quality takes a nosedive

[razorlock]

I've been using dBpowerAMP + pack for a little while now, and i must say - i'm very satisfied. Mostly I convert large files to 96vbr 2ndpass wma, and the quality has been exceptional while greatly reducing the fat on my hard drive. As I'm on a laptop with an underdeveloped harddrive, this has been a real treat.

BUT quality has taken a nosedive. Whereas sound used to be clean and clear, since a couple of days I've been noticing squelching and blurring in the high tones and an overall decrease in the depth of sound.
I think this has coincided with a change in WMP10 (Windows Media Player 10). It used to state bitrates as the maximum amount used. So, for example, a file converted to 96vbr 2ndpass might have been listed in the WMP10 overview as 114 kbs, while on the playbar (where track name, artist, etc is shown of the file currently playing) it might read "96 kilobits/second (variable bitrate)"
Since the drop in quality of playback the bitrates of files, as listed in the WMP10 overview, are changed after playback to 96 or 95 kilobits per second.
As far as I remember I haven't installed any new codecs recently to explain this change.
I have contacted Microsoft but they basically told me to shove it.

Anybody recognize this?
Oh, yeah, there's one more thing... this may or may not have to do with this whole issue, i don't know. High quality WAV sounds I assigned to events using the sound utility in the windows configuration panel have suddenly become unplayable.

[ChristinaS]

Re: quality takes a nosedive

I think you have a problem with audio playback on your laptop in general.

[Spoons]

Re: quality takes a nosedive

yes it does sound like an audio problem. i have experienced this before and when re installing the sound drivers or updated them it all comes good again. might be worth reinstalling your sound card drivers and see if it helps. or at least eliminate that problem.

[razorlock]

Re: quality takes a nosedive

Thanks for responding. Part of the problem has been resolved. The Hi-Quality WAV files are playing once again. The WMA vbr 2nd pass trouble is ongoing. I've downloaded the WMA91 (for XP) codec pack, but it's still the same issue.

I don't understand what's causing this squelching in the high tones. Not to mention WMP continues to change the bitrates of the vbr's as displayed in the mainview. It never did before. Anyone have a clue?

[Spoons]

Re: quality takes a nosedive

isn't it supposed to display different bitrates? as it is variable bitrate which means the bitrate will go up and down when playback.

why do you use two pass? i forget the purpose of that action but i think it was for something more specific?

does the same thing happen with single pass?

have you played back using other music players to check it's not software related?

[ChristinaS]

Re: quality takes a nosedive

Is the equalizer on in WMP and is is set on something weird perhaps? SRS Wow efects? Although it shouldn't make that much difference as to make a file sound very, very bad.

And does this happen with all your wma VBR 2-pass files or only some that may have been encoded lately?

Razgo, 2-pass is supposed to achieve better quality in encoding. And it does sound better than single pass generally - but it may be psychological . I think it's not advisable to use 2-pass for web streams though - I can't remember why.

[razorlock]

Re: quality takes a nosedive

The SRS WOW is on, but that shouldn't be a factor - it's been on for a long time. As to comparing wma with other formats, I don't really have any other formats anymore... at least on the harddrive - I'll crack out the dvd's I burned the originals to and see if that tells me anything.
Yesterday I updated my Realtek '97 drivers, but boy, what a mistake. Over time I used a combination of the Realtek Soundmanager's equalizer and ambienttool plus WMP equalizer and SRS truebase and WOW to tease out the deepest, sparkliest sound the soundcard could muster.
Unfortunately the new Realtek driver seems to process sound differently and it all sounds worse than before - the bass distorts and high tones tear.
I tried tinkering the settings back to the quality I had before, but that didn't work and now I'm stuck with files that don't play right (the wma problem) and a system out of whack. I think I'll have to find a high-quality MP3 to just get the basic system in order.

Shakespeare had this great line, "When troubles come, they do not come as single spies but in battalions." Actually it does put the issue in perspective. That line speaks to serious matters, not soundcards acting up.
It'll get sorted in it's own sweet time.

[ChristinaS]

Re: quality takes a nosedive

Are your wma files 96kbps, 48KHz, 2-pass stereo VBR ? or 44.1KHz?

[razorlock]

Re: quality takes a nosedive

this is turning into a regular conversation
i'm using (wma 96kbs 2ndpass vbr) 44KHz, christina

nice avatar btw