Computer based Audiophile Player

[dqwong]

so far the best sounding free software I have tried is the Korg Audiogate 3 (Lite version is limited to 48KHz)

you can try it out at:

AudioGate3 HIGH DEFINITION AUDIO PLAYER SOFTWARE | Audio | KORG

recommend to use ASIO or WASAPI

Other tested free players:
Foobar
Ulilith
Stealthplayer
Itunes (with WASAPI)

 

[alamakazim]

got ahem version... I saw some forum

or buy some korg product that give entitle free license

 

[dqwong]

got ahem version... I saw some forum

or buy some korg product that give entitle free license

Although the bad point about this korg software is that it consume quite abit of cpu resource(20% on i7 4770k), I think it might be doing some kind of resampling.

Ulilith player is my other alternate player if I need to free up my cpu.

 

[alamakazim]

Although the bad point about this korg software is that it consume quite abit of cpu resource(20% on i7 4770k), I think it might be doing some kind of resampling.

Ulilith player is my other alternate player if I need to free up my cpu.

sample rate put to auto.. will not upsample

 

[Haonan]

so far the best sounding free software I have tried is the Korg Audiogate 3 (Lite version is limited to 48KHz)

you can try it out at:

AudioGate3 HIGH DEFINITION AUDIO PLAYER SOFTWARE | Audio | KORG

recommend to use ASIO or WASAPI

Other tested free players:
Foobar
Ulilith
Stealthplayer
Itunes (with WASAPI)

I got the licensed version of AudioGate ver 3.0 with one of the KORG products that I had purchased recently, not gonna reveal that yet as I will share the product under the Share Your Hoots picture thread next time.

Personally I have not done any concrete A/Bing listening tests yet but considering last time AudioGate ver 2.3 has been reviewed by some japanese bloggers from what I understand and has also received lotsa gd word of mouth, I'm not exactly surprised at all if you personally find it to be the best sounding software player for yr case.

I have been using the AudioGate 3.0 together along with my regularly used Foobar2K (with SoX Resampler plugins), and I can positively say in my own words that these 2 players are my recommended go-to software players if you are serious abt yr music.

 

[dqwong]

I got the licensed version of AudioGate ver 3.0 with one of the KORG products that I had purchased recently, not gonna reveal that yet as I will share the product under the Share Your Hoots picture thread next time.

Personally I have not done any concrete A/Bing listening tests yet but considering last time AudioGate ver 2.3 has been reviewed by some japanese bloggers from what I understand and has also received lotsa gd word of mouth, I'm not exactly surprised at all if you personally find it to be the best sounding software player for yr case.

I have been using the AudioGate 3.0 together along with my regularly used Foobar2K (with SoX Resampler plugins), and I can positively say in my own words that these 2 players are my recommended go-to software players if you are serious abt yr music.

Seems like audiogate is as good as other more expensive options:
Archimago's Musings: ANALYSIS: A Comparison of DSD Encoders & Decoders (KORG AudioGate, JRiver MC, Weiss Saracon)

 

[Haonan]

Seems like audiogate is as good as other more expensive options:
Archimago's Musings: ANALYSIS: A Comparison of DSD Encoders & Decoders (KORG AudioGate, JRiver MC, Weiss Saracon)

That's a very interesting comparison article, thank you for sharing dqwong.

 

[Shutterbox]

howcome No one said jrmc?
not good enough?

 

[dqwong]

howcome No one said jrmc?
not good enough?

because, not free.

This is the one I would want to use:
Sonic Studio Amarra High Resolution Music Players and Professional Audio Mastering Systems

 

[FatalethaL]

howcome No one said jrmc?
not good enough?

i have it.. own it... super happy with it. i think no other player can come close to this software.

 

[Mach3.2]

i have it.. own it... super happy with it. i think no other player can come close to this software.

Yeah, it's the bomb...

 

[bangdoll]

Audiogate 3.0 is good, no doubt.

But it has some quirks which I don't like.
Also I using JRMC to earn my living, so... JRMC ftw!

Got $: Get JRMC
No $: Audiogate 3.0 (more friendly for newbs).

 

[Illusionist_85]

Thx will try. Currently using foobar

 

[bangdoll]

Oh, for a nice tip.

If you have a Korg DAC, the audiogate 3.0 will allow you to rip your CD into DSD format. Cool feature.

 

[dqwong]

For those using Window based OS, there's a tool for optimizing system for audiophile playback(at the expense of network performance and other background processes and helps to reduce DPC Latency etc etc):

Fidelizer - Instantly computer audiophile workstationWindows X's Live

dpc checker:
http://www.thesycon.de/deu/latency_check.shtml

 

[dqwong]

A personal subjective finding using Korg AG3, for my Centrance Dacport USB DAC (could be true for all other DACs/soundcards):

ASIO offers better sound quality than WASAPI

Also ASIO buffer size has major effect on sound. 64sample at 1.5ms(lowest possible for my system/dac) allows for guitar twang(in my music) to be heard very clearly, while 128samples at 3ms seems to blur out the guitar twang by alot.

Somehow WASAPI only allows for 256sample buffering.

Try reducing your buffer size to the lowest possible setting and see if it improves sound quality.

 

[BlurRhino]

So it is possible to rip the dsd layer from a sacd?

Oh, for a nice tip.

If you have a Korg DAC, the audiogate 3.0 will allow you to rip your CD into DSD format. Cool feature.

 

[bangdoll]

No. Due to the nature SACD been encrypted, only a modified first gen PS3 can extract the audio data from the disc surface.

 

[bangdoll]

A personal subjective finding using Korg AG3, for my Centrance Dacport USB DAC (could be true for all other DACs/soundcards):

ASIO offers better sound quality than WASAPI

Also ASIO buffer size has major effect on sound. 64sample at 1.5ms(lowest possible for my system/dac) allows for guitar twang(in my music) to be heard very clearly, while 128samples at 3ms seems to blur out the guitar twang by alot.

Somehow WASAPI only allows for 256sample buffering.

Try reducing your buffer size to the lowest possible setting and see if it improves sound quality.

For me, I set to the max and safe for my Korg DS-DAC100 under my ASIO control panel.