About two years ago, I came across this music files player : wtfplay.
This is not a me too kind of player, its sound quality as it is today, is STUNNING. It has a lot of inconveniences, but what you can get out of it in terms of quality is impressive. I'm only talking CD quality resolution here.I have not tried HiRes files feature.
This brief rundown, will shed some light on this crazy named software.
It is a Linux based software, it only plays : FLAC, WAV and DSD files (I tried only the first two).
A memory based player, it does not install on your hard drive, it only plays music files and nothing else. It has a very basic interface for convenience, and the command line ( the real deal ). If you want remote capabilities, video, and other amenities, STOP, this is not for you. Do not settle with the basic interface, that allows you to enter your files in a window, like all other players, and play them from there, When used like that, it is only as good as others, so, don't even bother. The real deal is the command line. No, you don't have spend the next ten years trying to master the command line in Linux. How long does it takes you to memorize ten characters ?. that long. You don't have to learn anything about Linux, if so you wish. Everything is already configured, all you have to do, is enter the characters you memorized, followed by the name of you files one by one, that's it. The beauty of it, is you install the entire operating system on a USB drive, and that's it. It will load/install ( eight seconds )automatically every time you boot or reboot your computer, your computer must be able to boot from a USB drive, but it does not need to have a hard drive for the player to work.
I tried many types of motherboards and memory : standard ITX, micro ITX, mini ITX, mini STX. and memory DDR3, and DDR4.
Why I decided to try this player ? I don't know, It gave me a lot of trouble to get it going from the get go, as a consequence, I decided to try the easy way, text mode user interface named (wtfcui), but that didn't steered up my juices. What I heard coming out of it, was very nice , but that's all. The shocker came when I left the laziness aside, tried the command line, and got it going. Voila !!!!!! there it was, very clean, no digital edginess, very detailed, with a touch of vinyl warmth. Yeah !!! that good.
So, decided to find out, the best set up for this little monster. The result was. mother board mini ITX, or, mini STX, with memory DDR4. There is no change in sound quality between these two mobos form factor, the change in sound quality is related to memory. With memory DDR4 the sound quality is STUNNING. I only tried up to DDR4 -2133 ghz. I settle for the CPU dual core 4.2 ghz, just because I wanted to eliminate CPU speed from the variables to watch. The dedicated computer that I have for this purpose, does not have a hard drive, that is how I know the OS installs directly onto memory. My dac is a heavily modified Chinese one, if you have a high quality DAC you are in for a surprise.
The website is excellent, everything is explained in detail. Communication with the developer is a little complicated, He will answer your messages in about three days, at he earliest, but he does answer you.
The problems I had, were related not to my zero knowledge of Linux, but to something the developer didn't explain ( and still doesn't, on the website) regarding how you music files have to be entered with the command line. For example, Frank Zappa, must be entered, 'Frank Zappa', single names like Santana is fine as it is. I had an attack of diarrhea when I had everything ready to play, and the stupid thing, would not play at all, and no messages indicating anything, well, it was the problem I just described. So don't panic.
Linux guys may be laughing at the problems I had with this Linux thing, but hey!!! c'est la vie.
Cheers
This is not a me too kind of player, its sound quality as it is today, is STUNNING. It has a lot of inconveniences, but what you can get out of it in terms of quality is impressive. I'm only talking CD quality resolution here.I have not tried HiRes files feature.
This brief rundown, will shed some light on this crazy named software.
It is a Linux based software, it only plays : FLAC, WAV and DSD files (I tried only the first two).
A memory based player, it does not install on your hard drive, it only plays music files and nothing else. It has a very basic interface for convenience, and the command line ( the real deal ). If you want remote capabilities, video, and other amenities, STOP, this is not for you. Do not settle with the basic interface, that allows you to enter your files in a window, like all other players, and play them from there, When used like that, it is only as good as others, so, don't even bother. The real deal is the command line. No, you don't have spend the next ten years trying to master the command line in Linux. How long does it takes you to memorize ten characters ?. that long. You don't have to learn anything about Linux, if so you wish. Everything is already configured, all you have to do, is enter the characters you memorized, followed by the name of you files one by one, that's it. The beauty of it, is you install the entire operating system on a USB drive, and that's it. It will load/install ( eight seconds )automatically every time you boot or reboot your computer, your computer must be able to boot from a USB drive, but it does not need to have a hard drive for the player to work.
I tried many types of motherboards and memory : standard ITX, micro ITX, mini ITX, mini STX. and memory DDR3, and DDR4.
Why I decided to try this player ? I don't know, It gave me a lot of trouble to get it going from the get go, as a consequence, I decided to try the easy way, text mode user interface named (wtfcui), but that didn't steered up my juices. What I heard coming out of it, was very nice , but that's all. The shocker came when I left the laziness aside, tried the command line, and got it going. Voila !!!!!! there it was, very clean, no digital edginess, very detailed, with a touch of vinyl warmth. Yeah !!! that good.
So, decided to find out, the best set up for this little monster. The result was. mother board mini ITX, or, mini STX, with memory DDR4. There is no change in sound quality between these two mobos form factor, the change in sound quality is related to memory. With memory DDR4 the sound quality is STUNNING. I only tried up to DDR4 -2133 ghz. I settle for the CPU dual core 4.2 ghz, just because I wanted to eliminate CPU speed from the variables to watch. The dedicated computer that I have for this purpose, does not have a hard drive, that is how I know the OS installs directly onto memory. My dac is a heavily modified Chinese one, if you have a high quality DAC you are in for a surprise.
The website is excellent, everything is explained in detail. Communication with the developer is a little complicated, He will answer your messages in about three days, at he earliest, but he does answer you.
The problems I had, were related not to my zero knowledge of Linux, but to something the developer didn't explain ( and still doesn't, on the website) regarding how you music files have to be entered with the command line. For example, Frank Zappa, must be entered, 'Frank Zappa', single names like Santana is fine as it is. I had an attack of diarrhea when I had everything ready to play, and the stupid thing, would not play at all, and no messages indicating anything, well, it was the problem I just described. So don't panic.
Linux guys may be laughing at the problems I had with this Linux thing, but hey!!! c'est la vie.
Cheers
Last edited by buchela on Mon Mar 25, 2019 3:01 pm; edited 1 time in total (Reason for editing : clarified sentence regarding computer booting)