Stereo Tool

The Loudness "deep bass protection" filter is now working in low latency mode, delay = 2.9 ms. (Same download as before).

It doesn't do much yet - Low Latency Loudness itself sounds pretty bad. But I've tried this new low latency version with everything else set to normal latency, and it seems to work even better than the normal latency version (!). So I might replace that with this new filter...

The funny thing is, this new filter is phase linear as long as the bass sounds are soft, but the louder they get the less phase linear it is. Which might actually be a good thing, based on what I hear.

I've just uploaded a new version where the Loudness-filter also has a much lower latency than before. It sounds a bit worse than normal Low Quality mode, but not much. And the total processing latency is about 40 ms. (So you should be able to get it to run with a total latency < 50 ms).

Unfortunately, the CPU load is very high - higher than the non-low latency mode. I'll see if I can get away with reducing some settings a bit - if now I'll have to increase the latency.


When testing (see below why):
- Set QUALITY to LOW (LQ)
- Set Multiband clipping OFF
- Set Multiband "limit output" to 100%
- Turn Pre Limiter "remove remaining peaks" OFF.

The following bugs are currently present (there may be more):
- HARD LIMIT DOES NOT WORK IN HQ MODE and returns SILENCE!
- Loudness seems to work better in Low Latency in LQ mode than HQ or MID mode. So for now, set it to LQ mode.
- Certain filters swap the channels and cause a time shift between the channels. So stereo sounds may sound really weird.
- Multiband clipping sounds really bad. I'll see if I can fix it without increasing the latency too much, otherwise I might disable it. For now, don't use it.
- Certain filters sound really bad if they are turned off and then on again. Probably same problem as before, will look into it.
- Bass rumble present for certain difficult sounds.
The existing bugs from the previous version are still there:
- Multiband "limit output" below 100% causes horrible distortion
- So does Dualband "remove remaining peaks", which also makes the sound far less punchy.

Hi Jans,
Today finaly another Julia is in my hands.
So i started tests again. For now i'll keep on one thing i noticed in latest beta.
In LowLatency mode NoiseGate is not working same on L and R channel.

Left Channel works good .. but on right channel there is still some noise.

...

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control point2

That's odd - but I know there are more left/right issues in the low latency version - I guess this is another one.


In the mean time, I've rewritten the entire Loudness processing chain, and now the latency is MUCH lower than before. There are still some sound quality issues that I need to look into, especially when loud bass sounds are present. And the CPU load is 21% higher than in version 4.22. When the bass sound problem is solved (I first need to find out what's causing it, I'm actually kinda lost at the moment) I'll see how far I can lower the CPU load without getting quality effects.

The whole idea is that this new Loudness processing will _completely_ replace the one in version 4.22 and before. So the non-Low Latency version will also use this new processing! That is, if I can fix the sound quality and CPU load issues.

Different link than before because this version still is a bit crappy:

Winamp DSP plugin: http://www.stereotool.com/download/dsp_ ... _BETA2.exe
Stand alone version: http://www.stereotool.com/download/ster ... _BETA2.exe
Command line: http://www.stereotool.com/download/ster ... _BETA2.exe CRASHES
VST version: http://www.stereotool.com/download/vst_ ... _BETA2.dll

Bugs:
- HQ/Mid Loudness does NOT work properly in Low Latency mode (!). I need to look into this, I only posted this version to get feedback on the sound quality. LQ Loudness should work fine in Low Latency mode.

Loudness latency (regardless of any settings) is now 35 ms. I can make it lower, but that will cost more processing power (the LQ mode doesn't use that much though, and the quality is very close to that of Mid/HQ, especially when using the low latency processing), or I need to reduce the quality settings.

The bass problem seems to be a bug. Which is good news - if it wasn't a bug it could be a fundamental problem in the low latency processing, but as it seems it's not.

I haven't found it yet, but I will...

Ok, now the bass problem is gone but instead I have very bad peak control - will keep looking

New BETA2 online. Sound is really close to that of version 4.22 now - in some aspects it's even (clearly) better (more punchy, less ringing in the highs).

Hi Hans,
LowPass filter is realy bad with LL .. for MPX output unuseble...
To test all (with mpx output) i need to have good lowpass! Even with Normal L/R output lowpass have some strange harmonics.
Another problem i non-stop crashing when i am switching lowlatency On and Off... anyway

- i can't see but i think "remove remaining peeks" in pre limiter not working with LL (?)
- Final Limiter is good
- Loudness: without LL, BASS starts to work normaly from 2.20x and up,
- Loudness vs LL: Not working if Final limiter is not enabled (!?) so i turn it on, and i have feeling that Loudnss in LL is working Much better then erlier (v4.22) .. mostly i am listening bass...

LL= Low Latency

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control point
control point2

Ok, I'll convert the lowpass filters to the same mechanism I used for Loudness, that way it should be equal in quality to version 4.22 with normal latency.
Didn't know about that - will check it.
True. What do you mean by this? Does it differ from before (v4.22)?
It should be almost equal to non-low latency processing in version 4.22...

Standalone testing..

Reset > LL OFF, HQ ON,
Loudness not working 0x-2.20x... after 2.21x-4.00x starts to work normaly!
Yes, differ from before (v4.22)
i just check winamp plugin ... same!
Good is that Loudnws in lowlatency works very good.
Both Loudness and Final limiter meters not working.

edit:
btw.. there are "two modes" for loudness ? one for 0-2.20 and second for 2.20-4.00 ? right ?

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control point
control point2