Stereo Tool

Yes, we do !
I have just found Beta 045 (DSP and VST for me)

In advance I have already created a few additional Beta download URLs for all Stereo Tool future versions (v6.20, v7.xy, v8.xy, v9.xy , ..... completeley !)
So, Hans hurry up !

A big declipper improvement is coming up. I *finally* found a bug in the reconstruction code that caused some issues which in turn disabled using ALL the data that's available for reconstruction. That is now more or less fixed (at least greatly improved), which has the following effects:
- Spikes in the wrong direction (closer to 0 than the original, clipped signal) no longer occur!
- Better clipping 'bass rumbling' removal
- Better dynamics reconstruction
- Reduced pre-ringing
- Less effect on samples that are incorrectly marked as 'clipped'

Especially the latter is very important.

BETA046: (since Michi already noticed the 045 )
- Declipper improvement (see previous post)
There's also a new slider added which can be used to lower the CPU load (causes more low frequency distortion in the highs), or increase it and restore unpredictable highs ("S" sounds) a bit better: Step size reduction. (Higher is better, but the CPU load increases rapidly at the top).

From the previous beta (still valid):
The CPU load is also pretty high because I'm calculating 32 different tilt levels to find the best match (so automatic tilt detection works, but it needs serious optimization).

New slider: "Declipping margin" - if you set this to 75%, everything above 75% of the maximum level is considered to be potentially clipped.

Changed slider: "Never consider samples to be clipped if they are lower than:" - rule out soft sounds, whatever they look like, they are not clipped.


Winamp DSP plugin: http://www.stereotool.com/download/dsp_ ... 20-046.exe
Stand alone version: http://www.stereotool.com/download/ster ... 20-046.exe
VST version: http://www.stereotool.com/download/vst_ ... 20-046.dll
VST version (No SSE2): http://www.stereotool.com/download/vst_ ... 20-046.dll
Command line version: http://www.stereotool.com/download/ster ... 20-046.exe
Linux command line version: http://www.stereotool.com/download/ster ... ETA620-046 NOT AVAILABLE
Linux GUI version: http://www.stereotool.com/download/ster ... ETA620-046 NOT AVAILABLE

TODO:
- Fix loading changed multiband frequencies
- Add buffer and filter for SCA output (SCA1 ok, SCA2 ok)
- Finish AGC improvement - make mono value configurable (replace checkbox by slider) 1 hour --> NO, not needed - anything else needed? -> NO
- Fix Punch
- Check what to do with new filters (such as bass AGC) - keep them, remove them, change them? --> KEEP
- Save new BASS_AGC setting in VST mode
- Loudness: Annoying cracking sound in bass. Slightly present in 5.00, worse in 6.00, maybe even worse in 6.10. Only when bass is too loud. Much worse than in Final Limiter (at same input level!) - so this clearly indicates a bug. Most likely cause: The filter that was added to remove bass artifacts....... - No, it's the louder bass. But it can be fixed by changing some settings. Default settings updated, and behavior for 'not Very strict' improved. Also Deep bass boost and Very deep bass protection are enabled for latency 512 now.
- Fix crash at program close
- Fix VST plugin version (does not run)
- Dynamically drop 'Allow louder highs, even if it causes vibrations' to 0 when bass filter suspects noticeable voice vibrations. 1-2 hours
- Reduce Loudness CPU load days?
- Check and remove static variables
- Finish new de-essing filter (check what to do with the settings, remove at least some!) 1 day
- Convert Multiband input to MONO, then use arrays [2][4096] --> should give speedup. - FAILED
- RDS issue reported here: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=3703&p=11524#p11524
- Always oversample clipping (configurable)
- Declipping filter: Change detection at lower input levels.
- Finish declipping filter (clipping level detection + level reduction in dB). 1. Figure out why removal of unwanted frequencies causes flat lines at high quality setting with small overlap. This causes distortion, with this fixed repairs are MUCH better. 2. Implement MP3 correction, automatically scale down when this deteriorates the sound.
- Update presets? (BASS_AGC etc.) 1 day
- Finish blind interface
- Add AGC start level
- "Test Right Channel" in "FM Transmitter Calibration" does not work since v6.10 (standalone) (bojcha)
- Channels L/R swap in stand alone version when changing filtering/quality (?) (eldoradofm)
- Move pre-emphasis to end of processing 1 day
- Change version number 1 hour
- Release 1 hour
- Add lowpass filter for stereo signal (will cause a lot of extra latency!) - it might be possible to avoid this latency using a Hilbert transform
- Add smarter clipping detection. Maybe something much simpler suffices: Current clipping detection with threshold + flat line detection

Darker background for "waveform display" - Black ?

Is that a request?

Just small proposal/suggestion. I think it will be better to see waveform color(s).

Ok... In the mean time: Just did a check and - as I thought - the highs are not being processed properly by the Natural Dynamics filter. It's a configuration issue (the current settings expect all frequencies to be equally loud, which of course isn't the case).

Should be easy to fix...


Edit: Building update.

Btw... I saw this for Dynamic Booster in some of previous betas. Actually boosting is only on "one side". I stll did not check latest beta (046).

Just a short think:

Would it be possible to make ST compatible for an Android system? I dont know if the ~1 Ghz CPU on a mobile device could deliver enough power to run ST, or maybe a smaller version without declipper and fm output, or if you even have the ability to compile it for that mobile CPU´s... What do u mean Hans?

I added a vac soundcard and now when i open stereo tool stand alone i see no soundcard selected.
When i select one from the drop down list stereo tool hangs.
Maybe it's better to check if the sound card still exists on startup or something like that?
When i force quited the application and reopened it works ok.