PaulXStretch - has an update....

[Atlatnesiti]

OK, so what we have here is wonderful FREE app with excellent support from developer
…but, I wonder… How many of KVR posters on this thread have made a donation of any kind..?
Btw; Developers can’t survive on “thank you” alone and I’m not seeing it here either
For my part, I’ve donated $20
Anyone else…?!

[Tj Shredder]

There is a new update available for Mac/Win/iOS, download from https://sonosaurus.com/paulxstretch

v1.5.1 mac/win, shows up as 1.5.0(107) for iOS

Hi essejlc,

I have an issue and a request. I am running the OSX version in Bitwig.
Issue: It seems when the setting is "Play when host transport is running" is checked, it will only play when also the edit window is open. It should run also when the edit window is closed.

Request: It would be great if the fft frames while slowed down, would also be crossfaded over the complete length. When slowed down a lot, I hear each new frame which creates an unwanted rythm, if it would crossfade it would be less prominent.
And I would like to be able to trigger the beginning. Maybe with a Midi note. At the moment I could tick the loop button and it would retrigger, but that doesn't seem to be automatable...

Thanks for supporting it...

[essejlc]

I have an issue and a request. I am running the OSX version in Bitwig.
Issue: It seems when the setting is "Play when host transport is running" is checked, it will only play when also the edit window is open. It should run also when the edit window is closed.

Request: It would be great if the fft frames while slowed down, would also be crossfaded over the complete length. When slowed down a lot, I hear each new frame which creates an unwanted rythm, if it would crossfade it would be less prominent.
And I would like to be able to trigger the beginning. Maybe with a Midi note. At the moment I could tick the loop button and it would retrigger, but that doesn't seem to be automatable...

I'll check out the "play when transport running" issue.

Regarding the crossfading... the algorithm is certainly doing overlap along with the big FFT sizes... can you clarify what exact settings you are using and some examples of the audio source and results?

The "Rewind" control should be exposed via the plugin parameters, but for some reason it isn't... I'll have to check that out too.

[Tj Shredder]

Regarding the crossfading... the algorithm is certainly doing overlap along with the big FFT sizes... can you clarify what exact settings you are using and some examples of the audio source and results?

When listening to a very slow stretched sound file (factor 20 for example), I hear blocks of sound like each fft frame is repeated until the next frame is coming. The border of two frames has a short transition, I guess its the size of the frame. That leads to sudden changes. It probably needs to play two frames mixed together at the same time to make these transitions smoother and longer...

[essejlc]

Regarding the crossfading... the algorithm is certainly doing overlap along with the big FFT sizes... can you clarify what exact settings you are using and some examples of the audio source and results?

When listening to a very slow stretched sound file (factor 20 for example), I hear blocks of sound like each fft frame is repeated until the next frame is coming. The border of two frames has a short transition, I guess its the size of the frame. That leads to sudden changes. It probably needs to play two frames mixed together at the same time to make these transitions smoother and longer...

So what FFT frame size are you using in this example? When you try a bigger one does it help? (It should)

[Tj Shredder]

Regarding the crossfading... the algorithm is certainly doing overlap along with the big FFT sizes... can you clarify what exact settings you are using and some examples of the audio source and results?

When listening to a very slow stretched sound file (factor 20 for example), I hear blocks of sound like each fft frame is repeated until the next frame is coming. The border of two frames has a short transition, I guess its the size of the frame. That leads to sudden changes. It probably needs to play two frames mixed together at the same time to make these transitions smoother and longer...

So what FFT frame size are you using in this example? When you try a bigger one does it help? (It should)

Its most prominent with the bigger ones. Each frame is stretched and seems to be a spectral blur of the sound snippet for a longer time. When the sound switches to the next frame I get a too fast crossfade… I would like to hear both frame sounds crossfaded over half their complete duration. Not just half of the duration of the frame…
I have to add, I make up how its done by listening to the result. I don‘t know if it is really done that way…
Do you interpolate amplitude and phase to the next frame when repeating frames to stretch it?

[Xenakios]

Do you interpolate amplitude and phase to the next frame when repeating frames to stretch it?

The original algorithm never did anything fancy with the phases, those are simply randomized for each FFT frame to make the calculations simpler, I guess. I wonder if that's the reason for the issue you are hearing?

Have you compared with the original PaulStretch software? I personally didn't do many changes to how the core spectral processing works for PaulXStretch, but it's possible some mistake crept in, of course, and I didn't do lots of comparisons with the original during development.

[essejlc]

The randomized phases is a key part of the algorithm… but I do notice that there is only a 50% overlap (maybe 75%) of frame data no matter what… I’ll look at the original PS code to see if that is any different.

[essejlc]

Actually, the stretch amount determines the effective overlap which can be quite significant... what you are implying TJ Shredder, might be something else going on. If you can, please post a screenshot, and even better, post the source audio that you are using, and perhaps an example snippet of the output you are hearing as well.

[Kreisbed]

I love the idea of PaulXStretch, but getting the current version to work in the current version of Logic Pro is a bit frustrating. I can't seem to get it to easily and reliably export/record the audio to a track. I've tried some of the ideas I've seen online about bouncing in place, but that doesn't seem to consistently work. Perhaps a step by step direction would be helpful. Below the word "Waveform" there seems to be a filename - in my current experiment it is pxs_2022-06-15_12.25.35.wav. I can't seem to find any file with that name.

Anyway, I figured out a workaround that works every time. It is not particularly elegant, but it works. I run Audio Hijack Pro and configure it to record that audio from Logic Pro x (I can choose various file formats) and then drag the recorded file back into Logic Pro X.

It would be great if the app had a similar export function or, better yet, select and copy the waveform. Until that time, Audio Hijack Pro is an easy enough solution.

Also, I see how the standalone version can use recorded files to stretch them, but I don't see how it allows you to record while playing live. I set the audio input to my audio interface. The meters in the app next to my input choice show that it is receiving sound from the synth. The button in the app to pass through volume is set, but there is no sound that comes through the app and nothing is recorded. Any help would be appreciated.

iMac (Retina 4k, 21.5-inch, 2019)
macOS Monterey v. 12.4
Logic Pro X 10.7.4
PaulXStretch 1.5.3

[essejlc]

I love the idea of PaulXStretch, but getting the current version to work in the current version of Logic Pro is a bit frustrating. I can't seem to get it to easily and reliably export/record the audio to a track. I've tried some of the ideas I've seen online about bouncing in place, but that doesn't seem to consistently work. Perhaps a step by step direction would be helpful. Below the word "Waveform" there seems to be a filename - in my current experiment it is pxs_2022-06-15_12.25.35.wav. I can't seem to find any file with that name.

Anyway, I figured out a workaround that works every time. It is not particularly elegant, but it works. I run Audio Hijack Pro and configure it to record that audio from Logic Pro x (I can choose various file formats) and then drag the recorded file back into Logic Pro X.

It would be great if the app had a similar export function or, better yet, select and copy the waveform. Until that time, Audio Hijack Pro is an easy enough solution.

Also, I see how the standalone version can use recorded files to stretch them, but I don't see how it allows you to record while playing live. I set the audio input to my audio interface. The meters in the app next to my input choice show that it is receiving sound from the synth. The button in the app to pass through volume is set, but there is no sound that comes through the app and nothing is recorded. Any help would be appreciated.

iMac (Retina 4k, 21.5-inch, 2019)
macOS Monterey v. 12.4
Logic Pro X 10.7.4
PaulXStretch 1.5.3

I'll be releasing a new version soon that address most of these issues! The new version will have the offline render feature from the standalone in the plugin as well, and both will also have a new live output record feature that will record anything going on (so that live tweaks to parameters can be recorded to file right from the app). The location of all recordings will also be settable in the options, so you can find them much easier. Also, it fixes the bug you discovered with the no-sound issue.

[Kreisbed]

Thanks for the quick reply. Looking forward to the new version - sounds like it will make the app even more useful. Just sent in my donation - thanks for your continued development of this great app.

[essejlc]

OK, a new version 1.6.0 is ready, please download it and test it out:
https://sonosaurus.com/paulxstretch/

Changes for PaulXStretch v1.6.0

- Added live output recording feature
- Added selection of directory for recording/capture audio files, and some format options, now defaulting to FLAC
- Added offline render feature to plugin version
- Added Binaural Beats feature (from original paulstretch)
- Added CLAP plugin support (https://github.com/free-audio/clap for info)
- Fixed an initialization bug
- Compile fix for gcc12

[Trancit]

Thx very much!
And especially for integrating clap!

[CinningBao]

Commendable work! It's definitely more stable than the last xenakios release. And a fine selection of additional features!

Can I ask, though, that you please consider the following:
- conversion of FFT size in samples to seconds in decimal (so the user can get a realistic idea of the window size)
- are you able to describe exactly what the 'Onset Detection' function does? I think some users thought it was to reset the phases when a transient was detected but that seems unlikely. It is interrupting the 'flow' of the stretching algo; at 0 rhythms sound constant, but at 1 the stretch is slowed as if it's trying to fit more sound in between 'onset detections'? it's quite mysterious.
- can we have a switch to change between frequency & MIDI note for the Harmonics function? a MIDI note learn would also be very cool.