This utility has greatly improved my MP3's playback quality. It's a program called DFX 2.0, offered by the fine folks at Power Technology (www.fxsound.com). This program runs in the background when launched and automatically improves the quality of many audio formats, including the RealNetworks format, the Windows Streaming Media format, and everyone's favorite: MP3.

I was dubious at the claim of a 1.6MB download majorly improving the quality of audio playback. A friend had directed me to the program and I decided to give it a spin. After picking from various preconfigured settings (MP3 Enhancer: standard, hi volume, and no ambience, and many more), I loaded up Winamp and was taken by surprise. The program had added much depth and richness to the sound from my speakers. However, I thought at first there was too much ambience but it was quickly remedied by adjusting the ambience knob in the program.

How does it work? A quick cut-and-paste from the help section of DFX 2.0:

"DFX enhances Internet oriented audio listening experiences by correcting for the sonic limitations of all the popular data compressed Internet audio formats. Data compressed audio suffers from two major problems: loss of high frequency fidelity and loss of stereo separation and depth."

Using various tricks to manipulate the audio signal, DFX 2.0 manages somehow to jack up the audio quality by many notches. Not convinced? In the free demo version, when a button labeled "Demo" is clicked, all DFX's effects are cut off and suddenly the audio becomes boringly mundane. Gone are the crisp highs, the subtle echo which adds depth, and the volume boost without distortion from lower-powered speakers. Of course, I don't run the program like this for long, only to demonstrate DFX for my unbelieving friends.

Do your ears a favor and quickly snap up this valuable 1.6MB download. The demo version is free, but the registered version is only $20. Maybe I haven't convinced you yet, but I invite you to download DFX 2.0 and click the demo button. The only other time you'll click that button will also be for your unbelieving friends.




Recommended: Yes