GUIDE: Step-by-Step Instructions for Plogue Bidule-based Stereo-to-Surround methods

[trenz]

I think I finally got it. I realized what you said in the one post about hooking both up at the same time. I saved it as a bidule called mytest. Now I can open it like this and test, then just delete the asio output, go offline, and record. I do not have to worry about linking the recorder connecters like I mentioned in my previous post. Thank you so much. I can't wait to get some of my favorite cd's created in 5.1

PS: you have been such a big help. I wonder if you could check out a post I will be making about editing a 6ch wav and help me with that problem.

Thanks

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f259/trenz1/ithinkthisisright.jpg

[ursamtl]

Glad you finally got it working for you. You did the connections right for the Creative driver. They do put the the surrounds before the center and LFE channels. As for you other post, I'll wait and see what it's about. If I can help, I certainly will.

Enjoy!
Steve.

[trenz]

Hey Steve. I hope I don't get tossed off the boards for bugging you :scared:
As you can see from the photo, I got the DCKiller plugin you mentioned and connected it. I ran it on a test file first and it worked great (I created a layout with just 2ch player-dckiller-2ch recorder to test, checked in EAC and offsets were 0, kool)
My question is should I leave it on the DC blocker setting or use one of the other 3?

Also, in adding this it got me wondering if the 2 plugins used in your layout (classic master limiter and mda dither, see photo) need to be connected on the layout somewhere or are they used automatically.

Also #2 Do I need to link anything else or do my links look ok (see photo)

Thanks

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f259/trenz1/dckiller.jpg

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f259/trenz1/parameters.jpg

[ursamtl]

No need to worry about getting kicked off for asking honest questions. It takes a lot more than that!

As for your questions, as far as I know, the default DC blocker setting works fine in DCKiller. The Classic limiter and mda dither plugins are both inside the 5.1 output group. You can see the connections inside this by holding Ctrl while double-clicking the group. How did these new instances show up in your picture soutside of the group, did you add them? If so, there's no need since they're already inside the group and connected. As long as you've installed the plugins and Bidule sees them, it should work fine. Obviously, if you were able new instances, they are properly installed.

So, everything looks fine. You should be good to go now!

[trenz]

I just put them up there for visual purpose so you could see what I meant.

I honestly think these may be my last 3 questions (who am I kidding:o )

1) can you batch process, ie load all 10 songs from an album that was ripped and let Plogue do it's thing

2) is there a way to automatically name the file in the recording window to the same name as the original. I always keep my output files in a different folder than my originals so having the same name would be ideal and would prevent me from having to type the name for each song (I'm a one finger typist)

3) since I use separate folders, is there anyway to stop the player and recorder from both opening to the same folder last used ie. player defaults to last folder used there (source) and recorder defaults to last folder used there (output)

I can't believe how much patience you've had helping me. I think I bring new meaning to the word "newbie". Hopefully someone else is benefiting from these posts so I won't feel so bad.

Thanks again

[ursamtl]

1) can you batch process, ie load all 10 songs from an album that was ripped and let Plogue do it's thingNot really. If you were creating surround CDs, I'd recommend cue sheets. Instead of ripping the songs individually from CD, you could rip them as one long wave file and use a cue sheet generated by the ripping program. That's beyond the scope of this thread to explain but if you check out various sites or google, you'll find lots of information. A good starting point would be http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/.

Basically, you just process the entire file as if it were one song, then burn the CD using a cue sheet. However, since you're going to create DVD-A, I don't know if your authoring program supports cue sheets. DVD-Audio creation is something I intend to investigate when I have a bit of time.

As for your other two questions, I'm afraid it's no to both. These are more related to the way Plogue Bidule itself is designed, so you might find it useful to join the Plogue forum and ask these types of things over there. The answers might be the same, but these little details of functionality might help in the development of the program. I have nothing but really good things to say about the folks at Plogue. They truly are tremendous in their support. Perhaps if you mention these to them, the functionality might be added to the program at some point.

And don't worry about being a newbie, as I wrote before, we all were at some point, and yes, your questions will definitely benefit others starting out. Just be sure to help out other newbies once you're experienced. :)

Steve.

[trenz]

I want to start out by saying I just did Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon and it sounds awesome. I did however run into a problem.

The first disc I made had just hissing. In looking at the recorder part of Bidule I had bit depth set to 32 bits float. I thought this was for output. I realized it was probably for input (which was 16 bit, 44.1khz) so I changed it to 16 bit. On the 5.1 output part I left 32 bit output file? checked. Everything worked great.

Checking the files afterwards they were all 16 bit (I checked by right clicking in windows and also with my dvd-a authoring program)
You had mentioned in a previous post about the program automatically converting to 32 bit but this didn't happen for me.
Like I said earlier I am very much satisfied with the results but I wonder if I am missing something even better.
Does 16 or 32 bit really matter?

I am going to use r8brain to try converting to different combinations of 32 bit and 48khz like we talked about earlier just to see if my ears can tell the difference.

Just wanted to see if you had any thoughts about this.

Thanks

[ursamtl]

I'm glad you got some nice results. Actually, the whole 16 versus 32 bit debate is arguable from several points of view. There are those who feel that since the source is at 16 bits, converting to higher bit depths is a complete waste of time, space, processing power, etc. Then there are those whole will tell you that switching to 32-bit resolution is essential for getting the most out of audio processing. Both are right!

Will you actually hear the difference? It depends on you. It's very easy to convince oneself that one can hear the difference. In other words, if you expect a 32-bit file to sound better, it will! The only way to measure a perceived difference would be to set up some kind of double blind listening tests, which isn't all that practical in this case. When I first created V.I and the layout in 2004, I believed this conversion was essential. Now, I'm starting to question this myself.

For my own personal use, I generally convert to 24-bit, just in case there'll be any difference and also to avoid having to add dithering. My soundcard, like yours, will output 24-bit audio, as will my home theatre system. From what I've read, the difference between 24 and 32-bit audio is virtually impossible to hear so dithering is not required for 24-bit audio, whereas it is for 16-bit audio.

[trenz]

hey Steve

just want to double check my settings before I start converting a bunch of stuff.

I decided to use foobar with the DSP ssrc resampler and convert my files to 24 bit, 48000 hz

on the 5.1 output group I will leave 32 bit output checked and on the recorder I will set the bit depth to 24.

sounds good, right?

Thanks

[ursamtl]

Yes, sounds perfect.