Foobar2000:Preferences:Output - Revision history

TF3RDL: copyedit

2023-05-01T14:54:24Z

copyedit

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:54, 1 May 2023
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	* DS : ''<device name>'' - a specific DirectSound audio playback device. What it says depends on what devices you have installed.		* DS : ''<device name>'' - a specific DirectSound audio playback device. What it says depends on what devices you have installed.

	Additional output devices can be added using [[Foobar2000:Components ~~0.9~~#Output\|optional output components]], such as [http://www.foobar2000.org/components/view/foo_out_wasapi foo_out_wasapi] for WASAPI output (low-latency feed to a sound driver in exclusive mode, bypassing the Windows mixer).		Additional output devices can be added using [[Foobar2000:Components#Output\|optional output components]], such as [http://www.foobar2000.org/components/view/foo_out_wasapi foo_out_wasapi] for WASAPI output (low-latency feed to a sound driver in exclusive mode, bypassing the Windows mixer).

	== Buffer Length ==		== Buffer Length ==
	To ~~protect~~ playback from glitches during heavy system load or file access lag, resource-heavy operations such as decoding and DSP are always performed ahead of currently heard sound (this is not unique to foobar2000, all or nearly all media players behave this way). This setting controls the distance between decoding/DSP and output.		To prevent playback from glitches during heavy system load or file access lag, resource-heavy operations such as decoding and DSP are always performed ahead of currently heard sound (this is not unique to foobar2000, all or nearly all media players behave this way). This setting controls the distance between decoding/DSP and output.
	* High buffer sizes offer ~~stronger protection against~~ glitches but introduce side effects such as long delay between changing DSP settings (eg. adjusting equalizer bands) ~~and~~ changes in sound output.		* High buffer sizes offer better reduction on glitches but introduce side effects such as long delay between changing DSP settings (eg. adjusting equalizer bands), changes in sound output, and visualizations in VST plugins becoming more out-of-sync with the output.
	* Low buffer sizes allow faster responses to DSP configuration changes at cost of higher risk of stuttering during high system load / file access lag / etc.		* Low buffer sizes allow faster responses to DSP configuration changes at cost of higher risk of stuttering during high system load / file access lag / etc.
	''WARNING'': Setting too low buffer length may cause certain visualizations to stop working correctly. Use of buffer lengths below 500ms is not recommended.		'''WARNING''': Setting too low buffer length may cause certain visualizations to stop working correctly. Use of buffer lengths below 500ms is not recommended.

	== Output Format ==		== Output Format ==

Mjb: /* Dither */ minor adjustment to previous addition

2012-12-18T04:49:40Z

Dither: minor adjustment to previous addition

← Older revision		Revision as of 04:49, 18 December 2012
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	This checkbox controls whether to add dither when playing audio that's encoded at a higher bit depth than the chosen output format.		This checkbox controls whether to add dither when playing audio that's encoded at a higher bit depth than the chosen output format.

	[[Dither]] is quiet broadband noise which is added in a manner intended to mask quantization noise, which is the distortion which is sometimes audible when playing digital audio at a lower bit depth than the original. By exploiting a feature of human hearing—the ability to distinguish signal from background noise—dither preserves the higher bit-depth signal within the confines of the lower bit-depth format. This gives the signal greater dynamic range than the lower bit depth allows, and can be perceived as improved, smoother sound quality, but it always comes at the price of added background noise—which, when audible, sounds like tape hiss. ~~Dither~~ can ~~even~~ be "shaped" to make it avoid lower frequencies, making it less audible to humans.		[[Dither]] is quiet broadband noise which is added in a manner intended to mask quantization noise, which is the distortion which is sometimes audible when playing digital audio at a lower bit depth than the original. By exploiting a feature of human hearing—the ability to distinguish signal from background noise—dither preserves the higher bit-depth signal within the confines of the lower bit-depth format. This gives the signal greater dynamic range than the lower bit depth allows, and can be perceived as improved, smoother sound quality, but it always comes at the price of added background noise—which, when audible, sounds like tape hiss. However, dither can be "shaped" to make it avoid lower frequencies, making it less audible to humans.<!--does foobar do this?-->

	Dither uses extra CPU power, and generally isn't necessary. The signal in most recorded audio is well within the 96 dB limit of 16-bit, and the distortion introduced in 24-to-16-bit conversion is so quiet as to almost always be masked by the signal, at least for human hearing. Nevertheless, if your soundcard can only handle a maximum of 16-bit input, but you tend to play, at loud volume, 24-bit audio files with very quiet sections that have no background noise, then you may want to enable dither, because it can make those extreme quietest parts of the audio audible, with the addition of hiss.		Dither uses extra CPU power, and generally isn't necessary. The signal in most recorded audio is well within the 96 dB limit of 16-bit, and the distortion introduced in 24-to-16-bit conversion is so quiet as to almost always be masked by the signal, at least for human hearing. Nevertheless, if your soundcard can only handle a maximum of 16-bit input, but you tend to play, at loud volume, 24-bit audio files with very quiet sections that have no background noise, then you may want to enable dither, because it can make those extreme quietest parts of the audio audible, with the addition of hiss.

Mjb: +Fading section, and rearranged info in Dither section for clarity. Added info about noise shaping, although I'm not sure what foobar actually does for its dither

2012-12-18T04:48:43Z

+Fading section, and rearranged info in Dither section for clarity. Added info about noise shaping, although I'm not sure what foobar actually does for its dither

← Older revision		Revision as of 04:48, 18 December 2012
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	== Dither ==		== Dither ==
	This checkbox controls whether to ~~perform dithering~~ when playing audio that's encoded at a higher bit depth than the chosen output format.		This checkbox controls whether to add dither when playing audio that's encoded at a higher bit depth than the chosen output format.

	[[Dither]] is noise which ~~has been~~ added in a manner ~~which masks~~ quantization noise: the distortion which is sometimes audible when playing digital audio at a lower bit depth than the original. ~~Dithering~~ gives the signal greater dynamic range than the lower bit depth allows, and can be perceived as improved, smoother sound quality, but it always comes at the price of added background noise—which, when audible, sounds like tape hiss. Dither ~~exploits a feature of human hearing—the ability~~ to ~~distinguish signal from background noise—in order~~ to ~~preserve the higher bit-depth signal within the confines of the lower bit-depth format~~.		[[Dither]] is quiet broadband noise which is added in a manner intended to mask quantization noise, which is the distortion which is sometimes audible when playing digital audio at a lower bit depth than the original. By exploiting a feature of human hearing—the ability to distinguish signal from background noise—dither preserves the higher bit-depth signal within the confines of the lower bit-depth format. This gives the signal greater dynamic range than the lower bit depth allows, and can be perceived as improved, smoother sound quality, but it always comes at the price of added background noise—which, when audible, sounds like tape hiss. Dither can even be "shaped" to make it avoid lower frequencies, making it less audible to humans.

	~~For a dramatic demonstration of~~ the ~~effect~~ of ~~dither~~, ~~set~~ the ~~output format~~ to 8-bit (if your soundcard ~~supports it)~~, ~~and~~ play ~~an ordinary 16~~-bit audio ~~file both~~ with ~~and without dither. The version with dither will~~ have ~~a fair amount of extra~~ noise, ~~but it will be less fuzzy/gritty than the version without. This is an exaggerated demonstration~~, because ~~for~~ the ~~average human listener~~, the ~~distortion that occurs when converting 16-bit to 8-bit is far more noticeable than that which occurs when converting 32-bit to 24-bit, or 24-bit to 16-bit~~.		Dither uses extra CPU power, and generally isn't necessary. The signal in most recorded audio is well within the 96 dB limit of 16-bit, and the distortion introduced in 24-to-16-bit conversion is so quiet as to almost always be masked by the signal, at least for human hearing. Nevertheless, if your soundcard can only handle a maximum of 16-bit input, but you tend to play, at loud volume, 24-bit audio files with very quiet sections that have no background noise, then you may want to enable dither, because it can make those extreme quietest parts of the audio audible, with the addition of hiss.

	~~If your soundcard can only handle~~ a ~~maximum~~ of 16-bit ~~input~~, ~~but you tend to~~ play~~, at loud volume, 24~~-bit audio ~~files~~ with ~~very quiet sections that~~ have ~~no background~~ noise, ~~then you may want to enable dither, because~~ it ~~can make those extreme quietest parts of~~ the ~~audio audible~~, ~~albeit with~~ the ~~addition of hiss. However, dither uses extra CPU power~~, ~~and generally isn't necessary because~~ the ~~signal in most recorded audio is well within~~ the ~~96 dB limit of 16~~-bit~~, and because the distortion introduced in 24~~-to-16-bit ~~conversion~~ is ~~so quiet as~~ to ~~almost always~~ be ~~masked by~~ the ~~signal~~, ~~at least for human hearing~~.		For a dramatic demonstration of the effect of dither, set the output format to 8-bit (if your soundcard supports it), and play an ordinary 16-bit audio file both with and without dither. The version with dither will have a fair amount of extra noise, but it will be substantially less fuzzy/gritty than the version without. This is an exaggerated demonstration, because for the average human listener, the distortion that occurs when reducing the depth to 8-bit is far more noticeable than that which occurs when down-converting to 16 or 24 bit.

			== Fading ==
			This section appears when a DirectSound device is selected.

			Without fading, transitions can be jarring when jumping from one track to the next, or when seeking within a track. This section allows this effect to be softened.

			The sliders adjust the fade in and fade out values or the currently selected type of fade (pause & stop, seek within a track, manual track change, automatic track change). Arrow keys may allow the sliders to be adjusted with greater precision than a mouse or touch surface.

Mjb: /* Output Device */ link syntax fix

2012-12-18T04:24:24Z

Output Device: link syntax fix

← Older revision		Revision as of 04:24, 18 December 2012
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	* DS : ''<device name>'' - a specific DirectSound audio playback device. What it says depends on what devices you have installed.		* DS : ''<device name>'' - a specific DirectSound audio playback device. What it says depends on what devices you have installed.

	Additional output devices can be added using [[Foobar2000:Components 0.9#Output\|optional output components]], such as [[http://www.foobar2000.org/components/view/foo_out_wasapi foo_out_wasapi]] for WASAPI output (low-latency feed to a sound driver in exclusive mode, bypassing the Windows mixer).		Additional output devices can be added using [[Foobar2000:Components 0.9#Output\|optional output components]], such as [http://www.foobar2000.org/components/view/foo_out_wasapi foo_out_wasapi] for WASAPI output (low-latency feed to a sound driver in exclusive mode, bypassing the Windows mixer).

	== Buffer Length ==		== Buffer Length ==

Mjb: /* Output Device */ update to match current display

2012-12-18T04:24:03Z

Output Device: update to match current display

← Older revision		Revision as of 04:24, 18 December 2012
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	== Output Device ==		== Output Device ==
	Controls the physical device that played audio stream is sent to. Commonly available options include:		Controls the physical device that played audio stream is sent to. Commonly available options include:
	* Primary Audio Driver - your system default audio device as configured in Windows Sound control panel.
	* Null Output - does nothing; useful mainly for development/testing purposes.		* Null Output - does nothing; useful mainly for development/testing purposes.
	Additional output devices can be added using [[Foobar2000:Components 0.9#Output\|optional output components]].		* DS : Primary Sound Driver - your system default DirectSound audio playback device as configured in Windows Sound control panel.
			* DS : ''<device name>'' - a specific DirectSound audio playback device. What it says depends on what devices you have installed.

			Additional output devices can be added using [[Foobar2000:Components 0.9#Output\|optional output components]], such as [[http://www.foobar2000.org/components/view/foo_out_wasapi foo_out_wasapi]] for WASAPI output (low-latency feed to a sound driver in exclusive mode, bypassing the Windows mixer).

	== Buffer Length ==		== Buffer Length ==

Mjb: /* Dither */ minor copy edits to previous. As I said, peer review would be appreciated to make sure I didn't make any technical mistakes in the explanation of dither.

2010-09-07T22:50:58Z

Dither: minor copy edits to previous. As I said, peer review would be appreciated to make sure I didn't make any technical mistakes in the explanation of dither.

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:50, 7 September 2010
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	This checkbox controls whether to perform dithering when playing audio that's encoded at a higher bit depth than the chosen output format.		This checkbox controls whether to perform dithering when playing audio that's encoded at a higher bit depth than the chosen output format.

	[[Dither]] is noise which has been added in a manner which masks quantization noise: the distortion which is sometimes audible when playing digital audio at a lower bit depth than the original. ~~The result~~ gives the signal greater dynamic range than the lower bit depth allows, and can be perceived as improved, smoother sound quality, but it always comes at the price of added background ~~noise, which~~, when audible, sounds like tape hiss. Dither exploits a feature of human hearing—the ability to distinguish signal from background noise—in order to preserve the higher bit-depth signal within the confines of the lower bit-depth format.		[[Dither]] is noise which has been added in a manner which masks quantization noise: the distortion which is sometimes audible when playing digital audio at a lower bit depth than the original. Dithering gives the signal greater dynamic range than the lower bit depth allows, and can be perceived as improved, smoother sound quality, but it always comes at the price of added background noise—which, when audible, sounds like tape hiss. Dither exploits a feature of human hearing—the ability to distinguish signal from background noise—in order to preserve the higher bit-depth signal within the confines of the lower bit-depth format.

	For a dramatic demonstration of the effect of dither, set the output format to 8-bit (if your soundcard supports it), and play an ordinary 16-bit audio file both with and without dither. The version with dither will have a fair amount of extra noise, but it will be less fuzzy/gritty than the version without. This is an exaggerated demonstration, because for the average human listener, the distortion that occurs when converting 16-bit to 8-bit is far more noticeable than that which occurs when converting 32-bit to 24-bit, or 24-bit to 16-bit.		For a dramatic demonstration of the effect of dither, set the output format to 8-bit (if your soundcard supports it), and play an ordinary 16-bit audio file both with and without dither. The version with dither will have a fair amount of extra noise, but it will be less fuzzy/gritty than the version without. This is an exaggerated demonstration, because for the average human listener, the distortion that occurs when converting 16-bit to 8-bit is far more noticeable than that which occurs when converting 32-bit to 24-bit, or 24-bit to 16-bit.

	If your soundcard can only handle a maximum of 16-bit input, but you tend to play, at loud volume, 24-bit audio files with very quiet sections that have no background noise, then you may want to enable dither, because it can make those extreme quietest parts of the audio audible, albeit with the addition of hiss. However, dither uses extra CPU power, and generally isn't necessary because the signal in most recorded audio is well within the 96 dB limit of 16-bit, and because the distortion introduced in 24-to-16-bit conversion is so quiet as to almost always be masked by the signal, at least for human hearing.		If your soundcard can only handle a maximum of 16-bit input, but you tend to play, at loud volume, 24-bit audio files with very quiet sections that have no background noise, then you may want to enable dither, because it can make those extreme quietest parts of the audio audible, albeit with the addition of hiss. However, dither uses extra CPU power, and generally isn't necessary because the signal in most recorded audio is well within the 96 dB limit of 16-bit, and because the distortion introduced in 24-to-16-bit conversion is so quiet as to almost always be masked by the signal, at least for human hearing.

Mjb: /* Dither */ In my previous edit, I forgot to provide a basic explanation of what the checkbox is for.

2010-09-07T22:49:37Z

Dither: In my previous edit, I forgot to provide a basic explanation of what the checkbox is for.

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:49, 7 September 2010
Line 18:		Line 18:

	== Dither ==		== Dither ==
			This checkbox controls whether to perform dithering when playing audio that's encoded at a higher bit depth than the chosen output format.

	[[Dither]] is noise which has been added in a manner which masks quantization noise: the distortion which is sometimes audible when playing digital audio at a lower bit depth than the original. The result gives the signal greater dynamic range than the lower bit depth allows, and can be perceived as improved, smoother sound quality, but it always comes at the price of added background noise, which, when audible, sounds like tape hiss. Dither exploits a feature of human hearing—the ability to distinguish signal from background noise—in order to preserve the higher bit-depth signal within the confines of the lower bit-depth format.		[[Dither]] is noise which has been added in a manner which masks quantization noise: the distortion which is sometimes audible when playing digital audio at a lower bit depth than the original. The result gives the signal greater dynamic range than the lower bit depth allows, and can be perceived as improved, smoother sound quality, but it always comes at the price of added background noise, which, when audible, sounds like tape hiss. Dither exploits a feature of human hearing—the ability to distinguish signal from background noise—in order to preserve the higher bit-depth signal within the confines of the lower bit-depth format.

Mjb: /* Dither */ I attempted to explain this setting in greater detail, based on my understanding and experimentation. If I've made any technical errors, please fix them!

2010-09-07T22:46:00Z

Dither: I attempted to explain this setting in greater detail, based on my understanding and experimentation. If I've made any technical errors, please fix them!

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:46, 7 September 2010
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	== Dither ==		== Dither ==
	~~Dithering~~ can be ~~used~~ to ~~improve quality~~ of 16-bit ~~playback in certain cases~~. However, it uses ~~lots of~~ extra CPU power and is ~~not recommended~~ for ~~general use~~.		[[Dither]] is noise which has been added in a manner which masks quantization noise: the distortion which is sometimes audible when playing digital audio at a lower bit depth than the original. The result gives the signal greater dynamic range than the lower bit depth allows, and can be perceived as improved, smoother sound quality, but it always comes at the price of added background noise, which, when audible, sounds like tape hiss. Dither exploits a feature of human hearing—the ability to distinguish signal from background noise—in order to preserve the higher bit-depth signal within the confines of the lower bit-depth format.

			For a dramatic demonstration of the effect of dither, set the output format to 8-bit (if your soundcard supports it), and play an ordinary 16-bit audio file both with and without dither. The version with dither will have a fair amount of extra noise, but it will be less fuzzy/gritty than the version without. This is an exaggerated demonstration, because for the average human listener, the distortion that occurs when converting 16-bit to 8-bit is far more noticeable than that which occurs when converting 32-bit to 24-bit, or 24-bit to 16-bit.

			If your soundcard can only handle a maximum of 16-bit input, but you tend to play, at loud volume, 24-bit audio files with very quiet sections that have no background noise, then you may want to enable dither, because it can make those extreme quietest parts of the audio audible, albeit with the addition of hiss. However, dither uses extra CPU power, and generally isn't necessary because the signal in most recorded audio is well within the 96 dB limit of 16-bit, and because the distortion introduced in 24-to-16-bit conversion is so quiet as to almost always be masked by the signal, at least for human hearing.

Shakey snake at 20:56, 6 May 2010

2010-05-06T20:56:03Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:56, 6 May 2010
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	{{fb2k prefs}}		{{fb2k prefs\|Foobar2000-Preferences-output.png\|Output}}
	~~[[Category:foobar2000 Preferences~~\|~~Output]]~~
	~~[[Image:~~Foobar2000-Preferences-output.png\|~~thumb\|left\|Screenshot]]~~

	== Output Device ==		== Output Device ==
	Controls the physical device that played audio stream is sent to. Commonly available options include:		Controls the physical device that played audio stream is sent to. Commonly available options include:

Shakey snake at 23:03, 25 April 2010

2010-04-25T23:03:42Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:03, 25 April 2010
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	{{fb2k prefs}}		{{fb2k prefs}}
	[[Category:foobar2000 Preferences\|Output]]		[[Category:foobar2000 Preferences\|Output]]
	[[Image:Foobar2000-Preferences-output.png]]		[[Image:Foobar2000-Preferences-output.png\|thumb\|left\|Screenshot]]

	== Output Device ==		== Output Device ==