KVR Audio

Funkybot's Evil Twin · Wed Nov 15, 2006 11:41 pm

jjsr wrote:I've tested the demo and in my opinion:
On elctronic drums with fast settings i miss some "punch" that other Softcomp like K***censored*** does...

Try this: in VCA mode, use an attack setting of 25ms or so with a fast-ish release of 75ms or so then use a deep threshold, turn the limiter on (hard knee, release 0), and boost the hell out of the makeup gain. That should should let the transients through using the limiter to distort them in a nice way. You may have to tweak a bit but it works extremely well on live rock overheads.

dalor · Post by **dalor** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 4:07 am

Blue Cat Audio wrote:
dalor wrote:how long does the special last with 25% off? Have mercy and leave it for 4 weeks please
I would say between 3 and 4 weeks. But you'll be in anyway, I consider your private message as a pre-order

Yay! Thanks Blue Cat

bmanic · Post by **bmanic** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 4:32 am

Hey, this thing can sound pretty cool when tweaked! Unfortunately, it seems to use a LOT of juice (especially when oversampled x2).

Here are some CPU % figures measured in wavelab (it's extremely accurate at measuring plugin CPU usage):

BlueCat Compressor 2.5% CPU in normal mode. Oversampling x1 7.3%. Oversampling x2 17,2%.

Sonalksis Compressor 2.3%

Voxengo Marquis 4.2%

Vanilla Compressor 2.9%

The oversampling modes seem to use very much CPU cycles. Care to elaborate on what method you are using for the upsampling - downsampling routine? It looks like it might be extremely high fidelity.

Cheers!
bManic

Blue Cat Audio · Post by **Blue Cat Audio** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 5:58 am

it seems to use a LOT of juice (especially when oversampled x2).

Note that "2 stages" means x4 oversampling, not x2...

From your figures, it seems it does not eats that much CPU in normal mode since it's one of the fastest compressors in your list

. Do not forget either that it's not only a compressor, but it also includes a gate, filters and a limiter. And if you compare with the other ones, they do not offer oversampling, so you can only compare them with the "non-oversampled" mode.

Let's do some math: when you oversample x2, you do twice the same operations, so you need at least twice the same amount of CPU, if oversampling does not cost anything.
2.5% x2= 5% . You measured 7.3% -> so the 2x oversampling method costs 2.3% CPU
2.5% x4= 10% . You measured 17.2% -> so the 4x oversampling method costs 7.2%=approx 3 times the 2x method (it should be 2x in an ideal world, but there is some more overhead for many reasons, such as processor cache etc.).

Anyway, think that using 4x oversampling at 44.1 kHz means working at 176 kHz internally... It's a bit overkill for most applications, and I bet you will use it for very specific tasks only.

Blue Cat Audio · Post by **Blue Cat Audio** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 6:30 am

if it works in Tracktion2 I'm in - I guess you'd fix it (if it's your problem) even if it didn't work so I'm probably in anyway!

I have not tested it in Tracktion but it should work (our other plug-ins have already been tested with it). Of course it would be fixed asap if it did not work!

Ratio values are strange. Seems like changed. If dividing shown Ratio Setting through 1 it results in standard xx:1 values

It's actually the real out/in ratio (curve slope). It's true it's not the 'usual' way of showing it.

Would it be difficult to implement internal routing for the sidechaining function?
This way it'd be much more straight forward, more efficient and it would allow to overcome certain limitations in some DAWs (Samplitude ). Ideally, one instance of plug-in should be in "send" mode and the other one in "receive" mode. This way you can also
make the DPMP compatible with Samplitude.

I know some plug-ins work this way, but it's a kind of hack, actually: if your host supports multi-processors, it may produce unpredictable results (or even crash if it's not designed for it). The advantage with MIDI is that the host handles it, so it's more reliable and powerful (can be assigned to any parameter of any effect). I know your issues with Samplitude...

But if you can't do real-time, you can at least use the automation capabilities and have it work offline.

Blue Cat Audio · Post by **Blue Cat Audio** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 1:55 pm

On elctronic drums with fast settings i miss some "punch" that other Softcomp like K***censored*** does...

Maybe try what Funkybot's Evil Twin. Anyway it can take some time to explore all the available possibilities. It may be quite different from what you are used to.

kylen · Post by **kylen** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 4:41 pm

I tried the Stereo Dynamics processor out in Tracktion2 and Reaper v1.37 last night and it worked as far as I tested it...there's a lot of features to go thru so it'll take a bit of time for me. I did notice that oversampling at the max rate shot my laptop Pentium-M up to over 40% cpu utilization. I need to think about the upsampling thing some more...

Blue Cat Audio · Post by **Blue Cat Audio** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 4:52 pm

I did notice that oversampling at the max rate shot my laptop Pentium-M up to over 40% cpu utilization. I need to think about the upsampling thing some more...

You will typically use this setting for mixdown, when using really extreme settings. As I said earlier, there is no need for 4x upsampling unless you work with high frequency content and use settings which cause heavy distortion on the signal (for example 0 ms attack, hold and release parameters, which cause clipping).
To sum up:
- most situations: no oversampling needed
- with strong settings which generate noticeable harmonics: 1 stage (2x oversampling)
- with crazy settings, for the highest quality (mixdown): 2 stages (4x oversampling)

I am surprised you all focus on this feature, since it's not the most interesting one

. It's usually something you use once you have found the right sound and you want to improve the rendering quality in case you notice aliasing artifacts.

kylen · Post by **kylen** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 5:32 pm

Blue Cat Audio wrote:You will typically use this setting for mixdown, when using really extreme settings. As I said earlier, there is no need for 4x upsampling unless you work with high frequency content and use settings which cause heavy distortion on the signal (for example 0 ms attack, hold and release parameters, which cause clipping).
To sum up:
- most situations: no oversampling needed
- with strong settings which generate noticeable harmonics: 1 stage (2x oversampling)
- with crazy settings, for the highest quality (mixdown): 2 stages (4x oversampling)

I am surprised you all focus on this feature, since it's not the most interesting one . It's usually something you use once you have found the right sound and you want to improve the rendering quality in case you notice aliasing artifacts.

This is good info Blue Cat...I haven't taken the tutorials yet so now all I'm doing is noticing behavior and thinking about things, knobs when-where-why to use something. I think some Voxengo plugins allow for upsampling during render, "alt quality" I think it is or something. So unless I notice high-freq distortion I won't even need to upsample, thanks!

crisDeBurg · Post by **crisDeBurg** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 6:50 pm

Sorry, for hijacking the thread again but could you please explain how to use DPMP as a non-real-time plug-in? I keep trying the demo, and I guess, I keep overlooking something but I cannot record the automation data. I also would like to know if you would consider a bundle deal of DPMP and the compression suite.

Thanks, for including 4x over sampling mode (I wish there was 10X :D :D :D ). I always switch all my plugins into "turbo" mode during mixdowns.

Blue Cat Audio · Post by **Blue Cat Audio** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 9:14 pm

crisDeBurg wrote:Sorry, for hijacking the thread again but could you please explain how to use DPMP as a non-real-time plug-in? I keep trying the demo, and I guess, I keep overlooking something but I cannot record the automation data. I also would like to know if you would consider a bundle deal of DPMP and the compression suite.

No problem. I'll check if I can do a tutorial for Samplitude, it was in my plans anyway. I only have Samplitude 8 SE, but it should be enough... For the bundle I was actually thinking about making one with the DPMP, the compressor and the next product we are going to release... Anyway, there will be special offers for owners of some of the products when a bundle is released. We care for our existing customers!

Thanks, for including 4x over sampling mode (I wish there was 10X ). I always switch all my plugins into "turbo" mode during mixdowns.

Crazy you! Except if you have cat ears, I don't think you would notice any change with 10x oversampling! Do you want a special version with one more oversampling stage...? It'll just eat 90% CPU in stereo

illusionist77 · Post by **illusionist77** » Fri Nov 17, 2006 3:54 am

I think something like 6X could be useful for mastering of classical music.

dalor · Post by **dalor** » Fri Nov 17, 2006 10:50 am

Argh - I'm addicted! After playing around for another 2 hours with the Demo, I really got tired of the dropouts - so WTF i just ordered my copy. This thing is fantastic - I'd say the most flexible compressor out there! Blue Cat, I'll have to starve next week because of you (but at least i'm happy!)

That happened to me already twice this year, first Zebra2 and now this... I'm hopeless!

Blue Cat Audio · Post by **Blue Cat Audio** » Sat Nov 18, 2006 6:59 am

Argh - I'm addicted! After playing around for another 2 hours with the Demo, I really got tired of the dropouts - so WTF i just ordered my copy. This thing is fantastic - I'd say the most flexible compressor out there! Blue Cat, I'll have to starve next week because of you (but at least i'm happy!)

Glad to see you are happy with it! Maybe you'll forget to eat when you play anyway

.

Blue Cat Audio · Post by **Blue Cat Audio** » Sat Nov 18, 2006 7:00 am

BTW I forgot it in the announcement: there's a special offer for existing customers (whatever the product they own): -40% discount.

New dynamics processor - released! (v1.3)