V.I Stereo to 5.1 Converter VST Plugin Suite

[Tantulus]

I'm afraid I confused things. My receiver's manual (Onkyo TX-DS797) refers to the two rear speakers as "surround back". Hence my expression. I really appreciate your clarifying that the rear speakers are not discrete. I sort of assumed they were. You've saved me the trouble of setting up an ersatz ambiophonic system.

I'll take another look at your decoder. My goal is to use a stereo dipole and create Front surrounds for early reflections and use the surrounds for reverb. I hoped to use the surround back channels for the front surrounds. I guess it's back to the drawing board. I'll look at your 1.5 decoder and see if something comes to me. Probably easier to use the rear speakers for reverb and leave things as they are.

Thanks for your input.

Tantulus

[specise_8472]

Another thing to remember is that Ambiophonics is based upon an Ambisonic decode to get a WXYZ signal.
Actually any method that produces WXYZ feeds can be used to feed an Ambiophonic decode.
Ambiophonics is the method to convert these feeds into speaker feeds.

There is also Pana-Ambiophonics which is the Stereo Dipole version you are talking about. If you dig back into the Forum far enough, you will find some of my Stereo Dipole stuff. Particually some specially modified impulse responses for different angles of seperation for use in SIR.

[Tantulus]

Actually, I found your stuff. If you have the time could you write a guide on using your Pan-ambio creations. I've ordered Glasgal's book from the library but a little tutorial for applying this in Bidule would be welcome.

Tantulus

[daphy]

Hi folks,

I just arrived from a long bussiness trip - so I am a little outdated :(

7.1 projects
I didn´t found the time to take a closer look on this project, afai remember specise_8472 projects are still part of the vst-plugins + bidule packages. (I guess we should split this thread at this point into three -> 'methods after bidule´s trial ended' or something like this; '7.1...' and this orignial thread)

bidule
as I warned before, one day it will lock and no beta will continue the trial periode (ursamtl we spoke about this in autumn)

In my opinion the goal should stay: makin´ 5.x out of 2.0 without commercial software :rolleyes:
there are also other free modular softwares : Audiomulch or Synthedit can do the same things than Bidule.
Did someone tested one of this apps meanwhile? Are there any possibilities to share project files like bidule?
Are there any problems with the compatibility of VSt plugins?

You've saved me the trouble of setting up an ersatz ambiophonic system.
are you German
;)

[Tantulus]

@daphy

I'm actually Russian-American but I have pretensions!

Let's not abandon Bidule, I knew this time would come but I've invested so much in it and Plogue has been so helpful that I feel I owe something to them.

Tantulus

[daphy]

I'm actually Russian-American but I have pretensions! please do not missunderstand me, I asked because of the word "ersatz" :D

[ursamtl]

Just to comment on a couple of the recent posts (still in new-home mode here so not a lot of time. God, there are so many choices, decisions, etc.).

daphy, V.I works on Audiomulch with no problems, but I don't know if it provides the option of saving project files for sharing, etc. However, it's not free. Last I checked, it was $49 US. As for synthedit, actually I used Synthedit to write V.I so it's definitely compatible! The problem is, its free version only supports 2-channel input/output. I bought a license before writing V.I and this allowed me to do the 6-channel output. It was cheap (only ~$25 CAN), but it doesn't have a multichannel file reader or writer. I believe it's theoretically possible to create a layout with three 2-channel file writers, but I haven't had time to explore it. And again, the free version doesn't allow multichannel use.

The closest prospect I see if something I mentioned in a previous post, Kristal Audio Engine. It allows one to set up multiple tracks at up to 32-bit resolution and apply different VST effects, two per track. Plus, it has ASIO support. The only problem is that its output is currently stereo only. For someone with a setup such as Tantulus, with only 2-channel monitoring at a time, it could be fine. It's just a matter of saving three 2-channel files for the six 5.1 channels, then splitting them to 6 wave files for encoding. I thought a couple of times about writing Kristal's authors and asking if it would be possible to add multichannel ASIO output (since it already supports ASIO input/output). This would provide us with basically a free version of something similar to a very basic Cubase SX, since the program currently seems very much like a 2-channel Cubase-type program.

The other option I haven't had time to explore fully is any free ware multichannel VST hosts that might be out there. I know there are a couple of freeware hosts, I just don't know if they'd support multichannel. If so, it might be possible to do something with three 2-channel file writers in synthedit. Then if they allowed arranging multiple VST plugins, we could do something with SIR, etc.

As for Bidule, I don't plan on abandoning it. In fact, I recently purchased the early-bird licence at $75/US, since the authors assured me the lite version this licence will eventually be limited to would always support the multichannel surround processing we've been doing. Nonetheless, it would be nice to find a free solution.

Final comment, about Ambiophonics, my biggest problem with pursuing this approach is that, to my understanding, one needs to move the front left and right speakers to +/- 10 degree positions. If I was going to set up a dedicated system, then fine. Otherwise, I'd have to either put up with a greatly reduced soundfield on commercial 5.1 releases I listen to (both movies and music) or else move speakers all the time.

Now where did I put that color chart..... :)

[f@chance]

You're right that with a balanced and matched system, any modification to the center channel should be unnecessary. Unfortunately, many systems are not balanced. If one buys a dedicated 5.1 package with matching speakers, it's fine. However, many buy really good front L-R speakers and then add on the other channels. Depending on the choice of speaker for the latter, the results can vary.

I've experimented with several different approaches and I found that they all do a nice job of spreading two channels across three, but when I turn the center off, I realize that the center is carrying too much of the "load" for reproducing the soundstage.

This is why I'm thinking of adding such a circuit to V.I and having a sort of Movie/Music mode toggle. This wouldn't be the same implementation as Dolby Pro Logic II. It would instead focus more on the dialog separation aspect.
Thanks Steve for your hard work. Hope you have settled in and have finished with the color charts :)

I have also a typical DVD setup with 5 equal speakers KEF 5002 and noticed the level of the surround and front speakers being a bit too high but your above explanation is very helpful. Have you ever given it more thought to include a Movie/Music toggle to the VST plugin? Again I am very happy with this approach to stereo to 5.1 upmix but since my interest is mainly in TV series such a toggle would be excellent.

Thanks again for your very hard work.

[ursamtl]

Thanks Steve for your hard work. Hope you have settled in and have finished with the color charts :)

I have also a typical DVD setup with 5 equal speakers KEF 5002 and noticed the level of the surround and front speakers being a bit too high but your above explanation is very helpful. Have you ever given it more thought to include a Movie/Music toggle to the VST plugin? Again I am very happy with this approach to stereo to 5.1 upmix but since my interest is mainly in TV series such a toggle would be excellent.

Thanks again for your very hard work.
Hi and thanks for the feedback. The next V.I will have just such a toggle. Just keep an eye out here and as soon as it's released, you'll be able to check out the new features.

[ursamtl]

Hi folks,

After experimenting with some enhancements and implementing some changes suggested in emails, I've decided to share V.I version 0.900 to get some feedback.

Here are the changes I've implemented in this release:
Movie mode switch added to accentuate center channel dialog frequencies. All filtering removed from center channel when movie mode is switched off. Range of Rear Level command rescaled to allow for more realistic default level.IMPORTANT INSTALLATION NOTE: You can simply copy the vi.dll file to your default VSTPLugins folder. However, I recommend that you first install V.I version 0.500 along with the accompanying II plugin and Plogue Bidule layouts. Then simply overwrite the original vi.dll with this new version. A full installation will be available with the upcoming V.I version 1.0.

Here it is: V.I version 0.9 patch file ( http://stevethomson.ca/audio/guides/VI0900.zip)

Let me know how this works for you.

Enjoy!
Steve.

[johnman]

I think i found a bug.

Whenever the width correction is changed, the host is not notified. With all the other sliders and knobs the host does get a notification. This is both in v0.9 and the previous one.

[ursamtl]

Interesting. This may be so because the width correction acts on the input stereo signal before it is converted to multichannel. Does this notification have any ramifications for hosting?

[johnman]

The notification only tells the host that a particular parameter has a new value.
So i *think* this doesnt really matter, except the host doesnt know when the value is changed. So if the host decides to store all values, the values from the width doesnt get updated.

You say "This may be so because the width correction acts on the input stereo signal before it is converted to multichannel". Does this imply that this behaviour is not programmed by you? :confused:

And i think all updates on knobs and sliders etc should be passed to the host, but im not really to sure about it. Anyway, a host can always decide to ask the value from all the parameters, and then it doesnt need to keep up with the changes.

EDIT

I have to correct my earlier statement. The width correction has *no* associated parameter, so it can notbe set or read externally by using setParameter or getParameter. So i think it can be only set manual by using the slider.

Since ww (or any other host) can only set parameters, is it possible to associate the width correction with a parameter?

BTW, i have converted my first file with VI using my own host :)

EDIT2

Sry im going of offtopic a bit, but i also noticed the same behaviour (settings without a parameter) on other vst's. This is kind of a disappointment since it means that you can NOT always store the settings of a vst. And reconfiguring it over and over again for every file off a batch conversion doesnt seem attractive. Am i missing something? Or is vst just not really suited for batching?

EDIT3

With the help of the author of "vsthost" i also found out its possible to get/set all settings as a single datablock using effGetChunk/effSetChunk. But even when this is used, i still can not set the width slider of VI. Other vst's that have sliders without associated parameters do give a full configuration using getChunk. VI can not in anyway give all the configuration data :(. Since this info is not usefull for ppl using VI, ill PM you about this subject instead of posting here from now on.

@bobcat: TY :)

[bobcat56458]

Just a word of thanks to johnman for your ongoing efforts in developing a VST host. I’m looking forward to the release of Wavewizard with VST host capabilities!

[f@chance]

Just one question will this affect in any way those who use Plogue Bidule?

[johnman]

Just one question will this affect in any way those who use Plogue Bidule?
what do you mean by "this"

If you mean the problem with not being able to set the width correction slider from within the host, i think it might. But this depends on a couple of things...

EDIT its VERY unlikely this will give problems (look at post below).

[ursamtl]

Just one question will this affect in any way those who use Plogue Bidule?

No it shouldn't. The issue is more one of saving custom configurations from the program into which you load V.I. In other words, if you like a certain setting for the width correction slider, you'll have to note it by writing it down. You can't save a configuration file and then load it to get the same setting. As far as I understand it, this is a limitation of the method I used for creating V.I, which is via a modular program called Synthedit. I'm not a c++ programmer so I didn't write the program from scratch. I initially designed the algorithm for the conversion using Plogue Bidule. Then I recreated the connections and parameters in Synthedit, which allows one to export to VST. So far, I've had no reports of problems when using V.I with Bidule, Nuendo, or Cubase.

[f@chance]

OK, that makes sense. My way of working is in this fashion, when prompted to save I ALWAYS say NO because I want the layout and configuration the way Steve set it up. There always is the possibilities that by saving you fould up some parameter that sneaked in unbeknowing to you.

Anyhow sofar it worked and I don't mind setting up the values again, it is not like I am in production. Given enough time and back to square one, it will eventually be perfected in the meantime I know one way that works start PB, load the VST, set the sliders run the job.

Thanks for everyones effort in perfecting this and making us Surround junkies happy :D

[ursamtl]

Well if you come up with a layout that works for certain things, you could always save it with a different name. As far as not being able to save the width correction setting, although I didn't plan it to be "non-saveable", this is not necessarily a bad thing. The control is meant to be used when monitoring a source and then correcting it, especially in the case of music. It should be set individually for each source, so what works for one source might not for the other. In this sense, not being able to save the width correction settings forces one to start with no change to the original width of the source and then fine tune it if necessary.

Regards,
Steve.

[f@chance]

Just the few conversions I have made sofar and we talk about 10 to 20, I have noticed such a variety in different volume and other audio track specific settings that I agree it may not be a bad idea to individualize each conversion.

Anyhow, I am ready to do 3 TV episode tracks tonight with the new movie switch. I am looking forward to spend after work some more time behind screen and keyboard instead of telly and remote control ;)

[ursamtl]

I look forward to hearing how these turn out.

[daphy]

Hiho,

I did some test and was surprised - in my opinion the movie mode is a good addition :thanks:

[f@chance]

I looked at the input stereo stream and peak volume was below -6db. After setting the slider for Centre channel to 1 the resulting 6 WAV files all looked excellent withe the exception of the centre channel being a bit high in volume. I have encoded it and will run it tonight through the system and report back.

Playing back the FR, FL they sounded excellent during the dialogue portion of the TV epiosde and so did the SR & SL tracks. Center channel definetly has all the dialogue. From all outward appearance it looks like we have a winner here and my $75 investment in PL looks better and better.

[Radiomans]

Hi

f@chance;
Most of my tv episode's have a peak volume of about -6db
can u please tell me which slider you are setting to 1 ??
and what effect it has on the centre channel.

I have been playing with settings on V.1 and seem to have
made things sound ok :cool:

The settings i have used are:
Width correction - leave as is.
Front ambience - leave as is.
Rear ambience - set to 8.
Rear level - set to 6

I also am happy with my investment in PL

Hope this is of some help to someone.

Radiomans :helpful:

[ursamtl]

Thanks for the feedback. I'm glad the Movie Mode switch seems to be useful.

[f@chance]

@Radiomans.

The Frontambience & widt correction I also have left. In addition I have left the Rear Ambience the same.

I believe the settings are 0.* to 1.0 and so I have moved the Center from 0.85 to 1.0 reducing the compression and resulting volume increase.

The rear level I have set to the same level as the Rear ambience. But I may try to set the rear level lower.

@Steve By decreasing the Rear Ambience was results am I to expect?

Edit: Just read the 1 st page DOH, by decreasing the rear ambience I presume it will enhance the front.

Thanks

[ursamtl]

Actually moving the Center Limiting Threshold to 1 won't increase volume, it will just remove the compression completely, thereby reducing the level of the quietest sounds in the center channel. If the center level is too high, try reducing the Center level control (third from the bottom in the 5.1 Output object of my Bidule layout).

Decreasing the rear ambience won't change the front sounds in any way, it will just make them either more apparent or else make the whole thing sound flatter and more 2 dimensional. If the rear ambience is turned up, sound will appear to come out of the back. As it is turned down, instead of the rear speakers being apparent on their own, sound will seem to be everywhere, with the sounds in the front seeming to come from the front but with a sense of space and dimension to them (sort of 3D sound). If you reduce the rear level too much, the front sounds become smaller and more like plain stereo. Part of the balancing act is to play around with the controls to find where the whole thing sounds unified and three-dimensional. Too much rear ambience can sound weird and "gimicky" whereas not enough rear ambience won't provide that sense of realism. I tried to come up with a fairly balanced compromise with the default middle settings in V.I.

Happy experimenting!

[bobcat56458]

Thank you ursamtl for the new version of V.I with its movie mode! I made a 5.1 wave file with it of a stereo DAT (digital audio tape) that I had digitally transferred to my computer. The audio was of Mothers Day 1998 when the family got together for a sit down meal. I had recorded the event with my Sony PCM-M1 portable DAT recorder using an Audio Technica AT822 stereo condenser microphone. After converting it to a 5.1 wave file with Prologe Bidule, (a new free ver 0.9 demo is now available that will work till Jan 19th) and the new V.I bidule with movie mode, the resulting 5.1 wave file has a natural sounding surround sound that places the listener into the environment of the event. I will also be using this with DV camcorder recorded audio/video when authoring DVD’s with a DD5.1 soundtrack.

[f@chance]

After spending most of yesterday evening and most of today encoding with different settings for the particular TV episodes of SGA I have come up with settings that are on my system far better then the DD 2.0 with DPL II mode.

Using PB 0.9, the lastest version and the 0.9 of V.I. with movie switch ON, I have used the following settings:
Rear Ambience 8
Rear Level 7
all other slider settings are the default ones.

EDIT:
Changed from LFE Limiting Threshold 0.6
to
Limiting Threshold 0.85
all others threshold settings are default.

Front Level -2.0
Surround Level -2.0
All other Level settings are default.

Once done I run the resulting WAV file through BeSweet to create 6 Mono WAV files and open the Centre sound track in Sound Forge and process it with Normalize RMS -20db to get the peaks down to -6 db.

Edit:
Added Open LFE in Sound Forge and run Normalize Peak -16db to increas LFE level a bit.

Encode it with the default settings in Soft Encode for DD 5.1

I am very happy with the end results to have an improved SGA version in DD 5.1 rather then DD 2.0

Many thanks to everyone for making this possible and hat off to you Steve.

[ursamtl]

Gentlemen,

Thanks for the feedback! I'm happy the new movie mode worked well for you. It was an idea I had in mind for awhile and finally sat down one evening and put together. It's great to know it helped.

It's also good that you shared your settings and described your projects and equipment in detail. This helps others who try experimenting with surround projects or who are just starting out.

Regards,
Steve.

[daphy]

Hi Steve,

is it possible to add some numbers on the sliders, it much easier for an old guy like me to read then to count :D :D :D
Seeing those settings makes me wonder if we should collect them as a kind of - let´s say reference base?
Steve, is it possible in the next version to save or import such settings as template/preset?
Did you already setup a new bidule file? In my opinion saving the old one once with the new version - this error message (some parameters ....) disapears for ever ;)

@f@chance
did you tried to reach the same result without editing the single channels twice?
there are some further free VST-plugins around for limiting/RMS and other stuff - if you did your own routing - plz upload your bidule file ;)

Something diffrent:
after receiving a message from my provider that he can´t offer the webspace anymore we´ve moved to another host - but the old site is still up :confused: let´s wait how long this rests :o
for uploading, plz send a pm before you use the upload function on the old server - everything might be gone within a second :eek:

[f@chance]

@f@chance
did you tried to reach the same result without editing the single channels twice?
there are some further free VST-plugins around for limiting/RMS and other stuff - if you did your own routing - plz upload your bidule file ;)
For me the problem is to visualize what is happening and what I am doing. By opening it in Sound Forge I could get a better impression of the sound track and the effects of processing it. For example I ran -20db RMS on the LFE track and it actually decreased the amplitudes. So for the normalizing I needed a visual feedback that told me the effects of my settings.

I have not done my own routing, I am a newbie with PB and have to divide the time spent on these projects between obtaining the episodes, converting the video and correcting glitches, now I added processing the audio which I never have done before. Eventually I will become more daring in experimenting with PB and the bidules :D

[ursamtl]

Hi Steve,

is it possible to add some numbers on the sliders, it much easier for an old guy like me to read then to count :D :D :D<

Seeing those settings makes me wonder if we should collect them as a kind of - let´s say reference base?
Steve, is it possible in the next version to save or import such settings as template/preset?

Actually I'm thinking of redoing the interface at some point because there's not much room to add any more controls without things getting too crowded. for example, I have an idea for adding an extra output and switch for doing 6.1 conversions as you and a couple of others have suggested.

I could easily add a numeric output field beside the sliders. As for saving settings, etc., I have to investigate this further. I believe there is an issue when doing this with VSTs created by the development program I used to create the plugin. I'll see what I can come up with. At the very least, having numeric fields would allow us to exchange settings and create a reference base such as you suggest.

Did you already setup a new bidule file? In my opinion saving the old one once with the new version - this error message (some parameters ....) disapears for ever ;)
Yes, sorry. I`ve just been busy with home ownership issues. Apartment living was so much simpler.... :) However, winter is coming and I'll soon have more time to huddle in the computer room and experiment. :)

Good luck with the new server.

Regards,
Steve.

[bobcat56458]

Steve: Is there a way to adjust the LFE frequency cutoff? Earlier in this thread you mentioned that it is set at 60Hz, that seems a little low considering at that setting the subwoofer is only handling the 20Hz to 60Hz frequency range. A setting of 120Hz or even up to 200Hz seems to be a more normal range for a subwoofer.

[ursamtl]

Hi Bob,

The thing to remember is that the LFE frequency cutoff has nothing to do with a subwoofer. If your playback system is set to a crossover frequency of, say, 120Hz, then everything below that from any channel including the LFE channel will go through the subwoofer. All I did in V.I is add the potential to boost extra deep bass by putting signal in the LFE channel. If I move the cutoff frequency in V.I higher, then the bass will get too much boost. Plus, there are all kinds of issues with peopl ehaving different crossover settings. By moving it down to 60Hz, we still have the potential to beef up the bass without getting into a messy situation. Remember LFE does not equal subwoofer; they just happen to cover similar frequency ranges.

Regards,
Steve.

[daphy]

Hi Bob,

The thing to remember is that the LFE frequency cutoff has nothing to do with a subwoofer. If your playback system is set to a crossover frequency of, say, 120Hz, then everything below that from any channel including the LFE channel will go through the subwoofer. All I did in V.I is add the potential to boost extra deep bass by putting signal in the LFE channel. If I move the cutoff frequency in V.I higher, then the bass will get too much boost. Plus, there are all kinds of issues with peopl ehaving different crossover settings. By moving it down to 60Hz, we still have the potential to beef up the bass without getting into a messy situation. Remember LFE does not equal subwoofer; they just happen to cover similar frequency ranges.

Regards,
Steve.
AFAIK the crossover frequenzy for THX is between 80~100Hz. My personal experience is around this falue most setups worked fine for me. What do thing about a further slider ... (if I would ask for one more feature, Steve will definitivly kill me :p )

[f@chance]

Depends what you are using it for. In my case a slider for the LFE frequency is not needed as TV episodes do not have a lot of bass. Let steve work on refining the interface before adding features :D

[bobcat56458]

Steve: Thanks for the detailed explanation, your right, it’s something I had read before, but had forgotten when I posted.

[ursamtl]

AFAIK the crossover frequenzy for THX is between 80~100Hz. My personal experience is around this falue most setups worked fine for me. What do thing about a further slider ... (if I would ask for one more feature, Steve will definitivly kill me :p )

Again, that's a bass management crossover below which the sound goes to the subwoofer. Whether the sound comes from the LFE channel or from the 5 other channels, if it's below the crossover frequency, it goes to the subwoffer.

There's another issue to keep in mind when raising the crossover frequency too high. If you happen to be playing back a conversion on a Pro Logic (I or II) system, the downmix algorithm simply ignores the LFE channel. Therefore, if I put a crossover on the LFE and provide a slider, someone who puts the slider in the high range risks lossing all bass below that frequency if it`s played back on a Pro Logic system.

Besides, V.I doesn't have a crossover, the 5 channels are full range. I just add a small amount of extra bass below 60Hz by using the LFE channel for it. That way, if someone wants a bit of extra bottom end in their converted 5.1 mix, they can do so without messing up the rest of the low end.

daphy, I welcome your suggestions for more features! This is how we all come up with new ideas. For instance your suggestion of a 6.1 version of V.I is possible since the algorithm I used for the surround channels in V.I actually has a center surround feed that I simply split 50-50 between the sL and sR. I plan to try the 6.1 version as soon as I have some time to do it. If it works, then we'll have a new plugin to play with called VI.I :)

[ursamtl]

EDIT: VI.I Stereo-to-6.1 Surround Processor withdrawn to to lack of interest.

[ursamtl]

Hi Steve,

is it possible to add some numbers on the sliders, it much easier for an old guy like me to read then to count :D :D :D
Seeing those settings makes me wonder if we should collect them as a kind of - let´s say reference base?

Actually I was experimenting this evening and found that you can indeed save settings. If you look at the top of V.I as it appears in Bidule, there is a dropdown list on the left for naming the patch and then to the right of it are a series of buttons. The Rename button allows you to assign a name for your patch, then the Load and Save buttons provide the file loading and saving routines. I tested this tonight by setting the V.I sliders in non-default positions, then saving the file. I then closed Bidule and re-opened it. I opened the V.I layout and then loaded the test file I'd saved. It reset all the V.I sliders to the positions I had set them before saving the file.

So, it is possible for us to save settings we like and to exchange them, collect a reference base, etc.

[zbozx]

Steve, is V.I. filter open source? I ask you this because in XBMC forums we discuss to integrate your filter in XBMC. Would be possible?

[ursamtl]

Steve, is V.I. filter open source? I ask you this because in XBMC forums we discuss to integrate your filter in XBMC. Would be possible?

It's not officially open source but I'm not opposed to its integration in principle. (Do I get a free XBox 360 out of the deal? ;) (just joking).

What about adding overall VST hosting to XBMC? Then you could have V.I and many other free VST plugins. Plus, as I improve V.I, XBMC users would have access to the new version. I do have a couple of neat things planned, so it'd be kind of a drag to freeze it

Anyway, feel free to contact me with PM or email about this.

Regards,
Steve.

[guada 2]

Hello ursamtl,

Great job :)

Just a question:
Why V.I does not support Steinberg Wavelab 5, whereas Nuendo and cubase function perfectly?

Thank to clarify.

[ursamtl]

To be honest, I have no idea, but I can guess that it's because Wavelab's surround mode assumes an euqla number of inputs and outputs. I might try creating a version of V.I with dummy inputs to see if that works.

Thanks for the compliments. I'm glad you enjoy V.I.

[MiGster]

Can't seem to figure this out it was working before. I'm using V.I Converter guide and your V.I plugins to convert stereo to 5.1 channel waves and then into Soft Encode to a .ac3 sound file. The problem is after I rip the CD using EAC and then convert using Bidule the audio speeds up during playback. This is before I use Soft Encode on it. So something is set up wrong in Bidule. I've been through it a 1000x and get figure out what is wrong. Does anyone have any guesses??

[ursamtl]

Sounds like it could be related to sample rate. If you're playing back a 44.1kHz file at 48kHz then it will definitely sound faster. Check your settings. If you need to convert to 48kHz because your final AC3 file is going on a DVD, then you need to use a sample rate conversion program, preferably on your source file. Two free and high-quality choices are r8brain or ssrc. Google them or search on the forum here and you'll find out more. Let us know if this fixes it for you.

Regards and happy holidays!
Steve.

[MiGster]

Hmmmm, I'll try it tonight when I get home. I am a bit of a newbie at this. Thank you for the reply, I'll let you know. Great program by the way!

[MiGster]

Yep, that was the problem...thanks. Learn as you go. Now I will always check that setting. Thank you for your help.

What will be our options to use your VST's after the Bidule software expires in January...besides buy it? Is there somthing else that is freeware or less expensive to use?

[ursamtl]

MiGster,

I'm glad it worked out for you. There's nothing comparable to Bidule available for free, although, Plogue may release another time-limited free version in January. There will be a couple of ways to do conversions with V.I for free. I know that johnman is working on VST hosting for his excellent wavewizard program, so that's one possibility. I also have tested a version of V.I in the past that includes saving files from V.I even when it's loaded in a 2-channel VST host. I'd have to spend some time getting that option presentable to the public, but that remains a possible way to do it as well. Keep your eye on the forum here in January and we'll see what comes up.