New: Aud-X 1.2 - major improvements

[3dsnar]

We have just lounched Aud-X v. 1.2.
http://www.aud-x.com/content/view/12/26/

This version has significant improvements, which allow to disable the DS decoder, without reinstallation. Also, it is possible to specify which streams should be decoded by the DS filter.

We also added a new DolbyProLogicII decoding algorithm (more on this in a separate thread).

The list of changes is:
[1.2] - DolbyProLogicII DSP decoder.
[1.2] - New set of DirectShow configuration options, which allow for easy disabling/enabling of the Aud-X DShow filter, without the need of reinstallation.
[1.2] – Direct AC3 to Aud-X transcoding via the executable front-end.
[1.2] – Memory leakage problems fixed.

I hope you'll enjoy it :)

[Kurtnoise]

Great stuf....

I'm testing this last build and it seems that ac3/wav input files are case sensitive, right ? Encoding doesn't work with files having .AC3 extension but it works with lowercase (i.e .ac3).

I'll include your encoder into BeLight.

[3dsnar]

Hi Kurtnoise. It is great that you will use it!
I do not know, but I think this is lower case only.
I will ask the C++ guys to check this out and fix it.
Please feel free to use the DLL that we released,
if you find it useful.

[Kurtnoise]

aaa...I didn't know that there is a dll. I'm using the cli. Is it in the SDK ?

[3dsnar]

Yes, there is :)

Please download it:
http://www.aud-x.com/index.php?option=com_remository&Itemid=34&func=download&filecatid=11

Dimzon detected some bug in it, but all the problems will be fixed probably today or tomorrow. So please do not get discouraged in case of some problems, 'cause all the bug reports to this DLL will be instantly considered (please report, if you find something wrong).

[Kurtnoise]

mmh, it seems that this library supports only pcm as input...I need also AC3. ;) Could you include it please. Thanks.

[3dsnar]

Hmm, not really.
This will affect the library concept (i.e. it is supposed to be as pure as possible).
However, probably this week, or at the beginning of the next week a CLI exec will be available. I will get back to you with this.

Or, alternatively, please use the current EXE (if it is ok).
This exec is well tested, so I think it will be the best to stick to it.
I hope this is ok.

[SeeMoreDigital]

Would it be possible to create a separate installer with a set of "decoder" only filters?


Cheers

[3dsnar]

You mean as simple DS filter as possible (with only Aud-X decoding option)? Please clarify. I.e. what kind of features should be removed in your opinion.
--
The idea of the CONFIG tab, was to enable the user to configure the codec to every extent,
including disabling it at will.

For example, when you will leave only 'Decode Aud-X/MP3' it will only be used on Aud-X streams, and the possible conflict with other filters will be limited.

Setting also 'Decode PCM', allows to decode Aud-X streams, but also use the unit as postprocessing effect in the filtergraph.
I.e. if you would like to use any other decoder for decoding any type of stream (to PCM), activate the 'Decode PCM' checkbox only. In such configuration our filter can be used only to convert stereo/mono to 5.1 (with pseudosurround or DPLII decoder) on the fly.

etc.

[Kurtnoise]

Or, alternatively, please use the current EXE (if it is ok).
Yeah...My first attempt (http://kurtnoise.free.fr/BeLight/BeLight-0.22beta_20060315.7z) to integrate this into BeLight.

http://kurtnoise.free.fr/BeLight/audx_BeLight.gif

By default, this is disabled. You must install Aud-X encoder before to enable 5.1 Output Channels in mp3 tab. Big Warning: don't use this build for other things...It just for testing Aud-X Encoder. I'm fixing the others bugs. Plus, some new parts are not finished yet (Winamp, BeSplit...)

[3dsnar]

Great, thanks!
I will check it out and report my observations.

[3dsnar]

It works. Nice job :thanks:

[3dsnar]

Kurtnoise, please use this logo instead of my avatar.

[Kurtnoise]

send me it by email: kurtnoise at free dot fr

[bobcat56458]

Thanks 3dsnar for updating your program! It now runs smoothly when I'm playing a DV AVI on my 1.8GHz P4 (it did not with ver 1.0). I also like the ability to disable it if I choose so. The Dolby Prologic II playback from a file is a great addition. I just wish it could convert to Dolby Prologic II from my computers TV audio (ATI A-I-W 8500DV) when watching a program Live. I do not have Dolby Prologic II on my 5.1 Home Theater System.

[bobcat56458]

Thanks 3dsnar for updating your application. It now lets my 1.8GHz P4 computer play a DV AVI file smoothly when active, it did not with the 1.0 version. I also like the addition of the option to disable your DirectShow filter if I choose to. The Dolby Prologic II option also works well when playing a file. I just wish it would give me Dolby Prologic II audio when watching a TV program live on my computer using my ATI A-I-W 8500DV video card. I do not have Dolby Prologic II on my 5.1 Home Theater System.

[3dsnar]

Thanks 3dsnar for updating your application. It now lets my 1.8GHz P4 computer play a DV AVI file smoothly when active, it did not with the 1.0 version. I also like the addition of the option to disable your DirectShow filter if I choose to. The Dolby Prologic II option also works well when playing a file. I just wish it would give me Dolby Prologic II audio when watching a TV program live on my computer using my ATI A-I-W 8500DV video card. I do not have Dolby Prologic II on my 5.1 Home Theater System.
Hello Bobcat. Please make sure that the Aud-X/MP3 checkbox is activated (if you want to play Aud-X MP3 5.1 based content).
------
I do not know if it is possible to use DSfilter filters in real time. I know that you can do something like that with VST plugins, but
the delay is usually terrible. But I think that there are some tv-video cards, and applications which allow to use direct show filters. I am not familiar with this to much though...
Please check this, maybe it will be useful in any way
http://www.aud-x.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=27

[bobcat56458]

Thanks for the reply 3dsnar, I should have been more specific. The audio/video I’m viewing is from my DirectTivo Satellite receiver, and is input through the Audigy soundcards Aux2 audio input for the audio, and ATI A-I-W 8500DV’s S-Video input for the video. So what I am asking for is if it would be possible for the Aud-X drivers to convert the stereo input of my computers soundcard to Dolby ProLogic II audio on the fly without much delay so that the audio/video would be in sync when viewing live TV. Then output the Dolby ProLogic II audio from the soundcard by way of 6 analog audio outputs, or 5.1 SPDIF digital output to my 5.1 Home Theater System that does not have the ability to do Dolby ProLogic II, but can do 5.1 surround. This may be an impossible dream, it has been discussed on this forum before with no one posting a way to accomplish this feat. Thanks again for what you, and your team have accomplished already, it is way beyond the original goal of producing quality low bitrate 5.1 audio in a video file!

[3dsnar]

Bobcat. I do not know if there is any software that allows to capture tha audio/video content and at the same time it is DirectShow compatible. It would be necessary to pass the input auidio stream to Aud-X. If you can achieve something like this,
than you will be able to redirect it to the SPDiF output (through our DSfilter, which will decode it first to 6 channels, and then transcode it to AC3), and get the sound on external DD decoder...
Unfortunately I am not familiar with such software, which does not mean that it does not exist...
I hope you can find the answer somewhere.
Maybe this link is in any way useful?
http://www.stuffware.co.uk/stufftv/

[elenhil]

Unfortunately I'm experiencing video jerkiness trying to view movies with Aud-X as a decoder (either AC3 or PCM). And that's the decoder's fault, I'm afraid. Needless to say that nothing like that was ever experienced with other decoders. Very sad.

[3dsnar]

Hi,
your CPU may be not powerful enough.
Aud-X is pretty CPU hungry...
(e.g 1.7 GHz should be enough for Aud-X decoding, and video decoding. For transcoding to AC3
you'll need at least 2 GHz)
What is your processor speed?
---
Or, there is a direct show filter configuration problem.
There is a known bug related to MPC, so if you use this player,
please try BSplayer or WMP10.
What other filters are used in the filter chain?

[elenhil]

Hi,
your CPU may be not powerful enough.
Aud-X is pretty CPU hungry...
(e.g 1.7 GHz should be enough for Aud-X decoding, and video decoding. For transcoding to AC3
you'll need at least 2 GHz)
What is your processor speed?
---
Or, there is a direct show filter configuration problem.
There is a known bug related to MPC, so if you use this player,
please try BSplayer or WMP10.
What other filters are used in the filter chain?
I've an AMD Sempron 3000+ (2GHz) CPU. And apart from AVI Splitter and FFDShow there's nothing else between the source and Aud-X. Turning off postprocessing effects had no effect (but even with PP turned on the whole thing uses no more than 30% of my CPU potential). I'm using BSPlayer.

[3dsnar]

OK, thank you for this bug report. So far non of the users experienced this type of problems (there are other issues that need improving). But we will also try to figure out what is going on in this particular case.
Please tell me, what kind of stream are you decoding?
Does it happen to various types of streams or just to a particular one?
Did you try a different player?:thanks:

[elenhil]

OK, thank you for this bug report. So far non of the users experienced this type of problems (there are other issues that need improving). But we will also try to figure out what is going on in this particular case.
Please tell me, what kind of stream are you decoding?
Does it happen to various types of streams or just to a particular one?
Did you try a different player?:thanks:
I tried BSPlayer and Windows Media Player. The stream was xvid-encoded, I tried ffdshow/libavcodec, ffdshow/xvid and xvid's own decoder alone. I also checked divx-encoded streams, same result.

I've also failed to use Aud-X in cases with two audio streams (mp3 and ac3 or ogg and ac3) - no matter how I tried the player used ac3filter, cyberlink or nero decoder, but not Aud-X. I even tried putting all the three into BSPlayer's black list, but it still did not make it use Aud-X. At the same time with a single ac3 stream it used Aud-X OK. I tend to think that this is my system's problem (but I'm clueless about its nature).

[3dsnar]

OK, since other users reported some other bugs,
maybe fixing them will somehow result in improving your
performance on your system.
You can try to use graphedit and try to manually connect Aud-X.
Also, pleas check the config tab, and try to enable or disable
other streams.
If your soundcard has a stereo output, and you have selected
5.1 output in Aud-X, the filter will not be used (since it is not compatible with your soundcard). Therefore please try to
set stereo output with DSfilter manager, or graph edit (this is the way to access Aud-X DSfilter settings).
Thank you.

[CoRoNe]

You should contact Milan_cutka and ask him if he's capable of integrating this Aud-X decoder in FFDShow. And it seems your DirectShow Decoder is a little picky; it only accepts the standard MPEG-1 Stream Splitter. It won't connect to the MPA Splitter from Gabest.
If you could achieve that, that would be really great! :cool:

[3dsnar]

Hi CoRoNe,
I would like to pass the DLLs to Milan,
I have already tried to contact him, but so far without results.
Maybe he will find out about Aud-X and will be interested in it.
Or maybe you can help in this somehow?
If so, and Milan would be interested,
integrating out codec this is just a matter of time :)
Meanwhile, I hope we will be able to improve our decoder.
Cheers.

[Gabriel_Bouvigne]

note: ffdshow is built around codecs/filters that all have source code available.

[3dsnar]

You should contact Milan_cutka and ask him if he's capable of integrating this Aud-X decoder in FFDShow. And it seems your DirectShow Decoder is a little picky; it only accepts the standard MPEG-1 Stream Splitter. It won't connect to the MPA Splitter from Gabest.
If you could achieve that, that would be really great! :cool:
I forgot to mention. In case of problems with other streams,
please set (in the config tab) only PCM stream compatibility and Aud-X/MP3 stream compatibility. In this configuration you will be able to use other decoder for mpeg-1 stream (e.g. FFDshow), and Aud-X will receive the decoded PCM, which can be converted to 5.1 on the fly (with the use of DPLII decoder or Pseudosurround).

[Kurtnoise]

However, probably this week, or at the beginning of the next week a CLI exec will be available. I will get back to you with this.
Any news ?

[3dsnar]

Yes. Dimzon prepared the CLI.
Please check out this thread.
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=109226
it requires NET 2.0 runtime, is it ok?
----
On the other hand you managed to use the other exec,
is something wrong with it? Or you prefer the STDIN compatible version?

[Kurtnoise]

I mean, is there some enhancements (for levels quality) between Dimzon CLI and your last build ?

[3dsnar]

levels quality? Hmm, I am not sure if I understand.
Generally, the encoder quality is identical.

[3dsnar]

Kurtnoise, I forgot to add.
If it is possible, please distribute the audx.exe
with BeLight, so there will be no need to download our installer
in order to perform transcoding.
Ofcourse, in case of any updates, I will inform you.
:thanks:

[Kurtnoise]

levels quality? Hmm, I am not sure if I understand.
Generally, the encoder quality is identical.
By tuning encoder you have some improvements for quality..I'd say that.

If it is possible, please distribute the audx.exe
with BeLight, so there will be no need to download our installer
mmh...I don't know if this is a good idea. I don't want to force people to download/install something whereas they won't use this trick. You see what I mean ?

[3dsnar]

No, there were not quality enhancements, soe the encoders
are the same.
------------------------------
Sure, there is no need to force people.
I just wanted you to know
that you can distribute any files
related to Aud-X without any limitations (if you decide that
it is necessary or useful).
Thanx.

[Kurtnoise]

I've a suggestion for you...;)

Why not include BeLight release on your website ? You have already VDM so...(at least the release compatible with Aud-X encoder.)

[3dsnar]

Yeah, it is a good idea.
Are you going to provide an 'official' BeLight release,
which will include Aud-X (among other updates ofcourse), or you perceive it as a sort of mutation
of the mainstream BeLight (it would be cool if Aud-X will be in the mainstream)?
----
There are several free software downloading services, where I obtained BeLight once (with an installation, which creates icon on the desktop, creates necessary folder, contains besweet and other necessary files - called Lancer Setup Wizard, or something like that).
Who is taking care of such downloading services, creating installer, etc?

[3dsnar]

BTW. If this is useful/helpful for you, we can ofcourse
host tha latest releases of BeLight :)
Is that what you had in mind?

[Kurtnoise]

yes...I'll send to you a package with an installer.

[3dsnar]

'yes' to which question?
;)
Please send it to me via email.
Thanx.

[squid_80]

3dsnar: Since Aud-X obviously uses code from both Lame and AC3-ACM, why isn't it released with full source code as specified by the GPL?

[3dsnar]

3dsnar: Since Aud-X obviously uses code from both Lame and AC3-ACM, why isn't it released with full source code as specified by the GPL?
Hi, please dig this thread to find out more on this issue (discussed before)
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=105391&highlight=audx
AC3ACM is changed very slightly (only PCM output channels order are changed, in order to be compatible with our ACM encoder).
But indeed, it should be published. I will talk about this
to our web master and he will place the complete project with source files on our web site.

[Kurtnoise]

Yes for this...
Are you going to provide an 'official' BeLight release, which will include Aud-X (among other updates ofcourse), or you perceive it as a sort of mutation
of the mainstream BeLight (it would be cool if Aud-X will be in the mainstream)?
----
There are several free software downloading services, where I obtained BeLight once (with an installation, which creates icon on the desktop, creates necessary folder, contains besweet and other necessary files - called Lancer Setup Wizard, or something like that).
Who is taking care of such downloading services, creating installer, etc?

[3dsnar]

OK, please send me the installer and I will
manage to place it on our web site.
So we will oficially host the installer (we will provide some info, that this is home of the official installer release, while the project home is: http://corecodec.org/projects/belight/
In case of future releases, I will just get newer installer versions from you, plus some text info on the new features / bug fix, and I will keep it updating.
If you have any suggestions, please let me know.
My colleague will try to inform some of the software download related services about the new installer updates, etc.
Please provide me with a full info on this release name, version and info what has been updated (with reference to the previous versions)
Thank you.

[buzzqw]

@3dsnar

Hi !

i am the developer (such huge word !!!) of MkvMagic a free (LGPL) multipourpose dvd2mpeg4/mpeg42dvd. You can find the thread in my sign.

I would add support for your audio format so i must know

1) can i support your audx.exe command line encoder ?
2) can i bundle audx.exe in my package ?
3) What documentation/license i must allegate with package ?
4) (and most :stupid: ) is olny needed audx.exe for encoding by command line ? (yes,i suppose... but since i have installaled the full package i don't know if other software is used...)

thanks for your support

BHH

[3dsnar]

Hi,

The answer to all questions is yes.

i.e.
Please distribute the audx.exe file with your application.
There are not licencing issues (this is free to use for free software).
So the exec ca easily be utilized as a part of your software package. Please provide some info and link to our web site
(so users will be able to install the complete package, for decodind, etc.)

This exec is independent, therefore other elements of the package
are not necessary to run it. In case of any further questions, please let me know.
:thanks:

[buzzqw]

Thanks 3dsnar !

in next version Aud-X will be fully supported !

I will include Aud-X License (http://www.aud-x.com/index.php?option=com_remository&Itemid=34&func=download&filecatid=5) in doc folder and a simple overview of this format (in changelog)

thanks to all

BHH

[3dsnar]

Great!
Thank you :cool:

[Gabriel_Bouvigne]

I am wondering which software lib are you using to DEcode the mp3 part?

[dimzon]

I am wondering which software lib are you using to DEcode the mp3 part?
AFAIK mp3 decoder from LAME ;)

[3dsnar]

yes, indeed,
as I mentioned, LAME is used for the main audio stream encoding,
while Aud-X is a separate thing used for encoding (and decoding) the spatial information
So the PCM stream, from decoded MP3 + the spatial info is used to generate the 5.1 sound.

[squid_80]

But doesn't LAME use libmad?

[Kurtnoise]

nope...mpglib.

[3dsnar]

Kurtnoise, did you have a chance
to prepare the latest BeLight installation?

[Gabriel_Bouvigne]

If you are using the mp3 decoder from Lame, then I've got some news for you:
Lame is using a GPL version of mpglib for decoding. I hope that you are aware of the implications.

edit: the good news is that a lot more software will then be able to use your processing ;-)

[3dsnar]

Yes. I hope that our web master will publish the lame
lib source that we use on our web site.
So everything will be cleared about this issue.
---------------------------------
On the other hand I am fighting for publishing also
the spatial coding part as open source. This might be possible I hope, but probably after the project gains some popularity.

[dimzon]

Yes. I hope that our web master will publish the lame
lib source that we use on our web site.
So everything will be cleared about this issue.

No!
Actualy (i'm not a GPL troll but...) it mean you must

Release you software (al least decoding part: filters etc) under GPL
Or obtain special permissions from GPL part author
Or use diferent mp3 decoding (not GPL-ed)


Don't get me wrong, I really respect your work at all (and I really impressed our interactions via e-mail :sly: )
But you must respect other intellectual property licenced under GPL


Sorry...

[3dsnar]

Yes, I understand.
We (my colleague in fact, 'cause I am only a DSP developer)
have to find out what are the legal issues related to using LAME.
e.g. if this is used as a separately compiled library,
still does it mean that the whole project has to be open source?
I know that there are several commercial applications, which use lame, and are not open source (they are not free either), but probably they are legal, so those issues must be solvable somehow.

I will ask him to take care of this, and also exactly what is Lame licence, i.e. Is Lame GPL or LGPL?
So he will have to clear this out, 'cause people often ask me about using LAME, etc. and frankly...I am not sure what to answer...

[dimzon]

AFIAK
LAME encoder is LGPL - it mean you can use it in commercial closed-source product
But decoder is GPL
e.g. if this is used as a separately compiled library,
still does it mean that the whole project has to be open source?
You can use LGPL part as you wish - (but if you perform modification of this part itself you must provide modified source code)
You can't use GPL as dynamic/static library at all. It means "Derivated work"
http://www.wordiq.com/definition/GNU_General_Public_License#GPL-related_disputes

[Kurtnoise]

Kurtnoise, did you have a chance
to prepare the latest BeLight installation?
Probably when the last bugs will be fixed...I hope this week or the next one.

[3dsnar]

AFIAK
LAME encoder is LGPL - it mean you can use it in commercial closed-source product
But decoder is GPL
e.g. if this is used as a separately compiled library,
still does it mean that the whole project has to be open source?
You can use LGPL part as you wish - (but if you perform modification of this part itself you must provide modified source code)
You can't use GPL as dynamic/static library at all. It means "Derivated work"
http://www.wordiq.com/definition/GNU_General_Public_License#GPL-related_disputes
OK, thanx for the information. I will study this.
If it will turned out that aud-x will become a serious project
(many people will use it), I guess the possibility of law suit will force the owners to comply with all the regulations. Actually it is even better, because I would preffer the project to become open source :) so I could share some scientific ideas with others... and now I am just responsible for talking to people about bug related issues, and other things that actually are not so exciting for me ;)

[3dsnar]

Probably when the last bugs will be fixed...I hope this week or the next one.
OK, please send it to me via email.
Thanx

[Gabriel_Bouvigne]

If it will turned out that aud-x will become a serious project
(many people will use it), I guess the possibility of law suit will force the owners to comply with all the regulations.
At this stage, the most likely to happen is just a very bad reputation.
Beware of it, it can be very damaging at early stages.
(good example: Sigma Designs mpeg4 video ripped from Xvid)

I think that you should act quickly regarding this issue.

[3dsnar]

OK. We have a limited man power, so the coding parts
take very loooong (therefore the bug fixes in our project do not occur to often). So probably releasing it as open source,
or changing to other mp3 decoder (which is not GPL) will not happen within days, or even weeks,
and I cannot do anything about this :(
The problem is that my colleagues are afraid that some big companies, like Thompson, or others
potentialy interested in mp3 5.1 will simply copy the ideas, modify it a bit and release it as some sort of new version of mp3surround. And at the end Aud-X is supposed to be a commercial undertaing (i.e. donationware. And, I guess they hope to licence it to some hardware manufactures at some stage).
But, since they want to keep it free for all free software applications, so some sort of limited open source licencing is something that they seek. But the legal issues have to be studied by someone who
is specialist in this matter...

[dimzon]

OK. We have a limited man power, so the coding parts
take very loooong (therefore the bug fixes in our project do not occur to often). So probably releasing it as open source,
or changing to other mp3 decoder (which is not GPL) will not happen within days, or even weeks,
and I cannot do anything about this :(
As temporaly solution - publish this licensing issues @ Aud-X site.
Just write @ main page and near download link: there are such licensing issues bla-bla-bla bla-bla-bla , we are working on it now, be patient please... Sorry.


It will help you to save Your reputation

The problem is that my colleagues are afraid that some big companies, like Thompson, or others
potentialy interested in mp3 5.1 will simply copy the ideas, modify it a bit and release it as some sort of new version of mp3surround. And at the end Aud-X is supposed to be a commercial undertaing (i.e. donationware. And, I guess they hope to licence it to some hardware manufactures at some stage).
You can release your code under dual licence sheme: (L)GPL/Commercial
So your project will be complete open for GPL developers
And you will be able to get money from commercial products ;)

[3dsnar]

OK, very valuable suggestion!
I will ask our web master to do that ASAP,
so probably it will be there next week.

[WeaponX]

Is your aud-x website down? Internet Explorer says "Cannot find server" and it will not load in Opera/Firefox also. Website also will not load yesterday.

[3dsnar]

Yes, it is down.
Sorry for all the difficulties.
It should work hopefully tomorrow,
or on Friday.
--
Please wait.
:thanks: