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Hi Modman!
Make sure you’re using a big (500 kohm or more) resistor as well, or you’ll get the wrong results.
Remember, the calibration utility is a makeshift oscilloscope, and the printer port is used only as a square wave reference (to calibrate the makeshift oscilloscope).
Thus, if the square out of BBP was already perfect, that means *no tilt correction is necessary* on the output — BBP’s output tilt should be 0!It’s not uncommon for really inexpensive sound cards (such as onboard) to already be DC straight. It basically means they saved another penny by not including an output coupling capacitor. Comes in very handy when you’re doing FM processing 😉.
///Leif
Dr Shane,
It’s a bug indeed. I found it a while ago, but I’ve been so over-the-top busy lately that I haven’t had a chance to fix it. It will be fixed in the next release, but it will probably be 6 weeks before that can happen – I’m on an extremely tight deadline on a different project.
Best,
///LeifHi guys!
Running Breakaway Live into Breakaway Broadcast in order to insert plug-in between multiband and clipper is valid. It can work.
Caveats:
1. Turn down the final drive in Breakaway Live! Any limiting done in Breakaway Live will only add grunge and IM distortion. Turn it down all the way, let Breakaway Broadcast handle the clipping.
2. Use the PROTECTION LIMIT preset, not the PROTECTION CLIP preset. The Clip preset does not include the bass clipper or protection AGC, but the Limit preset does.Alternative solution:
Use a plug-in EQ with Breakaway Broadcast only, and turn down the Power control a bit. This *really works* — almost all the treble boost in the Twente preset (and most other presets) come from eq before the multiband, inside the breakaway core.
This is actually a very common way to design processors. Using the most canonical example possible, the Bass, Presence and Brilliance controls in an 8200 are all implemented as PEQ before the multiband. The Multiband does counter things to a degree, but really not that much. The original 8200 (1.0) had no out mix controls. 3.0 does, but only +/- 3.0dB, and if what I’ve heard is correct, Bob fought the marketing department tooth and nail for every dB! I understand him — I am just as worried about the final sound of my creation as I’m sure he was. 🙂
Best regards,
///LeifHi Ken!
Orban calls a composite clipper a composite clipper, and they call a final clipper a final clipper. 8500 has a composite clipper – Breakaway Broadcast does not. However, a traditional composite clipper with Pilot Protection, such as the one in an 8500, only gives you an extra 0.24dB at best. Please see the following whitepaper by Greg Ogonowski (co-designers of the 8500): http://indexcom.com/papers/loud2.html
Search for 0.24dB on the page to find it easily.
If you have the time, I recommend reading ALL his papers on that site. Invaluable information, and 100% correct.
You’re right about the MAYA 44. My mistake — indeed the specs say 192 kHz.
Proper calibration is essential — a composite clipper would not help one iota if there is tilt or other damage happening after the clipper!
The modifications Jesse mentioned would involve modifying the hardware, but I don’t believe it will be necessary. Adjusting Tilt in BBP should be enough. Please follow the calibration guide at this site — it explains the calibration process step by step, in great detail. Follow the links from claessonedwards.com — Breakaway Broadcast, Documentation, Calibration (FM).
In Windows Vista, if you are using Wave or DirectSound, make sure you set the Shared Audio Format to 192 kHz or Vista will completely slaughter the MPX signal by converting it down to 48 kHz before reaching the sound card.
Best regards,
///LeifHi Giovanni,
Here’s how I would do the offline activation, step by step:
- Copy product key from e-mail
- Paste product key into Breakaway About Box (validate)
- Restart Breakaway
- Activation Wizard runs and fails (no internet connection)
- Copy the URL
- Paste the long URL into Notepad
- Save notepad text file to USB flash drive
- Unmount USB drive (single-left-click on the Safely Remove Hardware icon in the tray)
- Plug USB flash drive into a computer with an internet connection
- Open text file in notepad, copy URL
- Paste URL into web browser
- Copy response code (3×8 characters)
- Paste into notepad, save the file
- Unmount USB drive (single-left-click on the Safely Remove Hardware icon in the tray)
- Move USB drive to the computer that is running Breakaway, waiting for the activation response
- Open text file in notepad, copy response code
- Paste into Breakaway Activation Wizard
- DONE.
It’s a long list, but in practice it only takes 2-3 minutes.
Please follow the procedure exactly — it does work fine for other people who have done it (including myself). Very important: When the activation wizard is already running, do not restart Breakaway! Do not exit the activation wizard — it must remain open while you go to the computer with internet connection and get the response code.
Best regards,
///LeifCorrect. If the audio is originating inside the computer, enters Breakaway through a pipeline, and goes to the encoder through a pipeline or as a plug-in, then the audio never passes through the sound card on the way to the listener, so the sound card will not impact quality. The only thing the sound card is used for in that scenario is timing (the 44100hz clock reference).
///Leif
Hi Ken!
I see what you mean.
I’m not sure ASIO support would help, as ASIO is usually single-client only (i.e. a card can only be opened from one program at a time).
The ESI-Maya 44 doesn’t support 192 kHz, so it can’t do composite out.
Am I correct in assuming that:
You’re running an FM station, you want to use an external stereo encoder (thus you’ll use the L/R outputs of BBP, at 44 or 48 khz), and you want to use Live for low latency monitoring?Best,
///LeifHi Luke-san,
I do notice you don’t 100% agree 🙂.
First link shows high frequency spikes on an m-audio card. Indeed that wouldn’t be ideal, but don’t forget to pay attention to the level of these spikes in dB’s. The very tallest one is at -65dB. At that high frequency, it will very likely be masked by the RF triangular noise, even at audibly good reception conditions. Note that -65dB dB corresponds to an injection level of 0.06%, or 0.045 Hz deviation. It’s not much of an issue — but I can see where you’re coming from, it wouldn’t hurt to use a cleaner sound card.
On the other hand, the second link, come on. You missed a VITAL piece of information right there on the page — the test was done at 44.1 KHz sampling rate!
Those cheap consumer cards are obviously locked to 48.0 KHz (as most are), and do a poor job of sample-rate converting 44.1 KHz sources, while they would do MUCH better with 48.0 KHz sources.
It’s not a coincidence that the default output sample rate for all the Breakaway products is 48000hz.
///Leif
Hi John!
It’s working as designed, but it’s possible that it’s being cranked too hard. If the meters are standing still, the ears never get a chance to breathe, and it’s easy for the ears to get tired and give in. Try turning down the Final Drive control, that will rectify the problem. 🙂
///Leif
Hi Luke!
The 6 to 8dB of overshoots probably happened because the signal was not properly clipped. (If it wasn’t that, perhaps the audio card had some effects left on, like reverb or CMSS). When clipping a signal, it’s not enough to just clip all the samples to a certain value (this is a common misconception) — you have to make sure that the waveform, when reconstructed by a D/A converter, stays inside the lines. This is usually done through oversampling. Scope the output of Airomate (on the output of the sound card) and then switch to BBP, I believe you’ll see what I mean.
When clipping is done properly, the D/A filtering is a non-issue — the highest frequencies in the signal are FAR from nyquist for any sampling rate. More specifically, L/R 44.1 KHz, Nyquist is at 22 KHz, highest audio frequency 16 KHz. MPX 176.4 KHz, Nyquist is at 88 kHz, highest signal frequency 54 KHz. The signal is completely within the passband, and as such it is completely unaffected by any D/A converter filter — there is simply nothing to filter out, the signal is clean already.
A squarewave on any proper FM processor (such as an Omnia6) is obviously not a perfect squarewave. Perfect squarewaves are *illegal* on FM, because the signal must be bandlimited.
I am indeed looking into having a custom audio card built. However, it is absolutely not a requirement for the current incarnation of Breakaway Broadcast Processor. It performs perfectly even with on-board sound (provided the on-board sound supports 192 kHz and has a reasonably low noise floor, such as realtek 883 or 888).
I believe it is customary to install audio processors at ground level, down by the transmitter, not 400 meters up in the tower by the antenna. 😉
///Leif
Hi Giovanni!
Thank you very much for buying Breakaway. I remember the activate offline problem you had — I believe it was because the validation was not done in a single session. When Breakaway gives you a URL, and you go to the URL to get the validation code, you must insert it into breakaway without restarting breakaway first. If you close Breakaway, the code will no longer be valid. If you do it without restarting Breakaway, it should work fine.
Please note that buying one copy means you can run it on one (1) computer. 🙂
This is why we have the multiple discount.Breakaway is a product meant for consumers, so it’s meant to be very easy to use. Therefore, it doesn’t have the traditional full controls of a compressor — most people wouldn’t know what to do with them, and I believe most people are not interested to learn about controls of compressors 🙂. User interface and simplicity is everything.
That being said, try the French Kiss preset. It uses a wideband compressor to create intentional pumping — if you’re looking for wideband sound, you’ll probably like this preset!
If you’re looking for wideband because you want as little frequency balance change as possible, try the Reference Jazz or the Reference Classical preset. They’re multiband, but they alter the frequency balance very lightly while also avoiding pumping, which is usually seen as a negative side effect of wideband compression.
Another tip might be the Regulator preset, with Bass turned way down!
Best regards,
///LeifHi Luke!
Lucky for me, big professional radio stations are buying the pc based solution. Perhaps because it’s the one that sounds best, regardless of cost. Off-air latency is a non-issue in many setups, and stability is a non-issue with BBP — it’s completely stable already.
The cost of the software is to cover research, development and maintenance, ordered greatest to smallest. It takes countless years to research and develop an audio processor like BBP.
I am looking into the hardware audiocard route. It would indeed solve many problems in one!
Having a single software version with everything would certainly be convenient, and easier for me, but it would then end up being too expensive for the little guys, who would then ask for a more affordable version.. Back to square one — I just started with the more affordable version, instead of starting with the full version. Backwards perhaps, but there you have it 😉.
I certainly do provide free updates and enhancements! Future versions of Breakaway Broadcast Processor will of course be free to everyone who has bought it.
///Leif
The market for broadcast processors isn’t large enough that we could include the most advanced features (like my advanced composite clipper) in a product in this price range. The volumes just aren’t there. That being said, there’s a reason why hardware processors are $10,000, and it’s not performance!
Imagine the economics of releasing a $10,000 hardware product. With dealer margins and discounts, the manufacturers net sales price will probably be about half of the MSRP, so let’s say $5000. Let’s say the parts for the unit cost $2000.. We also have to hire people to assemble, test and ship the units.. We have to keep the lights on in the factory, and the company has to make a profit. When all is said and done, the inventor who wrote the software / designed the unit would be lucky to get $500 per unit. And, for $10,000 MSRP, we’re talking a flagship unit, not a mini or one-type unit.
As such, at $199, Breakaway Broadcast is priced right about where it needs to be. It’s a great deal for the customer, yet it nets me about the same amount of money as selling hardware units would have, even though the hardware unit would have been a few thousand dollars. Essentially, we’re cutting out the middleman and passing the savings on to you. Even after buying a computer to run it on, it still only cost you a quarter of a decent 1U unit from our competitors.
With BBP at $199, although it also happens to be the cleanest sound available at ANY price, the needs of the really small stations and enthusiasts are met. Absolutely anyone who needs an audio processor can afford BBP. If not, they have not budgeted properly, considering what a real transmitter costs.
The way I see it, the price and functionality level is just right — it’s an incredible deal, but also leaves the opportunity for more advanced versions, priced more in line with market value.
Any disagreers? (I’m sure I’ll regret asking). 🙂
Best,
///LeifI apologize for the inconvenience. I spent [i]a lot[i] of time trying to find a different solution to this particular problem in the beginning, but in today’s world of "3rd-party-originated try-before-you-buy software solutions" (to use the most polite term possible), it’s one of the things I had to live with.
Best,
///Leif
