Stereo Tool

Stereo Tool 10.50 is released!

Due to some weird CMS issue I'm unable to change the version numbers on the site, but all software versions have been updated.

Changes:

• Advanced Clipper: Improved highs clipping: Sounds cleaner, and with more highs at the same time (redesigned Dirty, Airy and Sparkling Highs).
• Adaptive Compressor: Improved Peak mode loud burst response.
• AM: Added AM Brilliance filter, makes AM sound much brighter.
• Streaming: Added more streaming outputs; now up to 8 separate streams can be encoded simultaneously.
• GUI: Menu can now be shown in the top bar instead. Looks much less crowded.
• GUI: Added last time stamp display to error messages.
• GUI: VST: Display active sample rate in VST plugin.
• Web interface: Added support for error/warning/question popups.
• Streaming: When sending Artist and Title, we can now automatically also send Song; some streaming hosts don't support Artist/Title.
• Multiband compressors: Increased Stop Threshold slider maximum values for non-Adaptive mode, and maximum is no longer "off".
• ARM builds: Stereo Tool and MicroMPX now have limited login system.
• Added Highs Brilliance, makes it possible to generate fake highs, could be useful for people with hearing difficulties.
• Added Unicode support.
• Bug fix: macOS: GUI memory leak solved, could cause issues after running for multiple days.
• Bug fix: macOS: Streaming: Didn't work on macOS due to rights/signing issue.
• Bug fix: STXtreme and PiMP/STAMP entering license key broke in 10.40.
• Bug fix: Web interface: Downloading presets didn't work since version 10.40.
• Bug fix: Tilt correction mask was calculated using the first latency setting after startup, and never updated.
• Bug fix: Loading only a single Processing filter could reset other things, such as multiband frequencies.
• Bug fix: VST: Detection failed in some hosts because of exceptions. This may solve some VST issues.
• Bug fix: Streaming: Dynamically loading libraries from DSP plugin never worked properly. Fixed streaming from many DSP hosts.
• Bug fix: Translations: Fixed infinite loop which could make everything extremely slow.
• Bug fix: GUI: Linux version could crash when changing font size.
• Bug fix: GUI: Password protection didn't work in native GUI for non-Enterprise builds.
• Bug fix: GUI: Some error popups were snoozed too quickly if they happened multiple times.
• Bug fix: GUI: GPS used wrong icon in native GUI.
• Bug fix: GUI: MicroMPX settings shown as enabled if FM was on, but stereo and RDS both off.
• Bug fix: MicroMPX decoder: Multicast request was only done on startup, which could fail. Now on all network changes.
• Bug fix: MicroMPX: Upon first start, the web interface showed unused inputs/outputs.
• Bug fix: Raspberry Pi image: IQaudio sound card support didn't work.
• Console version: Converted to modern presets.
• Removed ABE-specific build; now fully integrated in normal builds.
• Fully removed old presets from before version 10.00; automatic build tests now use the new presets.
• Code change: Web interface server code cleaned up.
• Updated presets.
• STXtreme: Improved calculation of which CPU cores to use, this makes it use the hardware more efficiently.
• STXtreme: Added buffer size adjustments for running multiple stations. Now up to 4 FM signals can be generated. Maybe even 5 (to be tested).
• STXtreme: Added loopback I/O board self-test with auto-reboots for station with power stability issues.
• STXtreme: Web interface: Added warning for too low latency if it's manually set lower than recommended.
• MicroMPX: Added average and total bitrate displays to web interface.
• MicroMPX: Built-in encoder in Stereo Tool thought it was still receiving stereo data with stereo encoding disabled.
• MicroMPX: Reduced logging/tracing context from 512 to 128 lines to make log files much smaller.
• MicroMPX Encoder: Bug fix: Removing a line in the encoder settings didn't disable it.
• MicroMPX Decoder: Added multiple priority levels (4 now, we can add more if needed).
• MicroMPX Decoder: Added ability to remove RDS completely. Not recommended; this will lead to bad peak protection!
• MicroMPX Decoder: Added UECP support: Partially working, web interface displays are only updated if any other setting is changed.
• MicroMPX AM Reprocessor: There was some audio above the LPF frequency since version 10.30. Filter is also cleaner and tighter than before.

Note: MicroMPX RIST support has not yet been released, we first need to verify that we are compatible with other vendors.

Hi Hans,

I went from 9.92 to 10.50 (on 9.92 it doesn't do it, same preset, same settings), I have an over buffer problem on out HD (see screen shoot), I solved it using only MME, but I don't like win drivers I also noticed an error on the gui in the threads & CPU section (see screen shoot) It would be useful, given the countless submenus, when multiple changes occur in the setting of a preset, that each change was visible to the eye....
For example, if I change in agc/dynamic attack-release/more dynamic attack-release setting/reduce fast movments & reduce slow movments , the entire logical tree structure of the names mentioned above (in the agc page in this case) would be highlighted in another color (yellow text).
I have a request for you, I think it's important for many users now that the streaming section is complete, add SHOUTCAST 2 server.


Best Regards
Luca

another display bug in phase rotator, when you activate the filter, very high waveform.

There are a few known issues with version 10.50:

• Some GUI elements have no names. I think the thing that NRG reported is an example of this. This has been fixed on our end.
• Multi-instance web interface doesn't work well. Instance 1 is fine, but for subsequent instances, the preset list isn't properly filled. For both multi-instance builds, we've reverted the downloads on the site to 10.41; we're working on a fix, expected by the end of this week.
• libxkbcommon dependency in the Linux build. There has been a version of our SD card image that came without libxkbcommon installed. Probably fixed, I'll run a test build tonight.

The multi-instance web interface fix is quite risky so this will require a lot of testing, both on our end and hopefully also from beta testers.

@NRG: I don't see the issue with phases here. Can you send me your settings? Hopefully it will reproduce if I have the same settings here.

ShoutCast 2 is on our list of things to look at, it's not trivial to add.

Highlighting the whole tree structure: Not sure, is that a good idea? You triggered a discussion on our Discord server by the way, but the question is how to do this without making everything look really messy.

Hi Hans,

it's not a criticism of the structure or that there are too many parameters, on the contrary it's right that we can experiment as much as possible, the problem is that if you vary more than one parameter before finding it it takes a while, I think that highlighting the text of the structure where the change occurred is useful to quickly find the modified parameter....then you choose what seems most appropriate to you.....it's just an idea.

ps. where can I see this discussion on discord?

I sent you the preset in PM.

Best

I have from time to time the effect, that the ITU412 Limiter ducks for a split seconds and instantly comes back to the original level. You can hear this in the audio as the sound is shortly very attenuated.
I could not find a regularity for that. The Input Audio is ok and leveled @ -23 LUFS.
Any Ideas?

That can happen if the output level would go over 0 dB. But, there's a headroom to avoid this. The default setting for that headroom is 0.15 dB. Can you check if you still have it at 0.15, and not less than that?

Indeed, it was 0dB, I switched back to -0,15dB. Thanks!