How do you use Hang Loose Convolver?

[DWPress]

It's been a few years now since @mitchco gave us his great tool Hang Loose Convolver and he's made continual improvements. I've seen some pretty creative uses of the plugin host software here on ASR as chaining plugins is simplicity and easily routable in the visual signal paths. Before HLC I was using Element with X-MCFX Convolver which became unstable with OS I was using but I enjoyed the routing features and it was also based on the JUCE platform.

I recently remeasured my speakers near field and at LP for my active 3-way XO + 2 subs system over the holidays so experimented with quite a few variations and filter sets but also gave Dirac Live Bass Control integration another try (that's my pic on Mitch's site). It's trivial to quickly switch channel routing and measure individual drivers, groups and subs with HLC and a multichannel sound card. Here's a current graph:

• Sir3 hosts a general LR FIR room correction but also has 5 bands of PEQ to quickly apply to the whole chain.
• Loudness Compensator is an equal loudness curve plugin
• DLBC
• HLC for 8ch
• MEqualizer just adds a LP filter to my DIY sub to contain extension beyond 250hz

The string of plugins with no output on the right are all just bling for my second small monitor dedicated to HLC when it's turned on but on the right you can see the 4ch meters from DLBC and 8ch of HLC.

Self proclaimed audio nerd....

 

[Keith_W]

Interesting. May I ask how your loudness compensator works? Where is the volume control? Is it in the plugin? If it's in the plugin, how do you control the volume with a remote control?

 

[DWPress]

It's a plugin that was introduced here in the forums:

GitHub - grisys83/LoudnessCompensator

Contribute to grisys83/LoudnessCompensator development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

I'm still experimenting with it but if I set it to 60+ phons there is little attenuation at higher volume but pleasing boosts at lower SPL. It doesn't track with the volume input but you set it for an average listening level. Easy enough to toggle bypass via HLC or via bypass button in plugin window with no delay on A/B.

 

[Keith_W]

Thanks! I use JRiver's volume control which has optional ISO226. I feed that directly into HLC. The problem is that the music I listen to is mastered at different volumes, so with some albums the effect is too strong. I have often wondered if there is a smarter way to do it. JRiver has a feature called "Replaygain" but i'm not sure how that works. I should really go to their forums and ask them. Unless our local JRiver guru @3ll3d00d knows the answer?

 

[DWPress]

If I remember correctly from my JRiver days Replaygain does try to volume match different various recordings. Apple has had a similar feature for years. I'm still stripping out gain modifying files that some app I had in the 2000's added to every local music folder that did it too. They don't affect anything, just extra dreck on the HD.

I take it you use HLC just as a .cfg host in plugin form within JRiver then? With virtual cables HLC Host can do systemwide or app based correction in unique ways limited by the WMD driver. It's been years since I last used JRiver though and I don't know the recent capabilities.

 

[Keith_W]

I take it you use HLC just as a .cfg host in plugin form within JRiver then? With virtual cables HLC Host can do systemwide or app based correction in unique ways limited by the WMD driver. It's been years since I last used JRiver though and I don't know the recent capabilities.

No, I use HLHost and have HLC as a plugin there. The idea was to dispense with JRiver entirely but I found that JRiver has too many useful functions for me to remove from the signal chain. The most important function is volume control. I use DLNA to control JRiver's volume control from my Android tablet. HLC has its own web interface and a volume control, but that involves switching from one screen to another on the tablet to control the volume. It's not as convenient as simply pushing the Vol up/down buttons on the tablet.

 

[3ll3d00d]

JRiver has a feature called "Replaygain" but i'm not sure how that works. I should really go to their forums and ask them. Unless our local JRiver guru @3ll3d00d knows the answer?

it has 2 options, 1 is replaygain which uses those tags from the source files and the other is volume levelling which is driven by the EBU R128 values calculated by their audio analysis function (i.e. you have to routinely run that analysis on imported files). There are a few different modes in which those values are applied, it's basically either global (i.e. all tracks no matter how they are played are adjusted based on the level determined by either replaygain or r128) or album/playlist (relative volume differences are maintained between tracks in the current playing now scope). IIRC there are some fine details around how those work when your playlist is somewhat dynamic (e.g. using their playdoctor feature) but thinking of it as having a playlist option is a fair way to think of it.

On top of that, there's a loudness feature and also what they call adaptive volume, the former is your typical loudness compensation and the latter is concerned with maximising the signal level and can be combined with volume levelling (so that intra playlist differences are respected).

 

[Keith_W]

it has 2 options, 1 is replaygain which uses those tags from the source files and the other is volume levelling which is driven by the EBU R128 values calculated by their audio analysis function (i.e. you have to routinely run that analysis on imported files).

Thank you. In your experience, do many tracks from Tidal/Qobuz have the replaygain tag attached? I'm not even sure how to check this!

 

[Sal1950]

How do you use Hang Loose Convolver​

 

[DWPress]

thread massively derailed.

 

[Sal1950]

thread massively derailed.

I always find a .38 Special comforting.

 

[3ll3d00d]

Thank you. In your experience, do many tracks from Tidal/Qobuz have the replaygain tag attached? I'm not even sure how to check this!

Jriver features won't be involved here because playback is by their app with audio entering jriver via your chosen loopback method. I think tidal has loudness normalisation on by default but maybe it's an option? Idk about qobuz

 

[DWPress]

@Keith_W after using that loudness compensator for a week I've taken it out of the chain. At higher SPL it detracts from the sound and with my latest tuning I find I turn it up frequently. I never did measure it in place to see how it affected the signal because it seems like it would need to be done at multiple settings within the plugin and at various SPL output from amps. I hope to loop back to it when I do some distortion tests soon.

 

[Keith_W]

Jriver features won't be involved here because playback is by their app with audio entering jriver via your chosen loopback method. I think tidal has loudness normalisation on by default but maybe it's an option? Idk about qobuz

Well I actually don't loopback Tidal into JRiver. I use BubbleUPNP to send Tidal to JRiver via DLNA. I can tell you for sure that the metadata is preserved, because the cover art appears on the screen!

 

[3ll3d00d]

Well I actually don't loopback Tidal into JRiver. I use BubbleUPNP to send Tidal to JRiver via DLNA. I can tell you for sure that the metadata is preserved, because the cover art appears on the screen!

https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=134130.0 suggests that jriver doesn't support such tags when used as a renderer so it would have to be applied upstream (either by tidal or bubble)