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Hi Dr. J!
It will have at least one more user adjustable option (Final Drive, to control loudness), however, I don’t know yet whether I can actually release a full control version anywhere near an affordable price point.
The reason for this is simple – Breakaway started as a strictly pro audio algorithm, and it’s in use in the form of rackmount products on the air on many HDTV networks in the United States. Breakaway for Windows is a consumer (end user) version, and it’s the exact same algorithm. While the Pro versions certainly have other functionality added as well to fit into production environments, and solve other problems that broadcasters have, the core algorithms are the same. Thus, I’d be threading on very thin ground with my licensees if I made a full control version available at a consumer-reachable pricepoint.
Nothing’s impossible though, it’s just something that has to be thought through very well.
You did mention being interested in a strictly Broadcaster version. What price point do you figure something like what you’re asking for would be worth?
Volume licensing is an excellent idea! To be honest we haven’t had the time to think that far yet, but if there is interest, it can certainly be done.
Thank you – I’m glad you like it! It has been extremely hard work, so it’s very satisfying to see people using it.
///Leif
Hi Mike!
Thank you very much! 🙂
As for the problem, I’m afraid I don’t know of a good fix — not without bad side effects.
I have tested Breakaway extensively with USB sound cards. If you just pull the plug of a USB sound card, Breakaway will keep running (but the audio won’t go anywhere). Later, when you re-plug the USB sound card, Breakaway will pick right up and start playing again!
However, if you ask Windows whether it’s okay to unplug the USB card (instead of just unplugging it), windows says no, something is using it.
If it was just a matter of a USB sound card, i would say "just unplug it", but because it’s a docking station with more than just audio, that advice would be no good.
The only thing i could conceivably think of, is to have Breakaway close the output device when it’s not in use.
However, re-opening it again (when you play sound) is not instant. It may take as much as half a second. This means, it would be cutting out the first half second of the first song you play — not a good solution at all.
Having half a second of silence in the beginning of the file you play (which most songs have) does not help either, because I’d have to trigger on actually audio, Breakaway has no way of knowing the difference between playing silence and not playing at all.
If you’re running Windows XP, you could try the Hard Bypass mode. This might be easier than shutting Breakaway down.
///Leif
Oh man, I’ve said too much.. So much for resting and taking it easy, I guess I’ve got work to do 🙂
///Leif
Hi Mike!
That won’t work – the code you’ll get today won’t work on another computer.
However, when you get the new laptop, just e-mail us with the new Hardware ID and we’ll gladly make you another license code.
///Leif
Hi Marion!
The internal presets (the ones you select from the drop-down, such as Zenith, Reference Settings) actually contain 91 different parameters.
Each adjustment slider in the user interface, adjust several parameters in the internal presets algorithmically, so that you can tweak the presets to your liking, without overwhelming users with an excessively large number of controls.
However, if we were to allow saving of presets at this level, there’s guaranteed to be some serious confusion the day we release an ultra-pro version that has full preset tweaking ability with every available parameter 🙂. Because of this double level of presets, I didn’t implement saving – there’s only 5 parameters besides the preset itself.
So, giving a friend your settings is as easy as an IM containing Magnifying Glass, 60 75 30 +19 0.
The sliders make it easy to get to the exact right number 🙂.You could also cut and paste the ini-file section, but you’d have to close Breakaway down completely first (right-click on the tray icon, Shut Down Breakaway).
///Leif
The webcaster version will be a Winamp DSP plug-in, as well as a standalone application much like the current Breakaway, except it will have pipelines for both input and output, and allow multiple instances. All for the price of one, we won’t differentiate between running as DSP and running standalone for licensing purposes. K.I.S.S. as they say.
If I can, I may even include LeifCast, which is an icecast/shoutcast compatible DSP plug-in supporting MP3, WMA, aacPlus and Ogg Vorbis. One unique feature about LeifCast is that it doesn’t crash — even when doing WMA streams.
If you’ve ever wonder why http://di.fm and http://sky.fm sound so reasonable even at 96kbps MP3, now you know the answer. 🙂
///LEif
Juraj, I wish I had a better answer for you.
The reality is that I’m only one guy, and I’m still recuperating from the 5-months long (14 hours a day, basically every day) development of Breakaway for Windows. So basically, I have to rest my head some more, to keep it from exploding.
The Webcaster version might be 2 months down the line, it might be 4, I really can’t say. The hard part isn’t making the algorithm run in Winamp (that’s easy, in fact it already does) – the hard part is making it into a product that can actually be sold. It can literally take months of hard work, depending on how much needs to be done.
Anyway.. If you can hold out for Breakaway, it will be worth your while. If you can’t, no worries. Maybe Breakaway will be still the best alternative the next time you’re ready to upgrade. 🙂
///Leif
Hi James!
You certainly can but I wouldn’t recommend actually letting both of them process the audio in series. The result of double processing would probably be dense and unappealing.
If you have one of them on bypass, it will work fine, but that defeats the purpose of having both of them – unless you just want to use Breakaway’s Oscilloscope to see what Volume Logic’s output looks like!Anyway, Volume Logic was the best I could do in 2002, and Breakaway is the best I can do NOW. I’ve learned a few things along the way, and Breakaway is significantly better in every aspect. I would recommend just uninstalling VL and using the latest and greatest.
///Leif
Hi Andrew!
Excellent comments.
quote :I like that Zenith doesn’t seem to change the equalization as much as the other presets (I have also set the Bass setting to Normal). For now I have kept the Range and Power settings at 50: the lower I set them the less point there is in trialling Breakaway.I already use Replay Gain on my music collection, so I’m not sure I’ll continue to use Breakaway past the 30 day trial. I guess it depends on how much difference it makes to me when watching (and listening to!) movies.
Using ReplayGain first helps a lot. That means basically the AGC in breakaway doesn’t have to do much. Zenith is definitely the right preset to use for music that is basically the right level already (whereas Reference Heavy makes music the right level no matter what it was, at the expense of dynamics). It may even be worth to turn down Range slightly. I too love the sound of Zenith – it doesn’t appear to change things all that much – you really don’t notice it until you hit Bypass, at which point things just don’t go together anymore, that near-invisible something is missing.
Movies is actually one of the strongest points of the Breakaway algorithm, as evidenced by its use on many HDTV networks in the states! 🙂
However, Zenith doesn’t have nearly enough Input AGC range for Movies, and turning up the Range control will also adjust the Multiband range, altering the sound of the preset. There will be an alternate version of Zenith in the next version of Breakaway (Zenith Heavy?) to address this issue.
You could also try the Reference Movies preset. It’s identical to Reference Settings except it lowers the ratio of the Input AGC to 2:1, retaining more original dynamics but still going a long long way towards keeping dialog audible and effects under control. I personally can’t watch movies without it – it just ruins the mood to have to adjust the volume manually.
quote :btw, I have Breakaway docked on my 2nd monitor (lower resolution). I’m always pleased to find software that works well with a multi-monitor setup (with different resolutions).Thank you! I’m very glad somebody noticed! It certainly didn’t happen by itself — i’ve got the welts on my fingers to prove it. 😉
///Leif
Hi Juraj!
Thank you for the comments! 🙂
I don’t have a release date for the Winamp DSP version yet, but some time in the not too distant future. Ahead on the priority list is better Vista-compatibility for the standalone version, most likely in the form of DirectSound support.
The Webcaster version will be significantly more expensive than the consumer version, but it will have more controls (at least one more – Final Drive, for loudness adjustment), and a different feature set, geared towards webcasters instead of listeners, and licensing will be computer based – so you will indeed be able to run as many instances as your computer can handle on a single computer, with just a single license.
///Leif
They’re absolutely right about that (no pumping), and it’s certainly the easiest way to avoid pumping, but it makes also does not do the job.
Kind of like taking the gas tank out of a car to improve fuel economy. Sure, it’ll work — it’s not gonna use any gas! Mission accomplished.
Making an algorithm that continuously adjusts the gain (so that it can do the job), yet never audibly pumps, and never gets caught by surprise.. is a little harder.
///Leif
Hi Mike!
What about leaving Breakaway Pipeline selected as the Windows default, and then selecting your Bluetooth Headset in Breakaway?
If you right click the main window, and choose Settings, and then click the Wizard button in the lower left corner (for simplicity), you will see the audio setup wizard again, and you should be able to select your Bluetooth Headset instead of your sound card. If you don’t see it, click the "Safe Mode"
you should be able to select your Bluetooth Headset in the Output Audio Device drop-down.If you don’t see it in the list, try to check the Safe Mode checkbox, the one to the left of the drop-down.
Only problem is, if you do this, the audio will go ONLY to your bluetooth headset, not to the sound card (just like it would if you selected the bluetooth headset in Windows).
///Leif
Interesting idea!
I’ll keep it in mind, it could be useful, and once we’ve ported it to a dsp chip we’d also be able to offer it to hardware manufacturers for embedding.
Regarding Sound Check, it’s essentially equivalent to ReplayGain. It checks the average level of *the whole song* and sets ONE gain value based on this, to change the level of the whole song.
They tout it being Compression-Free as a feature, but I’m not so sure I agree (much like it’s not a good thing if my food is Taste-Free). It’s impossible to equalize well enough with only just a single volume change.. And what would you do when there’s dynamics in a song? Let’s say a DJ mix – classical music, or watching a movie?
///Leif
