What audio formats does foobar2000 support natively?

Out of the box, foobar2000 v2.x plays MP3, AAC / M4A, FLAC (including Ogg-FLAC), WAV (PCM 8-32 bit, float), AIFF, OGG Vorbis, Opus, WMA (Standard, Pro, Lossless, Voice), WavPack, and Musepack. CD audio is supported via the built-in CD ripping component. For additional formats like APE (Monkey's Audio), DSD, TTA, and ALAC streams, install the corresponding free component by drag-dropping the .fb2k-component file onto the foobar2000 window. The component ecosystem effectively covers every consumer audio format.

How do I set up ReplayGain in foobar2000?

Select tracks in the playlist, right-click > ReplayGain > Scan per-file track gain (or Scan as albums for whole-album normalization). The scan analyzes loudness at 30-50x realtime per CPU core. When it finishes, right-click > ReplayGain > Update file tags to write the gain values into the file metadata. Then enable playback normalization in Preferences > Playback > ReplayGain by selecting Track or Album mode. After this, every track plays at consistent loudness without any re-encoding — the gain is applied as a metadata-driven volume offset.

Can foobar2000 convert between audio formats?

Yes. The built-in Converter component (Ctrl+I or right-click > Convert) supports every format foobar2000 decodes, with configurable output paths, multithreaded encoding, and full metadata preservation. Common workflows include FLAC archive to MP3 320 kbps for portable use, WAV masters to FLAC level 8 for archival, and ripped CDs to OGG Vorbis. The Converter wraps command-line encoders like LAME, opusenc, oggenc2, and the FLAC reference encoder — drop the encoder binary into the install folder and the Converter detects it automatically.

What is foobar2000's DSP chain and why does it matter?

Preferences > Playback > DSP Manager lets you stack signal processing on the playback chain — crossfeed for headphones, parametric EQ, resampling, dithering, bit-depth conversion. The chain runs in real time during playback without modifying the source file. For example, foo_dsp_xfeed narrows headphone stereo to a more natural speaker-like image, and a parametric EQ corrects headphone response. To bake processing into a file rather than just play it back processed, run the same DSP chain inside the Converter component.

Why do audiophiles prefer foobar2000 over other Windows players?

foobar2000's defaults are bit-perfect: WASAPI event output bypasses the Windows audio mixer, no automatic resampling, no replay gain unless the user enables it, and the library catalogs files in place rather than transcoding on import. Swapping to ASIO output via foo_out_asio gives slightly lower latency on hardware with an ASIO driver. Combined with the deep tagging UI, ReplayGain analysis, conversion engine, and component ecosystem for exotic formats, foobar2000 covers the full audiophile workflow inside one program.

Audio Formats Foobar2000 Supports

foobar2000 is the audiophile's preferred Windows player: minimal UI, deep configurability, lossless-first design, and a component ecosystem that adds support for everything obscure. This guide covers what foobar2000 plays natively, the components worth installing, and the production workflows (ReplayGain, conversion, DSP) that make foobar2000 different from VLC or Windows Media Player.

Native Format Support

foobar2000 v2.x (the current branch as of 2026) plays the following without any components installed:

MP3 — every bitrate, CBR / VBR / ABR, MPEG-1/2/2.5
MP4 / M4A — AAC-LC, AAC-HE, AAC-HEv2 in MP4 containers
FLAC — every compression level, plus Ogg-FLAC
WAV — PCM 8/16/24/32-bit, IEEE float
AIFF — Apple's WAV equivalent, all PCM bit depths
OGG Vorbis — all quality settings
Opus — Ogg Opus and standalone
WMA — Standard, Pro, Lossless, Voice
WavPack (.wv) — including hybrid mode
Musepack (.mpc) — SV7 and SV8

CD audio (CDA) is also handled directly via foobar2000's CD ripping component.

Components Worth Installing

The component system extends foobar2000 with format support and processing.

foo_input_monkey — APE (Monkey's Audio) lossless decode
foo_input_dsdiff / foo_input_sacd — DSD playback for SACD ISO and DSF/DFF files
foo_input_tta — TTA lossless format
foo_input_alac — though FLAC is the more common Apple lossless container, this handles loose ALAC streams
foo_dsp_eq — graphic EQ
foo_dsp_xover — crossover for studio monitor calibration
foo_softplaylists — smart playlists by tag rule
foo_run — run external programs from the menu

Components install by drag-dropping the .fb2k-component file onto the foobar2000 window.

ReplayGain Workflow

ReplayGain is foobar2000's killer feature. It analyzes loudness across all tracks and writes a tag the player uses to normalize playback volume — no re-encoding, no quality loss.

Workflow:

1. Select tracks in the playlist (Ctrl+A for all) 2. Right-click > ReplayGain > Scan per-file track gain (or Scan as albums) 3. Wait — analysis runs at roughly 30-50x realtime per CPU core 4. Right-click > ReplayGain > Update file tags 5. Enable ReplayGain in Preferences > Playback > ReplayGain (Track or Album mode)

After this, every track plays at consistent loudness regardless of its original mastering level. Album mode preserves the relative loudness within an album (a quiet ballad stays quieter than the rocker that follows it on the same record). Track mode flattens everything to the same level — better for shuffle play.

Converter Component (Built-In)

foobar2000's built-in Converter (Ctrl+I or right-click > Convert) is a serious transcoding tool. It supports every output format the player decodes, plus configurable output paths, multithreaded encoding, and per-track tagging preservation.

Common conversion presets:

FLAC archive to MP3 320 kbps — for the car, phone, or sharing
WAV master to FLAC level 8 — for archival from a DAW export
Ripped CD WAV to OGG Vorbis q=6 — when storage matters and quality must stay transparent

The encoder ships with command-line wrappers for LAME, oggenc2, opusenc, FLAC, and others. You drop the encoder binary into the foobar2000 install folder and the converter detects it.

DSP Chain for Playback

Preferences > Playback > DSP Manager lets you build a per-output processing chain. Common chains:

Crossfeed (foo_dsp_xfeed) — narrows the unnaturally wide stereo on headphones for a more speaker-like image
EQ (foo_dsp_eq) — graphic or parametric correction for headphone or room response
Resampler (foo_dsp_resampler) — upsamples or downsamples to match a fixed-rate DAC
Bit-depth converter — dithers 24-bit masters to 16-bit for older DACs

The DSP chain is playback-only; it does not affect the file. To bake processing into a file, use the Converter with the DSP chain enabled in the conversion preset.

Audiophile Preferences and Why

foobar2000's defaults reflect audiophile tastes:

Output mode: WASAPI (event) by default on Windows, which bypasses the Windows audio mixer for bit-perfect output
Resampling: disabled by default — the file plays at its native sample rate, the DAC switches sample rate to match
Replay gain: off by default to preserve original loudness; users opt in
No automatic conversion on import: the library catalogs files in place rather than copying or transcoding

Swap output to ASIO via foo_out_asio if your DAC has an ASIO driver — slightly lower latency than WASAPI for some hardware.

Tagging

foobar2000 reads and writes ID3v1, ID3v2.3, ID3v2.4, APE tags, MP4 atoms, Vorbis comments, and WMA metadata. The Properties dialog (Alt+Enter on a selected track) is one of the most efficient batch tagging UIs available — fast, scriptable via Title Formatting, and reliable across formats.

For mass tagging operations across thousands of files, MP3Tag is more focused, but foobar2000 covers everyday tagging without leaving the player.

Library Management

Preferences > Media Library lets you point at one or more folders. foobar2000 watches them for changes and updates the Album List view automatically. Smart playlists (via foo_softplaylists) let you filter by tag rule — for example, 'all FLAC tracks added this year' or 'all tracks rated 4 stars or higher'.

For more on the FLAC format that foobar2000 handles best, see what is FLAC. For a deeper look at lossless options, see what is ALAC. For Windows-side format compatibility, see audio format for Windows Media Player.

Memory and Performance

foobar2000's library indexer is notably efficient. A 100,000-track library indexes in 5-15 minutes on a modern laptop and uses around 200-300 MB of RAM during runtime. Track changes update the playlist with sub-millisecond latency. Compare to iTunes / Apple Music on Windows, which slows noticeably past 50,000 tracks.

The Album List view is particularly fast — it builds from the index without touching the filesystem after initial scan. Smart playlists evaluate against the index, so even complex queries ('all FLAC tracks rated 4+ stars added this year by genre electronic') return instantly on libraries up to a few hundred thousand tracks.

Cuesheet Support

foobar2000 reads CUE files referencing single-file FLAC, APE, or WV rips of full CDs. The cuesheet defines track boundaries within the long file; foobar2000 presents the file as separate tracks in the playlist. This is the audiophile rip workflow: rip CD as one continuous WAV/FLAC, generate CUE for track boundaries, archive both. foobar2000's converter splits cuesheet-based files into individual MP3 / FLAC files when you want a per-track export for mobile use.