Photosounder

A_SN · Post by **A_SN** » Sun Jun 08, 2014 4:33 pm

The development of SplineEQ v1.1 is finally getting somewhere, with its improved graphics backported from Spiral's development, different framework that allows 64-bit Mac VSTs and larger interface and zoom, with just a few things missing as of now like a logo and the axis labels (also I want to add Spiral's stereo pan colours to the visualisation). The zoom is kind of a big deal so I wanted to have your feedback. You have 3 knobs to control the zooms, one to decrease the vertical dB range all the way down to ±3 dB, the two others to control the horizontal zoom ratio and the other to control the position of the zoomed view wrt the full spectrum. Here's what I'd like your opinion on:

Are the ranges (±3 dB to ±60+ dB and horizontal zoom from 1x to 10x) reasonable? Do we need larger ranges? Narrower ranges?
Are the Hor. Zoom and Hor. Position necessary as knobs, or do the mouse wheel zoom and right-click drag scroll make them superfluous?
Do I need to provide alternatives keys to the mouse wheel zoom and the right-click drag-scroll? (as in, if your computer can't do those things well)
Should there be a way to scroll vertically as well? Most EQs just allow you to set the range, but I was wondering if being able to scroll up and down would be a welcome option. If yes, should the right-click drag scroll in 2D?
Should there be a way other than a knob to scroll vertically, like the Shift+Wheel in Photosounder? Or even a way to zoom in 2D at the same time like Ctrl+Wheel in Photosounder?
Should I provide a way to increase the analyser's resolution (as you can do in Spiral) or is it precise enough as it is even when you zoom?
Do you care about the gamma option? (basically it sort of increases the contrast, cranking it up can allow you to better see the changes at the expense of making a lot of the spectrum turn black, which can also be a good thing) Also backported from Spiral, I'm not sure it's as useful here but I thought some of you might like the choice.
The interface size is now 1220x666 (with a visualisation size of 974x602, a golden rectangle), which is meant to suit neatly into the common lowest screen resolution which should be 1280x800. How does that size work for you? The interface is now procedurally generated at startup instead of being a PNG made in Photoshop, so making it a different resolution shouldn't be too hard.
Oh yeah I've also changed the way the Delay knob works. Until now the actual delay rose as the resolution setting rose, which kept CPU usage about constant (which turns out no one really cared about) but gave you ludicrous delays by default. Now it's changed so the Delay gives you a delay independent of the resolution. So there's that and how I increased the possible max resolution to 16x (or ~16,000 FFT bins at 44.1 kHz), I figured since we have zoom now, then why not... Yay? Nay? More resolution?
Is the dB/frequency grid overlay over the visualisation too faint? Too bright? I honestly can't decide which.
Anything else? Any bugs to report? With all the tons of internal changes done I've probably introduced some.

Here's a download link of the latest version for Windows (VST 32 and 64 bit): http://photosounder.com/splineeq/spline ... 08-win.zip

Click here to appreciate the screenshot in its full glory.

By the way if you're thinking of holding off buying it, don't hold off, two weeks after v1.1 is officially released I'll raise the price from the insane $19 to the much saner price of $29, and even if you buy it now (or if you've bought it a long time ago) you'll still get the update for free, when you buy it doesn't make a difference.

murnau · Post by **murnau** » Sun Jun 08, 2014 5:13 pm

great update! i can't complain. maybe A/B compare two different presets and undo would be possible? thank you!

A_SN · Post by **A_SN** » Mon Jun 09, 2014 1:31 pm

murnau wrote:great update! i can't complain. maybe A/B compare two different presets and undo would be possible? thank you!

I still don't know how these two things are typically implemented in EQs, so I'd have to look into that. I could do it but definitely for a later release.

What about the list of questions, anything on it you'd have an opinion on? Like the necessity of all knobs, or the vertical zoom options, and so on.

murnau · Post by **murnau** » Mon Jun 09, 2014 1:40 pm

Are the ranges (±3 dB to ±60+ dB and horizontal zoom from 1x to 10x) reasonable? Do we need larger ranges? Narrower ranges?
for me it's good like it is
Are the Hor. Zoom and Hor. Position necessary as knobs, or do the mouse wheel zoom and right-click drag scroll make them superfluous?
not necessary as knobs
Do I need to provide alternatives keys to the mouse wheel zoom and the right-click drag-scroll? (as in, if your computer can't do those things well)
not for me
Should there be a way to scroll vertically as well? Most EQs just allow you to set the range, but I was wondering if being able to scroll up and down would be a welcome option. If yes, should the right-click drag scroll in 2D?
not for me
Should there be a way other than a knob to scroll vertically, like the Shift+Wheel in Photosounder? Or even a way to zoom in 2D at the same time like Ctrl+Wheel in Photosounder?
not for me
Should I provide a way to increase the analyser's resolution (as you can do in Spiral) or is it precise enough as it is even when you zoom?
it's precise enough for me
Do you care about the gamma option? (basically it sort of increases the contrast, cranking it up can allow you to better see the changes at the expense of making a lot of the spectrum turn black, which can also be a good thing) Also backported from Spiral, I'm not sure it's as useful here but I thought some of you might like the choice.
not for me
The interface size is now 1220x666 (with a visualisation size of 974x602, a golden rectangle), which is meant to suit neatly into the common lowest screen resolution which should be 1280x800. How does that size work for you? The interface is now procedurally generated at startup instead of being a PNG made in Photoshop, so making it a different resolution shouldn't be too hard.
interface size is okay here
Oh yeah I've also changed the way the Delay knob works. Until now the actual delay rose as the resolution setting rose, which kept CPU usage about constant (which turns out no one really cared about) but gave you ludicrous delays by default. Now it's changed so the Delay gives you a delay independent of the resolution. So there's that and how I increased the possible max resolution to 16x (or ~16,000 FFT bins at 44.1 kHz), I figured since we have zoom now, then why not... Yay? Nay? More resolution?
not for me
Is the dB/frequency grid overlay over the visualisation too faint? Too bright? I honestly can't decide which.
absolute ok here
Anything else? Any bugs to report? With all the tons of internal changes done I've probably introduced some.
no

A_SN · Post by **A_SN** » Thu Jun 12, 2014 9:59 am

Okay thanks

. So then I might as well get rid of the two vertical zoom knobs and the gamma knob?

Can I get anyone else's opinion?

A_SN · Post by **A_SN** » Tue Jun 17, 2014 4:31 pm

Alright I removed all those knobs, added the proper scale labels and added a knob to choose between 3 different interface sizes. I think you can consider this a release candidate, as in I'll probably release it as it is if everything is fine.

http://photosounder.com/splineeq/spline ... c1-win.zip

murnau · Post by **murnau** » Tue Jun 17, 2014 5:44 pm

cool! thank you very much!

A_SN · Post by **A_SN** » Sat Jun 21, 2014 7:59 pm

I've officially released it btw. And the price will change to $29 on July 5th.

Photosounder

KVR Audio

Test SplineEQ's new zoom (horizontal and vertical)