Stereo Tool

Yes. MPX power needs 1 minute of audio. The 'curtain' is put over it until there's 1 minute available.

Now all clear , thank you !

Problem with the AGC Matrix Mode. I have an song which has many Phasing Errors. I see this in the Azimuth Correction (In AGC Normal Mode). But if i use the new AGC Matrix Mode, the Phasing Errors are also growing, so Azimuth cannot correct it. i think it would be better if the procession chain for Matrix Mode can be chanced. First the Phasing Errors should be corrected and then the AGC Matrix Mode.

Avast shows Win32:Evo-gen [Susp] false-positive when downloading standalone version

Sounds good this beta. However I notice a channel swap L<->R via the VLC input.

Hm, always or under specific conditions?

Windows stand alone: http://www.stereotool.com/download/ster ... 32-025.exe
Winamp DSP: http://www.stereotool.com/download/dsp_ ... 32-025.exe
Windows VST: ----://www.stereotool.com/download/vst_stereo_ ... 32-025.dll (still building)

Time to make a list of all the changes I made so far, and what I need to do to release this version:

CHANGED IN THIS BETA:
- Auto-set RMS block sizes per band.
- Power Bass does not work too well with side chain with a lot of bass reduction New mode added (and also maximum effect added), waiting for feedback...

OLD DONE:
- Added Controlled Distortion, including intermodulation distortion detection
- Rewrote Stokkemask code and added some options to control behavior and CPU load. For a similar behavior as before (yet at a lower CPU load), use Audio Quality 0, no skip, no faster. Faster seems to have very little impact on the signal but reduces CPU load, Skip reduces it further but causes bigger overshoots, with far less impact on audio. A higher Audio Quality greatly reduces the impact on the audio (especially if you leave 'allow small overshoots' at 0).
- More than 2 channel audio compressor issue should be fixed.
- Use RDBS names when using 75 us pre-emphasis viewtopic.php?f=16&t=4869
- GUI closing warning viewtopic.php?f=16&t=4708
- Fix AGC problem (release doesn't respond the same at very high input levels). Old behavior still present for compatibility.
- AGC improvement: Bojcha reported that the AGC gives a much more consistent output at lower latency settings. Now, at higher latency settings you can replicate the lower latency settings behavior (See AGC -> Bands -> Block size; suggested value is 1024).
- Added AGC matrix mode (L+R/L-R processing)
- Added full screen mode (Configuration top panel), this hides all window bars and should also hide the Windows task manager. Especially useful for small (eg. 7") displays.
- Limiter improvement: Bojcha reported that the compressors (mainly the limiters) give a much more consistent output at lower latency settings. Now, at higher latency settings you can replicate the lower latency settings behavior (See the 'Block size' parameter (under 'detection'), available for all compressors (singleband and multiband per band). Very low settings can cause bass intermodulation distortion.
- Added multi-language support
- Command line version --samplerate option to use different sample rates. With this, it's now also possible to output an MPX signal (but the input sample rate needs to be high enough, since input and output sample rates are still identical).
- Command line version --r128 option for R128 normalization. Including options to set the target level (default is -23 LUFS) and max TruePeak level.
- Improved and optimized Traditional Peak mode for compressors (Singleband, Multiband) and Natural Dynamics.
- Fixed several bugs in the declipper -> output sounds better
- Scale added to meters
- Added zooming in/out to waveform displays, optimized the code, and made it possible to turn the display off
- CPU load for moving mouse over Bands or Equalizer displays greatly reduced
- Compressor: Peak mode replaced by Traditional Peak, RMS by Traditional RMS; RMS compatiblity mode available for old presets (only thing it does is raise the thresholds by 1.75 dB). Code is further optimized.
- Improved limiter attack and release behavior. See new 'Limiter maximum release' slider. (Difference is pretty big, the resulting signal is much tighter and pumps less; if I only use the limiter it's also about 0.75 dB louder than before with the same peak level).
- Improved multi-touch screen handling
- New version notification: Removed from GML plugin
- Added R128 normalization to GML plugin version
- Improved VMware detection (added param, and let it be set to VMware, Native, Unknown - where Unknown is automatically changed to either if it can be determined reliably.)
- Metering: MPX power added
- BS412 memory usage reduced
- Added MULTIPATH protection settings. Now similar to Stokkemask but with some settings not configurable. Tests needed...
- Added hysterisis when changing buffer size to avoid (or at least reduce) Juli@ driver crashes. If the buffer size is changed, only one restart is performed per 250 ms. Change was needed to avoid Juli@ ASIO crashes, but I've implemented it now for all input and output methods. Waiting for test results Note: This is a workaround to reduce the chance of an ASIO driver crash caused by an error in the Juli@ sound card driver. It greatly reduces the chance of crashes but doesn't (and cannot) completely protect against it.
- Added sound card restart behavior in case of driver errors. No guarantee that it works (because I don't know if the problem that was reported by Storm905 viewtopic.php?f=2&t=5054 was caused by what I think it's caused by) - but it might.
- Added option to receiving a stream via VLC, instead of using an external player and virtual cable.
- Added FM transmitter synchronization to stand alone version
- Added "Power Bass" mode to AGC. Makes bass far more constant and stronger.

TODO:
- Fix broken Attack mode! (6 dB offset, has been there since version 7.10).
- Finish or remove Gas Mode. Release is probably good now, but I think I should not touch attack (at least for now) - so restore the old code. Not sure if this is thing is useful? --> Ok, attack mode fix make the attack mode sound much closer to the Gas attack mode. Renamed Gas mode back to Continuous Release. Should be good now.
- Fix compressor optimization (keep 2 new lines switched off if not needed)
- Check existing presets on RMS mode, settings must be updated. Check effect of new RMS compression/limiting. What to do with block sizes? Check old presets... Also check what to do with better limiter settings. Weird: Some presets are ok without any modifications, others are very different...
- Update presets
- Change version number
- RELEASE

Ugh. I just found a big bug in the attack behavior of the compressors. I found it when I was checking what the difference between normal and Gas attack was... With it fixed, attack is more punchy.

Basically, attack is turned on as soon as the input level is higher than the threshold. At that point, the amount of reduction 'requested' should be 0 dB - but it was 6 dB! So, as soon as the threshold was hit, attack immediately behaved as if the input level was 6 dB too loud.

To avoid having to fix all presets, I will add a 'compatibility mode' to the compressors for older presets.

Speaking of 'older presets', I have been meaning to ask about this for a while.

I have a well-rounded preset that pleases my ears. I think I started working on it back around version 7.1, and I am now using it on v. 7.30.

My question is what is my best strategy to port this preset up to the latest version while keeping the sound I like? I loaded 7.31, started my preset, and immediately noticed that things sounded and looked different, specifically in ND.

Sure I can stay on 7.30, but I like to periodically update even if just to take advantage of Hans' latest fixes.

One other question: is there an editable file where I can clear out the contents of the drop-down window of preset names that I have created in the past? From trying different versions and moving stuff around to test VST performance, I've now got a long drop-down list that contains multiple references to the same preset, some of which seem to have "lost" their location.

Hope these questions make sense.

@Doctor_technical: Are you using RMS detection on the ND bands? Because that's where the biggest difference comes from... In the next build I will load good 'default' settings for the RMS block sizes, that might help.

I was just busy trying to see how I can 'automatically' convert the RMS settings but things are not behaving as I was hoping - yet.

The recent presets are stored in a file in your user directory:
Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\stereo_tool.ini
Windows Vista,7,8: C:\Users\<username>\stereo_tool.ini

File name can be a bit different depending on which ST you're using (VST, DSP, stand alone, GML, Carbon Coder).