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Topic: Natural crossfeed / HRTF impulses for Stereo Convolver plugin (Read 8829 times) previous topic - next topic
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Natural crossfeed / HRTF impulses for Stereo Convolver plugin

    Since the original thread on this is dead, I reckoned I may as well start a new thread about it.  If this is not proper feel free to merge my post under that of the original plugin:

Stereo Convolver 1.0.1

I made a natural crossfeed for foobar using this plugin to host a pair of HRTF impulses I designed.  It's designed to give a realistic crossfeed / speaker simulation effect on headphones / earphones while producing a wide soundstage (for the 50-degree wide impulses).

Currently there are two sets of impulses, one simulating speakers spaced 30+30 degrees apart (classic stereo setup with better front projection of imaging), one simulating speakers spaced 50+50degrees apart (widened stereo setup with more similarity to classic headphone soundstage width)

But the real claim to fame for these impulses, I think, is that they have been statistically analyzed and subsequently reshaped so that they produce zero sound coloration on typical music material, despite producing the crossfeed / virtual stereo speaker effect.

Download link: Dropbox link to v1.1

A. Installation

1. Copy foo_dsp_stereoconv.dll to the "components" directory of your foobar2000 install.
2. Copy the bundled wave files to a conveniently locatable directory (e.g. foobar2000 main directory)
3. Restart foobar2000 (if already running)
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B. Loading the DSP

1. Go to Preferences->Playback->DSP Manager.
2. Put Resampler(dBpoweramp/SSRC) or Resampler(PPHS) onto the list of active DSPs.  This is necessary because convolution works at a fixed sample rate.  SSRC is slightly preferable to PPHS if available.
3. Click on Resampler and click "Configure selected" to configure the resampler.  Configure the resampler to resample to 44100Hz.  If using Resampler(PPHS), tick the checkbox for "Ultra mode".

4. Put Stereo Convolver next on the list of active DSPs.  Click on "Stereo Convolver" and click "Configure selected" to configure it.  For "Left Wav File" browse for "Left (30deg/50deg) 44100.wav".  For "Right Wav file" browse for "Right (30deg/50deg) 44100.wav".  For a volume matched with unprocessed sound set Level Adjustment to 0.0dB.
5. Press OK on the config window, then OK on the main Preferences window to save changes.
6. You may later come back to the DSP Preferences window and save these settings in a new "DSP chain preset".

C. Playing music and listening

1. It is advised to set the master volume of foobar to -4dB or below to avoid possible clipping produced by the increased digital levels variation (de-compression effect) caused by the crossfeed processing.  Turn up the volume elsewhere (e.g. on your amplifier) to compensate.
2. While playing music, you can double-click on "Stereo Convolver" to take it in and out of the active DSP chain to verify the effect it is having on the music.  But don't click on OK or Apply while it's out of the chain, otherwise the settings will be reset.
3. If using the 50deg impulses, the effect should be quite subtle as the soundstage width should be about the same as before, whereas if using the 30deg impulses the soundstage shift should be more obvious.

D. Changelog
2016-06-22 v1.1 Added impulses for virtual speakers spaced 30+30 degrees apart (classic stereo setup with better front projection of imaging)
2016-06-21 v1.0 Initial release with impulses for virtual speakers spaced 50+50 degrees apart (widened stereo setup with more similarity to classic headphone soundstage width)

E. Credits

  • Eric89GXL of hydrogenaudio.org for creating the stereo crossfeed-convolution foobar2000 plugin
  • Impulses designed with the aid of Wave Arts Panorama and Audacity for waveform editing, Microsoft Excel for statistical analysis, and Voxengo CurveEQ for applying changes based on analysis
  • Natural headphone crossfeed for foobar2000 v1.1 convolver impulses designed by Joseph Yeung (aka Joe Bloggs)

Finally, I would like to ask... does anybody know of a plugin that can do what this plugin does, but for surround material?  (i.e. downmix multichannel audio to stereo, but with an impulse convolution to both the left and right channels for each input channel)

Re: Natural crossfeed / HRTF impulses for Stereo Convolver plugin

Reply #1
Sounds nice, wanted to try, and immediately ran headfirst into a wall.

Dead link... (for the component that is)

Re: Natural crossfeed / HRTF impulses for Stereo Convolver plugin

Reply #2
The component dll is included in my package in the Dropbox link :)

Re: Natural crossfeed / HRTF impulses for Stereo Convolver plugin

Reply #3
Popularity of headphone crossfeeders depends strongly on personal preference and expectations. I prefer speaker-like simulators with bearable colorations and depending on headphone type, i use xfeed or mcf combined with custom reverb presets, in case of xfeed i add delta component as well. Everyone can mix his own goulash with acceptable results.

The effect of your impulses sounds promising regarding diffuse-field, that prefigures good out-of-head effect, just an outcome for 30deg IMO is far from this value. 50degs effect is very subtle as you wrote yourself and for speaker simulation isn't applicable at all.
Therefore creating few stronger than your 30degs impulses would be worth it (less ITD and less reverb). Anyway, thanks for your effort with the impulses, much appreciated.

Re: Natural crossfeed / HRTF impulses for Stereo Convolver plugin

Reply #4
Popularity of headphone crossfeeders depends strongly on personal preference and expectations. I prefer speaker-like simulators with bearable colorations and depending on headphone type, i use xfeed or mcf combined with custom reverb presets, in case of xfeed i add delta component as well. Everyone can mix his own goulash with acceptable results.

The effect of your impulses sounds promising regarding diffuse-field, that prefigures good out-of-head effect, just an outcome for 30deg IMO is far from this value. 50degs effect is very subtle as you wrote yourself and for speaker simulation isn't applicable at all.
Therefore creating few stronger than your 30degs impulses would be worth it (less ITD and less reverb). Anyway, thanks for your effort with the impulses, much appreciated.

http://www.head-fi.org/t/811837/natural-crossfeed-on-headphones-earphones-for-foobar2000-v2-1-major-update-made-public

The 2.1 update contains impulses with measured reverb while continuing to strive for zero coloration.