Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
I will be there! If you can make it, I’ll see you there 😀.
Regarding the clipper, it’s rare indeed. It’s crazy — xylophone, saxophone, and (almost) everything is okay — but you have actually found a clip that breaks it! Thank you very much (honestly!).
It does mean more work for me, but once I solve this problem, the algorithm will be one step closer to perfection 😉.This song is definitely getting added to my test suite.
///Leif
If it’s stable on your system, then yes!
To be honest I haven’t used it myself since I developed it. How’s it running?
///Leif
Hey, you’re actually right. I assumed you were talking about FM, but you were in fact using 15us pre-emphasis, which is the recommended setting for general processing — and indeed this sound distorted, particularly with the New York preset.
It’s the final clipper, plain and simple. This particular sound seems to slip right past the distortion control! Looks like I need to figure out a way to improve it.
I guess there’s still improvements to be made for coming updates 😉.
Best,
///LeifHi Luke!
Thank you for the clips! I do hear the distortion clearly in the Breakaway processed version you uploaded.
However, playing the Direct through Breakaway locally, with the Plutonium preset at default, I don’t hear any distortion at all.
In fact, to get the kind of distortion I hear in your clip, I have to set Final Drive to +4.0 with the Plutonium preset.. And, with those settings, everything sounds distorted, not just the synth.
So, I wonder, what settings are you using in Breakaway?
Please tell me the preset, all the main slider settings, pre-emphasis (us), AND – are you using CPU Optimized Mode, or Maximum Quality mode? (Please check the I/O configuration page).
In CPU Optimized mode, the clipper does sacrifice some ability to conceal distortion, in the name of CPU efficiency. This is the price that has to be paid for running on an old CPU — if there’s not enough power available, something has to go.
Regarding the comparison with Sonos — because the files are MP3s, it’s impossible to make a valid comparison with, because there is no way to know if it was really processed for FM. The sonos.mp3 you sent has way too much high-end to be able to be proper 75us pre-emphasized and peak-controlled audio. From my own tests with this processor, it doesn’t get anywhere *near* this sound when actually processing for FM — this sounds more like it’s processed for web streaming, whereas the Breakaway one is obviously FM-processed. This makes it an apples-to-oranges comparison — of course a web stream can sound better than FM, it doesn’t have any of the restrictions.
If you could upload actual MPX, that would be great. With MPX, the signal *is already* properly peak controlled FM — and that end any validity discussion right there. True comparisons are possible.
You can use the full version of MpxTool to make the recordings. Using a Pipeline, you can connect it to the MPX output of either Breakaway or Sonos. The unregistered full version still allows you to record 1 minute at a time — plenty long enough for this. Please download MpxTool from http://mpxtool.com . Let me know if you need any help getting it running, I’ll be happy to help.
Best,
///LeifAww, but it’s so easy 😉.
Imagine a squarewave.
Then, run this squarewave through a high pass filter.Energy gets removed.
However, it also starts tilting, and… the peak level goes up!It’s that easy!
Try it yourself in adobe audition. Start with 60hz square at -6dB level, then highpass that to 30hz with one of the "scientific" filters such as butterworth.
Now, I’m not saying Bass-EFX is a high pass filter. It’s certainly not. This just happened to be first answer that popped into my head when I asked myself how to explain this as clearly as possible. 🙂
Peak controlled waveforms are very fragile, whether they’re coming from distorted data on a CD, or carefully clipped audio coming out of Breakaway. Any processing will cause overshoots, and those overshoots can cause the input clipping — thus we must attenuate, to bring the audio out of the danger zone.
Best,
///LeifThanks, Dee!
AT LEAST CAPS LOCK WASN’T BROKEN 🙂.
From the description, the CPU would have to be either Pentium-4 HT or a Pentium-D dual core. If it’s the former, BBP should run, but it may run pretty high cpu load. If it’s the latter, you shouldn’t have any problem — except for heat. Pentium-D runs really hot — 130W TDP! May be worth buying a Celeron E1400 and save on the electricity bill (and the environment).
An external stereo encoder could theoretically be just as accurate as the one inside BBP — but not better. The one in BBP is "textbook clean" — which is extremely easy to do in software, but near impossible to do in analog hardware. Unless you have a specific reason why you have to use an external one, just use the internal one 🙂.
If you want to compare off-the-air against other stations, take a look at MpxTool too! Another product of mine — indispensable for me at least. http://mpxtool.com
Best regards,
///LeifHi Luke!
Record and post some MPX of any processors you like, I’ll be happy to take a listen!
Listening to the same song myself (source: 1984 cd) through BBP with the Plutonium preset, I actually don’t hear any problem at all. Could you be more specific?
Also, please make sure it’s not in the original cut. If it’s a remastered release, it’s very possible that distortion was graciously added by whoever mastered it. The processor you mentioned tend to be very conservative on treble — that alone could hide distortion which a cleaner processor would reveal.
///Leif
I saw it. I’m not afraid. 🙂
I’ll see you there! I can’t wait, it’ll be fun. If a country is crazy enough to have an annual soundprocessing day, there’s just no way I could miss it. 😉
///Leif
LOL.. Thanks, but I think BW might have something to say about.. uh.. "re-using" their ad 😉.
///Leif
Hi Aleph!
1) Yes, this is fine. It’s still just one PC, and both versions would not be running at the same time.
2) For something as big as that, we will probably send a notice out by email. So far, we have only mass-emailed once, and that was with the release of BAE 1.2 — we changed the type of product keys, so we had to email new (unique) product keys to every single customer 😉.
Indeed it’s possible to capture with two sound cards — it’s just that it’s a hassle.
Best,
///LeifThe only tuner I have personal experience with is the Tivoli Model One. It does not come with an MPX output, but can be modified, and performs well. I essentially got lucky — I knew it had a good tuner and convenient form factor, so I probed the right pin on the mpx decoder chip, and hey, nice clean MPX! 🙂
Are you coming to the soundprocessing day? If so, I will see you there for sure!
I’ll be bringing my Tivoli Tuner with me too. 🙂
///Leif
Hi Stuart!
We will.
I’m also considering adding some pro audio features to Breakaway Live. How about 8-band true parametric eq, 1/6 octave RTA, pink noise generation (all for speaker calibration), and adjustable volume-adaptive loudness control? Sound interesting?:)
Best,
///LeifI’ve used the Pira.cz modulation monitor!
It’s good for the price. It provides a decent 75 kHz modulation reference. The meter tends to move around (it might move around between 70 and 75 even on a solid test tone), but because it’s all-digital after the IF stage, it doesn’t drift, so it is useful for calibration.
It can be used to adjust sound card tilt with BBP.
However, it can *not* be used to adjust PEQ with BBP — it is not accurate enough.It also unfortunately does not provide a composite output. 🙁
It’s nice that it’s small. With a Pira.cz as a reference, a proper MPX tuner, and a laptop with MpxTool, you have an extremely competent modulation monitor setup. I know I’ll be bringing my setup with me when I go to Europe in a week 😉.
Best,
///Leif
