Stereo Tool

Oh, I should have made that clearer: on modern content, which have already a lot of highs, I don't hear much of a difference. On older music, which doesn't have much highs, 160 Bands sounds smoother and less "ringing-like".

After several extensive tests with the beta 15 me a few little things are only noticed:

If there are extensive high hats, which rise in the spectrum of the loudness ago, then the transition between the original and the reproduction is very hard. This can sometimes be easy 3 db. Have you a solution for this? Can you on the basis of existing data reveal how the energies are distributed in the spectrum?

All in all, sounds the Beta 15 fantastic!

The risk when fixing this is that it starts to sound unnaturally (but I can try).

I have worked on optimizing the code today, new version is building now. CPU load is reduced a lot (I will know how much when the DSP build is finished). Also using less bands now.

Edit: Wooh! Factor 10 down!
Edit: Hm, it crashes sometimes when I change the settings. Except for that it seems ok.

7.85 BETA017

Windows 32 bit:
Windows stand alone: http://www.stereotool.com/download/ster ... 85-017.exe
Winamp DSP: http://www.stereotool.com/download/dsp_ ... 85-017.exe
Windows VST 32 bit: ----://www.stereotool.com/download/vst_stereo_ ... 85-017.dll

CHANGED:
- Improved Exciter performance Note: Crashes when you change settings, I will fix that.
- Exciter: Smooth curve to avoid ringing (which is now filtered out by later steps, but that's bad).
- Exciter: Add slider for Band Width
- Exciter: Add slider for Band Overlap
- Exciter: Add slider and checkbox (?) for Band Shape (half cosine, cosine, squared/square root)
- Added (not yet fully ok) Polar Stereo support for OIRT FM stations.

OLD CHANGES:
- Added option to switch between 1 and 160 bands for Exciter.
- Error (crash) on some systems should be solved
- Exciter generates more highs than the previous version (which generated too little). The amount of filtering is reduced though!
- Improved Exciter: Increased number of bands from 40 to 160. MP3-like artifacts AND distortion should be gone now.
- Exciter: Calculate target amplification levels for each bin using white (?) noise!
- Fixed some Exciter issues (which might have been the cause of errors that some people reported).
- Improved Exciter: Now using 40 bands instead of 1
- Show something in settings that have been changed (for example a dot next to the name of the setting).
- Add license check function: extern "C" bool stereoTool_IsLicenseValid(gStereoTool* st_instance);
- Added some filtering to make sound less 'sandy' (distorted).
- Exciter: Check why it sometimes boosts audio around 10 kHz (?) more than it should (Johnnie Cash) - protection filter appears not to work completely. Compare what happens without protection filter! -> Fixed (more or less)
- Added a soft of exciter (not an FM exciter but something that generates highs). I've placed it (for now) under True Bass, and it cannot be configured yet. Not really sure what to make of it yet, I think I like it but it does sound a bit "rough" sometimes. Note: It can cause pre- and post ringing at higher latency settings (I will fix that later, first want to get a bit of a feeling for what it does).
- Make scope skinnable
- Bug: i found one malfunction in the BS412 Section: If your switch off the FM Option and leave the BS412 Limiter in On-Position the Advanced Clipper only works in a reduced way: You can´t change the Clipper drive even if you pull the handle. The BS412 Limiter is greyed out instead so maybe someone doesn´t find the failure. If You switch the BS412 to off everything works fine again! Just a small detail, but maybe someone will have problems… -> I think I have fixed it (but there are a lot of different combinations of settings that can impact the result, I hope I haven't missed any). The next version shouldn't have this problem anymore, also, when BS412 is used I have now disabled the Advanced Clipper Drive slider.
I've been busy hiding a lot more deprecated features (if they are set to their default value). This should make the GUI a bit simpler. Stuff that's now hidden (still there and still functional if you really want to use it):
- "Bass AGC (Old)" panel
- "Classic Multiband Compressor" panel
- "Classic Singleband" panel
- "Pre-limiter" panel (in Advanced Clipper)
- "Leif's clipper efficiency modification" checkbox
- "Composite clipping Strictness (CPU)" checkbox
- Phase rotation: ""At start of processing" checkbox
- AGC "Compatibility & behavior" header
- All Singleband and Multiband "Compressor type" (Analog/Digital) pull-downs
- Multiband and Natural Dynamics "Compatibility mode (bad)" for Flat Frequency Response checkbox
- "Bass protection (Deprecated)" header in Advanced Clipper -> Bass
- "Highs gap protection: *" in Advanced Clipper -> Highs
- "Smooth slope" in Advanced Clipper -> Distortion
- "Upsampled highs clipping (useless)" in Advanced Clipper -> Distortion
- Stokkemask: "Force Stokkemask even if not using Composite Clipping (bad for audio)"
- BS412: ""De-basser non-ITU.1770 compatibility mode (bad)"
- Right clicking now restores default again, mid or double right clicking restores last loaded preset (or startup) value.
Bug: If you use FM and Normal output, with separately processed audio for streaming for Normal output, and for FM output enable pre-emphasis but *not* pre-emphasize output, then Normal output is not processed separately!
- What is the pink line in the BS412 display? Maybe remove it. http://i.imgur.com/70mWvqp.png -> Ah no, it's the adjustment of the compressor thresholds. Needs to be added to Help page.
- BS412 has VERY narrow jump on de-basser from 240 to 250 Hz. (Jump of multiple dB's). -> No, brown line jumps but actual output is smooth, so no problem.
- BS412 bass filter doesn't use ITU1770 as it should but some weird other shape that goes up to about 250 Hz.
- Need to support 2 default values and a RESET TO LAST LOADED VALUE reset option.
- Hide not selected deprecated stuff - partially working!
- Move Copyright stuff etc. also to command line version (maybe just copy it?)

TODO:
- Try "True Bass" for highs -> Probably make a version where different modes (with/without filtering, with better HPF) are tested. Maybe also with multiple bands?? To reduce generated distortion.
- Exciter: Check why lowest part (just above start) is too soft.
- Exciter: Fix pre-ringing problem in initial filter (?)
- Add Polar stereo viewtopic.php?f=16&t=6233&p=33031#p33031
- Continue with finding parameters to hide
- Try adding phase delay compensation
- O skin
- Show help in gui
- Blog post pre-processing
- Blog post MP3 and declipping

It seems the "Voice Protection" setting of the classic multiband produces distortions (especially with piano instruments). The same settings sounds clear with Stereotool 7.03.

Here is a download of an example piano track:
http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02928

The attached config produces distortions with 7.84, not with 7.03 - especially the loud part of the track beginning @ minute 3:16. The distortions dissappear when Voice Protection is set to zero.

7.85 BETA019

Windows 32 bit:
Windows stand alone: http://www.stereotool.com/download/ster ... 85-019.exe
Winamp DSP: http://www.stereotool.com/download/dsp_ ... 85-019.exe
Windows VST 32 bit: http://www.stereotool.com/download/vst_ ... 5-019A.dll

CHANGED:
- Exciter: Fix 'bump' in spectrum at start frequency.
- Exciter: Check why lowest part (just above start) is too soft.
- Exciter: Fix pre-ringing problem in initial filter (?)
- Exciter: Make it possible to bypass 4x oversampling
- Exciter: Make multi-threaded

Note: The Exciter can take a few seconds to start working when you enable it the first time. (Enable "Blocking" to skip the wait, but then the whole chain will halt for about 0.2-1 second).

OLD CHANGES:
- Improved Exciter performance Note: Crashes when you change settings, I will fix that.
- Exciter: Smooth curve to avoid ringing (which is now filtered out by later steps, but that's bad).
- Exciter: Add slider for Band Width
- Exciter: Add slider for Band Overlap
- Exciter: Add slider and checkbox (?) for Band Shape (half cosine, cosine, squared/square root)
- Added (not yet fully ok) Polar Stereo support for OIRT FM stations.
- Added option to switch between 1 and 160 bands for Exciter.
- Error (crash) on some systems should be solved
- Exciter generates more highs than the previous version (which generated too little). The amount of filtering is reduced though!
- Improved Exciter: Increased number of bands from 40 to 160. MP3-like artifacts AND distortion should be gone now.
- Exciter: Calculate target amplification levels for each bin using white (?) noise!
- Fixed some Exciter issues (which might have been the cause of errors that some people reported).
- Improved Exciter: Now using 40 bands instead of 1
- Show something in settings that have been changed (for example a dot next to the name of the setting).
- Add license check function: extern "C" bool stereoTool_IsLicenseValid(gStereoTool* st_instance);
- Added some filtering to make sound less 'sandy' (distorted).
- Exciter: Check why it sometimes boosts audio around 10 kHz (?) more than it should (Johnnie Cash) - protection filter appears not to work completely. Compare what happens without protection filter! -> Fixed (more or less)
- Added a soft of exciter (not an FM exciter but something that generates highs). I've placed it (for now) under True Bass, and it cannot be configured yet. Not really sure what to make of it yet, I think I like it but it does sound a bit "rough" sometimes. Note: It can cause pre- and post ringing at higher latency settings (I will fix that later, first want to get a bit of a feeling for what it does).
- Make scope skinnable
- Bug: i found one malfunction in the BS412 Section: If your switch off the FM Option and leave the BS412 Limiter in On-Position the Advanced Clipper only works in a reduced way: You can´t change the Clipper drive even if you pull the handle. The BS412 Limiter is greyed out instead so maybe someone doesn´t find the failure. If You switch the BS412 to off everything works fine again! Just a small detail, but maybe someone will have problems… -> I think I have fixed it (but there are a lot of different combinations of settings that can impact the result, I hope I haven't missed any). The next version shouldn't have this problem anymore, also, when BS412 is used I have now disabled the Advanced Clipper Drive slider.
I've been busy hiding a lot more deprecated features (if they are set to their default value). This should make the GUI a bit simpler. Stuff that's now hidden (still there and still functional if you really want to use it):
- "Bass AGC (Old)" panel
- "Classic Multiband Compressor" panel
- "Classic Singleband" panel
- "Pre-limiter" panel (in Advanced Clipper)
- "Leif's clipper efficiency modification" checkbox
- "Composite clipping Strictness (CPU)" checkbox
- Phase rotation: ""At start of processing" checkbox
- AGC "Compatibility & behavior" header
- All Singleband and Multiband "Compressor type" (Analog/Digital) pull-downs
- Multiband and Natural Dynamics "Compatibility mode (bad)" for Flat Frequency Response checkbox
- "Bass protection (Deprecated)" header in Advanced Clipper -> Bass
- "Highs gap protection: *" in Advanced Clipper -> Highs
- "Smooth slope" in Advanced Clipper -> Distortion
- "Upsampled highs clipping (useless)" in Advanced Clipper -> Distortion
- Stokkemask: "Force Stokkemask even if not using Composite Clipping (bad for audio)"
- BS412: ""De-basser non-ITU.1770 compatibility mode (bad)"
- Right clicking now restores default again, mid or double right clicking restores last loaded preset (or startup) value.
Bug: If you use FM and Normal output, with separately processed audio for streaming for Normal output, and for FM output enable pre-emphasis but *not* pre-emphasize output, then Normal output is not processed separately!
- What is the pink line in the BS412 display? Maybe remove it. http://i.imgur.com/70mWvqp.png -> Ah no, it's the adjustment of the compressor thresholds. Needs to be added to Help page.
- BS412 has VERY narrow jump on de-basser from 240 to 250 Hz. (Jump of multiple dB's). -> No, brown line jumps but actual output is smooth, so no problem.
- BS412 bass filter doesn't use ITU1770 as it should but some weird other shape that goes up to about 250 Hz.
- Need to support 2 default values and a RESET TO LAST LOADED VALUE reset option.
- Hide not selected deprecated stuff - partially working!
- Move Copyright stuff etc. also to command line version (maybe just copy it?)

TODO:
- MP3?
- Add Polar stereo viewtopic.php?f=16&t=6233&p=33031#p33031
- Continue with finding parameters to hide
- Try adding phase delay compensation
- O skin
- Show help in gui
- Blog post pre-processing
- Blog post MP3 and declipping

Unfortunately, there is for the latest betas no VST version.

Works fine for me: Click me hard.

Thanks a lot for your help! Unfortunately, you could not click the original link. Then I now test the new version.

Edit: I have now tried the new version. What struck me the following:

With the default settings I get absolutely no result. I get so 1 : 1 the original. Then I change the "band Size" on 1, then I get a result. I now Increase the "Band Distance", then I get at low values, for example, around 30 very strange effects. It sounds a bit hollow. As soon as I push, however, the band size is slightly higher than 1, then comes no longer a result. Incidentally, the result does not sound as clear as in the earlier versions. It all sounds very washed out. In spectrogram you see something like a slight echo. Looks like when you use a very fast flanger effect. All this refers to the use of 160 bands. The switch "block at Startup" seems to show with me no effect. But what's interesting in the rest: The percussion instruments are better completed. These include in particular the tambourine. That had never works.

What still stands out: Somehow now act the new data shifted. The newly generated signals are now coming earlier than the original in the deep areas. That looks kind of very funny. That struck me with the following settings: 160 bands, band size 1, band Distance 100%, block on startup true

There's a reason why there was no VST link!!! The build wasn't finished yet, so you've just tested some old version (not sure which one).

I'll run a build now so you can test it properly