I have been a fan of Breakaway but found Stereo Tool that offers control of processing that Breakaway does not. Any comments about a comparison of the two?
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Breakaway Broadcast v Stereo Tool Processing
- Thread starter ChiefEngineer
- Start date
Comparing the two is almost impossible. Although Stereotool has a _much_ wider array of controls it is very hard to achieve a sound which is consistantly 'up there'. I never got it right, Breakaway in my opinion is a full step 'better'. I wouldn't hesitate to put BBP on the air, Stereotool however...ChiefEngineer said:
Nevertheless, the guy behind Stereotool (Hans van Zutphen) is also the brains behind 'Perfect Declipper' which is awesome and also used in the Omnia.9. Stereotool will probably give Breakaway a better run for the money in the future. Hans recently quit his dayjob and will develop and sell Stereotool and Perfect declipper for a living, so it's definitely something to keep an eye on...
Stereo Tool is a nice toy. Breakaway is a real processor. I have a station and a fill-in translator that are running it because the budget wasn't there for a big box. Can sound as good as a big box.
Would I like to have at least band mix controls? You bet. Am I going to get nitpicky over something that has a clean ass clipper for $299? Nope.
Leif has stated that there would be an updated version of Breakaway coming out, but I don't know how much time he can devote to it now that he's full bore into the Omnia.9
Would I like to have at least band mix controls? You bet. Am I going to get nitpicky over something that has a clean ass clipper for $299? Nope.
Leif has stated that there would be an updated version of Breakaway coming out, but I don't know how much time he can devote to it now that he's full bore into the Omnia.9
Amen....to my ears, it beats an Omnia 6...and I have the keys to both ends of the comparison. BBP is an amazing product. Just make sure you use a DC coupled sound card if using it on a licensed station...anything else will overshoot about 30% on some songs.WNTIRadio said:
Breakaway blows my mind. Totally. I haven't tried Stereotool, but if it's anything like Breakaway, it must be good.
Every time I listen to the local low power that's running Breakaway, I silently curse the fact that it's digital and coming out of a computer.
If the creators of it could put it on a PCB, mount it in a 19" rack box with meters and knobs (so it looks like a real processor) I'd go out and buy a dozen of them and put them in everywhere.
IMO the sound from it is far better than the commercial stations with their Omnias et al.
Every time I listen to the local low power that's running Breakaway, I silently curse the fact that it's digital and coming out of a computer.
If the creators of it could put it on a PCB, mount it in a 19" rack box with meters and knobs (so it looks like a real processor) I'd go out and buy a dozen of them and put them in everywhere.
IMO the sound from it is far better than the commercial stations with their Omnias et al.
I tried using StereoTool, but Breakaway (both Broadcast and Live versions) sounded better for my webstreams. It's hard to make Breakaway sound bad...but it's easy with StereoTool or MBL.
And I prefer using the Broadcast version for streaming - the clipper is so clean that I prefer to crank the final drive than to turn up the power or range.
And I prefer using the Broadcast version for streaming - the clipper is so clean that I prefer to crank the final drive than to turn up the power or range.
[thinkmode on]Dare I say Omnia.9...[[/thinkmode off]Studio1 said:
I thought Leif had licensed "SeeDeClip"? That's what he mentioned in the Omnia 9 intro presentation. I have the older, free command-line version (called simply "declip") and it really does a great job, although some CDs were mastered using look-ahead limiting instead of clipping, so it cannot "un-squash" them.richard.vanderveen said:
http://www.cutestudio.net/data/products/audio/seedeclip/index.php
The Omnia.9 v1 is out, but Leif is still very busy.WNTIRadio said:
The future needs better shades, trusss. (speaking of Stunna, a friend of mine just got a Grammy nom for a Rhianna remix ^5)Just like every other all-digital box. Can't run software without computation of some sort.Studio1 said:
How's this touch-screen user-created box look next to a pair of B&W 805Ds ?Studio1 said:
http://img862.imageshack.us/img862/8412/img2687c.jpg
Oh yeah, rackmount with knobs & touch... (with the ears off and feet on)
http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/1557/tt102.jpg
But personally I would go for the touch-screen only style. My fav usage thing with the Omnia.9 is that you can use the remote control on a Windows tablet, hearing/measuring and tuning your sound in the palm of your hand, from anywhere in the world.
He did, but didn't use it for Undo. Hans' declipper destroys SeeDeClip, and everything else I've ever heard, even "rx". (sorry Alex, if you read this, the mention is because rx is the best alternative to the two, not because it isn't great for what it is, i still luv ya and iZ krew)satech said:
Someone already hacked Breakaway into an Optimod 8200-series box... notice the display:
http://www.processingfreakday.com/images/2011/17.jpg
And then the sticker on the back:
http://www.processingfreakday.com/images/2011/15.jpg
http://www.processingfreakday.com/images/2011/17.jpg
And then the sticker on the back:
http://www.processingfreakday.com/images/2011/15.jpg
Jesse Graffam said:
I don't have problems with computation itself, I'm just not that fussed on 'PCs' in radio stations (except for automation) - which is why I made the next comment...
"If the creators of it could put it on a PCB, mount it in a 19" rack box with meters and knobs (so it looks like a real processor) I'd go out and buy a dozen of them and put them in everywhere".
satech said:
That's pretty cool. I note it's an Optimod-TV as well, rather than an FM box. Next step, find out who, where, how and why!
I have both Breakaway Standard (the 30 dollar Breakaway) and Stereo Tool. Stereo Tool can sound at least as good as the basic Breakaway on a stream. I have run them both on streams (Breakaway in the past and Stereo Tool today), and while ST is complicated, once you figure out what he's doing you can make streams sound great with it. First thing is you have to defeat the clipping-lossy codecs HATE clipping!
Here's my station's stream. It uses Stereo Tool into a Virtual Audio cable into the Edcast encoder. It's 32 kbps, AAC+, mono.
http://www.mainstreamnetwork.com/listen/player.asp?station=wurd-am&
Here's my station's stream. It uses Stereo Tool into a Virtual Audio cable into the Edcast encoder. It's 32 kbps, AAC+, mono.
http://www.mainstreamnetwork.com/listen/player.asp?station=wurd-am&
The ST version released last month - ST 6.21 - is the version that made big improvements for FM to the pre-emphasis limiter/clipper, plus added a source declipper. It does take time to get through the settings which are not as immediately intuitive or familiar as they could be. Sure, the GUI and variety/formats of factory FM presets are not as good as BBP, but it's fully configurable once you work it out. Quick test: For a given FM loudness level, compare cold voice on ST 6.21 to BBP. You may be pleasantly surprised how clean ST now is, and it might be the motivation needed to spend time tinkering with the settings, which I still haven't got quite right! It (and me) could do with a range of good quality user presets to get us started, so if you come up with a great preset, please consider sharing them on the ST forum.
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