Stereo Tool

Stereo Tool 5.00 is available on the download page!

Changes w.r.t. version 4.22:
# Completely redesigned the processing pipeline to reduce the maximum latency from over 1.5 seconds to at most 0.1 second, with a better sound quality.
# Made latency configurable in 4 steps: 512 (ca. 13 ms), 1024 (25 ms), 2048 (47 ms) or 4096 (93 ms, best quality) samples.
# Reduced CPU usage by more than 50%.
# Replaced 3 quality modes (LO, MID, HI) by a continuous slider.
# Reduced memory usage by 17 MB.
# Replaced Pre Limiter by an RMS-based 1 or 2-band AGC, which controls the volume much better.
# Added a Bass Boost filter.
# Added Phase Rotation filter that greatly improves the sound quality of many difficult sounds (trumpets, female voices) when loud output levels are required.
# Added a filter that removes any pre-ringing (weird sounds before a sound burst) which was present in older Stereo Tool versions.
# Improved the Multiband clippers audio quality: Multiband clipping sound much cleaner now.
# Removed "Trumpet sound filter" from earlier versions that was intended to improve the quality of certain sounds, but also caused a lot of side effects (no longer needed due to the new phase rotation filter).
# Removed Multiband HQ mode (no longer needed).
# Made main window resizable and maximizable.
# Bug: No 2 Stereo Tool instances can be loaded in a VST engine based using the same Stereo Tool DLL file. A popup now displays this message and gives a workaround.
# Presets updated (now using Bass Boost and Phase Rotation where appropriate) or added.
# RDS without stereo no longer generates a 19 kHz pilot tone.
# In case of FM output, "normal output" is closer to the FM sound, and the FM sound is clipped better before 'FM Overdrive' - using FM Overdrive now leads to a 3% louder output signal than before with better quality.
# Input and output volume meters blink in red to indicate clipping if the maximum volume is reached (input) or surpassed (output).
# Improved performance of waveform and MPX display.
# Improved dithering (final step in processing): If audio is not changed, dithering doesn't change the sound anymore.
# Bug fix: VST version now allows opening multiple instances of Stereo Tool (earlier versions crashed).
# Bug fix: Hangups when playing .WAV or lossless files in Winamp.
# Added warnings about sound quality when latency is reduced or FM pre-emphasis is enabled.
# "Configure Audio and Display" button blinks when audio is being removed due to the "Clear buffer if no data arrives for" setting.
# Waveform display indicates Bypass mode.
# Improved looks of tray icon.

Congrats!

Hans and Bojcha, great job! Many thanks and cheers

finally we have version 5.00 nice one hans!!

Most important:
If Hans changes the big numbers, it is always worth it.
This is not version 4.4, 4.5, 4.6, 4.7, 4.8 or 4.9.

This is indeed a 5.0 version !

It seems to me that Hans' days have more than 24 hours !?

The release gives me the opportunity to release a very interesting preset for version 5.

Maybe tomorrow.

Please, be patient.

Is it possible to include auto triggering for your oscilloscopes? And then sync them like the breakaway oscilloscopes?

Hi Eldorado,

What do you mean by that? And what do you want to achieve?

1.
When i send a sine tone through the processing chain, i can see the sine tone on your oscilloscopes. But because it isn't triggered it doesn't stand still. When it is triggered it's nicer to look at it and you can see distortion more easy. And by syncing them together i mean that the input and output are in sync. So you compensate for the processing delay for the meters. The most beautiful is when you can actually see the music you hear in sync with the meters. Maybe you can take a look at the breakaway programs to see what i mean.

2.
I thought when i select keep composite MPX signal within limits it always stays within the limits. But if i put hard limit off or when i slide post amp above 1.00 it gets over the limits. But when i set the composite limiter to 101% or higher it is kept within limits as far as i can see. Is this a bug?

Clear.
That's already the case: Input and output show exactly the same 'moment in time' of the audio.
For the Winamp plugin I did that - it is synchronized to the audio. (But you might need to configure the Winamp delay if it's not the default delay of 2 seconds). In the Stand Alone version, if I recall correctly, the display is shown as soon as possible - if you're using ASIO with small buffer sizes that means that there's nearly no shift in time.

This is not a bug, but it might need some clarification. This filter is turned on when you set the value over 101% - otherwise it's turned off. The intention is that you supply a 'good' (limited) signal to broadcast. Then, to increase the output level further, you can use composite limiting to boost the audio signal by a few percent without touching the pilot tone or RDS signal.

Note: Even though the signal will stay in range without Hard Limit etc., you should turn Hard Limit on anyway because the MPX limiter cannot handle loud peaks very well - it causes artifacts and noise at frequencies where there should be no signal (for example, a mono signal will cause noise in the stereo range, causing weird effects on receivers). It's intended and it has been calibrated to be able to handle peaks of a few percent, not more than that.

Indeed.

You have a reached such a high quality level of audio processing
(now plus the new very low latency in Stereo Tool 5), it is fantastic.

But the Stereo Tool GUI - especially the odd oscilloscope animation
and the still present flickering moving up and down the preset menu -
does not stand comparison to Breakaway's smooth GUIs and especially
their oscilloscope animation.

Obvious:
Leif is an expert on graphics programming,
but you Hans, you are an expert on audio programming.