Stereo Tool

New in version 3.28:

- Slightly improved performance (6-10% more efficient than the previous version)
- Slightly improved sound quality (Final Limiter is more stable)
- Added Highpass filter to filter out very low frequencies (rumbling bass when playing from vinyl for example)
- Added VST plugin version.

Go to http://www.stereotool.com/download/ to download it.

Hi Hans

I ilke this version of stereotool(ST).

Since 3.22, as many other users i have noticed a high CPU load which led me to check things out and what I can do to solve this.

Here are some of the things I did:

1. changed the priority of SAM 3 and 4 to 10 from 13 as it installs with a prioroity of 13
2. also set the processor schedualing to background sinc emusic is processed in the background .. this along with setting the ASIO buffer for my ASIO driver(sound card) to 96


In either case SAM 3 or 4 i use 'kernal streaming' not all sound cards are able to use it BUT for those that do the audio is in direct control of the sound card and together with ST the audio particularly with 3.28 is awesomme.

My CPU load is ranging from 25.72% to 33.73% but that is also dependent upon the music played.

There still remains the issue of the loading of the settings (*.sts) which doesnt remain in the inobx box.

The 'closed wait ' state still remains after ST is loaded and remains until ST is shut down.

Hi Mapleleaf,

I've looked into the "closed wait" state thing, and it seems to be a known issue when a program uses WinInet functions to fetch a HTML page from within Windows services. Now Winamp and SAM aren't exactly services, but the problem might still be related.

To fix it would be a lot of work - is it causing any real problems (except that it's ugly)?

Note: From now on I'll do a performance measurement for every version I release, so I can keep track of any changes. If you don't mind a slight quality loss, turn off Multiband HQ mode and Post Filtering - that should make quite a big difference. (Consequences: Slightly reduced bass quality (especially when running at Low or Medium quality or with Low Latency enabled), and some "edges" may appear in the sound if aggressive multiband compression is used). If you don't need a very loud sound, set Loudness to 1.0, if you haven't already. That also makes a big difference - and it improves the sound quality.