Topic: EQdb - Per Track EQ Settings (Read 11256 times)

scthom · « **on:** September 11, 2005, 04:42:25 pm »

This is specifically for jgreen, but of course you are all welcome to try it.

I put an interface plugin together that will store EQ settings in a library field ("EQ") and then update the mixer whenever a new track starts. Let me know what you think.

http://members.cox.net/scot.thompson

jgreen · « **Reply #1 on:** September 12, 2005, 04:50:05 pm »

scthom--
It is my considered opinion that you are a genius. I am trying out your Eqdb and the concept is perfect. This is exactly the kind of thing I was hoping for.

I am now trying to shoot holes in your hard work, basically because I'm wondering what the catch is, it's just TOO GOOD!

I can tell you I'm hitting an occasional runtime error. I suspect that if I'm too aggressive using keyboard shortcuts for next track or previous track, the calliope comes crashing to the ground.

However, I'm having a grand old time chasing it. This is really, really cool. Thank you, sc!

jgreen · « **Reply #2 on:** September 12, 2005, 05:32:49 pm »

I take that back about the runtime thing. The problem seems to be that I had "play all visible on play" so that 15,000 tracks were dumped to PN when I hit play. It seems to be chugging along just fine for now.

This is so cool I'm just beside myself. When I get that way I try to pick it apart and bring it down to my own level. Therefore:

1--In playing now, track #1 has no EQdb setting, and the current eq setting is flat. Flat EQ is used on track #1. Track #2 has an EQdb setting, let's call it "zero bass". "Zero bass" is used on track #2. Track #3 has no EQdb setting. Therefore "zero bass' is retained and used on track #3 and subsequent tracks, until the next EQdb setting changes it. Question: is there any way to default back to EQdb=00000000000? If not, I'm just going to go ahead and set that for all tracks, until EQdb overwrites it with a custom setting. I've got a feeling that was probably your intent to begin with.

2--Looking at the 11 available fields, I see what looks like an available alphanumeric combo of 26 letters + 10 numerals = 36 increments for each slider. Yes? Does a slider setting transcode to the nearest 36th?

3--Your GUI is very simple, clean and funtional. HOWEVER, is it possible to try a version that takes up less vertical space? It's so compact now that I'd like to try it as a third split window, but only if it can lose about half its height.

I'm getting tired of calling you a genius, but a fact's a fact. I'll keep running music through it and let you know how it goes. Thanks again.

jgreen · « **Reply #3 on:** September 12, 2005, 05:53:30 pm »

In a bit of classic humor that I will never forgive you for, the default (flat) setting is OOOOOOOOOOO. Only, those are not zeroes, those are the letter "O". All zeroes is the setting for 100% FULL ON!! So, thinking I was setting everything to flat, I was inf act goosing everything to 100% volume. Try to picture me discovering my mistake.

As for user-inputted settings, the button "save to all" doesn't seem to work. I entered the default flat setting (the letter o, not zeroes), via the tag info window in the action window. Seems to work like a charm.

The best part of all this is that if I disagree with the MC replay gain, I can modify it through the preamp slider and it's saved to the EQ field. This is great work, scthom!

KingSparta · « **Reply #4 on:** September 12, 2005, 06:04:58 pm »

Quote

All zeroes is the setting for 100% FULL ON!!

not true

actually "0" is the setting for center and from there the slider goes up and down 100 Up and -100 down

Quote

void SetEQBand(number nBand, number nValue)

Description: sets the value of an equalizer band
Parameters:

nBand: the equalizer band (0 = preamp, 1 - 10 = eq bands)
nValue: the new band value (-100 to 100 where -100 is full cut, 0 is no gain, and 100 is full gain)

This is the 3rd eq autosetting plug-in, mine sucked so i took it down.

jgreen · « **Reply #5 on:** September 12, 2005, 07:05:49 pm »

Scthom"s plugin writes a code to the EQ library field, which I suspect references the values you have cited, King. His code, however, takes a trip through an alternate dimension and back again. sc seemes to have drafted any and all available keys for his setting spectrum, and good for him, IMO. So it's not 36 increments, it's more like 220, I believe.

Try it out, King! I think he's done a great job.

scthom · « **Reply #6 on:** September 12, 2005, 08:47:04 pm »

Don't blame me for the "O" versus "0". That was JRiver doing.

King is correct, the sliders in the Mixer go from -100 to +100, so you ought to be able to get a range of 200. However, they store the data in the registry from "0" to "n" (ASCII) so the range is really only -31 to +31. Not sure exactly why they did that.

You can put whatever you like in the field, but I can't be held responsible for the results

The intent was that it would update every time the track changes. If the tracks have no entry, it ought to default back to flat. Maybe a bust. I'll take a look.

One problem that you might find is that since there appears to be no way to get a message from MC whenever the track changes, it has to run a timer once per second to see. It's not the most elegant, and if you change tracks quickly it will have a hard time keeping up.

jgreen · « **Reply #7 on:** September 13, 2005, 11:22:47 am »

Having spent a day using it, I don't know how I ever did without it before. I can tell you that the runtime thing is still in there somewhere, I'm just not sure where. It's very occasional, and might be related to DRAGGING tracks into PN, possibly because I'm dragging them over the EQdb window as I do this. I've not had a runtime exception when right clicking / add to playing now.

EQdb seems to catch next track EQ setting flawlessly and instantaneously. There isn't any pause for the script to look something up, etc. The new EQ setting snaps onto the gui and takes effect.

Changes made to the EQ gui sliders during playback seem to take effect right away, although there might be that every 1 second thing going on, it's plenty good either way.

Your methodology seems straightforward and elegant. It seems to bypass any nagging questions about particular filetype or encoding, and simply script existing MC11 functions.

IMO, this is core functionality for a high-end digital audio system. I hope you intend to submit it to jriver as a plugin. Thanks again and congratulations.

scthom · « **Reply #8 on:** September 13, 2005, 08:53:04 pm »

Quote from: jgreen on September 13, 2005, 11:22:47 am

IMO, this is core functionality for a high-end digital audio system. I hope you intend to submit it to jriver as a plugin.

I'll submit them as soon as the bugs are worked out, same as the FLAC encoder/decoder. Would rather host it myself until it's "safe" to put up on JRiver.

scthom · « **Reply #9 on:** September 13, 2005, 09:23:56 pm »

Quote from: jgreen on September 12, 2005, 05:53:30 pm

As for user-inputted settings, the button "save to all" doesn't seem to work. I entered the default flat setting (the letter o, not zeroes), via the tag info window in the action window. Seems to work like a charm.

Not sure I exactly understand your problem. The text box in the GUI should be read-only, so you should enter anything manually directly from the Tag Info action window. The save-to-all will only use the current mixer settings. And it only works on files in Playing Now.

jgreen · « **Reply #10 on:** September 13, 2005, 09:46:16 pm »

" And it only works on files in Playing Now."

Hence my confusion. I just verified your convention, it works as you stated. Selecting 3 files in playing now, including current track, press "save", and only the current track is saved. Do the same and press "save all", and all 3 selected tracks are saved. Okay, the GUI is oriented to the currently playing track, it makes sense.

FYI, I am looking at tracks that I set to an EQ curve. I play the tracks later, the EQ curve is somewhat quantised, i.e. additional "steppiness" is introduced, wherein the EQ setting appear to have be re-written to the nearest whole number. Fine, MC works with whole numbers. But the current setting field shows a different alphanumeric scthom code, that is, "pusnmkkmpqt" is re-written to "pvmmkkmpps". The orignial code in the EQdb field stays the same, but the GUI curve and the corresponding "current setting" value are altered. Mind you, if that turns out to be just the way it is, I'll take it and run like a thief--this plugin has brought audiophile functionality to digital playback. But I submit it as something to think about.

scthom · « **Reply #11 on:** September 13, 2005, 10:17:14 pm »

Quote from: jgreen on September 12, 2005, 05:32:49 pm

3--Your GUI is very simple, clean and funtional. HOWEVER, is it possible to try a version that takes up less vertical space? It's so compact now that I'd like to try it as a third split window, but only if it can lose about half its height.

I just posted version 1.0.1., with a smaller GUI and fixed defaulting to flat. Let me know.

jgreen · « **Reply #12 on:** September 13, 2005, 10:45:00 pm »

No joy, AFAICT. Downloaded and installed latest "EQdb.dll" (which I renamed to EQdb_101.dll), and ran reg32 script. Athough plugin reported as "Version: 1.0.0", I did notice change to GUI. GUI seems to be compressed horizontally, I was hoping for vertical compression. Goal is to make gui as thin top-to-bottom as you can, so that it seems like a fat divider between upper and lower view panel, only with info. For example: "save; save to all; remove; remove from all; restore from file" could all be on the same line. Similarly, "current file" and "urrent setting". Just a thought.

As for defaulting to zeroes (or the letter "O"), I'm not seeing it yet. let me know if this depends on some java capability or other I may have disabled. In the meantime, I continue to play back EQ'd tunes with relish. Thanks, scthom.

jgreen · « **Reply #13 on:** September 14, 2005, 02:21:14 pm »

Better news on the Runtime issue. I believe the issue is now isolated only to dragging the FIRST track into an EMPTY playing now. I get 100% crashing if I attempt this, versus right-clicking and selecting "add to playing now." Similarly, right-click/play works fine. After the first track is in playing now, additional tracks can be dragged in. But if I clear PN and attempt to drag in a first track, BAMM!

The good news is that the runtime error now cleans itself up with this version (I no longer have to rename the dll, etc). So I'm seeing a big leap with the first rev.

I tried this with web radio links also, and it works great! This method doesn't seem to care about source or file type, which is really cool. It's looking really good, scthom.

jgreen · « **Reply #14 on:** September 14, 2005, 10:18:47 pm »

Okay, here's a thought. The change in EQ settings seems to cue off of the MC next track buffering. But this ocurs some 5 secs before the next song, therefore a radical EQ change is noticable in the end of the track. I suspect this may be unavoidable, so is there any way to fade in the changes? Or was there an attempt in this rev to shorten the 1 sec lag?

Now that I've isolated the first track drag vs. add thing, I play this program all day long with no hint of crashes. Once again, it's all due to your hard work and ingenuity!

scthom · « **Reply #15 on:** September 14, 2005, 10:46:34 pm »

Quote from: jgreen on September 14, 2005, 10:18:47 pm

Okay, here's a thought. The change in EQ settings seems to cue off of the MC next track buffering. But this ocurs some 5 secs before the next song, therefore a radical EQ change is noticable in the end of the track. I suspect this may be unavoidable, so is there any way to fade in the changes? Or was there an attempt in this rev to shorten the 1 sec lag?

Now that I've isolated the first track drag vs. add thing, I play this program all day long with no hint of crashes. Once again, it's all due to your hard work and ingenuity!

I don't think there is any way to fix the buffering issue unless JRiver decides to build the Mixer in more into the main program (as opposed to a DSP plugin).

I'm glad you like it.

KingSparta · « **Reply #16 on:** September 16, 2005, 01:55:21 pm »

Quote

I don't think there is any way to fix the buffering issue

Maybe, a way to slowly adjust the eq to the new setting

so if 5 seconds mc11 changes to the new file

you can check the new EQ settings and then every so many .seconds you can adjust each eq from the old setting and the new setting by using a timer.

once the eq bars = the new setting then quit the timer events

just a thought

scthom · « **Reply #17 on:** September 16, 2005, 06:36:24 pm »

Quote from: KingSparta on September 16, 2005, 01:55:21 pm

Maybe, a way to slowly adjust the eq to the new setting

so if 5 seconds mc11 changes to the new file

you can check the new EQ settings and then every so many .seconds you can adjust each eq from the old setting and the new setting by using a timer.

once the eq bars = the new setting then quit the timer events

Interesting idea... kind of like fade for eq settings. I'll have to think about that -- on the face of it, it seems quite a bit more complicated, and I was really trying to make this one easy

KingSparta · « **Reply #18 on:** September 16, 2005, 07:47:33 pm »

go beat J Green up, for bringing it up

but that has been a problem for all 3 that have been made todate.

jgreen · « **Reply #19 on:** September 16, 2005, 09:15:45 pm »

King--
Glad to hear you're involved.

1. It was your plugin that got me started on this whole quest.

2. I live on the other coast, so if you want to beat me up you'll have to use some of that Thunderbird training to get out here!

3. Guess what--Now I've got two of the best minds at jriver working on this EQ thing. Coincidence? I think not.

4. scthom--Your first shot landed in the 10-ring. So take some time, give it some thought, renovate your house, and we'll work on this thing sooner or later. in the mean time, I'm listening to tracks with a custom EQ, thanks to you.

jgreen · « **Reply #20 on:** September 18, 2005, 04:05:28 pm »

Okay, silly question time. If every next track loads in and cues the next EQ 5 seconds early, is there any way to put a 5-second delay on the EQ?

scthom · « **Reply #21 on:** September 19, 2005, 08:51:08 pm »

Well, it's probably not ALWAYS 5 seconds (I'm not sure how JRiver sets it up). If every song you have is 16 bps, 14400 samples per second, 2 channels, then the buffer is probably the same time for every song. But, strictly speaking, it's not always the same. And no way for the plugins to get it with the automation SDK.

KingSparta · « **Reply #22 on:** September 20, 2005, 05:42:03 am »

but it could be user selectable

jgreen · « **Reply #23 on:** September 23, 2005, 05:37:16 pm »

Just had to reinstall and rebuild my sys disk. Installed MC 11.0.315, tried to install EQdb using resvr32, but I get an error msg "cannot find specified library."

MC just changed the way it handles plugins in v.315. Could this be related? Is there something perhaps missing in my win2k install? Something in my use of command prompt?

KingSparta · « **Reply #24 on:** September 23, 2005, 05:38:58 pm »

maybe you just need to make sure the path is correct

jgreen · « **Reply #25 on:** September 23, 2005, 05:49:38 pm »

I cd down to it, I dir it, it's there, I swear. But the error message says otherwise.

jgreen · « **Reply #26 on:** September 24, 2005, 03:51:46 pm »

Okay, the error message says "specified module cannot be found". Is this a module in the registry that maybe is missing or corrupt? I tried the same operation on the oggvorbis plugin in the same directory. It said it was loaded, but the dll register server entry point was not found. Is there an alternate method for loading this plugin?

KingSparta · « **Reply #27 on:** September 24, 2005, 03:57:35 pm »

he should make a install program for it using the free

Inno Setup 5

scthom · « **Reply #28 on:** September 24, 2005, 04:52:53 pm »

jgreen - is it in the same path as before, I mean exactly? It sounds like the registry entry is pointing to a different location.

If JRiver messed with the registry locations, it's possible I need to update where I put the entry.

jgreen · « **Reply #29 on:** September 24, 2005, 04:58:47 pm »

Well, I followed the scthom-approved instructions last week and it worked perfectly, both for 1.0 and 1.01. Tried it now, after a win2k reinstall, and nothing works. Tried it in the directory from last week (which was NOT plugins), tried it from plugins, tried it with both 1.0 and 1.01. Nothing works. Tried the oggvrobis in the same directory, it seemed to recognize it.

Two variables here:

I reinstalled the OS
I upgraded Mc to ver .315 (now .316)

I'm really bummin here, your plugin was central to my audio experience.

jgreen · « **Reply #30 on:** September 24, 2005, 05:16:44 pm »

I tried uninstalling MC and then installing ver .313, but the same issue holds. I'm inclined to think that there's some problem in the OS, possibly the reg, I don't know.

Is there some method for manually updating the reg to recognize the plugin?

scthom · « **Reply #31 on:** September 25, 2005, 11:45:13 am »

I haven't had a chance to follow through on this quite yet. Been working on the flac decoder issues.

Since I don't know if JRiver changed registry keys yet, the following may or may not work.

You could try searching the registry keys ('regedit') to find keys with "EQdb" in them. One solution might be to put the plugin dll in the location it is looking. The other (more dangerous) would be to remove the keys with "EQdb" and then reinstall the plugin.

If you are familiar enough with your registry it should be safe to remove all the of EQdb keys, but I caution you to be careful and disclaim all responsibility if something goes wrong

BE CAREFUL!

jgreen · « **Reply #32 on:** September 25, 2005, 01:38:45 pm »

Well, there are none, and I think that's the issue. I did a search on "eqdb*" and nothing comes up.

It's a great plugin, scthom, and you do great work. Pace yourself, when you get a chance we'll pick it up again.

scthom · « **Reply #33 on:** September 25, 2005, 05:09:26 pm »

Something should come up for sure if it gets installed correctly.

316 did not appear to mess with the registry locations. It seems to work fine here (I have XP).

If "regsvr32 eqdb.dll" (from the directory with the dll) doesn't work, then there is an OS problem with installing the dll. OK, I just checked. The plugin was compiled with XP support, not win2k support. Let me make sure it isn't required for some function and I'll rebuild and post if/when I find out.

<Later> OK, I recompiled for NT 4.0 or greater, IE 4.0 or greater. Posted as version 1.0.2 on my website. Let me know if you still have problems.

jgreen · « **Reply #34 on:** September 25, 2005, 05:52:09 pm »

More proof of why there's just no sense in getting your hopes up in life. It didn't work.

BTW, I tried a fresh install of win2k with the same error message.

What's different: I tried to install .315, and I reinstalled my OS. Unless somebody knows of an OS problem, it must be my install of MC. So I'll go at it again.

Thanks for your patience, scthom. I appreciate your hard work.

jgreen · « **Reply #35 on:** September 30, 2005, 05:55:54 pm »

I noticed that you recommended the regsvr32 method for installing the decoder plugin, so I tried it and it worked. Eqdb still doesn't work, and gives the same error msg as usual. This makes me think there's something furry in the plugin, FWIW.

BTW--congratulations on your new encoder plugin!

jgreen · « **Reply #36 on:** October 01, 2005, 06:57:54 pm »

As you no doubt had already wagered, through careful application of dumb luck I seem to have solved my own problem, apparently. It seems the windows restore I did a week ago was defective (also). So when it up and died and I reverted to an earlier install, I was able to do a regsvr32 and get eqdb ver 1.01 going, so far.

scthom, this is a great plugin and you are still a genius. I know you've been slugging it out in the trenches lately with the FLAC plugin, but take heart. The hard work you've done is appreciated by us music lovers, and your skill and engenuity shows.

jgreen · « **Reply #37 on:** October 02, 2005, 03:16:07 pm »

Okay--
Having spent the day using my noggin as a battering ram, I think I've got a better fix on the dll thing.

----CAUTION: THE FOLLOWING IS PURE GUESSWORK----

It seems that the key part of the process that was screwing the dll pooch was when I took a vintage OS install and proceeded to uninstall old and unused programs. I'm GUESSING that one of those programs deletes a resource needed by the EQdb, or at least the instalation of it. What that would be, Je ne'sais pas. But I think that's what's going on.

Hope you're kicking back having a beer or three and laughing at it all.

scthom · « **Reply #38 on:** October 03, 2005, 09:06:25 pm »

Not easy to say. If it simply fails to register itself in the registry, then there is some (currently unidentified) OS problem blocking it. I have not been able to reproduce it failing to register.

Been busy with the flac plugins and a cousin's wedding. May have time this week or weekend, but as long as you have something working, that's good.

jgreen · « **Reply #39 on:** October 22, 2005, 01:39:01 pm »

Your EQdb (and your FLAC plugins) have become such a central part of my audio experience, that I think the main thing that's missing now is a logo for your audio software operation. So I've come up with some ideas.

Now, I'm thinking we should go old school here--Trans Ams and eighttracks. A heavy tilt to the font and a windswept look. Presenting:

"ScottAudio" (Insert Swoosh Here)

--or--

"ThomSound" (Cue Drumroll)

datdude · « **Reply #40 on:** October 22, 2005, 04:22:37 pm »

Quote from: jgreen on October 22, 2005, 01:39:01 pm

Your EQdb (and your FLAC plugins) have become such a central part of my audio experience, that I think the main thing that's missing now is a logo for your audio software operation. So I've come up with some ideas.

Now, I'm thinking we should go old school here--Trans Ams and eighttracks. A heavy tilt to the font and a windswept look. Presenting:

"ScottAudio" (Insert Swoosh Here)

--or--

"ThomSound" (Cue Drumroll)

Would there be any interest in developing some sort of auto correcting eq with a microphone. If I play all my songs in the library with a microphone at my listening position, an eq adjustment would be made for each song correcting for the room environment. I don't even know if this would be possible or even makes sense but it would be cool.

jgreen · « **Reply #41 on:** October 22, 2005, 09:30:22 pm »

Datdude--
I recommend you download scthom's excellent plugin, "EQdb". Note that it is currently in alpha testing.

With this plugin you can do room correction based on how a track SOUNDS. I know this is a rather rudimentary approach, but the results are worth it. The only downside that I've found is that you have to spend considerable time actually LISTENING to your 40,000 tracks.

FWIW--If you've got an extra $3,000, JBL will sell you a pair of powered speakers that will do room correction, globally, using the method you described. As I understand it, room correction is a global thing--your room bounces bass, or it doesn't. Per-track correction--the holy quest I'm on--is more the process of post-mixing tracks. I don't necesarily accept the decisions that were made at the session, and I'm prepared to do something about it (thanks to scthom).

soleinvictus72 · « **Reply #42 on:** December 06, 2005, 01:45:02 pm »

ok, dumb question, but im new to these plugins - whats wrong with the existing Equaliser Plugin?

KingSparta · « **Reply #43 on:** December 06, 2005, 02:40:07 pm »

Quote

ok, dumb question, but im new to these plugins - whats wrong with the existing Equaliser Plugin?

what one?

There has been 3 of them

Maybe if i get around to it #4

soleinvictus72 · « **Reply #44 on:** December 06, 2005, 02:50:50 pm »

The only one that on the plugin website, called Auto Equaliser, author Nila.

I think I googled for the zip file as the link is broken but i have it installed for a few days now, and it seems to work fine.

The only issue I see is that it doesnt autostart. That is, it has its own On/Off button and I have to go and switch it on manually each time after I start MC11.

Is there a way to solve this?

And again, whats wrong with this plugin that Im not aware of, given the fact there is a new one (or several) being developed?

EDIT: found the link, its actually elsewhere on the forum:
http://www.musicex.com/mediacenter/mc_data/plugins/aesetup.zip

jgreen · « **Reply #45 on:** December 08, 2005, 04:12:45 pm »

Sole--
I don't know what's wrong with the Nila plugin because I couldn't get it to work. I tried with MC10, and never tried with MC11 because the plugin architecture was changed. I don't know if that will break it further or make it finally start working for me.

As for developers going out and writing plugins, I'm unaware of any law against it, at least here in the USA. IMO, when developers start trying to outdo each other's work, everybody wins. I know that scthom developed EQdb without regard to any previous attempts, simply going at it cleanly and highly intuitively. I highly recommend the results, although I would caution you that the current version is still technically "Alpha". If you wish to give it a try, there is a link to it in scthom's post at the top.

When or if scthom might work on it further is unknown to me. I'm sure it depends on a lot of variables--job, family, etc--and possibly whether he has the stomach to deal with end users who gripe about him simply trying to help.

soleinvictus72 · « **Reply #46 on:** December 08, 2005, 04:20:47 pm »

yes, apologies to scthom. It wasnt my intention to hijack his thread, rather it was just an honest question.

For interests sake I have the Auto Equaliser plugin installed and woking no problem with MC11.

I totally agree that with more development, everybody wins.

scthom · « **Reply #47 on:** December 08, 2005, 08:11:23 pm »

No problem.

jgreen asked for it, so I looked around a little bit (not extensively) and since he had been so helpful in getting the flac bugs worked out, figured out a way to get something going. I don't really use it and had not much intended to update it very often. Then I found out KingSparta and others had done similar things before. Hey, the more the merrier. Sometimes a fresh look comes up with some good ideas.

jgreen · « **Reply #48 on:** December 09, 2005, 05:14:58 pm »

Sole, you're a good sport! Hope the Nila plugin's everything you hoped for.

As for scthom, he's not only a brilliant programmer, he's a diplomat, which he's shown on several occassions in the forum. Thanks again for your help, scthom! Here's hoping you've relocated the world headquarters of ScotAudio to a hammock on a tropical beach, where your staff of dancing girls check your emails and mix you boat drinks.

scthom · « **Reply #49 on:** December 10, 2005, 10:01:34 am »

Ah, what a beautiful dream...

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Author Topic: EQdb - Per Track EQ Settings (Read 11256 times)