Hi all!
This is my first time writing a guide on ASR so please let me know how it can be improved!
Introduction
Sometimes we want to use FIR filters for digital correction in our systems. This is a quick guide on how to implement them in MacOS with the filters provided as .wav files. I put this together after trying to figure out how to run FIR filter setups on MacOS myself. While some of the information below is already available on this forum, it’s spread across multiple threads and replies. Hopefully, this post makes things a bit easier, especially for anyone arriving here from Google.
This guide applies to those using SoundSource, which is a paid software. For a free alternative, you can check out CamiliaDSP for which mdsimon2 has written a brief guide on how to get that working with MacOS. If you're not using SoundSource, this guide probably won't be very relevant to you.
Setup
You'll need your impulse response as a stereo .wav file. OCA has an awesome video on how to do room correction using REW and getting the IR as a .wav file at the end so I won’t go into that. This guide is mainly on how to implement those filters once you already have the .wav file.
Currently I’m using SoundSource 5.9.0 on MacOS Sequoia.
In addition to SoundSource, you would need to download Convology XT which is an audio convolver plugin. It’s typically used by musicians or audio engineers to add different types of reverb to their mixes. For our case, we’ll be using it to implement our impulse response for room correction/EQ. It being a plugin means it’s not really something you can download and use as a standalone piece of software but rather as an add-on to existing audio software such as a DAW. Think of it like a DLC for DAWs.
The good news is that SoundSource supports the use of plugins. Below are the steps to using SoundSource and Convology XT to implement your filter.
Steps
Convology XT is free but they require you to put in an email and they will send over a serial number. You can do this by going to the settings dropdown (gear icon near the top right) and registering.
Optional but highly recommended
With a few additional tweaks, you can get a better listening experience. Here we'll be trying to adjust the audio levels such that they're similar when you enable/disable Convology XT (useful for AB testing). In principle, the Normalize button is supposed to that already but sometimes it doesn’t. We'll also be trying to fix that delay that you may or may not have noticed when Convology XT is enabled.
Match output level with and without filters enabled:
Reduce delay with the effect enabled:
Lastly, you can also use this method to try out other plugins in SoundSource. I experimented with a few other free reverb plugins that allows you to upload your own IR filters, but so far Convology XT seems to be the least buggy for me and with SoundSource. Also note that if you do install another plugin, you'll need to restart SoundSource after each plugin install for it to detect the plugin. If anyone else has a good alternative plugin to use, free or paid, please share!
Thank you all for reading!
This is my first time writing a guide on ASR so please let me know how it can be improved!
Introduction
Sometimes we want to use FIR filters for digital correction in our systems. This is a quick guide on how to implement them in MacOS with the filters provided as .wav files. I put this together after trying to figure out how to run FIR filter setups on MacOS myself. While some of the information below is already available on this forum, it’s spread across multiple threads and replies. Hopefully, this post makes things a bit easier, especially for anyone arriving here from Google.
This guide applies to those using SoundSource, which is a paid software. For a free alternative, you can check out CamiliaDSP for which mdsimon2 has written a brief guide on how to get that working with MacOS. If you're not using SoundSource, this guide probably won't be very relevant to you.
Setup
You'll need your impulse response as a stereo .wav file. OCA has an awesome video on how to do room correction using REW and getting the IR as a .wav file at the end so I won’t go into that. This guide is mainly on how to implement those filters once you already have the .wav file.
Currently I’m using SoundSource 5.9.0 on MacOS Sequoia.
In addition to SoundSource, you would need to download Convology XT which is an audio convolver plugin. It’s typically used by musicians or audio engineers to add different types of reverb to their mixes. For our case, we’ll be using it to implement our impulse response for room correction/EQ. It being a plugin means it’s not really something you can download and use as a standalone piece of software but rather as an add-on to existing audio software such as a DAW. Think of it like a DLC for DAWs.
The good news is that SoundSource supports the use of plugins. Below are the steps to using SoundSource and Convology XT to implement your filter.
Steps
- Download and install Convology XT
- Restart SoundSource
- If you have audio playing, you can leave it on, but you might want to set the volume below your normal listening levels.
- In SoundSource, under the desired application or output, click on “add effect”.
- You should see a dropdown menu. At the bottom you should see Impulse Record -> Convology XT. This will add the Convology XT plugin as your effect.
- Open Convology XT in SoundSource, go to file browser and navigate to your .wav file. If you have music running, you will probably hear some weird echoing or delay.
- Adjust these settings in Convology XT:
- IR settings, select normalize (optional)
- Reverse: off
- Mono input: off
- Make sure modulation button is OFF
- Delay: x1.00
- Stretch: x1.00
- Predelay: 0ms
- Mix: 100%
- Width: stereo
Convology XT is free but they require you to put in an email and they will send over a serial number. You can do this by going to the settings dropdown (gear icon near the top right) and registering.
Optional but highly recommended
With a few additional tweaks, you can get a better listening experience. Here we'll be trying to adjust the audio levels such that they're similar when you enable/disable Convology XT (useful for AB testing). In principle, the Normalize button is supposed to that already but sometimes it doesn’t. We'll also be trying to fix that delay that you may or may not have noticed when Convology XT is enabled.
Match output level with and without filters enabled:
- Go to Convology XT
- Adjust the output knob (bottom right under Master) such that the volume of your music is the same when the effect is turned off in SoundSource.
- This output setting may be different for different filters.
Reduce delay with the effect enabled:
- Go to Convology XT
- Open the dropdown settings (gear icon near the top right)
- Go to preferences
- Check zero latency
- In Convology XT, you’ll see 3 buttons near the top left. (Time, Freq, and Image).
- Select Time if not already selected
- You should see a grid with some orange lines (or a single orange line). These orange lines are your IR filter. There may be some empty space before the vertical lines.
- Adjust the “start” knob as high as you can to bring the IR as close to the left as possible (i.e. as close to 0 on the x-axis as possible) without distorting it.
- Attack: 0ms
- Hold: 20.0s
- Release: 0ms
- The “start” value varies between IR filters, which means you’ll have to adjust this knob if you pick a different filter (remember to lower your system volume first before changing filters).
Lastly, you can also use this method to try out other plugins in SoundSource. I experimented with a few other free reverb plugins that allows you to upload your own IR filters, but so far Convology XT seems to be the least buggy for me and with SoundSource. Also note that if you do install another plugin, you'll need to restart SoundSource after each plugin install for it to detect the plugin. If anyone else has a good alternative plugin to use, free or paid, please share!
Thank you all for reading!
