Best playback software for DBpoweramp WAV rips?

Posted by: Richard Dane on 11 August 2010

Since getting the Naim DAC I've finally got around to messing about with computer audio. So, with a new Hiface connected up to laptop, I've suddenly found myself in unfamiliar territory. Oh for the simplicity of something like the HDX!!

Anyway, I'm persevering...

I have ripped a bunch of CDs using DBpoweramp into WAVs. DBpoweramp seems to do a good job in tagging WAVs and adding album artwork into a folder structure.

My question to the more seasoned computer audio users is what playback software to use. I have experimented a bit and find that on the few I've tried the WAV files don't seem to be kept together as albums. Is there a program that works best with DBpoweramp WAV rips?

I'd love to just use itunes as the interface is so much simpler than the others but again, it doesn't seem to like WAVs very much, just treating them as a bunch of individual tracks and not even supporting cover art.

I just want something that will allow me to browse through albums and play them in the best quality that Windows Vista will allow...

Suggestions, please...
Posted on: 11 August 2010 by Aleg
quote:
Originally posted by Richard Dane:
...
I have ripped a bunch of CDs using DBpoweramp into WAVs. DBpoweramp seems to do a good job in tagging WAVs and adding album artwork into a folder structure.
...


I would love to recommend Foobar, but unfortunately that still cannot handle tags in WAV (come on Patrick .... Big Grin )

MediaMonkey can read the tags from the WAV-files as dBPoweramp created them.

I cannot read from your post if you've ripped your CDs into an album per directory or all together in one directory.

For convenience I would advise to rip one album per directory.

-
aleg
Posted on: 11 August 2010 by js
It kinda depends. If your willing to play from your file folders than Foobar is probably the overall best sounding once configured for direct access to the interface. Kernal or ASIO for XP and wasapi exclusive for vista/7. Very close is Media Monkey once you get the buffers right with same configuration and it handles a wav library great so is probably the best overall choice. I know J.River is popular but I personally never got on with it as well sonically. Always seemed to have a bit of brightness or subtle ring to it with wav files and it doesn't handle them as well either. If you can get hold of a Wavelab 6 to try it sounds better than any of these but isn't a library player. Haven't tried with Vista so it might be ASIO via wasapi but I still expect it to be better.
Posted on: 11 August 2010 by pcstockton
If you want to use WAV files with Foobar simply play from the folder level.

Right click, play in foobar.
Posted on: 11 August 2010 by js
yep and you can set as default to make it easier but no art or playlists.
Posted on: 11 August 2010 by Richard Dane
Aleg,

directory structure has Music folder - Artist folders - Album folders within artist folders.

I've tried Winamp, J River and Foobar. None of them seem to be able to handle the WAV tags that DBpoweramp has created. Winamp gets close but it usually loses either artist or album. Weirdly it varies from one album to the next... J River and Foobar were a mess...

I'll try out Mediamonkey (thanks js)...
Posted on: 11 August 2010 by Aleg
quote:
Originally posted by Richard Dane:
Aleg,

I'll try out Mediamonkey...


MediaMonkey will do it for sure. I've just set it up here and it works correctly with the WAV-tags created by dBPoweramp.

I regulary now use WAV with tag created by dBPoweramp, because my mpd player on Linux box can handle them nicely.

I have MediaMonkey setup with the asio_out plugin (download that separately via Download more plugins ...) and using ASIO4ALL. Mediamonkey is not supporting (yet) WASAPI or KS on Win7, so I revert to ASIO4ALL as second best.

-
aleg
Posted on: 11 August 2010 by js
Haven't tried in Vista but I much prefer this ASIO plugin. http://otachan.com/out_asio(dll)_067.7z just did a redo on my PC and don't remember the buffer setting I used to use but it was either 8 or 16. Larger is generally warmer but can slow things down a bit. If no sound choose a different channel.
Posted on: 11 August 2010 by Aleg
quote:
Originally posted by js:
...I much prefer this ASIO plugin. http://otachan.com/out_asio(dll)_067.7z ...


That's indeed the one you get directed to from the MediaMonkey site.
You still need some ASIO-drivers though.

-
aleg
Posted on: 11 August 2010 by Richard Dane
Mediamonkey seems to handle the WAV tags just fine. Great! Thanks for the recommendation Aleg.

Now, to optimise the performance...

I'll get Asio4all and the plug-in. Any other tips? js, you mention buffer size... could this be why I seem to be getting tiny skips or dropouts every now and then?
Posted on: 11 August 2010 by Aleg
quote:
Originally posted by Richard Dane:
Mediamonkey seems to handle the WAV tags just fine. Great! Thanks for the recommendation Aleg.

Now, to optimise the performance...

I'll get Asio4all and the plug-in. Any other tips? js, you mention buffer size...


I think that's very much a matter of personal preference.

I like a small buffer size in ASIO4ALL, I use 512 ms.
In the confguration of the Asio plugin in MonkeyMedia you can also set a buffersize. At the moment I have that at default 7.

-
aleg
Posted on: 11 August 2010 by js
I suppose and of course it comes down to what you like the sound of but "ASIO4ALL is a universal ASIO driver for WDM audio. It attempts to find the kernel streaming interface of your audio device and adds an ASIO driver interface on top of it, using a variation of a technique dubbed "DirectKS". It's handy for when you can't get a dedicated driver to work etc. Those buffer sizes aren't unique and should be part of the asio devices dedicated control panel. I also use 512 with the TC when it's in the loop. Viva le difference. Smile
Posted on: 11 August 2010 by Frank Abela
So lemme get this straight. You rip the discs using DBPoweramp but then it doesn't play back the rips?

Also, where does it save the tags?
Posted on: 11 August 2010 by js
quote:
Originally posted by Richard Dane:
Mediamonkey seems to handle the WAV tags just fine. Great! Thanks for the recommendation Aleg.

Now, to optimise the performance...

I'll get Asio4all and the plug-in. Any other tips? js, you mention buffer size... could this be why I seem to be getting tiny skips or dropouts every now and then?
Probably but default should be fine with 16 bit files. If it's a laptop, try defeating the wireless and sometimes the battery monitor can glitch things. Basically something in the background can break through without enough buffer. Generally smaller buffer is better overall but there's a limit beyond audible drop outs. Sometimes a bit more than the minimum will sound better. Try and listen. Pick your combo of poisons. Winker You can also have more than one ASIO plugin without any problems so you can try a couple of those also if you so choose..
Posted on: 11 August 2010 by Richard Dane
Yes, interesting to play with the buffer. There's definitely a trade-off. I'm just playing for now. It's sounding a lot better now with a few tweaks. However, it's still lacking that "x factor" I get with a certain CD transport through the DAC. Perhaps the Hiface is the bottleneck. Anyway, next step will be to move to a dedicated machine running bare-bones OS and nothing else.

Steep learning curve, but I'm beginning to get my head 'round it! Thanks all.
Posted on: 11 August 2010 by Aleg
quote:
Originally posted by Frank Abela:
So lemme get this straight. You rip the discs using DBPoweramp but then it doesn't play back the rips?

Also, where does it save the tags?


dBPoweramp is a software ripper and format converter, not an audio player.

All programs will playback the wav-files created with dBPoweramp, only most programs don't handle the tags stored in the WAV-headers so thats a little inconvenient since many audioplayers rely on the tags to organise their music library.

The tags are stored in the WAV-header in the form of LIST- and/or ID3-tags. Windows Explorer does read them OK and several audio players as well like MediaMonkey and mpd (music player deamon). Kinsky and Twonky can read them as well I believe.

-
aleg
Posted on: 11 August 2010 by likesmusic
(dare i say get your western digital box hooked up and use foobar (or any number of other) UPnP servers)
Posted on: 11 August 2010 by js
quote:
Originally posted by Richard Dane:
Yes, interesting to play with the buffer. There's definitely a trade-off. I'm just playing for now. It's sounding a lot better now with a few tweaks. However, it's still lacking that "x factor" I get with a certain CD transport through the DAC. Perhaps the Hiface is the bottleneck. Anyway, next step will be to move to a dedicated machine running bare-bones OS and nothing else.

Steep learning curve, but I'm beginning to get my head 'round it! Thanks all.
Try the other ASIO also as I'd like to get your view but before that, a couple more things. Deselect everything like volume leveling, clipping prevention etc. Use Time critical for thread priority and deselect gapless in ASIO and make sure the HiFace is the device as I'm sure it is. Deselect the Hiface as the sound card in the windows control panel for sounds and music. Have fun.
Posted on: 11 August 2010 by mrspoon
>(dare i say get your western digital box hooked up and use foobar (or any number of other) UPnP servers)

There is dBpoweramp Renaissance (in the beta section of dBpoweramps forums) which enables the computer as a UPnP player (includes bit perfect WASAPI playback also). All you need then is a UPnP server which can read those WAV tags (hint Asset Winker )
Posted on: 11 August 2010 by js
quote:
Originally posted by likesmusic:
(dare i say get your western digital box hooked up and use foobar (or any number of other) UPnP servers)
Sure can. They vary but I still think a streamer is generally better and clearly easier than a good computer out.
Posted on: 11 August 2010 by likesmusic
quote:
Originally posted by js:
They vary but I still think a streamer is generally better and clearly easier than a good computer out.


Yep, there's arguably less witchcraft involved, though you still have to look under the hood for transcoding settings which you might be unaware of.

P.S. If you want to worry about ASIO voodoo, read this.

P.P.S. I notice on a certain Scottish hi-fi manufacturers website that dBPoweramps Asset UPnP server can now capture the audio stream from your pc and ship it out over UPnP. Which means whatever you can play on your pc can be sent to any UPnP renderer. Might make iTunes fans very happy, or subscribers to the Berlin Phil digital concert hall .. things are moving apace.
Posted on: 11 August 2010 by Richard Dane
OK, slightly off-topic, but I have some discs that were ripped into WAV and not tagged or track-listed. Is there a way of doing this without burning to disc and then re-ripping? (This seems mad). Even though Mediamonkey says it can tag files, it doesn't seem to want to play ball here...
Posted on: 11 August 2010 by js
It will find the tags. Select the group of tunes in an album, right click and enter the album title in search and it should find an appropriate option. What works best for getting this done easily is to delete the lot from the library and then move the albums in question into a new folder then move them one album content at a time into your music folder and let MM add it to your library. It will be the only thing in unknown artists which makes it easy to select. Then have MM do it's tag thing. It only takes a minute or so once you're setup and got the hang of it. Everything will end up tagged and in your mm music folder.
Posted on: 11 August 2010 by Richard Dane
Thanks js,

a bit of trial and error and I've managed to get it to work. I find you do have to get the correct version of an album otherwise it goes a bit awry. And, as you suggest, it's something that has to be done one album at a time...
Posted on: 11 August 2010 by js
You certainly aclimate quickly. Smile
Posted on: 11 August 2010 by jon h
I think I am going to rip everything to flac with embedded metadata using dbpoweramp and its robotics control.

i will then convert to apple lossless for itunes and ipods and iphones, and let it downsample to 128k aac for those

I have tried ripping on ns01, but i have little (ie no) faith in its error reporting. it seems to report 0 errors even when there has been significant audible error failure. If im going to rip my collection, i need to be sure it is properly ripped.