distortion

Hi 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

Hi 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,
///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,
///Leif

[quote author=”luke-san”]Are you going to the Netherlands Soundfreak day next month? [/quote]
Euhm, Luke-san, it`s next week 🙄

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