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Hi Hydro!
I see what you mean — and what happening is that the bass clipper is limiting the amplitude of the signal.
I’m sorry, I should have been more specific — can you make new screenshots with breakaway in Oscilloscope or Meters mode, so that I can see all the controls, particularly where you have the bass controls set?
Also make sure Breakaway is *not* muted, so that I can see where the volume control is set. The volume control in breakaway actually makes a difference, because it affects how the signal is processed — it does more than just change the volume. If you set it to -6dB or below, you have much more headroom for bass, so the bass clipper doesn’t have to clip the bass as much (to protect the high frequencies).
Nice macintosh "dock" simulation in windows btw 🙂. Haven’t seen that before, neat 😉.
We should start a post-your-desktop-with-breakaway thread, so we can see how peoples desktops are, I for one would love it 🙂.
///Leif
Hi Pavaronnie,
Thank you very much! There’s really no contest between StreamSolo and Breakaway FM. It’s been 7 years since I made StreamSolo, I’ve learned a thing or two since then, feels like a lifetime. 😉
Breakaway FM has a pre-emphasis-clipper back-end specially designed to squeeze the the highest sound quality and clarity out of FM. This clipper back-end also works great for webcasting, allowing previously unprecedented loudness and punch for web audio!
However, it also uses much more CPU power than my standard algorithm, simply due to all the extra work it must do to squeeze the maximum out of the signal.
The Web version will not have the clipper – for streaming with the maximum audio power I will recommend using Breakaway FM.
The Web version will be much lower cpu usage though.
The instrumentation is actually an oscilloscope (as opposed to a spectrum analyzer) 🙂. It uses very few resources compared to the audio processing itself, but it’s already possible to turn it off — adjust the window size so that it disappears completely, or simply close the window, and it will no longer use resources. Audio will still run in the background.
///Leif
Hi Hydro!
MP3 really is fine for test tones. MP3 doesn’t start degrading the audio until it runs out of bits, and a single test tone uses very few bits.
I’ve looked at your MP3 and it looks fine to me.
Hydro, can you provide me with a screenshot?
Please set the oscilloscopes in Breakaway to Display Left Input and Left Output, crank up the volume in Winamp, and show me the screenshot of the breakaway window, so I can see what the problem is.
///Leif
Hi Lane!
M-Audio Delta 44 is not a 192 KHz card, but it will work wonderfully with an external stereo generator.
Dj Buik, you raise a good question.
I think we will start giving out free 30-day keys for MpxTool with the purchase of Breakaway FM. That way you’ll be able to use the parallel port squarewave circuit ( http://mpxtool.com/site/input-calibrati … rator.html ) to calibrate first calibrate MpxTool’s input, and then use MpxTool as your oscilloscope for the initial calibration.
Doing it this way will not be as accurate as a real oscilloscope (as you also need an oscilloscope for 100% mpxtool calibration) but it should be 98%, so it’s a worthwhile tradeoff for those who have no other access to an oscilloscpe.
Diekgait, it’s a good idea, but sound card manufacturers often change components and specs without prior notice, between different revisions. Thus, it’s very possible that not all sound cards of the same model have the same exact performance. It may be better than nothing though, so let’s start by posting our settings in this thread — once we’ve had a few people using the same sound card posting their settings, we may be able to draw some statistically valid conclusions.
///Leif
Hi Shane!
Good news regarding the pipeline!
The L/R bandwidth is indeed limited to 16k. If we make a full control version in the future, it will have options to go all the way up to 20, and full control over every parameter. It will be excellent value for broadcasters who need to really fine-tune their sound, and for whom extremely low price is not the key purchasing decision. 🙂
To my ears, though, the difference between 15 and 16 is much bigger than the difference between 16 and 20. I can hear up to 18 (just barely), but 16 still sounds pretty much like full frequency response. 15, on the other hand, distinctly lacks high-end.
The stream version will have the same back-end as Breakaway Personal, except that the whole chain will be phase linear. The FM back-end is indeed more powerful, but also uses much greater resources.
Good news though, you will definitely be able to use the stream version and the FM version at the same time, on the same machine!
///Leif
Hi Shane!
I installed Windows 2003 Enterprise R2 x64, and I was unable to reproduce the problem — the Breakaway Pipeline control panel worked beautifully.
So, I think the problem may be that you installed a much earlier beta, one where the installation was NOT so painless. And, once the pipeline is installed, installing a newer Breakaway version on top will not alter it.
So, to remedy the situation, I recommend uninstalling both Breakaway FM and Breakaway Personal, rebooting the computer, and then install the latest versions.
That should take care of it. 🙂
///Leif
Hi Shane!
That’s interesting regarding 2003-64. I guess I’ll have to install a version myself and try it. The Not allowed in WOW64 message means that the Installer installed the 32-bit version of the Breakaway Pipeline Config application even though you’re on a 64-bit system. This is definitely a bug in the installer, and it’s real strange because I know it works properly in Vista64.
The basic webcaster version will be single instance, but multi-stream versions will be available for not much more.
///Leif
There’s definitely a chance, Straycat. We don’t have any plans for it yet — but if Breakaway for iTunes takes off the way volume logic did, it’s very possible we’ll come to our senses and start making more products for the Mac.
The hard part there is that unlike on the PC, where we have me, who can do all the windows development himself and has the time to do it (audio processing IS my day job – it’s all I do), on the Mac we actually have to hire someone and pay them for their time.
It will depend on how the iTunes plug-in does, I guess. If it does as well av Volume Logic did, there’s definitely a good chance of a more advanced follow-up!
///Leif
Hi Sam!
40 sites, not bad!
Breakaway FM has an extremely sharp dropoff at 16 (sixteen) KHz. At 16.5 KHz it’s down 60db (!!), so it provides impeccable pilot protection AND extended audio bandwidth.
The Breakaway FM advanced distortion cancelled clipper takes great care NOT to introduce distortion beyond the available audio bandwidth. If you feed 5 KHz audio into the clipper, you get 5 KHz audio out of it — no matter how much clipping you’re doing. This is in stark contrast to every other product, which load up the spectrum with harsh sounding distortion — that’s why phone calls sound so bad on the air!
Breakaway Standard has no low pass filter, nor does it have pre-emphasis or clipping. There’s simply no need for it in a personal audio processor.
I understand why you run mono now — makes sense.
To be honest, there’s not really anything stopping you from purchasing Breakaway FM right now — the beta version is essentially a release candidate, and it can be already be registered and activated, and you can of course upgrade to the release version when it’s out. I’ll check with Keith and see if he can get a webstore going.
The ad actually only comes on average once every half hour — but it’s randomized. Good idea though, wasn’t it? 🙂
I couldn’t find any relevant information about the Tandberg 1220 (other than that it’s a satellite receiver of some kind) – what does it do?
When using any FM audio processor, whether it’s a Breakaway FM, an Optimod or an Omnia, the key to loud, clean sound in the air is modify the audio *as little as possible* between the output of the processor and the input of the exciter.
Once the audio is tightly peak controlled, any modification, no matter how minute, will cause overshoots. Non-linear phase response? Overshoots. High frequency rolloff? Overshoots. Low frequency rolloff, any kind of EQ’ing at all? Overshoots.
The more modifications, the more overshoots there are. Thus, if you were to run Breakaway FM audio into any other processor, you would be combining the WORST aspects of both processors, and end up with something quite awful sounding.
I’ve played extensively with 8200’s and 8500’s, but never actually had my hands on an 8100. From what I hear, the 8100 is clean and smooth sounding, but not very loud and bright. That might indeed have worked well for news, but extended high frequency readroom is also important for intelligibility, which is a rather crucial point for an news station 🙂.
In short, if we manage to get Breakaway FM on the air, with as little deterioration as possible between Breakaway FM and the exciters, it could be an enormous jump in audio quality.
Do your exciters have any kind of protection clipping built in? If so, you could use those deal with the overshoots — since you’re not running stereo, you don’t have to worry about either pilot contamination or stereo separation issues, meaning you have great freedom in how to beat overshoots into submission. If we could get 384k over that satellite link, I think everything else can be solved.
///Leif
TVholic: Your email must have slipped through the cracks. Sorry about that — this sounds like a very real bug. I’ll look into it right away!
Thank you.
///Leif
I hope so, Haydn!
Our mac developer had some very serious health problems, but he is thankfully recovering from them. I don’t have an ETA, but I’m hopeful and waiting 🙂.
///Leif
Hi Sam!
I understand you completely. Tweaking is extremely frustrating when you throw unpredictable variables into the mix!
By digital I meant AES/EBU into the encoder. That *should* do the trick — but you’ll have to look and make sure.
The best way would be to play Breakaway FM (pre-emph) into AES/EBU into the encoder, and then take AES/EBU from the DECODER, and feed that to a sound card with digital input, on a computer running MpxTool. Then you’ll be able to see exactly what overshoots you can expect from a given bitrate.
Mpeg II is predictable if you can jack up the bitrate high enough. I’d be comfortable running it at 384, but below that, overshoots get too large and unpredictable.
It’s not possible to compensate for these types of overshoot — they’re basically completely random. It comes from certain things being thrown away, and if the thing that is thrown away happened to be a clipping harmonic that was keeping a peak within 100%, part of the peak comes back.
How come you’re broadcasting mono, by the way? And, what country are you in?
///Leif
I’ve used the following sound cards successfully:
Lynx L22 PCI
LynxTWO PCI
Marian Trace 8 PCI
EMU 0404 USB
Realtek HD audio on-board
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS (PCI)
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Notebook (PCMCIA)
M Audio Delta Audiophile 192 (PCI)
Edirol FA-101 (Firewire)Most of these need output compensation (Tilt / EQ), but once that’s done (using an external oscilloscope), they all perform perfectly.
I have not seen any problems with the Audigy 2 ZS. I also noticed Airomate said this card does not work very well with Airomate – I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s the audio I/O code in Airomate. Breakaway FM supports kernel streaming, and can thus talk to the sound card driver as directly as possible.Any of the cards above will work perfectly.
To make Airomate work with Breakaway FM, do the following:
Set Airomate to generate FULL MPX (Pilot and RDS), but do not feed it any audio! Let it be silent. Connect Airomate output to one of the Breakaway Pipelines.
Then, select this Breakaway Pipeline as the RDS input in Breakaway FM.
Finally, feed audio to Breakaway FM the way you usually do, and use the MPX output in Breakaway FM.
Breakaway FM will synchronize to the incoming pilot and RDS, and pass them along to the output.
Using Airomate -> Breakaway FM -> MPX out, has several advantages over using Breakaway FM L/R -> Airomate -> MPX out.
- If the incoming pilot goes away (for example if Airomate crashes), Breakaway FM will instantaneously switch to internal pilot — listeners will not even know the difference, except that RDS goes away.
- Airomate is good at RDS, but not so good at audio. If you keep Breakaway’s audio out of Airomate, your station will be an order of magnitude louder and cleaner.
- Breakaway FM can compensate for sound card frequency response, to achieve tight calibrated 100% modulation with any sound card.
- You will see the RDS signal on the Breakaway FM oscilloscope, so you will know it’s there.
///Leif
