Converting from FLAC to DSD on the fly using Foobar

[hermit]

Great news for folks who have a DSD capable dac and lots of flac files. I just found out on another forum that it was possible to set up foobar to convert from flac to dsd on the fly. These (http://www.exasound.com/Blog/tabid/74/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/61/Configuring-Foobar2000-for-ASIO-DSD-DXD-Playback-with-exaSound-DACs.aspx) instructions got me there with a bit of variance at the end due to having an IFI product rather than the Exasound. Also please note step 16 contains an error:

"16. Click again the Install button. Navigate to the foo_input_sacd-0.6.0.zip file downloaded in Step 4 and click the Open button. A second new line will be added to the end of the components list - foo_input_sacd.

Note: this time you are pointing to the compressed file, not to the unzipped files in the folder you created."

In fact you cannot point to the zip file. You need to navigate to the extracted folder you unzipped earlier in step 4 and select the foo_input_sacd component from there.

[technobear]

Don't forget to "Unblock" all the files before moving them to the "Program Files" area. You won't be able to unblock them once they are there although Windows will kid you that you can.

I've posted a few times on Head-Fi about how to configure foobar2000 for DSD. Here's one:

http://www.head-fi.org/t/728236/ifi-idsd-micro-dsd512-pcm768-dac-and-headphone-amp-impressions-reviews-and-comments/4170#post_11779584

Hope that helps.

[oldson]

will take a look thanks for posting.

[Colin151]

I've done this converting from PCM to DSD a few months. My mate in the USA suggested it to me. It's very good in reducing digital edge compared to straight PCM. The timing and transients are not quite as good as (for example) a good NOS DAC (or vinyl of course) but this is cheap if you already have a DSD capable DAC and even better for reducing digital edge in my opinion.

My cheap Denon DA300 is obviously not that last word in DSD capable DACs, - intend to upgrade soon.

I've tried foobar on the fly and another method of preconverting the files from PCM to DSD first using either Korg Audiogate or Weiss Saracon. The results are a bit different, - clearer and more detail with the preconverting method but a bit smoother with Foobar. Perhpas on the fly with Foobar is a bit more analogue like, - even though the sound is very sligthly darker and a tiny bit of detail is lost. Certainly v nice for getting a more analouge sound from digital without much hassle if you alredy have loads of Flac and WAV files.

I couldn't get foobar to convert 24/96 or 24/192 PCM Flacs to DSD for some reason, - doesn't work (had to use Saracon), but 23/88.2 files worked fine. If anyone finds a way to get 24/96 and 24/192 PCM files to convert on the fly would be great to know how..

Native DSD files (like DSF and DFF) files obviously sound even better in foobar, but converting from PCM to DSD gives most of the improvement.

[Stratmangler]

I couldn't get foobar to convert 24/96 or 24/192 PCM Flacs to DSD for some reason, - doesn't work (had to use Saracon), but 23/88.2 24/88.2 files worked fine. If anyone finds a way to get 24/96 and 24/192 PCM files to convert on the fly would be great to know how..

As you're playing with Foobar why don't you have a look at the settings for DSD to PCM conversion.
You'll find that you have options for 88.2KHz and 176.4KHz - 96KHz and 192KHz do not figure. The two former values are direct upwards multiplication of 44.1KHz (ie the sample rate CD plays at).

Reverse the process and convert PCM to DSD and the same mathematics apply - if you step outside of the values the processing overhead becomes unmanageable.

Have you tried converting 24/48 or 16/48 files to DSD?

[Colin151]

As you're playing with Foobar why don't you have a look at the settings for DSD to PCM conversion.
You'll find that you have options for 88.2KHz and 176.4KHz - 96KHz and 192KHz do not figure. The two former values are direct upwards multiplication of 44.1KHz (ie the sample rate CD plays at).

Reverse the process and convert PCM to DSD and the same mathematics apply - if you step outside of the values the processing overhead becomes unmanageable.

Have you tried converting 24/48 or 16/48 files to DSD?

Yes I guess 88.2 worked because it was a multiple of 44.1.

What weird though is use can use a stand alone converter program to convert 96 and 192 KHz files to DSD. Such as Weiss Saracon or Korg Audiogate. I quite like extra smoothness of foobar's on the fly conversion though. I guess if it doesn't work with 96 and 192 files it doesn't work. Not the end of the world.