NEW FM PROCESSOR

[jesseg]

so...... actually you agree not to compare these products. Thanks that's just what I wanted to say. If it's so much better than the others and Leif has great faith in his product why does it constantly needs to be compared to the rest and positioned as so much better. I'll just figure that out for myself thank you very much.

Then what's the point of starting a thread? Or what's the point in stations competing with each other to get better sound? Or bothering to share content & music at all?

See where that line of thinking goes ultimately?

I think comparing encourages competition. And if you're against that... then you're in the wrong line of work. Audio processing, especially for radio (especially it's real-world implementation), is ALL about comparisons and therefore competition.

I was simply pointing out how unfair it is for breakaway to get compared to other processors in the "same" price class, and how unfair it is for the other guys to be compared to breakaway in the same price class. I'm absolutely not against comparing. I'm just proving a point that there really is no "fair" way to compare breakaway to anything out there on the market.... because of how big a value it is. The price to quality ratio is so far beyond anything that's ever been done so far.

But yes, absolutely it goes without saying (except for you said it) that you need to form your own opinions. I didn't think I needed to say that, and Leif... that's ALL he asks (imo), is that people actually LISTEN with open ears & open minds.

 

[jesseg]

The Orban 1010PE encoding software appears to work well from what I understand. We are presently feeding the streaming computer audio-in with the analog stereo out from the 8400 with pretty good results.

I have two new 2.5Gig Core 2 Duo machines that I have planned for streaming with one to act as the encoder and the other to be the stream server (Wowza). I wonder if I could run Breakaway and the Orban encoder software at the same time on one of these machines. We have a bunch of these machines we run Audition 3 on with very little CPU load and no dropout problems so far.

You should be able to run encoders & server on a machine with much lower specs than a Core 2 *anything*. Celerons are pretty cheap these days, but then again so is the value Core 2 Quad lineup. As far as Breakaway Broadcast, it's a good plan to just jump to at least a Core 2 Duo, if not a Quad. But for Breakaway System/Live the CPU requirements are quite low. With a Duo, You should be able to run multiple instances of it no problem, with multiple encoders per instance.

 

[jesseg]

I cannot get the software to run on my athlon Xp 2800+, my computer freezes up and crashes before the software will even open...

You won't be able to run Breakaway Broadcast on a very slow CPU like that. Breakaway System/Live will work however.

To put things into perspective... I'm barely able to run Breakaway Broadcast in "efficient" mode, on my Athlon64 3000+. I'm talkin 85% CPU usage! And the 64 cores have more "cajones" than XP cores.

Compared to the full mode, running on an Intel Core 2 Q6600 ($170 OEM) it uses about 11%.

The Q6600 is now getting phased out as a budget CPU. !! There are now CPUs that blow away the Q6600, even in the Core 2 lineup. But Intel just launched the Nehalem line of CPUs (aka I7) which then again blow away the entire Core 2 lineup.

You can see what I'm getting at now I hope. AthlonXP is literally almost 10 years old now. It's time to upgrade.

 

[The F Mister]

so...... actually you agree not to compare these products. Thanks that's just what I wanted to say. If it's so much better than the others and Leif has great faith in his product why does it constantly needs to be compared to the rest and positioned as so much better. I'll just figure that out for myself thank you very much.

Then what's the point of starting a thread? Or what's the point in stations competing with each other to get better sound? Or bothering to share content & music at all?

See where that line of thinking goes ultimately?

I think comparing encourages competition. And if you're against that... then you're in the wrong line of work. Audio processing, especially for radio (especially it's real-world implementation), is ALL about comparisons and therefore competition.

I was simply pointing out how unfair it is for breakaway to get compared to other processors in the "same" price class, and how unfair it is for the other guys to be compared to breakaway in the same price class. I'm absolutely not against comparing. I'm just proving a point that there really is no "fair" way to compare breakaway to anything out there on the market.... because of how big a value it is. The price to quality ratio is so far beyond anything that's ever been done so far.

But yes, absolutely it goes without saying (except for you said it) that you need to form your own opinions. I didn't think I needed to say that, and Leif... that's ALL he asks (imo), is that people actually LISTEN with open ears & open minds.

I'm all for comparisons and I've got an open mind. But if I would be a manufacturer/representative/programmer etc etc... I wouldn’t keep comparing it in every thread/board around the world with the rest on the market and pointing out how better it is. In the Netherlands it's actually illegal to compare competing products in commercials. This isn't quite the case here, I'm aware of that but after a while it's getting to obvious and easy, to eager. After a while a good product sells itself and if we take the feedback in consideration so far doesn't it? Shouldn't the rest be comparing to BAFM?

It's like if someone asks’s me to set up a processor sounding like the competitor.... I would say let's make your sound even better and have the competitor want to make his sound like yours.

 

[jesseg]

It's like if someone asks’s me to set up a processor sounding like the competitor.... I would say let's make your sound even better and have the competitor want to make his sound like yours.

I agree, with your whole post. Actually, despite having my presets in the processing, I'm just a friend of Leif's and I'm basically giving away this work to the community for free. I'm not a representative of his company, and I haven't made a cent off it.

The reason Leif has to charge a puny amount for Breakaway, is to be able to have a support structure of some kind... and I know they want badly to put Breakaway System into a retail box, in places like Best Buy. Who wouldn't. You can't put yourself in that kind of position when totally giving away software.

Not to mention you have no legal recourse in the USA, against people selling "illegal" distributions in places like eBay, or what not. It's this very fact that caused people like Alessandro (creator of Sound Solution) to stop developing that piece of software. At any rate, this is a little off topic, hehehe.

 

[konbaasiang]

Alright, let's get back on topic. I believe we're all in basically in agreement! If not, I think this type of discussion is better suited to PMs.


EncSpy, the installer has a built in benchmark check which checks whether your system is fast enough to run the product or not, before actually installing. Did the installer fail to warn you that the CPU was too slow?

///Leif

 

[Sgeirk]

Amen.

I'm building a separate dual core in a rack to run BA. I had a chance to hear it in a quick dirty test last month and was impressed enough to give it a real shove.

If anyone is not even the least bit impressed, they're just jaded. In a very slow fashion, I'm building a dedicated backup processor with a solid state drive and embedded xp in a rack for about a grand. That's crazy...why NOT? I can't think of anything I could get used that would sound better for that price...or give me the flexibility that it offers.

Plus, I can always surf the interwebs or do my taxes on the computer when it's not actually in use crunching audio algorithms, right? ;D

 

[konbaasiang]

BBP 0.90.44 is out!

Updated Amsterdam, New York and Jill FM presets. Brand new CHR preset.
More intelligent preset vs pre-emph management (more consistent sound for different pre-emphasis settings for each preset).

The slider settings for each preset are individually saved, too. Much easier to A/B compare.

Also, commercial now happens less frequently, so it won't drive you quite as crazy when testing and evaluating .

http://bredband.leif.cx/browse/bafm

Official web site will launch on monday!

///Leif

 

[oldiesstation]

Just amazing.Presets for any format,i like the helix,the new chr,heck they're all good,depending on format and taste.You guys ROCK.The New York pre fits that city just fine.They like em' loud.Congrats,at $199.00 this is a steal..i could not hear any of that dreaded IM distortion,no pumping.Maybe we can get all the HEAVY hitters to post their thoughts.Now cornelius gould has great ears,hey Mr.G jump in.I've used every brand processor made from the
2k models to the 10K O & O boxes.This software hangs with all of them.

 

[cgould]

Just amazing.Presets for any format,i like the helix,the new chr,heck they're all good,depending on format and taste.You guys ROCK.The New York pre fits that city just fine.They like em' loud.Congrats,at $199.00 this is a steal..i could not hear any of that dreaded IM distortion,no pumping.Maybe we can get all the HEAVY hitters to post their thoughts.Now cornelius gould has great ears,hey Mr.G jump in.I've used every brand processor made from the
2k models to the 10K O & O boxes.This software hangs with all of them.

Leif and I talk back and forth quite a bit on a daily basis, so don't take my silence here as any kind of a slight to him! I've been playing around off and on with his software as time permits. I like the "retro sound" he managed to re-create with it.

Leif and I are both audio processing nuts, and we've been having a blast talking processing.

-C

 

[oldiesstation]

Well,i should have known.Hard to keep guru's away from processing,as you are one of the best ever.Does that Helix pre kinda sound like you cgsmooth ac in the 6EXI?? Leif has done a good job developing this software and having a true gentleman and winner like you Mr.C to talk processing with only adds more spice to it.We can all learn from eachother.

 

[Phaser]

Hello Again Leif, (a sequel from my first post at November 14, 2008)
ok I know that you say as happen on all processing box when push it to the limits but all the settings on BA personal is at half, Range, Power, Speed are on 50, the Volume at -20db Bass at Normal & Shape at 0, Helix preset, with that settings I am still hear breathings especially at jazz music for example with lots of crescendos, I make my tests with any cd of Diana Krall or Nora Jones or anything else from the same format from early 90’s before hyper-processed CD’s, usually I use such music format to test any processing box due the high dynamics, Volume at -20db I suppose is the same setting as all other units with 10db reduction, on my current processor I don’t hear any breathing issue with same of 10db reduction at AGC, now if I lower the Volume at -30 db and Range at 25 things are much better but as you understand there is no loud effect anymore, so I think you must take some more care on design of Gate and the way of his action (i.e. longer release of gate, stay at freezing state longer) with very difficult material such that.

Please take my opinion as advice just to make better the software and not as defamation of your product. Thanks a lot.

Leif Keep Going ON

Best Regards
XFon

 

[konbaasiang]

Hi Phaser!

I appreciate the suggestions - thank you!

Please note that all presets are different. The '50' setting setting on the slider simply means 'Use preset exactly as designed by the factory programmer' -- in this case Jesse Graffam, since he made the Helix preset. So, turning Speed up means "I like this factory preset but I wish it responded faster". Turning Range down means "I like this factory preset but it's gaining up my noise floor too much."

The volume control in Breakaway Personal doesn't affect the sound (other than above -6 if you use bass boost), so there's really no need to turn that down. Try turning Range down to 25 on the Helix preset, and leaving volume where it is? Or maybe even try a different preset. Helix has a very special sound -- some like it, some prefer other presets. For a varied playlist including lightly processed jazz like in the genre you mentioned, I recommend the Reference Heavy preset, or even Reference Settings. If it's quiet, turn up the volume. The cut-to-cut consistency is is what counts in Breakaway Personal -- it's not a loudness processor .

You might also try the Reference Heavy NR preset I added in Breakaway Personal 1.20.12. It has the downward expanders enabled, and is pretty effective at suppressing background noise.

If you know any specific problems cuts (Artist, Song), please do tell me (and what preset you hear the problems with), and I'll see what I can do .

Best regards,
///Leif

 

[cgould]

Does that Helix pre kinda sound like you cgsmooth ac in the 6EXI?? Leif has done a good job developing this software and having a true gentleman and winner like you Mr.C to talk processing with only adds more spice to it.We can all learn from eachother.

I guess great minds think alike ;D.

Thanks for the kind words! Yes, Leif is a very talented guy!

-Cornelius

 

[Phaser]

Hello Leif, I must confess that I am not familiar yet with the action of each knob so as the designer you have quite right lowering the range control at 15 the breathings go away I have some questions more but I prefer to contact you PM.

My compliment, you’re a real gentleman without any sign of “arrogance” as happen with others “know it all gurus around here”

Thanks a lot Leif and keep going ON
Best regards
XFon

 

[konbaasiang]

Thank you kindly, XFon .

Nobody ever accused me of being modest, though.


Official web site is finally up!

http://www.claessonedwards.com

Lots of documentation and information about Breakaway Broadcast.



New beta up: 0.90.47

Better multi-threading! It now runs properly on Pentium-D CPUs, and possibly also on Pentium 4 CPUs with hyperthreading. It will now automatically detect the presence of a dual-core (or hyper threading) and run the back-clipper in a separate thread from the rest of the processing.

So, if anyone with a Pentium 4 HT, Pentium-D or AMD dual core cpu had problems before, please try it again now.

Also added: Slow sweep lineup tone, from 30hz to Cutoff, linear. This sweep is affected by de-emphasis, so could be useful for FM transmitters with built in non-defeatable stereo encoder and pre-emphasis. Running de-emphasized out of the processor and re-preemphasizing in the stereo encoder is not a recommended way to use it, but if you have no choice, you have no choice, and this way acceptable performance can be achieved, especially if using a modulation monitor with 1ms integration time (for example the ModMinder).

Download the latest beta from here:

http://bredband.leif.cx/browse/bafm

The betas on the official site will lag behind the above URL.

///Leif

 

[gtomas]

Now cornelius gould has great ears,hey Mr.G jump in.I've used every brand processor made from the 2k models to the 10K O & O boxes.This software hangs with all of them.

I haven't had time to do any serious listening, just a quick "glance" on the software. The user interface looks very nice and is quite easy to use for a Windows application with audio drivers, etc. As with any processor, ultimately it's the sound on longer term listening and in comparison to other similar processors that will determine it's quality and place in the market. I wish Leif lots of success with it! The more choice of different sounding processors users have, the better!


Regards,
Goran Tomas

 

[konbaasiang]

Thanks, Goran! Likewise.

I'd love to get some more MPX clips of DSPXtreme and DSPXmini, would be great to see if you can tweak away some of the distortion and pumping I hear in the current torture test clips -- you could really gain an edge on O&O then, beyond just price. Particularly the Evanescence cut in DSPXmini, something really strange is going on there across the board (listen at 00:14 for example).

There will always be a market for hardware processors no matter how popular software processors get -- not everyone is comfortable building their own machine and setting it up for on-air use. Choices are good, and so is competition. I'd like some, please .


BTW 0.90.49 is out. Cleaned up several things (such as the uninstaller), gearing up for release. Does anyone know of any outstanding issues / bugs? Please let me know.

///Leif

 

[oldiesstation]

bare bones computers are sure cheap,get the right sound card and you are good to go.Most of us have boxes that can be updated like you mentioned for less than a $100.00.You just can't get more cost effective.This software is a killer application.Had it in the studio yesterday,throwing everything i could think of at it .YOU got us on this one.

 

[SUPERCASTER]

Leif,

Thanks for the new processor. It sounds GREAT! Keep up the good work.

Just as a side note, you mentioned that you thought iBiquity HD Radio was almost universally used on USA AM and FM stations. Apparently you haven't heard that only a small percentage of FM stations, and a very few AM stations are using it here, and many of the AM's don't use it at all at night or critical hours. The reliable coverage area of HD Radio is tiny and the adjacent channel interference terrible. The HD radios aren't selling, and iBiquity is begging the FCC for a 10 times power increase on FM to save their HD radio jammer.

See the "HD Radio" thread on this board for info and comments.

iBiquity HD Radio is dead in the water, and will probably suffer an agonizingly slow death.

I put a link to this thread on the "Community Radio" thread of this Radio-info board.

Congratulations!