WOW/SRS audio booster equivalent for Rockbox?

[puppetsock]

I have a H320 and tried Rockbox last year. I really liked it, but I missed one important thing: an audio booster like what WOW or SRS is in the original Iriver firmware.

For me, this makes a big difference. Without these filters, the audio just seems weak.

I didn't find anything that "boosted" my music when I had Rockbox installed. Does nobody else miss this?

[AlexP]

SRS/WOW themselves are proprietary, and won't appear in Rockbox.  However Rockbox has a custom five band parametric equalizer, along with treble and bass controls.  With those you should be able to tweak the audio to your heart's content.

[puppetsock]

I tried, but I couldn't get near the boost that WOW gives me. I've grown quite accustomed to it, but I don't need the EXACT same thing, but something better than what I can do by randomly trying to find it by adjusting equalizers.

[markun]

Do you know which feature of SRS you were using?

http://www.srslabs.com/partners/aetech/
http://www.srslabs.com/partners/aetech/wow_theory.asp

[Llorean]

The iRivers just have WOW if I recall. So playing with stereo width would also help.

[puppetsock]

Yes, it has WOW, SRS and TruBass as functions, next to the "normal" ones like pop, rock, classical, etc...

I guess I will just try the new Rockbox and play with the settings.

I haven't seached for this myself yet, is there a possibility to download pre-sets?

[AlexP]

It comes with presets (for the equalizer, these don't include things like stereo width/crossfeed/etc).

[ZincAlloy]

I have a H320 and tried Rockbox last year. I really liked it, but I missed one important thing: an audio booster like what WOW or SRS is in the original Iriver firmware.

For me, this makes a big difference. Without these filters, the audio just seems weak.

I didn't find anything that "boosted" my music when I had Rockbox installed. Does nobody else miss this?

no. If I wanted my stereo image to appear too wide I'd move my speakers. You could adjust it in rockbox as well (see manual).
It's great that rockbox can simulate a correct stereo image on headphones with crossfeed, btw  - just the opposite of what you want to do
I use rather good headphones, so I need no simulation of bigger ones with more low end.

I you want to "boost" your music, you'd better use the volume control

[coiley]

You can cheap on your player - but can't never not ever no never skimp on your headphones... EVER! Any headphones shipped with a player are cheap. (Don't even try to argue the point. It's marketing & economics.)

On cheap headphones EVERY device sounds cheap.

On good headphones good players sound good - and even many cheap players sound good.

The best headphones for the money that I have ever bought are Grado Labs SR-80. I can recommend them because you just can not be sorry.

However, even then, a player with a nominal amp circuit will fail to satisfy if volume is the issue. Volume was an issue for me. So I spent hundreds of dollars on parts learning and building my own mini battery amp based on the "CMoy Pocket Amplifier" model. I was ENTIRELY successful. I modified and built a number of fixed boost amp headphone amps that ran on 3 AAA batteries (with a 200mA charge-pump voltage-douber) while the amp fit in the space of a (the fourth) AAA battery. (I used a 4-AAA battery box from Radio-Crap.) Just as I reached the pinnacle of my headphone-amp design proficiency...

.... my brother bought me a pair of Bose noise-cancelling headphones. These phones are not good... THEY ARE PHENOMENAL! They are self-powered (they have their own amp). They have extremely low impedance - so they extend the battery life of your player. The phones are two-way - they have a "bass" driver and a trebble element. They are especially effective because their volume is also relatively boosted by cancelling cyclic background noise. They can MOSTLY cancel any vacuum-cleaner.

The bottom line is that your sound is dictated more by your headphones than by your player device. Headphones are the weak link. So get Bose noise-cancelling headphones. Or get Grado Labs SR-80.

If I may be direct (and with respect) - stop complaining until after you have acquired your own high-fidelity headphone solution.

-- coiley

[P.S. -  If you MUST go the DIY pocket-headphone-amp route - I can give suggestions that will save you $.]

[minphet]

Hi, I have a TOSHIBA Gigabeat F20 and I loaded the rockbox in it. I want to know if there`s a way to have the SRS WOW sound back again as in the original firmware or maybe a preset of the equalizer to reach that sound quality.

Thanks. 

[GodEater]

SRS WOW is a patented technology - so we can't implement it within Rockbox.

[BdN3504]

If you fancy sound effects that much, get yourself the creative aurvana x-fi headphones.