'FeralA' decoder -- free-to-use

[lucretius]

6 minutes ago, jabbr said:

Wow! using settings fD=x tone=-13.45 wof = 1.19 on “1985 Whitney Houston” is remarkable — I need to turn the volume up by 3dB to get the same effect, that is it removes the painful HF grit from my ears    
 

This is now better than the Qobuz 24/96 (obviously remastered!) version

 

We need to start keeping an online database for these settings.

[Skip Pack]

I'm awaiting the release that will work on my computer, but a thread/repository documenting settings various folks consider successful for each CD release is a fabulous way to collectively learn to maximize the return on John's efforts.

[lucretius]

For the repository documenting settings, I was thinking that for each entry we need:

1. Identification of the source release used for decoding.  Ideally, info should include artist, album name, catalog #, barcode, release year, release country, and if possible, a link to the Discogs or Musicbrainz database.
2. The DHNRDS decoder commands.
3. Any pre-decoding and/or post-decoding EQ (via SoX).

Does this make sense?  I could start a thread (or if @John Dyson wants to do this, he could) in the Software sub-forum for this, where the 1st post will get continually updated.

 

[Skip Pack]

Looks about right to me. I would add space for brief comments, and suggest that additional entries for the same CD of other releases of the same album be kept together. The entries would often be incomplete, but all those items are useful. 

[John Dyson]

3 hours ago, Skip Pack said:

I'm awaiting the release that will work on my computer, but a thread/repository documenting settings various folks consider successful for each CD release is a fabulous way to collectively learn to maximize the return on John's efforts.

I am trying to get to it...  It is high priority, but everything is high priroity right now.  I plan to make a totally safe release that should work on any computer since the P4.  It won't be that much more slow -- I might try an SSE2 version and P4 version.  But, at least a P4 version.  My Windows setup is separate from what I normally use, and a lot of things just delayed me.

 

I had planned to do the release by Friday, but it looks like I will be able to get it done by Sunday evening.  It is one of those things where the priority is getting higher and higher because it isn't getting my time that it should -- geesh, I haven't even had my afternoon nap (old peoples nap) yet :-).

 

Been thinking about getting an i9xxx or i10xxxx machine, but the real bottleneck right now is ME.  Normally, I have been waiting on the computer, now EVERYTHING is waiting on me :-).

 

 

John

 

[One and a half]

Am trying Carpenters Close to You, and similar effects on the ABBA material in that the sound stage collapses (on headphones), more mono ish. 

 

Command used :

 

da-win --info=1 --fb=4 --tone=-13.425 --input="06 - (They Long to Be) Close to You".wav --overwrite --output="06 - (They Long to Be) Close to You_FA01".wav

 

Can @John Dyson expand a little more using the SQRT switches to alter the soundstage,

 

I like to compare references, and the Voulez Vous CD (UICY-25288) played with analog out direct has that extra clarity, I can't achieve from the decoder. What's really missing is for dummies like me to copy the command line for the ABBA albums as a baseline. The EQ tweaks are fine, but so are tone controls... I like to keep things 'flat' If there is a database of settings to keep EQ flat, then if someone has EQ'd a certain album and it may sound great on their system, it may not work on other playback equipment, digital is notorious for adding noise at the wrong times,  and stuffing up imaging for example.

[lucretius]

7 hours ago, lucretius said:

For the repository documenting settings, I was thinking that for each entry we need:

1. Identification of the source release used for decoding.  Ideally, info should include artist, album name, catalog #, barcode, release year, release country, and if possible, a link to the Discogs or Musicbrainz database.
2. The DHNRDS decoder commands.
3. Any pre-decoding and/or post-decoding EQ (via SoX).

Does this make sense?  I could start a thread (or if @John Dyson wants to do this, he could) in the Software sub-forum for this, where the 1st post will get continually updated.

 

 

How is this for a format for the DHNRDS Decoder Suggested Settings List?

 

ENTRY	FIELD	VALUE
1	Artist	Carpenters
	Title (Format)	Close to You (CD)
	Original Year	1970
	Label
	Release Country (Year)
	Catalog Number
	Barcode
	Number of Tracks
	External Links
	Submitted by:	@John Dyson
	DHNRDS commands	--fb=4 --tone=-13.425
	Pre/Post EQ (SoX)	none
2	Artist	Linda Ronstadt
	Title (Format)	Simple Dreams (CD)
	Original Year	1977
	Label
	Release Country (Year)
	Catalog Number
	Barcode
	Number of Tracks
	External Links
	Submitted by:	@John Dyson
	DHNRDS commands	--fb=4 --tone=-14.425 --wof=1.19
	Pre/Post EQ (Sox)	none
3	Artist	Supertramp
	Title (Format)	Breakfast in America
	Original Year	1979
	Label	A&M Records
	Release Country (Year)	Argentina (1985)
	Catalog Number	393 708-2
	Barcode	82839370820
	Number of Tracks	10
	External links	https://www.discogs.com/Supertramp-Breakfast-In-America/release/12834576
	Submitted by:	@John Dyson
	DHNRDS commands	--fb=4 --tone=-14.425 --wof=1.19
	Pre/Post EQ (SoX)	post: treble -1.5 9k 0.50q treble -1.5 9k 0.8409q
	Submitted by:	@jabbr
	DHNRDS commands
	Pre/Post EQ (SoX)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[John Dyson]

13 hours ago, John Dyson said:

I am trying to get to it...  It is high priority, but everything is high priroity right now.  I plan to make a totally safe release that should work on any computer since the P4.  It won't be that much more slow -- I might try an SSE2 version and P4 version.  But, at least a P4 version.  My Windows setup is separate from what I normally use, and a lot of things just delayed me.

 

I had planned to do the release by Friday, but it looks like I will be able to get it done by Sunday evening.  It is one of those things where the priority is getting higher and higher because it isn't getting my time that it should -- geesh, I haven't even had my afternoon nap (old peoples nap) yet :-).

 

Been thinking about getting an i9xxx or i10xxxx machine, but the real bottleneck right now is ME.  Normally, I have been waiting on the computer, now EVERYTHING is waiting on me :-).

 

 

John

 

About the upcoming new release.  This will be more than just a P4 (possibly SSE2 also -- if it doesn't create lots of troubles :-)), but there will be a new command option.  If I have enough time, I plan to add a 'clipping detector' also.  The decoder will watch the output levels, and if it detects clipping on the output (the signal being greater than the maximum), then there will be a warning message along with a suggested additional command line switch.   I am not 100% sure if the clipping detect will be ready for this release today, but will do it if I can fit into the schedule.   The new 'ABBA' option (actually HD twist option) is already implemented in my working copy.

 

I found that some of the ABBA stuff had some strange phase twisting in their recordings.  After adding the EQ -- the recordings 'popped'.   I mean, clean as can be -- as good as I have ever heard ABBA.   Also, it appears that the 'ABBA' EQ, which I haven't talked about much yet, seemed to MAYBE improve a Whitney Houston CD, and maybe a Carpenters CD. 

 

When developing software like the FA mode of the decoder, there are two ways of thinking -- one is:  do it scientifically, and the otherway of thinking is:  'MAKE IT WORK!!!'.   Guess which 'mode' gets priority?   Of course, 'MAKE IT WORK!!!'.

 

I haven't figured out a full technical justification for the HF twisting EQ (yet), but when my hearing is working well, I am very perceptive about modulation distortion and EQ issues.  I just listened and tweaked the EQ, with some intuition and perceptive listening for distortions, then manually added the 'ABBA EQ' filters to my SOX commands.   Since I have run into 3 recordings now, where the HF 'twist'  makes a serious improvement in quality -- I have added a new option into the decoder for general use.

 

The release that will be HOPEFULLY released tonight is planned to have no changes other than supporting additional CPUS and the new 'ABBA EQ' filter, and MAYBE the clipping detector.   The new HD 'twist' mode is enabled by the 'a' submode and will be an initial option for the '--fa, --fb, --fc, --fD' switches.  It will be used like this:

 

--fb=a,X or --fb=aX.

 

Right now, the 'a' and/or 'm' options need to be first.  Oh -- I haven't talked much about the 'm' option, but there is also a currently not-documented 'm' option, which supports removing the lower MF 'twist'.  So, the decoder ALREADY had a 'twist', but it is used as default on pop recordings and the twist appears to work for pop recordings in general.   So far, I am pretty sure that the ABBA 'HF' twist' will need to be an option that is OFF by default.  I don't think that it should always be needed.  (I might  eventually make the command syntax more flexible -- but for now, it is probably best to keep discipline for the '--fb' type commands simple.)

 

So, to enable the new HF twist (it is named 'a' for ABBA, probably inappropriately), just make it the first character in the '--fb', or '--fc' or '--fD' commands...  That's it.   When you try the 'a' option, you'll see what I mean by 'improvement'. :-).

 

I'll add some information about the new submode in the usage memo.

 

John

 

 

[sandyk]

9 hours ago, One and a half said:

 

 

I like to compare references, and the Voulez Vous CD (UICY-25288) played with analog out direct has that extra clarity, I can't achieve from the decoder. ….., it may not work on other playback equipment, digital is notorious for adding noise at the wrong times,  and stuffing up imaging for example.

Perhaps all the extra digital processing is adding noise that only Jon's Gigabit Optical network is capable of filtering out ?

[jabbr]

11 hours ago, One and a half said:

Am trying Carpenters Close to You, and similar effects on the ABBA material in that the sound stage collapses (on headphones), more mono ish. 

 

Command used :

 

da-win --info=1 --fb=4 --tone=-13.425 --input="06 - (They Long to Be) Close to You".wav --overwrite --output="06 - (They Long to Be) Close to You_FA01".wav

 

Can @John Dyson expand a little more using the SQRT switches to alter the soundstage,

 

I like to compare references, and the Voulez Vous CD (UICY-25288) played with analog out direct has that extra clarity, I can't achieve from the decoder. What's really missing is for dummies like me to copy the command line for the ABBA albums as a baseline. The EQ tweaks are fine, but so are tone controls... I like to keep things 'flat' If there is a database of settings to keep EQ flat, then if someone has EQ'd a certain album and it may sound great on their system, it may not work on other playback equipment, digital is notorious for adding noise at the wrong times,  and stuffing up imaging for example.

 

--wof=1.19 is often helpful for soundstage

 

Since this is all copyrighted material and without permission from the copyright holder, you can't legally distribute "remastered" copies, what we *can* do is distribute a list of settings, including eq settings, and then individuals can tweak the settings for their own systems.

 

You can then downconvert from 24/88 to 16/44 and burn your own copy to your own CD and listen that way if that sounds best for you

[John Dyson]

There is a new, updated version of the decoder, along with a version that just might work better on older i3/i5/i7 Windows machines.

 

The biggest difference for general use are the new 'a' and 'b' options to be used along with the '--fa', '--fb', '--fc' or '--fD' switches.   The 'a' and 'b' modifiers are used immediately after the '='.  SO, to use a normal '--fb=X' with an 'a' modifier is '--fb=aX'.  *These phase correction improvements can do major improvements when really needed!!  The word 'beautiful' comes to mind.

 

What do the new modifiers do?  They sound SIMILAR to the '4' option, almost kind of like a 12kHz lpf, but don't do the cut.  When needed, it does a very nice phase correction.   This is a difficult-to-describe improvement, but has made HUGE improvements on some older recordings.  So, where an '--fb=4' might have been used, maybe instead try '--fb=a' or '--fb=b'.  The 'b' option is stronger than the 'a' option, and again almost sound like a 'softening', but not a strong low pass filter.

When decoding, sometimes recordings have a gritty/grainy sound that seems difficult to remove without clobbering the highs -- the 'a' and 'b' options are helpful for that case.

 

The new 'windows' version for the older 'core' architectures -- the program name is da-core2 instead of da-win.  da-core2 is very similar to the da-win, but unfortuately I allowed some Atom dependencies into the da-win version.  Sorry that I didn't do a P4 version yet -- but I'd suspect that the da-core2 version will work in most cases anyway.  P4 adds more complexity and I wanted to get this released tonight.

 

The new version is V1.4.1F, and it sounds just as good as the previous version, plus has the new HF phase correction features 'a' and 'b' options.   Hopefully, the core2 version will work for the users where da-win didn't work.  I did NOT add the peak clipping detector yet.

 

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/1srzzih0qoi1k4l/AAAMNIQ47AzBe1TubxJutJADa?dl=0

 

John

 

[sandyk]

7 hours ago, jabbr said:

You can then downconvert from 24/88 to 16/44 and burn your own copy to your own CD and listen that way if that sounds best for you

 

 I tried that for Demo use with a recent version from John of "Crime" , and boy, did the resulting CD sound dull in comparison to the files saved on USB memory. The converted files did however still sound pretty good before they were burned to a cheap CD-R  

[John Dyson]

20 hours ago, One and a half said:

Am trying Carpenters Close to You, and similar effects on the ABBA material in that the sound stage collapses (on headphones), more mono ish. 

 

Command used :

 

da-win --info=1 --fb=4 --tone=-13.425 --input="06 - (They Long to Be) Close to You".wav --overwrite --output="06 - (They Long to Be) Close to You_FA01".wav

 

Can @John Dyson expand a little more using the SQRT switches to alter the soundstage,

 

I like to compare references, and the Voulez Vous CD (UICY-25288) played with analog out direct has that extra clarity, I can't achieve from the decoder. What's really missing is for dummies like me to copy the command line for the ABBA albums as a baseline. The EQ tweaks are fine, but so are tone controls... I like to keep things 'flat' If there is a database of settings to keep EQ flat, then if someone has EQ'd a certain album and it may sound great on their system, it may not work on other playback equipment, digital is notorious for adding noise at the wrong times,  and stuffing up imaging for example.

Sorry that it has taken me a little while to get back with you.  I have been doing the V1.4.1F decoder release and it is a lot of work/testing/etc.  I do suggest grabbing a new copy of the decoder and replace the executable file -- it has a feature that makes-nice with the sound in certain cases.

 

Just now -- I spent some SERIOUS time, not just doing a quick decode for the 1970 album 'Close To You'.  Of course, we cannot publically share stuff, but we can discuss things and also do snippets.

 

I want to warn a little bit that the quality of the album is important.   You want the basic, vanilla released album -- hopefully not using a remaster.   The decoder can even work using an mp3 version if that is what you have in your archives (I know, some people would cringe), but the decoder WILL work with mp3 if that is all you have.  The important thing in ALL cases -- the levels be kept consistent, not normalized -- the levels of each song are the natural levels on the album.  You NEVER want to normalize the levels on albums that you intend to decode.  Direct from CD is, of course best.  Also, there is ZERO benefit in rate conversion from a 44.1k or 48k source -- the decoder does a perfect/optimized job of rate conversion.

 

Using the previous version of decoder, for the decoding EQ, --fb=4 will work fine.  For this album, using the new version, V1.4.1F, --fb=b (or a) seems to sound sound better -- more clean stereo image because the new EQ does some phase compensation.  This new 'b' or 'a' option will work only starting on V1.4.1F or newer.   You can use the 'b' or 'a' option in addition to other options, but the 'b' or 'a' option will sound a little like the low pass filter that the '4' filter provides.  Instead of a simple low pass filter, the 'b' or 'a' options do a special kind of temporal (phase) equalization that appears to benefit decoding FeralA material.  The options aren't always needed, but when they are helpful, then they can be VERY helpful

 

I did a SUPER CAREFUL listen for intermodulation distortion (requires practice), and I did find that my other suggestion works -- but doesn't quite cancel the distortion as well as --tone=-13.76.   The -13.76 sounds a little better on my copy of the album.  DolbyA has very fast gain control, and the gain control intermodulates with the signal.   The sound is best if all of the curves match precisely, even though the DHNRDS does magical things (really, almost magic) to avoid the IMD, MD/DolbyA Fog.

 

You are asking about the stereo image correction?   That is a super complex thing, but there are some simple adjustments.  The stereo image is dynamically calculated and does a wierd mix of the Mid/Side calculations along with scaling the 'Side' (stereo difference) signal.   The big deal is that the stereo image was manipulated further on a lot of recordings because of the way that high speed compression like DolbyA modifies the stereo image.

 

It seems that the FeralA mastering depends on 'powers of two' in many, many places.  One place where the 'sqrt(sqrt(2))' and even 'sqrt(sqrt(sqrt(2)))' is used -- the stereo image/mid-side scaling.   Setting the mid-side scaling is done by '--wof=x.xxx', and the values often needed are like:  1.19, 1.09, 1.0 (no change), 0.91, 0.8409.  It might even be correct to use 1.41 or 0.7071 from time to time, but those settings are more a 'modification' and not a 'recovery' or 'decoding'.   1.19 makes a significantly wider stereo image, and 0.8409 makes a significantly narrower stereo image.   It is sometimes tricky to determine when you want to 'widen' or 'narrow' (that is, >1 or <1 value.)   Sometimes, oddly, 'widening' can actually make the stereo field sound narrow, because of wrapping around between left and right.

 

The stereo image stuff is tricky for me... I have poor artistic skills, and am super well trained on distortion, but not stereo image or frequency response.   Sometimes, the best choice is the most conservative -- that is, the smallest value that produces a good stereo image.   A too-wide stereo image produces holes in the image.  We are normally used to hearing 'holes' because the FeralA compression REALLY mangles stereo image!!!!   Since many recordings are FeralA -- we seldom hear proper stereo images.

 

After playing around, and being SERIOUS since you are really trying to decode the album -- I did a listen to various settings of --wof=, and a relatively small value of --wof=0.8409 actually sounds pretty good on my copy.  On the first cut, the piano is still far on the left hand side -- not like it is in the center.  It is very possible that any of my previous suggestions are wrong, and it is VERY POSSIBLE that --wof=0.8409 is correct.

 

Here is a general usage suggestion -- --fa, --fb, --fc, and --fD commands set lots of defaults, then you modify the defaults after those major settings.  So, things like --tone=, --wof, etc -- all should come AFTER the main --fa,--fb,--fc,-fd commands, or the commands BEFORE those will be cancelled out.

 

I have attached a 45 second flac snippets of 'Reason to Believe' and I'll never fall in love again.   Remember, these are the standard ALBUM versions, and a lot of alternative versions are remixes.    The good thing about this version of the decoder is that with the phase equalization, the temptation to over EQ the high end to quiet the edginess isn't needed.

You might want to EQ differently, etc -- that is okay.  However, these results show very little distortion or edginess in the vocals, and there is room to do EQ if we want...  (The high-hat might need some help.)  Here are the basic decoder command switches: If you have specific questions that aren't generally interesting, PM is okay.  However, questions like this -- are great to discuss in the forum here!!!

 

--fb=b  --fd --tone=-13.76 --xpp  --wof=0.8409

 

Again, sorry it took so long to respond. 

 

John

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

08 - I'll Never Fall in Love Again.flac 04 - Reason to Believe.flac

[John Dyson]

On 5/2/2020 at 2:54 AM, One and a half said:

Thank you, overwrite this time tried both and the batch file.

 

D:\Music_Workshop\Restoration\ABBA>da-avx --info=2 --fb --fgh2 --tone=13.425 --normal --input=%1 --output=%~n1_out.wav --intout
      0 [main] da-avx 1942 cygwin_exception::open_stackdumpfile: Dumping stack trace to da-avx.exe.stackdump

 

D:\Music_Workshop\Restoration\ABBA>da-avx --info=1 --fb=4 --tone=-13.425 --input=AGAN.wav --overwrite --output=AGAN_D.wav
      0 [main] da-avx 1542 cygwin_exception::open_stackdumpfile: Dumping stack trace to da-avx.exe.stackdump

 

There are two zips in the installer file, what to do with these? libao-master.zip & myaoplaysource.zip. Looks like the 2nd one is a player?

Command da-avx /? also reveals a stackdump..............

 

Now. Forget DA-avx.exe and try da-Win.exe.

 

D:\Music_Workshop\Restoration\ABBA>da-win --info=1 --fb=4 --tone=-13.425 --input=AGAN.wav --overwrite --output=AGAN_D.wav
Audio "DHNRDS DA decoder" V1.4.1D 29Apr2020 -- Author John S. Dyson -- Copyright 2017,2018,2019,2020
License terms are in accompanying documentation

Time Out:
Required CPU type: WIN64: x86-64bit with SSE: Silvermont or greater
Input file: "AGAN.wav"
Output file: "AGAN_D.wav"
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
....................................................................................................

Finished

D:\Music_Workshop\Restoration\ABBA>

 

Took about 20s or so for a 3:24 track, so a bulk album conversion won't take all that long. The output file is 32bit 88.2 & 4 times the size. The original sounds rather flat and dull, but not a fan of upsampling as exaggeration can creep in. We'll see with some more tracksnow that the conversion is working. Thanks for spotting the *overwrite*, just copying and pasting.

ABBA is one of my major test cases... if you have troubles, or don't get the sound that YOU want -- I might be able to help.

 

Decoding ABBA is really tough -- the most difficult material that I have.  The complex mix of music does drive the fast gain control totally crazy, and because of the subtle interactions, mistakes become very apparent.  The decoder is VERY capable of produce good results, but can be a REAL challenge...

 

Right now, I am re-evaluating using the new 'a' and 'b' phase EQ commands, and will check my copy of VoulezVous to see what settings seem best for me -- just FYI, then you can take it from there!!! :-).

 

John

 

[John Dyson]

About the new V1.4.1F options 'a' and 'b':  Apparently, the new options are correcting the sound in ways that I didn't even realize.

 

The difference on Supertramp decoding is astonishing.   The apparent need to do mastering EQ (cut of perhaps -1.5 to -3.0dB at 9kHz) on 1021 is greatly diminished on future versions, without cutting the high end...  The stereo image is incredibly improved also.   A recent private PM demo of a Tijuana Brass selection really demonstrates how beautiful.  The recent pubic snippet here of the Carpenters album also shows a clean softening, removal of edginess, but the frequency response is just as wide as before.

 

This phase EQ is ALMOST like undoing the Aphex Exciter kind of distortion.  I don't know where the problem creeped in, or even if it was intentional in the FeralA to allow increasing the 'loudness' without making the signal clip.  It is almost 100% by dumb luck that I figured out what they were doing!!!

 

John

 

[Skip Pack]

Quickest of messages: da-win ran successfully for me on a real file with good output. Now to dig in and connect the buttons, switches, and levers with audible effects.

 

Tanks, John

[lucretius]

 

1 hour ago, Skip Pack said:

Tanks, John

 

Were you a member of the armored corps or is that just an internet meme?

 

 

 

[Skip Pack]

Have you forgatten that the implicit "h" was all the rage for a week in 1958?

[John Dyson]

Heads-up and question/suggestion about using the decoder V1.4.1F and newer:

 

Please refer to my comments about the new 'a' and 'b' options.   I am truly not sure if the 'a' option should be a default -- we can simply make the suggestion to use the 'a' option (like --fb=aX instead of --fb=X or --fc=a,X,4 instead of --fc=X,4) -- commas optional.

 

Here is the deal -- it seems to me that adding the 'a' option is almost always 'good'.   There are real reasons why using the 'a' option might be better because it all depends on if the EQ was done that way.   I just need some feedback about it.

 

Basically:  Have you had luck in using the 'a' option?   For a hint about the 'sound' difference -- it should tame 'edginess' without a significant impact on frequency response.

 

Just let us all know based upon your usage experience.   So far, my own results are showing that 'a' or 'b' are almost always helpful.   'a' and 'b' are similar, but 'b' will 'tame' the edginess just a little more.

 

Thanks!!!

John

 

[jabbr]

I really like these options, particularly they don't seem to cut down the high end to the same extent ... I've run some options for Whitney Houston and placed at: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/b6za0hueskbzv59/AADJaiVoX-5b3XOPqMLXlgHca?dl=0

[jabbr]

23 hours ago, sandyk said:

 

 I tried that for Demo use with a recent version from John of "Crime" , and boy, did the resulting CD sound dull in comparison to the files saved on USB memory. The converted files did however still sound pretty good before they were burned to a cheap CD-R  

 

I have no idea --  everyone can do as they wish -- just pointing out that the feralA decoding is orthogonal to the media on which the files are stored.

[John Dyson]

4 hours ago, jabbr said:

I really like these options, particularly they don't seem to cut down the high end to the same extent ... I've run some options for Whitney Houston and placed at: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/b6za0hueskbzv59/AADJaiVoX-5b3XOPqMLXlgHca?dl=0

The 'a' and 'b' options are very similar to the needed lower MF twist also (already enabled -- can be disabled by 'm' or using the 'classical' modes.)  Apparently, there is a phase twist in the creation of the FeralA version of the recording.  I might have mismatched some of the other filters or whatever -- I am guessing that they did the phase twist to create an better sound for some reason.

I could only find the correction after a bit of a rest to my hearing -- and very careful decoding/listening to distortion/decoding/listening to sdistortion/etc.

 

It seems like 'a' might be needed most of the time.  The Supertramp decodes are surprisingly better & easier on the hearing.  All I am using is --fb=a, and a calibration in the range of approx -14.47 that is it!!!  No extra rolloffs or tweaking.  Previously, I had been using the 'X' or 'x' modes, which enable the additional 12kHz filters -- doesn't seem to be needed anymore.

 

John

 

[John Dyson]

I also need to add --wof=1.19.   The full decoding scripts are now distributed in the demos areas.  I am attaching the scripts for quiet, crime and bina here.  I am being really bad and doing 'Crisis' manually -- bad form, but I am sometimes stupid.

 

John

 

decodecrime decodebina decodequiet

[lucretius]

On 5/2/2020 at 11:12 PM, lucretius said:

 

How is this for a format for the DHNRDS Decoder Suggested Settings List?

 

ENTRY	FIELD	VALUE
1	Artist	Carpenters
	Title (Format)	Close to You (CD)
	Original Year	1970
	Label
	Release Country (Year)
	Catalog Number
	Barcode
	Number of Tracks
	External Links
	Submitted by:	@John Dyson
	DHNRDS commands	--fb=4 --tone=-13.425
	Pre/Post EQ (SoX)	none
2	Artist	Linda Ronstadt
	Title (Format)	Simple Dreams (CD)
	Original Year	1977
	Label
	Release Country (Year)
	Catalog Number
	Barcode
	Number of Tracks
	External Links
	Submitted by:	@John Dyson
	DHNRDS commands	--fb=4 --tone=-14.425 --wof=1.19
	Pre/Post EQ (Sox)	none
3	Artist	Supertramp
	Title (Format)	Breakfast in America
	Original Year	1979
	Label	A&M Records
	Release Country (Year)	Argentina (1985)
	Catalog Number	393 708-2
	Barcode	82839370820
	Number of Tracks	10
	External links	https://www.discogs.com/Supertramp-Breakfast-In-America/release/12834576
	Submitted by:	@John Dyson
	DHNRDS commands	--fb=4 --tone=-14.425 --wof=1.19
	Pre/Post EQ (SoX)	post: treble -1.5 9k 0.50q treble -1.5 9k 0.8409q
	Submitted by:	@jabbr
	DHNRDS commands
	Pre/Post EQ (SoX)

 

 

 

The list has been initialized here:

 

Please help to populate the list!

 

 

[sandyk]

On ‎5‎/‎4‎/‎2020 at 8:18 AM, sandyk said:

 

 I tried that for Demo use with a recent version from John of "Crime" , and boy, did the resulting CD sound dull in comparison to the files saved on USB memory. The converted files did however still sound pretty good before they were burned to a cheap CD-R  

CORRECTION.

 I revisited the burned CD, playing it from my PC's internal BR writer, but this time I checked to see what program was playing it.

It turned out to be VLC Media player which doesn't play from System Memory. I changed the settings to play CD Audio using JRiver 26 and it sounded very much the same as the tracks on the USB memory stick, perhaps even a little better ?