs.

By: Tasos

Tasos — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 20:54:05 +0000

when you listen to music with X-Fi sound card, which is the best MODE option, audio creation mode or entertainment mode?

easy answer is entertainment mode BUT audio creation mode supports bit-matched playback and advanced asio drivers…
dunno what the last does, cause I already have foobar2000+asio4all v2

By: Tasos

Tasos — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 08:22:35 +0000

I used winamp 2.95 for a long time, after trying newer versions of winamp with FLAC files and found that the OLD winamp with the older FLAC decoder sounds BETTER… dunno why and how!

Now I use foobar2000 and I will try to get ASIO working

My system:
X-Fi Music->NAD C325BEE->B&W 685 speakers

By: olo

olo — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 19:19:31 +0000

I have tried many and to my ears Foobar2000 IS THE BEST free player.

By: wilco_sg

wilco_sg — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 16:34:53 +0000

have you tried winamp with MAD decoder, SSRC directsound output with izotope dsp? juz want to know your opinion about MAD and SSRC. thanks!

By: vicong

vicong — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 17:55:22 +0000

Yes in Windows I love Foobar too even without ASIO support, simplicity is the best

By: Jimmy Auw

Jimmy Auw — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 23:57:06 +0000

The way it decodes the file…

By: coolkwc

coolkwc — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 17:56:31 +0000

i had download the foobar and tried but hardly to find any different from my Winamp 5.53….I am using X-FI XtremeMusic and MX5021…maybe you can explain whats the foobar difference from other media player, I really wish to know….thanks

By: Mike Madison

Mike Madison — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 16:55:18 +0000

Hi there,
I completely agree with you. This Foobar is absolutely outperforms most player.
Greetings from old fellas at 3dss…

By: David Winarso

David Winarso — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 13:55:42 +0000

Mr. Auw,

have you ever try Audacity? Another excellent free s/w… this one is intended for editing actually…

I think it is even better then Foobar… The cons is… it has it’s own file format… though can import from WAV or MP3. Another cons.. can only one file at a time.

By: Jimmy Auw

Jimmy Auw — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 13:37:37 +0000

With a good sound card (I use Lynx L22), Foobar with WaveOut is still better than WinAmp or Windows Media Player.

By: r3dx

r3dx — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 02:31:03 +0000

he3x.. another foobar fanboy huh? :p

me too (after trying with the ASIO support.. , without it. IMO is the same as Winamp or etc..)