Stereo Tool

Hi,
There is my preset: LUCIDITY FX4 Beta - What Do You Think Edition.
This is not volume war competitive preset! This is tuned for quality!

Final Version is in StereoTool 6.20 - Webradio - User Presets

I using it for normal listening and occasional webcasting my rokie station.
My way is different from many others. I tuning this profile for high dynamic and clarity. Target dynamic is DR8-9.
- Older songs (like Starship - We Built This City) are decently boosted to DR9-10.
- Modern clipped and compressed song (like Rammstein - pussy) are de-clipped and reduced volume to reach DR7-8.
- Recommended webcast bitrate is 192kbps MP3 or Vorbis at Q3 or higher.
- And little warning: Lucidity FX4 is CPU hungry.

I'm happy with sound which StereoTool 6.20 + LUCIDITY FX4 (beta) produces.
So... there is for everyone! Enjoy it!

And I will be happy when you advise me what to improve in future.

Pretty good. I like some things in here better than mine/Bojcha's... It seems to do well on most tracks, although I had to disable declipper...

One thing that's present in this that I ran into some time ago on my own is left channel artifacts / warble noise with Rolling Stones - Paint It Black. I got around it by lowering the stereo boost maximum amplification. 1.15 is about the max before I start significantly noticing it. It is possibly just my track of it though.

Paint It Black is also the track I like to use to check for screaming vocals...and yours didn't hurt my ears...

Beyond that, maybe a bit weak in the bass for hip-hop / rap, although since I turned declipper off, that may be the reason why. The sound I like though is generally heavier on bass...so, subjective evaluation...

Also maybe a touch weak in upper mids to low highs, but I'm not sure, and it may also be subjective. I like toms and snares with a bit more zing... Goes along with the whole emphasis on percussion...

Overall, very nice... Gives me some ideas to work on...

Nice! downloaded over 20 times after 2 days + positive response. I did not expect. So, future versions I will upload to the forum as well.

@Brian:
Thanks for your reply.

- I tested the song Paint it Black but I haven't noticed any artifacts. It is old song with a minimum stereo effect: http://www.abload.de/img/0-rolingstonesfuyh.png ... or I not know what to imagine warble noise (I know... my english is bad )

- From my experience, DeClipper has minimal impact on most songs, but just at hip-hop its effect is often audible. For example, here (Jay-Z - Empire State of Mind): http://www.abload.de/img/0-hip-hopkuon.png
On the other hand, DeCplipper kills demoscene music and Gabber ... in these genres must always be turned off! For the hip-hop and similar vice versa.


Plans for future versions:
- Add more Bass
- Tuning of mid to high frequencies, plus better clarity ...
- Control of Stereo-Boost - really makes my settings artifacts?
- Tuning de-Clipper, perhaps deactivation at default - its effect is minimal on most songs.
- If in the future Hanz adds function Undo / De-processing will be included in the Lucidity FX - the effect could be better than De-clipper because most of the songs just are not clipped, but are mostly heavily compressed.

The question is: do we really have the same song (technically) ?
I guess different remastered versions of this prominent song exist, so maybe we compare apples and oranges.

Besides I like your preset, too.
Especially with speakers it is good (dynamic and open).
Using headphones I agree with Brian that it lacks a little bit bass punch.
And maybe it is not the best choice if you have very heterogeneous playlists (like me).
For example something like "Sophie Ellis Bextor - Murder On The Dancefloor" and then "New Order - True Faith" the loudness difference is noticeable.

But it is for sure a good base for (re-)mastering tasks (using Stereo Tool VST version in combination with other VST plug-ins).

Now, I testing new version with little more bass, but I don't think there was not enough bass. Maybe I have over-bassed headphones (Sennheiser HD485 + Beyerdynamic DT770. Both headphones play bass well and strongly - Beyers more better ) Maybe it also depends on the genre.

I upload it as soon as passes all of my test songs without easy audible problems.

And thanks for reaction.

EDIT:
Hey... I tried a song Inna - Déja-Vu... Original version is realy ugly... Try it with LucidityFX!!!

Version with little more bass sounds good (especially on Inna ), but there is a loss 1dB (TT DR Meter).

Here is new version with little more bass. But I do not think it plays better ... for me the bass levels is too high.
But I look forward to your opinions.

What are your bass/treble settings in your sound card software? Mine are set to half on each (50/50). X-Fi Xtreme Gamer.

soundcard is: Auzentech Bravura 7.1 - with original OAMPs
With DT770 (90% usage) I using this setting: http://www.abload.de/img/dt770q7iq.png = relative neutral. And with HD485 I boosting EQ bands 125 (1dB), 62 (3dB), 32Hz (4dB).
- no any other sound enhancement.

EDIT:
But... Okay... I now neutralize EQ, and tuning it Again!
New multiband tuning: http://www.abload.de/img/lfx4bb7iq.png - makes bass more punchy a deeper than my first uploaded version. It's maybe handle better with modern songs (Inna souids great!) and hip/hop style... but what old songs? I must test it.

Latest version.
- slight multiband tuning
- add 10% bass boost
- reduced loudnes to 0,25dB (for keep same avg. dynamics)

Now, I waiting for final release Stereo Tool 6.20.
Final version Lucidity FX4 is ready for release. Final version is overall better than WDYT edition!
Here's a sample test of the dynamics of some songs: http://h2.abload.de/img/lucidity_fx4_dynamicswb33.png
- It has better Bass and mid-Highs, but same or better dynamics!

- It just sound you'll love!