Stereo Tool

http://www.claessonedwards.com/forum/vi ... ?f=5&t=304

Test van stereotool vs Breakaway broadcast.. voor de freaks onder ons.

/Martijn

Thanks Martijn! The last time I compared Stereo Tool with BBP, BBP caused (a lot) more distortion, but the output signal was more stable. I have not yet performed a new test (will do so asap), but after reading this thread I have looked into my current processing again and I have already been able to improve the bass sounds (louder, more punchy and powerful) at high Loudness values. So I think it's time to start working on a new Stereo Tool release... Also, maybe distortion is regarded "less annoying" by people than a less stable sound, so I'll make that configurable.

By the way: I've read something about aliasing noise. Yup, Stereo Tool probably has a bit more of that - but this is a tradeoff between aliasing noise and latency. The noise level is FAR lower than any FM receiver will be able to reach, so making it better doesn't improve anything.

Great Hans!
I'm looking forward to a new release, it's been quiet too long here!

/Martijn

Yeah, well, I was a bit "empty" after releasing version 3.40. I had spent so much time on it that I just didn't want to see too much of my PC for a while... And on top of that, it's been extremely busy at my normal job.

Anyway, I've done some quick tests tonight and it looks like I can make the sound more punchy, less flat AND about 1 dB louder by replacing the multiband "limit output" filter, the final limiter and the final pre-limiter by a single much better filter that has far less effects on the sound. At least the idea seems to work, and both the bass and the highs are getting stronger. I'll just need to check if I'm not introducing other artifacts this way - and I have to implement it (and TRY to keep the CPU usage within limits).

sounds great Hans, looking forward to a new Beta!


/Martijn

VERY preliminary version:

Winamp DSP plugin: http://www.stereotool.com/download/dsp_ ... r_BETA.exe
Stand alone version: http://www.stereotool.com/download/ster ... r_BETA.exe

In short, the final (pre) limiter has been replaced by a filter that removes distortion, without lowering the volume. This way the dynamics are much better preserved. However, really loud peaks may still cause distortion. (This might be solved in a future version).

NOTES:
*** PRESETS HAVE NOT YET BEEN UPDATED *** so please read the following remarks before downloading or using this new version.

- This version contains a bug: If you move the Loudness setting from 1.00 to a higher value, the sound will get really bad. Restart Stereo Tool after doing this. The input and output sliders are not synchronized in this version.

- Final Limiter has been replaced by a single slider. Final Pre Limiter is gone. If you increase the value of the Final Limiter slider, you'll get (potentially) more distortion but higher output volumes. For preset "FM Loud", the value should be between 0.85 (same volume as the old version) and 1.00 (1 dB louder than before, but more distorted). For other presets, set Loudness to 1.00, and check that - most of the time - the output volume is lower than the maximum. (I will add an output bar for this later). Set it as high as possible while keeping the output below the maximum level MOST of the time. Or just use your ears...

- The Loudness filter produces a slightly more constant output volume, which means that the Hard Limit filter should have slightly less effect on the sound than before.

- The Loudness filter in this version uses LESS CPU power than previous versions, but the final limiter uses more (in total the CPU usage should be down by a few %). This may change before I have the final version ready.

- But, the new Final Limiter does not always produce a constant output level, so you will have to turn on Hard Limit even if you don't use Loudness.

It seems that the Loudness slider can be set to higher values than in the previous version without getting very annoying sounds.

Feedback on the sound is welcome!

Great Thx! Will test this evening.

/Martijn

Update with far less distortion is available now!

Hi Hans,

Tested the last version with less distotion and the 1st one, it's going allot louder now but i'm missing the bass in the less distortion version.. (or it could be my ears that are letting me down)

But my 1st listen was that the 1st version had more punchy bass.. I'm getting great results with it now.. Keep up the good work.. Also a small request: a bypass button in the main stereotool screen to switch to org and processed audio.

/Martijn

Ok, I'll look into the bass thing (I had noticed that there seemed to be a bit less bass in the 2nd version, but I hadn't really compared it yet to the first version). Anyway, I think I know how to make the bass more punchy again without getting (too much) distortion. So I'll try to do that.