Stereo Tool

The new beta3 uses slightly more cpu (about 3-6%) compared with 4.22 here. I'm using an easy listening setting for Jazz (mid. quality, latency normal, no loudness)

Everything except for the generation of the MPX signal is done on a single core, so the CPU graph that you posted makes sense.

The big question now is: Is there a difference in quality between "Hi" and "Mid" in Normal latency mode? And is the sound - in both modes - indeed identical to the sound of v4.22? Because if so, I can move the current "Mid" quality to "Hi", and stretch things a bit further for "Mid" - and then the CPU load would be lower than in v4.22 for both settings...

First impression and to my ears of course:
v4.23 beta3 mid quality sounds better then v4.22 mid quality (loudness is off)
v4.23 beta3 mid and high quality sounds (almost) equal
v4.22 high quality sounds better then v4.23 beta3 mid and high quality

v4.23 beta3 sounds better than v4.22 with loudness on (Marino's Urban setting) and using mid quality (I couldn't test high quality, stutter da stutter

Normal mode:
v4.22 is still better with mpx output + beta3 is using more CPU .. i never use that much "mid" settings but it's an interensting option now because the quality it's very small between mid and high. But again beta3 in mid mode using les CPU amount as 4.22 in HI mode.... brbrbr ..

Low Latency:
I already said this .. i am very happy with quality ... but CPU usage can be problem .. really big on most CPUs

What is the difference that you hear between v4.23 BETA3 and v4.22, in High Quality mode (no Loudness)?

What I hear:
- Loud very deep bass sounds are handled better by v4.22 - but only if Loudness or Final Limiter is turned on... The difference between Medium and High quality in the BETA3 is pretty big. (So this can't be what you're hearing, otherwise it would sound much worse when using Medium quality mode in the BETA3).

I've also done some measurements based on your preset.

I cannot compare the output with Stereo Boost enabled because the processing is different in both versions - the difference between v4.22 and BETA3 with Stereo Boost enabled sounds really weird. To my ears, the output sounds the same - but maybe it doesn't...

If I turn "Stereo Boost" off, and take the difference between the output of v4.22 and BETA3, what I hear is a very soft sound that's nearly identical to the output of both versions, except that when loud bass pumps are present I hear a sound that sounds like "chwob". A frequency analysis shows a peak around 200-300 Hz, which seems to be caused by the BETA3 version. Having said that, this peak should be masked by other (much louder) sounds that are present around that frequency.

I did see that in BETA3, loud bass sounds around 55 Hz are coming out 0.8 dB louder than in version 4.22. As a result, the tops of those bass sounds look 'flatter' - and that means that the quality of the highs gets reduced a bit. But turning it down a bit does not remove the "chwob" sound.

Still, if I put one version on the left channel and the other on the right, and use headphones, I don't hear any difference between the two.


Could you check if the difference that you hear is gone when you disable "Stereo Boost"? And if not, can you try to describe what you hear (High quality mode, Normal latency)? Thanks...

I'll fix the MPX problem and upload a new version.

[Note: In the new version the "normal output" will not be limited correctly if FM output is also enabled. I'll fix that later - for now I'll just optimize the MPX output].


About the CPU load of the Low Latency version: I know... I have to fix the problems in the bass processing, if I can find a way to do that I can probably reduce the CPU load a lot.

Version with improved (same as in v4.22) FM Overdrive MPX signal uploaded.

On my second PC with AMD Athlon X2 5600+ overclocked to 3.36GHz and 2x1GB, No way that beta3 can work in normal mode (Hi), with mpx output, overdrive, loudness, etc.. + still i can't set 192kHz for input (vac)
Def.v4.22 works fine .. with 53-63% cpu usage.

LowLatency beta3... Loudnes off, mpx off, .. works but on the edge. Later i'll try on two PCs with Inel E5200 and E5300, and my e8400 (mpx)

That makes sense, for now use "Mid" quality instead... Difference should be very small, and the CPU load in Mid quality is only 2/3rds of Hi quality. (Eventually I'll make a slider where you can choose any in-between values).

I've just managed to improve the bass processing a bit, I still have to check how far I can stretch the settings before the bass starts to deteriorate. This might (should) help reducing the CPU load without hurting the sound. And *maybe* allow creating an even lower latency. Deep bass in Low Latency mode sounds slightly better than before now...

I also have a few ideas that will bring the CPU load down with no effect on the processing itself. But I don't know how big the effect will be.

(preset Marino’s Smoothie, Final Limiter off, Stereo Boost on) Version 4.22 sounds fresher and the lows have more punch. The sound is ‘wider’
Yep you’re right of course. Switch from mid to high doesn’t work well here. I need to reload Stereo Tool to let it work and now I hear a huge difference. Nicer highs and lows. Final Limiter doesn’t work in Beta3, I switched this feature off in v4.22.
With Stereo Boost off the sound difference is almost gone, that does the trick. But still …. v4.22 high quality, normal latency, smoothie preset with final limiter and stereo boost off got nicer lows (more punchy) and sounds a little better to my ears.