Finally...Quality, True Surround for Winamp/Foobar

[pallmall]

Well, it's just my hobby gathering the know-hows from here & there but through lots of tests just to share. ...

http://forum.doom9.org/forumdisplay.php?f=11
http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php

[AdvModDev]

Well, excuse me I'll have to say that it does both upmix(2ch->n.1ch upto 5.1) and downmix(5.1ch-> 2.0ch).

ATSurround Processor is also capable of performing matrix encoding. The Processor receives multichannel audio and matrixes it into stereo. This stereo output may be distributed via any 2 channel medium, such as CD-Audio and MP3 or direct to an external audio receiver which performs audio surround decoding, useful when the receiver is connected using a stereo cable.

His docs didn't mention having the ability to encode the other way around, so I just assumed it wasn't capable.

Bingo! you got a most flextble multi channel play environment.
Personally I prefer FFDShow + MPC. http://free-codecs.com/

I'd use ffdshow and ZP but the shoutcast plugin doesn't always work so well. That's basically all I use Winamp for - listening to shoutcast MP3 streams all day long. Getting quality 5.1 output from these stereo streams was all I needed.

Thanks man. You do seem to be in the know, don't you?

Anything you need to know about digital audio, pallmall is the man.

[shadowcatcher]

Well, foobar allready had Channel Mixer - surround support for stereo sources. But true, Winamp lacked this kind of plugin - some were there, but very partially usable... AT Surround is a true keeper.
I did not have much time to compare the quality of sound with Channel Mixer and AT Surround in foobar - what do you guys think?

[AdvModDev]

Yeah, Winamp was totally lacking until this. I got excited awhile back when they released the "5.1 Surround Edition", but that turned out to be a BS gimmick. I never tried foobar despite having heard nothing but good things about it. Does it have a plugin for shoutcast stations?

Anyways, there's a new version (v0.1.1b) for Winamp, which is labled a "Release Candidate". Supposed to fix those who have experienced corrupted playback:

http://www.andrewlabs.com/rc/rc.php

[bilemke]

But .. Something a little older for foobar (atsurround seems to suddenly have had a development burst) that can do the same thing..

http://www.skipyrich.com/foobar/foo_channel_mixer.ptml

[bardu]

WTF..... i use latest nvidia good audio drivers (4.62)....registry hack 4 create center....soundstorm setupt 5.1 dd live...sw passtrough @ default.....and there is a small option to setup in winamp......go to options--->output----->switch to directsound--->choose nvidia audio----> save and that's it! After that (and reboot to create center) when i play mp3's in winamp they all sound surround (digital coaxial connection with the receiver)...cpu usage @ 0%.... not any small glitch ! try and see ! software upmix plughins sucks...thei all give me bad sound...

[pallmall]

FFF...
Yes, if you have a soundstorm, (azalia) or similar, you can enable the H/W surround DSP at the end of the system mixer and even can output(passthrough) to the spdif with dynamic ac3 encoding(DICE).
The problem is it upmixes any front streams fed to the system(digital) mixer.
So there can be a redundancy problem when you play originally 5.1ch streams.

The best way would be having variety of mixer options in the nvmixer tray menu to enable/disable easily. but as it proves, it's nobody's business now.

Another thing is the S/W DSPs (as seen in the FFDShow), have lot's of effects beyond the nvmixer capability and can be easily added(S/W) and utilized if you get more focused on these area.

[Oichi]

Sorry for the noob questions.

>> Indeed, it's an excellent 5.1ch matrix upmixing out-plugin in addition to the impressive headphone mode onto the relatively rare substitutions in foobar2k and winamp5.

Looks nice. Unfortunately, it crashes my WinAmp v5.112 (x86) on x64 Windows 64 bitties... Crashes WinAmp when starting playback or when opening the Plugins - output page. I no longer have a 32 bit setup to test with.

>> If used with the line-in plugin in winamp5, only the gaming area is left to the soundstorm surround DSP.

I guess that's the onboard sound processor. I use Zalman Theatre 6 surround sound headphones and I have a Realtek ALC658 in ABIT AN8 which is supported according to a list I saw in another thread. After using 64bit drivers from ABIT, nvmixer and ntune successfully install on x64. On XP Pro 32bit nvmixer and nvtune would not install, unsupported chipset or similar message.

>> Winamp5 also has the generic DS plugin which provides the environment to utilize the existing & open filters such as FFDShow, Ac3Filter and recent DScaler with lots of internal/external DSPs and i-o supports such as AC3/DTS,,,and spdif passthrough/DPL II.

This is exactly why I registered here ! happy dance happy dance

How do I configure WinAmp / Windows to use ffdshow filters for mp3 playback ?
My current WinAmp config is output to DirectSound > NVIDIA nForce Audio. I cannot see where or understand how to force WinAmp to use ffdshow filters. I currently use MPC and sometimes upsample to 5.1 but would much prefer to use WinAmp's interface for managing mp3 playlists etc..

Cheers

PS - If you are installing WinAmp on x64 don't install the CD or WMA options during setup otherwise you get a non fatal error during install. WinAmp still installs and works OK despite the install error messages. I haven't tested WMA in WinAmp because I never use WMA. I did a clean install of WinAmp after seeing the install errors so I know that is not related to my ATSurround crash issue. x64 problem I think.

EDIT - too many edits.. note to self, next time, notepad.exe, proofread, Ctrl+A, Ctrl+C, Alt + Tab,Ctrl+V

[Oichi]

>> How do I configure WinAmp / Windows to use ffdshow filters for mp3 playback ?

I read a good thread with contributions by pallmall at ABIT so I d/l zplayer lite and it lets's me use ffdshow filters so all is good. I'd still like to know how to use ffdshow with WinAmp but at least I now have a mp3 capable player & ffdshow Or maybe zplayer might be my new player for music ?

http://forum.abit-usa.com/showthread.php?t=88891&pp=10

[pallmall]

Hi Oichi, sorry for being late. I was busy during the weekend.

The ds decoder plugin for Winamp5.x is v0.96(?) and it still has some limitations. That's why I call it generic.
It cannot control the MERIT(priority setting between the dsfliters for the same functions) inside unlike other ds players like zPlayer, gomplayer, MPC, bsplayer...
Also it cannot control the filter property directly with winamp.

But you can still try by adding the extention(MP3;DTS;AC3...) to the plugin's file association property. Also you must be sure any preceding in-plugins' MP3 decoding are set disabled(But I guess it's almost impossible unfortunately). Also I believe the global merit(system default) for the FFDShow must be set highest for the winamp ds plugin to get the stream through it(also not easy to control).
Anyway, there would be no problem with internal mp3 decoder with Atsurround out device for 5.1ch upmix.

But IMO, above mentioned DS enabled players are much better than Winamp for playing with FFDShow until winamp becomes more OPEN(or its ds plugin becomes more flexible)...