[Mageia-discuss] Xine has better sound quality than vlc, why?

[Marja van Waes]

On 12/03/13 16:46, Diego Bello wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> Short version: why is that the Xine backend has a waaaay better sound
> than the vlc backend?
>
> Long version:
> I sued VLC as backend on KDE since the Xine backend was broken when
> Mageia 2 came out. Then a couple of weeks ago I tried Xine again and
> it worked, which is good.
>
> After doing that, I noticed that the sound quality was just great. I
> have a Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS sound card and Sennheizer headphones
> because I like good sound, but I wasn't enjoying music for a while
> until I switched back to Xine. The sound was not good, not good bass
> or highs, but now all sounds clear and great.
>
> Is this difference because of the actual sound engine or is it
> something in phonon or something else? Has anybody else noted a
> difference? Trying with laptop speakers doesn't count, of course ;)
>

I've noticed differences that drove me crazy when testing login, logout 
etc. sounds for Mageia: what I heard depended on the player I used and, 
for at least one player, also on whether I played or replayed a sound. I 
don't remember having tried Xine, though, but at least vlc, audacity, 
amarok and totem.

Reading your story makes me glad I didn't hurry to buy an expensive 
"real" sound card to try to solve the problem ;)

I don't have a clue what causes the differences.