2CAudio Breeze | 2.5 | Simple. Light. Pristine. Intelligently Adaptive.

[Andrew Souter]

Something seems odd. Can you please try a new project with a single instance on a stereo audio track and let me know how it goes? Breeze should always be lighter on the CPU than Aether...

Ok brand new project - no difference unfortunately.
Aether runs like a dream, Breeze still slow....

Out of curiosity how do you go about diagnosing the issue now?

Good question. I honestly have no idea at the moment. We can not reproduce this. We will have to look more closely. Please send us an email to the support email...

[Andrew Souter]

Hi Andrew, i have an idea/feature request. Could you add a tempo-sync (note values)for decay/predelay. NI Reflector has that, for example and that would be a really nice and probably simple addition. What do you think?

Maybe something for the future. Thanks for the suggestion.

[Andrew Souter]

Re CPU usage, I ran more quick tests on my Windows machine.

Maximum simultaneous instances:

Best Case (using lowest possible CPU usage settings): >512 instances!

Proof: http://2caudio.com/products/breeze/foru ... Breeze.PNG

This results in about 87% usage of total system resources. Absolute max is prob around 560 or more. (I did not bother to try more than 512).

Worst case (using highest possible CPU usage settings): ~160 instances!

Factory presets will all vary between these figures.

Test system:

Win 7 64bit
Cubase 5.5.x 64bit
Breeze 1.0.0 retail shipping build (64bit)
RME HDSP AES-32
Buffer 1024 Samples
2* w5580 quad core Xeons @ 3.2Ghz.
Hyper-threading on resulting in 16 cores visible to the OS (8-physical, 8-virtual)
24GB RAM
SuperMicro Motherboard

Reducing buffer to 128 samples reduced plug-in count to ~85% of these numbers.

Reducing buffer to 64 or 32 samples was not possible on this system. It gives drop-outs even without ANY plug-ins while playing back a single audio track. I should try Cubase 6 and see if there are newer RME drivers, but very lower buffer settings are sometimes problematic on Dual socket systems...

[Breeze]

[sorry, oops: comment about Aether, not Breeze...]

[sureno]

1.1 out and purchased

[cain]

are we suppose to get an email about this? where do we get the update"?

[vespers75]

are we suppose to get an email about this? where do we get the update"?

Yes, you get an email.

[cain]

nothing yet well i guess tommorow

[Andrew Souter]

nothing yet well i guess tommorow

emailed...

[Andrew Souter]

Here's the info on 1.1:

The Breeze 1.1 update was released on April 8, 2011 and includes over 100 new factory presets and the following new features and enhancements that we think will help users get even more out of Breeze:

• Redesigned and expanded EQ and Damping scheme offering 5 new filter options for each:

High Shelf | High Cut | Low Shelf | Low Cut | Off

• Filter options are independent for Both Damping and EQ and can be configured in 25 different ways providing much more flexibility to the tonal characteristics of the reverb.

• "Off" filter mode provides additional CPU efficiency of up to 5-10% savings.

• Infinite reverb time mode

• Substantial enhancements to the diversity achievable within the range of existing parameter settings. The behavior and effect of some parameters has been enhanced in various ways that unfortunately can not be fully described do to trade-secrets. Suffice to say the result is improved preset diversity and augmented audio quality. Consider it a tune-up to certain aspects of the algorithm.

• Improved GUI controls response

• Improved Novation auto-map compatibility

We did not send out any official press releases yet, as we are working on completing a new web-design, and we hoped to have this done at the same time. They may not happen on-time though, so we may not wait for the new site.

[Andrew Souter]

The biggest change in 1.1 is the new damping and EQ options. From the manual:

Damp & EQ Filter Menus

Breeze 1.1 introduces a more flexible filter scheme for both the Damping filter and the EQ filter. Both options now have the choice of five different filter choices:

• Hi-Shelf: a specialized shelving filter design that combines several parameters into a single control for maximum ease of use. Dragging the slider to the right increases the effect of the filter, as is represented in the Frequency Display directly below the slider. This was the only option available for Damping in Breeze 1.0.

• Hi-Cut: a single-pole high-cut/Low-pass filter that attenuates high frequencies with a slope of 6dB per octave. This filter produces results similar to those of the Hi-Shelf filter, with the noted difference being that for the same cut-off point, the filter action will be more severe than the Hi-Shelf option for frequencies father away from the cutoff. In other words, extreme high frequencies will be reduced more than with the Hi-Shelf mode. Additionally, the filter will have less effect in the pass-band on frequencies below the cut-off point. Furthermore, at high cut-off points, including down to the minimum slider value of 0%, the Hi-Cut filter will still produce significant attenuation of high frequencies, especially when used for Damping. Dragging the slider to the right increases the effect of the filter, as is represented in the Frequency Display directly below the slider.

• Low Shelf: a specialized shelving filter design that combines several parameters into a single control for maximum ease of use. Dragging the slider to the right increases the effect of the filter, as is represented in the Frequency Display directly below the slider. This was the only option available for EQ in Breeze 1.0.

• Lo-Cut: a single pole Low-cut/High-pass filter that attenuates bass frequencies with a slope of 6dB per octave. This filter produces results similar to those of the Lo-Shelf filter, with the noted difference being that for the same cut-off point, the filter action will be more severe than the Lo-Shelf option for frequencies father away from the cutoff. In other words, extreme low frequencies will be reduced more than with the Low-Shelf mode. Additionally, the filter will have less effect in the pass-band on frequencies above the cut-off point. Furthermore, at low cut-off points, including down to the minimum cutoff point of 0%, the Lo-Cut filter will still produce significant attenuation of extreme-low frequencies, especially when used for Damping. Dragging the slider to the right increases the effect of the filter, as is represented in the Frequency Display directly below the slider.

• Off: the filter is disabled and its processing requirements are removed from the CPU. This increases plug-in efficiency in cases where Damping and/or EQ is not needed for a particular preset type.
The inclusion of these five independent options for Breeze's Damp and EQ filters, allows its Frequency controls to be configured in twenty-five different ways. This brings tremendous flexibility and allows for new and unique preset sounds that were not available in Breeze 1.0. Over 100 new factory presets are included with Breeze 1.1, and the vast majority of these make use of the new filter options to demonstrate the newly added flexibility.

Damp

The Damp slider is measured in percent (%) and controls the relative frequency damping that is applied to the reverb. Damping is effectively a time-varying EQ process; it is achieved by placing a filter within the feedback loop of the algorithm. This means that as time progresses in the decay of the reverb tail, frequencies outside the pass-band of the selected filter type will become more and more attenuated. Dragging the slider to the right increases the effect of the filter, as is represented in the Frequency Display directly below the slider. This will affect both how severely the frequencies are attenuated and how quickly this action takes place.

The most common use of damping is to use the Hi-Shelf or Hi-Cut mode to force high frequency content to decay faster than low and mid-range frequencies. This behavior is common in real acoustic spaces because as sound bounces off of and is reflected by various surface materials, the spectrum of sound source is changed slightly at each reflection due to the absorption characteristics of the surface material. Most common building materials attenuate high frequencies to one degree or another. Furthermore, the air itself creates additional high frequency damping in real acoustic spaces. Thus if emulation of real acoustic spaces is the goal, some degree of high-frequency damping is usually appropriate. The following are some guidelines for using the Damp slider when using the Hi-Shelf or Hi-Cut modes:

• Small Values (Left Slider Position)
o Result in the high frequency content in the reverb tail being louder and lasting longer in the decay
o Are a good choice to use for smaller spaces, such as rooms, chambers, plates, and ambience presets depending on taste
o Settings of 0% to 50% are usually best for real-acoustic space emulation when using the Hi-Cut filter mode.

• Large Values (Right Slider Position)
o Results in the high frequency content in the reverb tail being less loud and decaying more quickly
o Are a good choice to use for larger spaces, such as large halls, cathedrals, outdoor spaces, and similar presets depending on taste
o Settings of significantly greater than 50% are usually best reserved for special effects presets when using the Hi-Cut filter mode.

Damping can also be used to force low frequencies to decay more rapidly than high frequencies by using the Lo-Shelf or Lo-Cut filter options. There are not too many real-world acoustic spaces that exhibit this behavior naturally. However, this can be useful in some modern styles of music such as dance, electronic, urban, pop, and other bass-heavy and groove-based styles of music. The general idea is that it allows a higher wet/dry mix of reverb to be used while not turning the mix into mud soup or undermining the pulsing syncopation of the groove. This can also be useful for special FX. The following are some guidelines for using the Damp slider when using Lo-Shelf or Lo-Cut modes:

• Small Values (Left Slider Position)
o Result in the low frequency content in the reverb tail being louder and lasting longer in the decay
o Can be used to subtly lesson low frequency build-up in the mix
o Settings of 0% to 25% are usually best when using the Lo-Cut filter mode unless it is acceptable for the preset sound to diverge from most real-world spaces

• Large Values (Right Slider Position)
o Can be useful for interesting special effects

EQ

The EQ slider is measured in percent (%) and controls the relative EQ that is applied to the reverb. EQ is not a time-varying process; it is achieved by placing a filter outside the feedback loop for the algorithm. This means that as time progresses in the decay of the reverb tail, there will be no additional accumulating changes to the frequency response. EQ is a static process and allows the overall tonal character to be altered without effecting damping.
To drive this point deeper, the EQ and Damp filters are exactly the same; the only difference is that Damp is inside the feedback loop and EQ is outside the feedback loop. The effects of Damping multiply over time; the effects of EQ are static over time. This is an important subtly to understand when designing custom presets. The question to ask yourself when choosing to increase either EQ or Damp is, do you want to increase the effect over time, or do you simply want to change the overall tonal balance?

The same general guidelines as above also apply here to EQ, with the noted exception that EQ can generally be more drastic as needed without getting into obvious special effects territory. The following is a summary for using the EQ slider when using Hi-Shelf or Hi-Cut modes:

• Small Values (Left Slider Position)
o Result in the high frequency content in the reverb tail being louder giving a brighter sound
o Can be a good choice to use for smaller spaces, such as rooms, chambers, plates, and ambience presets depending on taste and source material

• Large Values (Right Slider Position)
o Result in the high frequency content in the reverb tail being less loud giving a duller, warmer sound
o Are a good choice to use for larger spaces, such as large halls, cathedrals, outdoor spaces, and similar presets depending on taste

The following is a summary for using the EQ slider when using Lo-Shelf or Lo-Cut modes:

• Small Values (Left Slider Position)
o Results in the low frequency content in the reverb tail being louder
o Can be used to subtly lesson low frequency content in the reverb to allow for more low frequency mix space

• Large Values (Right Slider Position)
o Can be useful to create thin and light sounding presets that leave space for other bass instruments in the mix to exist with more power without competing with the reverb tails
o Can be useful for interesting special effects

Tip: While becoming familiar with the effects of EQ and Damp it can be a useful experiment to create a preset that sets Damp to a given filter choice and slider value and disables EQ. Then copy this preset from the A preset state to the B preset state. Then switch to the B preset state and reverse the Damp and EQ settings such that Damp filter is now disabled and the EQ filter is set to the same filter choice and slider value as the Damp setting in the A preset state. Now switch back and forth between the A and B preset states while listening to a familiar sound source and note the differences. Try this same experiment with various filter types and slider values. This should allow you to quickly develop an intuitive understanding of the behavior and appropriate uses of each control.

Note: Double-clicking on sliders will give text-entry mode in the same manner as is available for knobs and other controls.

[Andrew Souter]

Do to our self-imposed KISS (Keep It Simple Silly) mandate for Breeze, 1.1 is still not quite as flexible (and complex) as Aether, but we think we have increased it's potential uses/sounds pretty dramatically with the new update. Let us know what you think.

The 5 independent filter modes for EQ and Damp should address points 1 and 2 pretty well. The ability to Hi-Shelf/Hi-Cut for both EQ and Damp is quite useful to achieve the classic sound of many hardware box presets that typically use pretty substantial Hi-Cut filter for EQ to tame high-frequency response. In Aether we actually have three different ways to do this: EQ, Damping, and the extra HF-Soft controls. In Breeze 1.0, we had only the Hi-Shelf Damp filter. Several people asked for more flexibility in this area, and we think we have definitely achieved this with the 1.1 options.

The balance between using EQ vs Damp settings to tame high frequencies is a subtle art, and part of a good preset design. It's an art to find the right balance of how quickly the high-freqs should decay vs the overall tonal balance of the reverb. Sometimes you might want to use a drastic EQ setting, but use less damping. Den seemed to be a fan of such things in his Aether "Classic's" presets for example. (Just based on looking at his presets myself--he did not explicitly say this to me.) Other times you might want more damping but less EQ, or use the EQ to tame Low freqs etc.

Probably this stuff seems basic to many of you here, but I mention it anyway in case it is helpful to anyone...

We hope you all enjoy 1.1, and we recommend you check out the demo even if you already tried 1.0. Check out the new presets.

[Breeze]

Great news! Will these changes impact existing projects? I've got several instantiations of Breeze in some. Is it 100% compatible to 1.0?

Thanks!

[ObsoleteAcc99]

[DELETED]

[Andrew Souter]

Great news! Will these changes impact existing projects? I've got several instantiations of Breeze in some. Is it 100% compatible to 1.0?

Thanks!

Yes no problem. 100% compatible.