Stereo Tool

Ok this time I'm helping out a friend here. He's looking for software solutions and I was telling him how great ST was so he said if I could see if ST could get the sound he wants.

He is planning on starting a small online radio and he wants a sound like WGCI's online radio (http://www.wgci.com/mediaplayer/)

From what I understand, he likes the snares/highs that aren't overpowering in a way that there is never a strong snare that overpowers the rest of the sound. Instead, the kick/bass is always priority but it's not BOOMING or crazy loud. It's a very smooth sound.

Can ST get a sound close to that of WGCI's online radio? If so, could someone advise me and him and I will test it to see if it fits his needs.

Thanks everyone in advance.

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=2764
This is something I've been working on for a while. See if you like it.

This uses the latest ST 5.02 beta

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<-- I like this guy!

Whoops didn't realize you were the same person from the post I linked to :O

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<-- I like this guy!

So no one can help get this sound from WGCI's online stream?

Let me try to describe what my friend likes so much about the sound. He says it's like the mids are thin and "back" away from the rest of the sound. They are not forward and powerful. Nor are the snares harsh that they overpower the song (as some songs do). It also seems as if some of the highest of the high frequencies have been cut off a little which is nice. The only part of the sound that seems "forward" but NEVER "harsh" is the bass.

From what I understand he likes the fact that the mids/highs (basically everything besides the bass in the sound) is so "laid-back" and limited/clipped/compressed in a way that nothing overpowers the bass AT ALL.

Is this possible? Or can anyone suggest what settings to mess with to get that? I am assuming the Multiband Compressor more than anything else but I don't know enough to instruct him which sliders to lower and which to increase?

Any help would be great. He would be willing to pay if an expert could make a preset for him.

Thanks in advance everyone.

Hi baires0314,

I haven't checked the sound yet, but based on your description Multiband is NOT the way to solve this. Basically you want to change the behavior of mids vs. highs vs. lows. That is currently not really possible because the relation is now hard coded (bass protection against loud highs etc., if you are folling the BETA development you know what I'm talking about).

The only thing you can do - and this does not work if you use FM output - is to use singleband compression or the singleband AGC in the Loudness window. That will reduce the entire volume when loud sounds - and normally that means loud lows - kick in. (The problem with FM output is that if that's enabled the volume gets lowered too much by highs, because they are very loud).


EDIT: I'm listening now, I think the trick is something different: Use VERY LITTLE multiband. Actually very little of everything. It's not so much that the bass drops the other sounds down, but that very little compression is taking place - the sound is close to the original. (And does indeed sound really good).

So:
- Keep Loudness below 2.00 (and probably lower)
- Make VERY limited use of Multiband. Make sure that the volume is almost not dropped, and set the 'up speed''s low.
- Keep Pre Amp low. (~ 2.00)
- I *think* you also need Bass Boost, but I'm not sure because so far I haven't heard any tracks that I know (they could be recorded this way).

To make 'S' sounds smoother, you can either use Clipping in Multiband (set the Clipping values for the high frequencies lower), or use the de-esser in Loudness (for that you'll have to turn Loudness on).

Very interesting hvz,

Yes I noticed there's not much difference in the actual sound. What I mean is, I can get that "lateral" mids/highs feeling (meaning no bell overpowers any clap in a song) but it's with compression and artifacts are created. I am glad you hear what I hear that their sound is very good and I think I read somewhere that they use Omnia (which is beside the point because they had to know to use a piece of equipment, not just purchase it to achieve that great sound).

I know that ST does not work in the same way as you described but I think it should be a thought to incorporate somehow in future releases. I think anyone who read this post and took the time to listen to the stream would agree, to some degree, that it is a desirable sound.

See, I happen to know all the songs they play on that station. There is only one song I've heard so far (I will try and record it with a soundcard recorder to post here) that had noticeable artifacts.

Thanks hvz for taking the time to help me out and explain things. I appreciate your honesty as well.

I was thinking about this a bit more, and I realized that there might be a way to get close to this: Make sure that you don't use too much bass compression.

Which means increasing the 'soft limit' levels for the lowest bands in Multiband (or, if you can't set them high enough, lowering the others and lowering the 'AGC' output level).

That should actually get you pretty close...


Highs vs. mids vs. lows protection is only activated when you use Loudness (and then it has very little effect at lower Loudness levels). So if you keep that turned off (or low) then that should be no issue.

hvz,
Yes that gets me very close for sure. Like I said before, I know all the songs they play on that station and there is something (I just can't put my finger on it yet) that they do with the bass. I can't figure out what the hell it is but it's minimal what they do but it gives it a clean sound and I can't put my finger on it. I will keep playing around with the settings and I'm sure I'll come to something even closer or find something better to my ears.
Thanks so much for all your help hvz.

I would gladly try to help, but i can't tune in that stream!

edit:
yesterday i was unable to listen but now seem it;s avaliable for europe.

ok.. i needed 2mins.

What i can hear .. is very low/light processing.
What is more important this sound has nothing with preset is found from you here..
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=2787

This should be easy to done with ST.

You can't? That is strange. Try http://www.wgci.com/ and then "MUSIC" on the top and "LISTEN LIVE" option and it should open the player. I can try to find the direct stream's link if you'd like to open in another media player.