Stereo Tool

Good news, was also a combination with small buffer size and Synchronization. But, at least around 300 was needed to get rid of the hiccups.

I think I'll put in a warning if the buffer size is < 300, and by default disable Sync in that situation. But make it possible to force it to attempt to sync anyway.

Hm, either that or try to fix Sync, because it shouldn't really cause this problem...

Thanks Hans Hiccups are now gone

Fix sync is the way to go i think.

tool should be low-quality stereo recording broadcast archive and It should also be streaming not wlc player normal player on the stereo tool

I just realized what's happening in Sync and it cannot be fixed - not completely anyway.

Problem is this:
- I read a block of samples from the input sound card
- When I have enough samples (2048 at 4096 latency mode), I call the function that processes a block of audio
- When that's done I output the result to the output sound card.

The number of samples that I read is 4096, or a multiple of that when using higher sample rates.

I've tried to lower this, but if I lower it below 2048, I get hiccups because the non-ASIO sound card driver in Windows wasn't made for lower latencies - it sends me an event which tells me that I need to give it a new buffer, and that happens so slowly that with smaller block sizes I get continuous hiccups (basically after every block) - and that's regardless of the buffer size. I'm not even 100% sure that 2048 is a safe value - if the CPU is busy it might still lead to problems. So my current idea is to set it to 2048 for buffer sizes < 0.4 seconds, and 4096 for bigger ones.

Ok, only stand alone version this time (DSP and VST builds failed, but stand alone is the most interesting one here anyway):

Stand alone: http://www.stereotool.com/download/ster ... 83-004.exe
DSP: http://www.stereotool.com/download/dsp_ ... 83-004.exe
VST: http://www.stereotool.com/download/vst_ ... 83-004.dll

Changes:
- Made WinMM block size half-as-big for buffer sizes < 400 ms
- Auto synchronization mode is OFF when any of the affected buffer sizes is < 250 ms
- Added Presets dropdown menu and Bypass in web interface top bar. No reset, load and save yet.
- Also redesigned some code for faster compiling (but it doesn't appear to help).

I expect the sound card behavior to be as-good-as or better than that of version 7.73. However, the smaller block size could potentially cause problems on some Windows versions (I don't know, but dividing it by 2 again makes the buffers run out for some reason). If this causes issues it would affect buffer sizes < 400 ms. If it does NOT cause issues, things should be better at those small buffer sizes. So, feedback is welcome!

Nice one!
No more hiccups from buffer size 90ms with sync on!
At lower sizes setting sync to off fixes everything!

Gr8!

I just added the DSP and VST plugins to the post above btw.

Btw can someone please elaborate a bit on the attack/release shape of the analog compressor. As far as I understand they're based on oil cooling. What do they mean? What setting means constant temperature (would the compressor then only act on attack/release time)? How do they affect the compressor (slow down/speed up/change behaviour, etc.)? What does the auto shape aim for (a specific shape/less pumping, etc.)?

Well first of all, the only one who realy knows is Hans of course
So he's realy the one who can best explain the analog mode.

I have some information on how it works:

As far as i know it's based on a pressure buffer tank in house warming installations.
What does it do ?

It keeps the pressure in the water system constant, if there is a sudden increase of preassure the pressure tank will buffer the sudden increase keeping the pressure in the system as constant as possible. If the pressure keeps on rising, the pressure tank allows the water pressure to rise but a a slow rate.
If there is a sudden drop in pressure, the buffer will release some of its storrage thus keeping the pressure constant as long as possible.
If the buffer is empty, the pressure will drop.

So translated to a compressor, you can adjust the buffer tank settings in order to keep the vollume of each band as constant as possible.
Sudden peaks will be absorbed in the buffer in order to keep the compressor reacting as smooth as possible.

This is how analog mode works in a nuttshell, and to my knowledge.

Please correct me I'm wrong Hans.

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