eAR Master One - Useful Links

Useful links to software for FREE

On this site you will find some useful links to software for your PC, and all the software is free. The site will be extended when we find new links to new great software for free. The site contain the following sections:

1) Computer updates and great free software to your PC.
2) Audio playback.
3) Video playback.
4) Cool to know.

Newest updates
Link to Microsoft hotfix KB885222 has been added.

Computer updates

VERY IMPORTANT update of Windows XP with SP2: Increase performance of IEEE 1394 / FireWire devices
Performance of 1394 devices is decreased with a new installation of Windows XP Service Pack 2 This problem occurs because Windows XP SP2 changes 1394 ports to S100 speed. Therefore: Regardless if you have purchased a brand new cumputer with pre-installed Windows XP with Service Pack 2, or you have upgraded to Service Pack 2, you need to install two hitfixes to obtain full performance of your firewire device.
CLICK HERE to download the hotfix KB904412.
CLICK HERE to download the hotfix KB885222.
It is mandatory to install the hot-fixes. Else you will not experience full speed of the firewire link.

SpeedswitchXP
CLICK HERE to download SpeedswitchXP - CPU frequency control for NoteBooks running Windows XP.
With this program you can control the speed of the CPU. When performing playback of Music or DVD's it is sometime a good idea to set full speed. This is not possible to do with Windows XP, except with this program.

AVG
CLICK HERE to download the AVG Free Edition Anti-Virus program. It is FREE for personal home use.

SKYPE
CLICK HERE to download the SKYPE phone and talk for free over the internet. You may also use SKYPE OUT and save a lot of money when doing international calls.

Audio playback

EAC
CLICK HERE to download Exact Audio Copy to rip your private CD collection to your harddisk in lossless quality.
The program is pretty easy to use, here is how: Install it. Then press F5 to rip your private CD to your harddisk. Create a folder under the My Music folder and name it with the title of your private CD. You may also use EAC with the Accurate Rip database to validate your rip's. See Cool to know on this site.

foobar2000
CLICK HERE to download a music media player for audiophile music playback. foobar2000 is free of commercials and runs with minimum consumption of CPU resources.

     Digital Crossover to foobar2000
     CLICK HERE to download a digital crossover plugin to foobar2000. Now a new 0.34 version is available for free download.
     When you have learned to use the plugin it takes less than an hour to fine-tune a new 4-way crossover to your high-end speakers.

     Digital FIR Frequency Divider (similar to a Crossover) with up to 400dB kaiser windows to foobar2000
     CLICK HERE to download a digital FIR crossover plugin to foobar2000.
     When you have learned to use the plugin it takes less than an hour to fine-tune a new 3-way crossover to your high-end speakers.
     The new version has the following improvements:
     - Fixed bug
     - Changed the convolution method from time domain to frequency domain.
     - Calculation speed is much faster than the old one.

WinAmp
CLICK HERE to download the WinAmp music media player. Download the FREE version.
WinAmp has a "pop look" and it may crash, if you load bad tested plug-ins. Therefore please be careful not to load everything you find.
The reason why we link to WinAmp is because it has some great plug-ins. Especially it opens up the opportunity to let you enjoy one of the best sounding plug-ins. This is a professional VST Tube Preamp plugin.

     WinAmp to VST bridge plugin
    Before you can use the professional VST Tube Preamp plugin you need to install a bridge from WinAmp to VST.
    CLICK HERE to download the VST WinAmp plugin.
    Store the VST bridge plugin here (or something simelar): C:\Program files\Winamp\Plugins

     VST Tube Preamp plugin
    CLICK HERE to download the VST Tube Preamp plugin.
    Create a new folder for example under C:\Program files\Winamp\Plugins and name it VST plugins. Then store it there and unzip it.

    How to use the professional Tube Preamp plugin
    After you have installed WinAmp, then click OPTIONS, PREFERENCES and then select DSP/EFFECTS.
    Then enable the WinAmp VST bridge.
    Restart WinAmp and then load the VST Tube Preamp plugin from the folder where you have stored it.
    Now you may for example select EVEN ORDERS ONLY (our favorite).
    You may also select for example WARM or EVEN ORDERS or you may turn the knobs of the Tube Preamp to fine-tune the sound.
    Enjoy :-)

Video playback

k-lite codec pack
CLICK HERE to download a DVD player with all the video codecs you can imagine. With this media player you are able to playback AC3 and even DTS audio. Especially the FFDshow filter is almost impossible to live without (when you have seen the result).
Media Player Classic is free of commercials and can be setup to playback all types of video formats. It is possible to fine-tune the picture quality for great performance.

VideoLan is for you who would like to stream video all over the house
CLICK HERE to download the DVD player with video codecs to all most used platforms, from Windows, Linux and MacOS. The software is free of commercials and may fulfil all dreams regarding wireless video streaming. It supports both the client and the server tasks.

Cool to know

Accurate Rip
CLICK HERE and read why ripped CD's stored on a PC's harddisc sounds much better than ordinary audio CD's.

Acoustic Reality takes no responsibility of the content you may find and download from other websites.