Stereo Tool

Hi!

I use StereoTool for a streaming radiostation that streams tracked music (Old retrocomputer tunes) and I tested the preset called "Adaptive Bass Monster - Open". My first impression was that it had a tight and "beefy" sound. I like it until I noticed that in some parts of the some tunes the MB "swallowed" the treeble frequencies. Not sure why. I get the feeling that the MB somehow compresses the high frequencies harder at some times.

I haven't given up on the adaptive compressor, I just need to do more testing.

I'm also testing ABM-Open in v10.72 with RadioDJ. Sounding really good.

Under "processing overview", the "Legacy cleanup method" virtual button is active. I don't recall noticing it in older versions. Not sure I need it. I do have declipper in use as well as delossifier for the one or 2 lossy files in the music library, which is 99.9% FLAC, WAV or AIFF.

My 2 questions:

1. What is "Legacy cleanup method"?
2. Do I need that?

thanks!

I was under the impression that it had to do with cleaning up old settings, not cleaning up audio. I'll double-check with Hans.

edit: Ah, no. According to Bojcha, its off position enables a fix for multiband limiters. Some presets require this to sound as intended.

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NB: I'm not a professional, just a hobbyist, and as such I could be wrong. If so, please, somebody correct me.

[/quote] Thank you for looking into it. Appreciate the assist. I restored all ABM presets to all the original positions and backed off my input level to peak at or near -6db to allow headroom for declipper to do its thing. Using the Orban meters to monitor input from Axia Audio IP and output from the stream. Everything is sounding nice and clean.

No problem.

As far as the declipper needing headroom goes, it's all in 32-bit floating space before it starts getting processed. Meaning peaks well above 0db are allowed in the calculation. In fact, I believe the Declipper's default settings are tuned to perform best with an input peaking near 0, as one would get from a non-normalized file. If it's still loud after restoring the input levels to 0, there are settings later in the chain (likely via the adaptive multiband's Levels controls) to help with that.

If you want to pre-normalize your library to be approximately the same level before ever entering the playback software, there is Thimeo's WatchCat software. The batch file normalization aspect doesn't require a license. However, the processing aspect (loading an STS preset) requires a Stereo Tool license for whatever is in the preset. This is less necessary if using the adaptive compressor in ABM, though.

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NB: I'm not a professional, just a hobbyist, and as such I could be wrong. If so, please, somebody correct me.

Good to know. Thank you VERY much. I will bump it back up to near zero. Library is normalized, so this is very helpful to me.

Appreciate you.