Stereo Tool

SoundStar Iridium Flux | IDT DIGITAL BAND PROCESSOR 7+4

PREFACE: The signature French profile for trance, house and other flavours of EDM. Loud, punchy, bassy. Everything a dance club could want.

Development with ST9.7/9.9 was chosen to accommodate automation systems with older ST distribution support
(Azuracast, Jazler RadioStar) as well as familiarity with the old graphical layout and a lack of need for any newer features.

Please note that any modules omitted from the processing chain (such as Natural Dynamics) are intentionally left out to help
prevent extreme audible pumping, breathing and compression fluttering artefacts.

CURRENT VERSION: OLDER VERSIONS: CODENAME: SoundStar Iridium Flux
STATION: PulsRadio France
YEAR: 2024
STATUS: Active (as of 2024)
MODEL: IDT DBP 7+4
FORMAT: Electronic Dance Music
COMP RANGE: ~15dBFS
COMP BANDS: 7/4
EQ RANGE: 30Hz - 20KHz
INPUT ALIGNMENT: 0dBFS@1KHz = -3dBFS (analog)/0dBFS (digital)
OUTPUT: 0dBFS, appx. -10 to -8LKFS (ITU BS.1770)
ST VERSION: 9.70+
ST MINIMUM LICENSE: Basic + Advanced Dynamics
PROCESSES: Noise Gate, Phase Rotator, Auto EQ, Current AGC, Stereo Boost + ACR Stereo, True Bass, Multiband 1 + Multiband 2, Legacy Bass Boost, Bass Clipper, Advanced Clipper

DESCRIPTION: The first aspect of this profile which a listener may notice is the bass overdrive. I'm unsure if it was intentional design on the part of IDT, or if it's the result of bad settings custom engineered by a member of the PulsRadio team, but either way the extreme phase delay and overdrive from 200Hz down does help to better translate sub-bass frequencies to smaller speakers. In addition the dense/heavy but smooth compression, along with stereo enhancing, brings out details, shine and reverb even at lower listening levels. Despite the dense processing, a significant amount of punch is retained.

NOTES: This profile may not be precisely accurate, as the level of bass overdrive present in the hardware is not possible in Stereo Tool due to the floating-point precision DSP which allows near infinite headroom. I felt the level of bass distortion on the hardware was far beyond excessive anyway, so I pushed the level of overdrive as much as felt comfortable to me. Additionally the level of overall bass is a couple dB less than the hardware in order to push more loudness into the final clipper, as I felt the audio from the stream recordings I heard tended to sacrifice a higher-than-needed level of bass against competitive loudness. I created this preset by A/B comparing on-air samples to the processor.

The following tracks were used in the creation of this preset, and best exemplify the expected timbre and microdynamic behavior:
> Inna - Imagination
> Medina - You and I (Deadmau5 Remix)
> Above & Beyond pres. Oceanlab - Lonely Girl (Original Mix)
> Narcotic Thrust - When The Dawn Breaks
> Fred V, DNMO, Paul Dowling - Collide
> Paul van Dyk - For An Angel (Original Mix)
> Calvin Harris & Rag'n'Bone Man - Giant
> Above & Beyond ft. Richard Bedford - Sun and Moon
> Spencer And Hill - Back in the Love (Club Mix)
> Modjo - Lady
> Sam Feldt & Rosa Linn - Heart Like Mine (Extended Mix)
> Robin Schulz ft. Erika Sirola - Speechless
> Michael Gray - The Weekend
> Alexander Popov And Somnia - Breathe Again
> Semitoo x Marc Korn - Passion (Extended Mix)

I have briefly tested this on a modified CZE-05B FM transmitter, and it performs as expected with the standard European 50us pre-emphasis. I have included the Web Only version here, however.

I am interested in hearing feedback about potential issues, things that need changes, and maybe even listen to modified versions, if anyone decides to make any. Let me know what you think!

It seemed very good to me. I have a Web Radio, but I don't play any kind of songs that your preset is intended to be used for. I play classic songs, R&B, ballads, Slow Rock and Pop! It sounded great with the stuff I play, anyway. You could work on something more suitable for the kind of songs I play. Best regards! Just take a look at the AGC, I had to increase the drive for I get the message that it was not doing anything. Once I did that the message didn't come anymore.

Thank you for the feedback. I have an updated version of the DBP 7+4 profile I'll post at some point soon. However, I have not been able to replicate the warning message from the AGC. I am most definitely getting activity on the AGC meters. Do you have the input gain set to peak around 0dBFS? The AGC is meant to handle things very lightly, so your input level may not be reaching the target. That should be an adjustment under sound card inputs.

Anyways, as for the type of music you play, I have an older version of a profile I derived from a station which used a stack of analog CRL processors fed to a digital CRL processor. I've decided not to release the updated version to the public, but I will keep the older less-accurate version up. It still performs decently and may be more suitable for your style, as the station I modeled the profile after played mostly soft rock and classic hits.

Link to the CRL stack profile: https://forums.stereotool.com/viewtopic.php?t=23959

seanhargrave,

I think it’s amazing that you’ve brought up such a long-awaited topic—thank you so much for that! The preset has shown itself quite well, in my opinion, but it’s still not exactly like PulsRadio, probably because, as you mentioned, ST has its own peculiarities.

User Set also tried something very similar and demonstrated it in this example: https://www.youtube.com/@PVS-pvs. It sounds very, very decent as well, and quite close, I think!

Maybe you could team up with Set to perfect this idea? Let Set share their preset here for comparison—that would be incredibly interesting!

Thanks again, and we’re eagerly looking forward to what’s next!

Version 1.1

Fixed issues with phase delay, stereo enhancer, multiband 2 timings, post-eq

(Scroll up to original post for download)

Version 1.1 sound decent treble and mids highs are just a touch high drop them a little it your settings will sound amazing.

I am not fan of a lot of treble sound in music I keep it about 40% to 45% when you turn it up high you get wind blowing or a fan sound in the audio I do not like that.

_________________
Phat Beats Radio Playing the best Rap RnB Soul Funk Reggae Chillhop Acid Jazz Triphop Blues from the 70s to early 2000s streaming at 256kbps OGG over 170k tracks in the playlist

Version 1.16

Per request, lowered treble some and tested with transmitter to ensure competitive level retained. I will not lower the treble any more beyond this point as it will not match other processors on air.

Also fixed issues with AGC, Stereo Imager, Multiband 1, Multiband 2 and I think possibly Bass Clipper also.

(SCROLL TO FIRST POST FOR DOWNLOAD)

Version 1.28

Updates: Massive performance-improving fixes (mainly compression density and timings) between Multiband 1 and AGC.
Additional tweaks to Multiband 2, BassBoost, AutoEQ and Simple/Advanced Clipper

This may or may not be the final version. I am now approaching the point of diminishing returns with tweaks.

(SCROLL TO FIRST POST FOR DOWNLOAD)

To those who have been saying the "AGC does too little" message keeps popping up...

In the process of working on another profile, I'm having the message pop up occasionally despite the AGC performing as much as 12-15dB reduction. It appears ST simply does NOT like the AGC having a ratio under 4:1 for whatever reason.

Please click the checkbox "Don't show this message again" to make it go away.