Wednesday, May 19, 2010

StealthAudioPlayer: Next Step

Continuation of Minimalist Audio Player, ASIO Support (and WinXP) and Cue Sheet Support And StealthAudioPlayer

Please check for the latest version (>0.1.7) in the latest post of this blog:

Version 0.1.7
http://rapidshare.com/files/427900960/StealthAudioPlayer_0.1.7.zip
  • M3u bug fix: last track is never played.

Version 0.1.6
http://rapidshare.com/files/423190631/StealthAudioPlayer_0.1.6.zip
  • WAV format read bug fixed
  • Fixed: detected as a virus by some AV software.
  • M3u (M3u8) Playlist support.

Version 0.1.5
http://rapidshare.com/files/416707703/StealthAudioPlayer_0.1.5.zip
  • You can select other than default WASAPI audio device by modifying the ini file
  • Message Box texts revised. Added more Messages.
  • Playback sometimes stops in the middle of the track. Another fix.
  • Next may be used many times in a row.
  • Monkey's audio format: jmac converter suggested for instant playback. Needs java. See readme.txt for details.

Version 0.1.4
http://rapidshare.com/files/405635153/StealthAudioPlayer_0.1.4.zip
  • When the track's sample size is not supported by device in exclusive WASAPI, SAP tries the next mode of the device with bigger sample size. Still bit perfect.

Version 0.1.3
http://rapidshare.com/files/400788146/StealthAudioPlayer_0.1.3.zip
  • The issue with playback interrupts at some point in the middle of a track. Sometimes does not start at all. Supposed to be fixed now.

Version 0.1.2
http://rapidshare.com/files/389030183/StealthAudioPlayer_0.1.2.zip
  • Fixed Windows 7 WASAPI exclusive support. Win7 WASAPI is a little different from Vista.
  • 32 bit sample format support
  • The following formats: wav, ape, flac, mp3, mp4, m4a, aiff, aif, aac, can be played if the corresponding converters are setup. Other formats may also be configured. The StealthAudioPlayer now can play different audio file fromats by specifying a converter and the command line for each of the format in the StealthAudioPlayer.ini For details please see "Converters setup" section in Readme.txt
  • Playback starts immediately. Minimal delay before playback start even for large files.
  • Be careful with "Next" feature. Don't use it many times in a row quickly. However should be fine for cue sheets. Will be fixed.
  • Additional dialogs are displayed for initial setup and errors.
For details on installation please refer to Readme.txt included in the zip.


Only in case you really feel like it, here is a chance to thank/support/encourage me by donating a few bucks.




97 comments:

  1. I have a problem with the sound starting to chop after a little while (when I am multitasking it seems). It only starts chopping after a while. I've got 4 gigs of RAM and i'm outputting USB to an iBasso d10 with the buffer set to 30. Among a couple of other odd problems. Otherwise your program is revelatory!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Roderick,

    I am guessing the problem is with too small buffer size. You might want to try setting it to the maximum and see how it sounds. If you have time, please describe other problems you are having with SAP. I will try to fix them.

    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm getting an error that reads
    "Error Opening Wav File "C:\stealthaudio\temp.wav
    ERROR: 2"

    my .ini is unchanged from how it set itself when i selected no asio, though i tried adding in "[AudioClient]
    BufferSizeInMilliseconds = 30"
    with no success

    I installed sox into C:\stealthaudio\sox, and there is a sox.exe in there, so that shouldn't be a problem.

    I'm trying to listen to a .mp3 file.

    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  4. One of the comments said:
    Quote
    I'm getting an error that reads
    "Error Opening Wav File "C:\stealthaudio\temp.wav
    ERROR: 2"

    my .ini is unchanged from how it set itself when i selected no asio, though i tried adding in "[AudioClient]
    BufferSizeInMilliseconds = 30"
    with no success

    I installed sox into C:\stealthaudio\sox, and there is a sox.exe in there, so that shouldn't be a problem.

    I'm trying to listen to a .mp3 file.
    Quote end

    As suggested in the sox readme:
    try searching for free download libmad.dll and copy it to the sox folder
    should enable sox to decode mp3 files.

    ReplyDelete
  5. So does your player default to WASAPI mode in Windows 7 x64?

    Assuming we set the Windows sound properties to the highest settings (i.e. 24bit, 192kHz), will WASAPI auto-detect and play the exact format of our .WAV file (i.e. 16bit, 44.1kHz) bit-perfect/untouched?

    ReplyDelete
  6. In windows control panel You set sound properties for WASAPI shared mode.
    My player uses WASAPI exclusive mode which provides exclusive access to the sound device and sets the exact format of your wav file.

    Therefore even if you have 24/192 in the control panel and your wav file is 16/44, StealthAudioPlayer will set up device to play in 16/44 format.

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  7. So as long as we allow Exclusive Mode via the check box, then it does not matter what bit depth and sample rate we set in Windows? :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thank you for your good sound player!!

    BTW, I cannot play 88.2khz 24bit wav file via WASAPI mode of your player.
    I can play same file via ASIO mode of your player and WASAPI mode of foobar2000.
    44.1khz 16bit file is no problem.
    I'm using FF400.
    Can your player play 88.2khz 24bit wav file via WASAPI?

    ReplyDelete
  9. When I used new "Converter" function, playing m4a file did not work correctly (sometimes).
    At my PC, output of sound from speaker started before finishing convert from m4a file to wav file.
    In this case, play back stopped at the middle of music file.
    temp.wav file was created correctly after output of sound.

    WMA file (convert by ffmpeg) works fine.
    I'm using Windows7 64bit.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Well the problem with playback stopping in the middle of the file is known to me. I will find time to sit down and fix it. Stay tuned.

    ReplyDelete
  11. 24/88 did not play here as well. I tried xmplay and it converts it to 16/88 before sending to WASAPI. I am suspecting foobar also does not send exact 24/88 try to look in the foobar logs. It's either foobar uses not exclusive (shared) WASAPI mode or it converts from 24/88 to something else.
    SAP will display a message if cannot play a file format in the next version. In the case above it just gets stuck silently.

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  12. If you have an ASIO Soundcard and a USB Wasapi how do you configure it to choose between the two? Right now it only will play the ASIO device. This is Win7x64

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  13. The following two settings control WASAPI or ASIO mode of the SAP
    [ASIO]
    Enabled=1
    SelectedDriver=ASIO for Aureon series

    if Enabled is set to 0 then it is WASAPI mode only and it uses the default device selected in control panel.

    if it is set to 1 then it is ASIO only and uses the "SelectedDriver" from the ini file regardless of waht is chisen in the control panel.

    see readme.txt for details.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Thanks for a great player. I increased the buffer from 30 to 100 and it now plays long audio files without stopping, even when I am multitasking.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Thanks. I have the fix for this issue. will upload very soon:)

    ReplyDelete
  16. Tank you for updating!
    I'm using new version now. It works fine!!

    ReplyDelete
  17. I cannot get the player to work with my Empirical Audio Off-Ramp USB-SPDIF converter. When I try to play a file, I get the following error:

    audclnt_E_endpoint_Create_failed

    Changing from exclusive to shared mode does not correct it, and changing the buffer size does not change it. It happens with .flac files and with plain .wav files too.

    The odd thing is that if I use a Blue Circle Audio "Thingee", which is also a USB-SPDIF converter, everything works fine. The only difference I can see between the Off-Ramp and the Thingee is that the Off-Ramp is 24/96 capable, while the Thingee is only 16/44 capable.

    ReplyDelete
  18. The problem is that SAP tries to match data format exactly with hardware capabilities. So Off-Ramp cannot be opened in 16/44 mode by WASAPI exclusive and that's why SAP gets an error. I could try opening for higher sample size, 24 in your case. It wouldn't hurt to supply 16 bit sample for a 24 bit device. It will still be bit perfect.
    Will try that.

    ReplyDelete
  19. That would be great. I've tried all the other players out there an SAP is by far the best sounding, and it would be great to be able to use it with hi-rez devices, even if I'm just playing 16/44 stuff (the majority of my music collection, and most other people's too, I suspect).

    ReplyDelete
  20. Dear Andy:
    In the readme you said that running installstealthaudioplayer.ini file will also bring up files that stop, fast forward etc. I've run the file already and only a registration entry file has come up. Have I gone wrong, and if so what do I do to fix it?

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  21. Please check inside the folder from where you ran installstealthaudioplayer.bat file. There should be new bat files created: Stop, Next etc.

    If they are not there you may want to try running installstealthaudioplayer.bat as an Administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  22. By setting a latency of 300 ms in the asio control panel and then playing a flac file with stealthaudioplayer, the first part of the track is skipped (I'll guess the firs 300 ms :-)). Can this be fixed?

    I am using windows 7 and have a xonar essence stx soundcard.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Andy,

    My Avira antivirus keeps removing the application. It's detecting the EXE file as being infected with a worm or sumthing : TR/drop.agent.cszn

    Anyway..Thanks a lot for coming out with such a great piece of software.

    -dude-

    ReplyDelete
  24. Great little program!
    Beautiful sound, authoritative bass, great soundstage...

    Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Follow up with Mr. Anonymous' post on August 20, version 0.1.4 seems to have Trojan Horse virus, and 0.1.3 doesn't. Could you double check?

    I LOVE this player, the best sounding one compared to Foobar, Ulilith, XXHighend, CPLay. Now that it plays FLAC files instantaneously without me having to store my music in WAV format is the greatest news to me. However, I do have the following questions:

    1) In WASAPI mode, is there a way for it not to use the default device? Lack of this feature made me having to use ASIO, because I use the default device for casual stuff such as Skype, and my Firewire DAC is only for music listening.
    2) Can we play APE files also instantaneously, just like FLAC? As it stands now, playing APE requires MAC to complete converting APE to WAV then starts playing. FLAC, can be done on the fly.
    3) When playing FLAC files, after executing 'StealthAudioPlayer_Stop.bat', I can see the process of StealthAudioPlayer.exe being stopped, but the FLAC process is still going on if I stop before the whole FLAC file conversion is done. So, every time I have to manually kill the process, to play another FLAC file. Can you modify it?
    4) Can you double check the 0.1.4 version's virus issue? I am using AVG downloaded from http://free.avg.com

    Again, I love this player, so nice sounding! Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Hi Peter,

    Thanks for your comment!
    Yes 0.1.4 is identified as a virus by my AV software as well.
    That's funny.
    Because the new version I am working on is "virus free".
    One more thing to check before posting a new version :).

    Most of your questions are already solved in the upcoming version.
    Will have to work on WASAPI default audio device question though.

    I can assure you that 0.1.4 is virus free.

    Regarding APE format: please try using SoX converter. See readme.txt in 0.1.4 zip for details.

    Andy

    ReplyDelete
  27. Hi Andy,

    Thanks for the prompt reply. AVG is not willing to let me use 0.1.4 after hitting multiple 'ignore' button. :-(

    Regarding APE, I am trying to figure out how to do it in 0.1.3 (I hope it will also work there). As I usually only listen to WAV, FLAC, or APE files, I did download libmad.dll, so I can play mp3 files correctly. But when I modify the APE line to:
    ape=sox\sox.exe %1 temp.wav

    or

    ape=sox\sox.exe %1 temp.wav -d

    I would still get the ""Error Opening Wav File "C:\stealthaudio\temp.wav
    ERROR: 2"" error. Could you help please? (Note due to AVG reason, I am using 0.1.3 version)

    Many thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  28. Hi Peter,

    Sox does not support MAC format.

    In the new version of SAP I am going to suggest using jmac for ape files. It seems to do a better job playing instantly.

    Andy

    So

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  29. Hi Andy,

    Thank you. In the mean time, I am sticking with your version 0.1.3, and converting all my APE files to FLAC. Still, a very enjoyable experience listening to music using your software. Thank you!

    Best,
    Peter

    ReplyDelete
  30. 0.1.5 version is published. Please do report bugs.
    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  31. Peter,

    You said "...the best sounding one compared to Foobar, Ulilith, XXHighend, CPLay..."

    This was exactly the reason why I started StealthAudioPlayer. None of those players you mentioned (and they are top of the line) gave me listening experience I was looking for.

    Presently I am back on win and back to my player. I am very satisfied with the sound. Even on XP with asio4all.
    :)

    All of this is to clarify that it's not coincidence that it sounds better. I know what I'm doing and always check for sound quality.

    Andy

    ReplyDelete
  32. Thank you for the update!
    Amazing sound indeed...

    ReplyDelete
  33. Dear Andy,

    I am in heaven! Thank you for addressing each and every request I posted on August 31st. I am a very happy person now!

    I was a bit disappointed when last year in November you mentioned that you were going to the Apple Macbook route. I am so glad you came back, as I have not had a chance to try this whole computer playback with an Apple. People have said Mac Mini with Amarra is pretty good. I have no clue about that. But, in the PC world, StealthAudioPlayer rules!

    Thanks again.

    Best,

    Peter

    ReplyDelete
  34. what do all these errors mean?
    Thank you for stealthaudio-player 0.1.5
    -----------------------------------------
    Ron

    errors stealth-audioplayer 0.1.5
    http://members.home.nl/fibers/StealthAudioPlayer.log

    ReplyDelete
  35. Those errors mean that the virtual memory could not be locked from swapping to the hard drive.
    As I can see it's happened only for one track.
    And even if it is not locked in physical memory it could still remain there if the system is not heavily loaded.
    So shouldn't be a problem. But I will look into when I have a chance.

    Thanks for reporting this.
    Andy

    ReplyDelete
  36. Hi Andy,

    Many thanks for making the software available. I tried to use StealthAudioPlayer with WAVE file but got error message:

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/43274678@N06/5000038880/

    The configuration file is here:

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/43274678@N06/5000038900/

    I am using an HP laptop w built-in speakers to test.

    Can you help?

    Thanks,

    Duc

    ReplyDelete
  37. Hi Duc,

    Hard to say, try to fiddle with BufferSizeInMillisecnds.
    Did you change it manually?
    Try setting it to 30 or 100.

    If it doesn't help. Try using ASIO4all instead of WASAPI for a test

    Meanwihile I will look into it here.

    Thanks
    Andy

    ReplyDelete
  38. Hi Andy,

    Just a quick follow up, I tried the software with other computers w external DACs instead of built-in speakers. They worked fine. Must be an O/S or hardware problem! Please ignore. :-) Now I'm looking into MP3 support. Having a tough time locating "libmad.dll" on the net.

    Sounds great with FLAC! Better than foobar for sure! I love the fact that there is no U/I!!!

    Thanks,

    Duc

    ReplyDelete
  39. Hi regarding these built-in speakers. They might not support 44100 sampling rate with WASAPI.
    You could try the following:

    1. convert a 44.1 kHz wav file which doesn't play to a 48 kHz wav file and try it with SAP.
    2. Check under Control panel->Sound Settings for the device and see if has 44.1/16 mode listed in the drop down list.
    3. Google your device to make sure it supports 44.1 with WASAPI/exclusive.

    Other players probably just silently convert 44 to 48 if they can't initialize device in the 44.1 mode.
    SAP does not convert anything. If the device does not support some mode with WASAPI it just won't play.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Hi Andy,

    Kaspersky Anti-Virus detects a trojan horse in version 0.1.5. Trojan-Dropper.Win32.Agent.dbyi.

    Regards
    Tom

    ReplyDelete
  41. Hi,

    Regarding Trojan detection.
    I can assure you it is a false alarm.

    I have a next version cooking (with m3u support). And it is not detected as a virus by KAV online check. :)
    So stay tuned.

    Anyway, I believe there must a way to add SAP exe file to the exclusion list of the antivirus.

    Regards
    Andy

    ReplyDelete
  42. I have been using your StealthAudioPlayer with satisfaction.
    But, last night and this morning, Anti-virus program in use of my PCs detect Troy/Spy file in the player program. So, It is now impossible to use the StealthAudioPlayer. I like the sound of this player, so, I hope to use.
    How should I use the player without risk?

    Ryutaro

    ReplyDelete
  43. 0.1.6 version is here. See the post update.

    ReplyDelete
  44. The sound quality of your StealthAudioPlayer (SAP) is superb. In comparison with foobar the SAP sounds more natural and delivers more details without any harshness in treble.
    My wishes for further versions are:

    1. Reading of tags to play the tracks in the right order of album. Actually SAP plays the tracks in alphabetic order. My work flow uses “Exact Audio Copy” for ripping and converting the CD into FLAC. Then “Mp3tag” generates the tags of tracks.

    2. It would be nice if you attach the windows icons of
    StealthAudioPlayer_FastForward.bat,
    StealthAudioPlayer_Next.bat,
    StealthAudioPlayer_Pause.bat,
    StealthAudioPlayer_Prev.bat,
    StealthAudioPlayer_Start.bat,
    StealthAudioPlayer_Stop.bat
    with a special icon, which will be sent to screen as a linked program icon for example
    http://all-free-download.com/free-icon/start-stop-button.html.

    In my setup with WinXP I have combined SAP with Irfan View as Graphic Viewer for the CD cover. http://www.irfanview.de/ A screenshot of my SAP User Interface http://www.abload.de/img/stealthaudioplayerundimb12.jpg

    My setup of SAP differs a little to your Readme. The StealthAudioPlayer.ini rested unchanged for FLAC files. Inside the SAP folder I have copied only the FLAC.exe. It works. :)

    Roger

    ReplyDelete
  45. Hi Roger,

    1. SAP can open m3u playlists as of 0.1.6. You can create the playlist in any order you like either manually or with some freeware music player.

    2. For icons:
    You could create links/shortcuts to the SAP batch files and then assign/change icons for the links by right clicking and going to to their properties page then change icon there.

    Hope this helps
    Try googling for more details

    Meanwhile I will look into this irfan sw and see if it helps with 7 folder icons issue ;)

    Take Care
    Andy

    ReplyDelete
  46. Meanwhile I have learnt how icons will be changed. Here the first result http://www.abload.de/img/sapiconsk54z.gif based on a download http://all-free-download.com/free-icon/start-stop-button_page_3.html

    Paint.NET http://www.getpaint.net/features.html plus the icon plugin http://forums.getpaint.net/index.php?showtopic=927 helped myself to make the background of icon transparent and converted the icon file from PNG to ICO.

    You have written “SAP can open m3u playlists as of 0.1.6. You can create the playlist in any order you like either manually or with some freeware music player.”

    How can I transfer a playlist from a music player to SAP? My ideal solution would use the library function of foobar combined with SAP as engine which gets the playlist by foobar.
    http://www.abload.de/img/fofrgui21dda.jpg Is this a feasible way for you?

    I suppose that a modification of foobar preferences playlist tree would create a path to SAP. http://www.abload.de/img/foobarpreferenceswd6w.gif

    Please apologize my wooden English. ;) I am from Germany.

    Cheers

    Roger

    ReplyDelete
  47. Hi Roger,

    Nice job with a "play" icon :).

    I don't think you can integrate SAP with fbar.
    All I am saying is that you could create a playlist in your player (fbar for example) then save/export the playlist to a file with m3u (or m3u8) extension.

    See "Save playlist " section at http://eolindel.free.fr/foobar/playlist.shtml
    for example.

    Then locate that *.m3u file in windows explorer and open it with SAP player as you would open any other music file or a folder with music.


    cheers
    Andy

    ReplyDelete
  48. Now it´s clear when you said “SAP can open m3u playlists as of 0.1.6. You can create the playlist in any order you like either manually or with some freeware music player.” The workflow works. :)

    For other SAP users I have produced a guidance: http://www.abload.de/img/fofrgui3e0rc7.jpg

    My desktop rests anymore the GUI by FofR. http://www.abload.de/img/fofrgui43p2m.jpg The music is delivered by SAP engine.

    Cheers

    Roger

    ReplyDelete
  49. after playing with SAP version 0.1.6 I have to announce a bug while using .mru playlists generated by foobar.

    SAP accepts the playlist and starts to play. But SAP stops oddy after the penultimate title. SAP do not play the last title. This behavior is reproducible.

    Please check it.

    Cheers

    Roger

    ReplyDelete
  50. Thanks! good catch:)

    I've thought about that case but apparently forgot to test it.

    in those m3u files try to add an empty line after the last track.
    Just open m3u file in the notepad (or any other simple text editor), place the cursor at the end of the file at the end of the last track and press "Enter". The save it and play with SAP.
    This should help.

    Of course I will fix it on my end soon.

    BR
    Andy

    ReplyDelete
  51. hello Andy
    Still have problems with mru-playlists
    when i click next,it doesnt play:
    it reports:
    ASio failed to play audiofile,bits per sample=0,samplerate=0,channels=0
    I then have to restart the playlist from the beginning(sucks)
    thanks
    here's a screenshot:
    http://members.home.nl/fibers/screen.bmp

    ReplyDelete
  52. Hi Ron,

    I've tried it on my end - cannot reproduce.
    Can you please try a couple of different scenarios and provide more details on this error.

    Thanks
    Andy

    ReplyDelete
  53. Hi Ron,

    I have also tested SAP regarding your problems with mru-playlists but found no disfunction. My system works with WinXP as OS. Does your ASIO driver work without problems?

    Cheers

    Roger

    ReplyDelete
  54. hello Andy and Roger,
    i will try some other buffer-settings(for edirol ua25EX-Asio)
    im sorry i have no more detail on the error
    " i load the playlist with SAP,play some tunes,click next and OCCASIONALLY it will crash(not SAP,but my asio-driver crashes) I use WinXP/Sp3/3Gig-ram...
    its not a real issue for me
    I really Like the playlist-functionality in SAP
    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  55. Version 0.1.7 is being detected as a malware (Win32.Malware-gen). in avast free

    ReplyDelete
  56. I am also an user of avast and get the same malware alarm. But this a false alarm.

    The best way is to inform avast about the false alarm by sending a notice to avast. The workflow goes by using the avast virus container which sends the AudioStealthPlayer.exe and some explaining data to avast.
    http://www.abload.de/img/falsealarmstealthaudioleol.gif

    Roger

    ReplyDelete
  57. Here a workaround for users of avast or other anti malware software which detects StealthAudioPlayer as malware:

    In a first step restore StealthAudioPlayer from virus container. If you want use StealthAudioPlayer then deactivate in a second step avast or other anti malware software for the playing time of StealthAudioPlayer. --> "right mouse click on avast icon"

    It works. :)

    Roger

    ReplyDelete
  58. To avoid AV virus detection, you could also try adding StealthAudioPlayer.exe to an exclusion list in your antivirus software.
    In avast, for example, there are at least two exclusion lists: for on demand scan and for realtime (on access) scan. Search for exclusion lists in advanced settings.

    Andy

    ReplyDelete
  59. I just used dbPowerAmp to convert my files instead of sox, and I believe the quality is much improved. Only drawback is that the first file takes longer to start.

    ReplyDelete
  60. The exclusion list works only limited --> on demand scan

    The real time scan of avast delivers always a virus alarm.

    The workaround for this circumstance is to deactivate avast for the duration of StealthAudioPlayer is working.

    ReplyDelete
  61. It is a bit off topic but I have tested the hint of suerteenpila to use dBpoweramp as ripping tool and converter. He has compared SoX and dBpoweramp and found improved sound quality with dBpoweramp.

    My workflow involves Exact Audio Copy (EAC) as ripping tool and converter. I ripped and converted my test file both to flac format, compression level 5, by EAC and dBpoweramp. foobar is still my database tool and produces the playlist.mru.
    http://www.abload.de/img/soelmementofoobar7e07.jpg
    For a quick cross-comparison between EAC and dBpoweramp I made two playlist icons
    http://www.abload.de/img/steuerelementesgxm.gif
    The result of sound comparison is clear: There is no audible difference between EAC and dBpoweramp.

    ReplyDelete
  62. Thank you, Roger!

    This is what I expected. There could be no audible difference as long as different conversion tools produce the same wav data "before" the playback starts.

    Andy

    ReplyDelete
  63. After hearing several hours with your StealthAudioPlayer I can congratulate on your work.

    The music comes more lucid with more fine details, a more concise bass and more natural sounding instruments compared with foobar. It is like a curtain will be drawn. The music comes more direct.

    But which knack delivers such result? It is only the transfer of the full music file into RAM?

    ReplyDelete
  64. Roger,

    playback from RAM/memory is one of the key factors along with no link to OS GUI system during the playback.

    And I use couple of tricks other than the above which I'd like to keep for myself for now :).

    Andy

    ReplyDelete
  65. Forgot to mention I was upsampling and dithering...
    Sorry about that, it should be clear that bits are bits so there should be no difference in converting a flac to a wav if you are not running it through any DSP.

    ReplyDelete
  66. Andy,

    how do you assess changes in OS or hardware tuning like in the setup of cMP2 and cPlay?

    My current PC setup possesses nothing as in the recommended setup of cMP2 and cPlay. I have only tuned the noise of fans to quite the PC.

    Roger

    ReplyDelete
  67. A bottleneck can be anywhere in the sound path:
    1. starting with bad CD master
    2. misuse of ripping tools
    3. poor playback software (SAP can help here :) )
    4. heavy loaded OS, by unnecessary services.
    5. noisy power supply, rotating fans
    6. poor quality DAC/sound card.

    All of the above can cause sound degradation.
    The tools you mentioned address HW issues and OS being bloated.
    SAP addresses only the playback part, number 3.
    You can further improve the sound quality by tweaking the rest of the sound path elements.
    As an example I would suggest display go to sleep mode while playing audio.

    Andy

    ReplyDelete
  68. I am getting the same issue as Duc with Wasapi. Where it gives the whole e_invalidarg with ID 0x80070057.

    Using the spdif output of my Auzentech prelude, the settings ini displays just this. Everything is set up properly to support all sample rates. Wav and Flac both error the same.

    ReplyDelete
  69. Try xmplay and in the "info" window see if the resampling happens with your device in wasapi exclusive mode.

    Andy

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  70. Until now I use very pleased StealthAudioPlayer (SAP) in combination with Beyer DT880 headphones and a Yamaha GO46 audio interface.

    Additionally I want to combine SAP with a software called Frequency Allocator (FA), which is a VST plugin for a 4-way, stereo DSP loudspeaker crossover. http://www.thuneau.com/allocator.htm

    Please think about a solution for this interesting application of SAP. A VST plugin has been written for cPlay to implement FA. Hope you find a similar solution for SAP.


    With every good wish for Christmas.

    Roger

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  71. Hi Roger,

    Sorry, but I have no plans for supporting VST plugins.

    BR
    Andy

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  72. Hi Andy
    I haven’t been here for a while. I just like to say Thank you for your wonderful audio player. This is the best sounding program for windows out there. I use it every times when I listen to the music.
    Recently I try to download Stealth Audio Player 0.1.7 but it is infected with Trojan-Dropper.Win32.Agent.dbyj. I find out later that every version that you uploaded at www.rapidsharecom are all infected with this Trojan.
    I beg you please fix this problem.

    Cheer :)
    Pisut

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  73. StealthAudioPlayer.exe is not a virus!
    It's the way AV software works! They try to score bigger points by identifying even slightly suspicious SW.
    The reason AV "detects" SAP as virus is that SAP don't have a GUI and creates temp files. Funny!
    In every AV there is a way to add exclusion. You might want to try to find it in your AV and add /path/to/StealthAudioPlayer.exe to the exclusion list!.
    That part you have to investigate yourself.

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  74. Hi Andy!
    Thanks you for your wonderfull player, the only Iam
    using nowdays to play music,(classical only).
    But one cuestion: are you working for the possibility to play DSD files, nativity or via plugins, like theDXD files on 2L.no?
    Thanks in advance

    Cheer

    Juan

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  75. I finally got to try the stealth audio player after a ton of pain trying to get my old X-Fi transport to work with it. Got a USB transport now.

    Though I didnt hear any, there is no qualization or anything like that involved ya? Just pure untouched playback?

    Also, a non-verbose pause/play button would be awesome as well. Jumplist ftw ;)

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  76. Hi Ninji,

    No, nothing touches the the music data just load the wave file from disk to ram and send the untouched samples to the sound device.

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  77. alright, actually working on a simple (under 100kb hopefully) UI that just executes your batch files.

    Meaning it doesn't have any bearings on your application or the stream. No seek bars ect ect.

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  78. Just to add a bug report though... when starting play again after pausing a song it sounds messed up.

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  79. Hi Andy,

    Peter again here. Still enjoying the player very much, a big thank you!

    Recently I've been setting the buffer time down to 10ms, and liked the sound even better than 30ms. However, it gives a popping sound occasionally. I think by going to Windows Task Manager and setting Stealaudioplayer to REALTIME makes the popping sound happen less frequently. Is there a way to modify either the batch file or the .ini file to make the process 'REALTIME' automatically?

    Also, the second (after StealthAudioPlayer) best combination on the PC platform I believe is using KMPlayer + Reclock + WASAPI. When Googling, it seems some Japanese websites are saying they can use StealAudioPlayer together with Reclock, but it's not mentioned how it's accomplished. Do you know how? I'd like to give the combo a try if possible.

    Again, thanks a lot and happy new year!

    My best,

    Peter

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  80. Hi Peter,

    in StealthAudioPlayer_Start.bat you will find "REM"ed out line with /REALTIME switch. Un"REM" this one and "REM" the other line.

    Regarding buffer size, I also had good results with highest possible (until I get error message) values.
    For example my sound device allows 30-499 ms range. The best results for me were around 30 and 499 but not in the middle. But it's all subjective.

    Cheers

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  81. Hi Andy,
    thanks for the very good sound. I have Flac and APE involved by command line (flac.exe and mac.exe). What parameters are required for "lame.exe"?
    Sorry for my bad English!
    Regards!
    Lutz

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  82. SAP does not support lame.exe.
    Please refer to the reamde.txt for mp3 setup.

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  83. Hello Andy, I have my server tweaked with every driver, service and registry key disabled that will still allow audio play and I've been looking high and low for a player that will occupy the smallest footprint possible. However, I'm using a Wyred4Sound DAC, which has its own driver, to deliver Asynchronus USB; the only version available is Kernel Streaming.

    Any chance SAP will ever be made compatible with KS?

    Thanks

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  84. No plans for KS. Look for WASAPI/ASIO alternative way

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  85. Hi Andy,
    your Audioplayer is a formidable player with the best sound currently. I´ve tested different formats, but there was no chance with wv-files. A lot of hirez are packed with it. Inserted the command "wv=wvunpack.exe %1 temp.wav" in the ini under converters and included the command in the sap-root was not successful. The error is: "No audio file is selected to play..." The command after the prompt runs without problems. Have you an idea? Is there another decoder for wavpack?
    Regards
    Matthias

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  86. Hi Andy,
    to add my last Post I´ve also tried to decode the wv - format under sox. It has the same effect. Under prompt sox.exe runs, but the sap reported the same error.
    regards
    Matthias

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  87. Hi Andy,
    to add my last post refer wv files: I changed the Start.bat and include the line: IF [%~x1]==[.wv] set FileList=%FileList% %1. Is this changing correct and complete? Now it runs.
    regards
    Matthias

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  88. Thanks, Matthias!

    I've had a *.wv problem myself, ended up pre-converting to wav :(.
    A new version is coming soon, I will take care of this.

    BR
    Andy

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  89. If you are using the "start" .bat you should add an entry as in the Anonymous post.
    I have been able to use ".tak" files which also work with "cue"!

    Great job Andy!

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  90. Hi Andy,
    I wonder if there would be a possibility to ADD files to the currently running playlist? Actually all files are exchanged when selecting e.g. another folder to play.

    And do you have any plans to support gapless playback? Until now I found some short breakes between two titles.

    Thank you very much!

    Kind regards from Cologne,
    Christoph

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  91. Hi Andy,
    I could not download the zip file of Stealthaudioplayer_v0.1.9 from RapidShare portal these days, and the RapidShare always urged to buy RapidShare Pro. I am afraid the Rapidshare would not be a decent portal site suitable for Stealthaudioplayer.

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  92. Thanks for suggestion. I'll look into it. BTW I've tested and was able to download 1.9 version, it was a temporary problem.

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  93. Hi Christoph,
    Yes I will add these features at some point. Gapless should work. Do you sue ASIO or WASAPI?

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  94. Hi Andy,
    I'm using SAP along with my HiFace, so WASAPI is the only option I can choose.
    But recently I figured out that gapless mode only fails when using N_Setting=0 option. With N_Setting=1 everything is fine.

    It would be great if you could implement file adding to current playlist. I would be very pleased by that function.

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  95. Hi Andy,
    I am using a Juli@ soundcard which uses Asio output. I have a problem with SAP when he starts the Asio driver it uses the outputs 1,2 (these are analog outputs) instead of 3,4 which are the digital outputs. can this be achieved in some way?
    Regards

    Sigi

    ReplyDelete