Can I Improve Window's Audio Output?

Discuss music production with Ableton Live.
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PLB
Posts: 120
Joined: Mon Oct 24, 2005 5:20 am
Location: Salt Lake City

Can I Improve Window's Audio Output?

Post by PLB » Sun Oct 05, 2008 4:09 am

Hello All,

Not having TV anymore, I've been watching my shows streamed lately and it's been brutal on my ears. All computer listening is through Adam A7s and A8 sub and they display every detail of distortion - especially in the high frequencies. Lots of high pitched whining and clipping -it's really hard on my uber sensitive ears.

I tried srs audio sandbox but it sounded really bad, didn't seem to be much else out there like it.

There's probably a really simple solution or program out there for this...here are some ideas I was pondering:

1- Ideally I'd like to have a nice set of 'home stereo' speakers and an amp for this kind of listening and referencing, but it's the last thing I can spend money on right now.

2- A plugin for windows media player that would also work for streamed internet content

3- A plugin for firefox

4- I'm using an Audiophile 192, is it possible to use some kind of addon (like vsts) to apply effects to the main output?

5- Possibly route the main audio output through ableton so I can have it's effects at my disposal?

kaffein
Posts: 1195
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Post by kaffein » Sun Oct 05, 2008 5:55 am

It's because there are not audio standards (at least obeyed ones) on the net for media content... People compress and brick-wall the living crap out of everything and when the video/audio is encoded everything clips to shit. The encode process, and even re-encode process is the problem really. There is no part of the encode that pre-checks for how much gain occurs when the data loss boosts other frequencies...

The files themselves are clipped. Turning down the volume only turns down the volume of the clipped sound. A real time clip and peak removal in drivers/dsp or something could work, but really it all boils back down to the encode and re-encode on the various sites.

US TV standards are typically -20dB(RMS) I believe and -18dB(RMS) in EU... If people actually followed that for web video content, we wouldn't have much of an issue.

PLB
Posts: 120
Joined: Mon Oct 24, 2005 5:20 am
Location: Salt Lake City

Post by PLB » Sun Oct 05, 2008 7:12 am

although the sources are crappy, i'd be happy if i could just filter out the super high pitched screeching and artifacts or try to eq them down a bit.

kaffein
Posts: 1195
Joined: Fri Nov 03, 2006 2:52 pm
Location: Houston, Texas
Contact:

Post by kaffein » Sun Oct 05, 2008 8:55 am

Well if you wanted to could listen to online video and crap with onboard audio if you have it, most nForce based audio systems have an EQ built in... But then again adjusting the EQ could make it distort even more, so you may need to lower the main gain of the EQ.

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