[Robert Orban]

Orban has developed a stand-alone loudness meter for Windows,
which we are releasing as a free public beta. The meter can be
downloaded from this link (watch any line wrapping)

http://www.orban.com/meter/setup_Fre...Loudness_Meter
_1.00.exe


Be sure to read the readme file, which is the meter's manual. The
installer will offer to open the readme as part of the installation
process.


Here is the press release:


ORBAN INTRODUCES FREE LOUDNESS/LEVEL METERING
SOFTWARE

San Leandro, CA, April 10, 2008 -- Orban today announced that
the first public beta of Orban Loudness Meter software for
Windows XP and Vista is now available for free download from
www.orban.com/meter.

This is the first of a family of Orban meters. Future paid versions
will offer upgraded features including logging, surround
monitoring, and oversampled peak measurements that accurately
indicate the peak level of the audio after D/A conversion.

This software simultaneously displays instantaneous peaks, VU,
PPM, CBS Technology Center loudness, and ITU BS.1770
loudness. All meters include peak-hold functionality that makes
the peak indications of the meters easy to see.

The software accepts two-channel stereo inputs. The VU and PPM
meters are split to indicate the left and right channels. The PPM
meter also displays the instantaneous peak values of the L and R
digital samples.

The CBS meter is a"short-term" loudness meter intended to
display the details of moment-to-moment loudness with dynamics
similar to a VU meter. It uses the Jones & Torick algorithm
developed at the CBS Technology Center and published in 1981 in
the SMPTE Journal. Created using Orban-developed modeling
software, the DSP implementation typically matches the original
analog meter within 0.5 dB on sinewaves, tone bursts and noise.

The Jones & Torick algorithm improves upon the original loudness
measurement algorithm developed by CBS researchers in the late
1960s. Its foundation is psychoacoustic studies done at CBS
Laboratories over a two year period by Torick and the late
Benjamin Bauer. After surveying existing equal-loudness contour
curves and finding them inapplicable to measuring the loudness of
broadcasts, Torick and Bauer organized listening tests that
resulted in a new set of equal-loudness curves based on octave-
wide noise reproduced by calibrated loudspeakers in a
semireverberant 16 x 14 x 8 room, which is representative of a room
in which broadcasts are normally heard. In 1966, they published
this work in the IEEE Transactions on Audio and Electroacoustics,
along with results from other tests whose goal was to model the
loudness integration time constants of human hearing.

In 2006, the ITU-R published Recommendation ITU-R BS.1770:
"Algorithms to measure audio programme loudness and true-peak
audio level." Developed by G.A. Soulodre, the BS.1770 loudness
meter uses a frequency-weighted r.m.s. measurement intended to
be integrated over several seconds -- perhaps as long as an entire
program segment. As such, it is considered a "long-term"
loudness measurement because it does not take into account the
loudness integration time constants of human hearing, as does the
CBS meter.

Orban's BS.1770 loudness meter uses the Leq(RLB2) algorithm as
specified in the Recommendation. This applies frequency
weighting before the r.m.s. integrator. The frequency weighting is
a series connection of pre-filter and RLB weighting curves. The
Orban meter precisely implements equations (1) and (2) in this
document by using a rolling integrator whose integration time is
user-adjustable from one to ten seconds.

Additionally, the Orban meter offers an experimental long-term
loudness indication derived by post-processing the CBS
algorithm's output. This uses a relatively simple algorithm that
attempts to mimic a skilled operator's mental integration of the peak
swings of a meter with "VU-like" dynamics. The operator will
concentrate most on the highest indications but will tend to ignore
a single high peak that is atypical of the others.

Researchers have long been curious about the Jones & Torick
meter but been unable to evaluate it and compare it with other
meters. Orban developed this software because the company
believed it would be useful to practicing sound engineers and
researchers and also because Orban is using it in its new Optimod
8585 Surround Audio Processor. Thanks to this free software,
engineers and scientists will now have the opportunity to easily
compare the CBS algorithm with others, including the BS.1770
Recommendation.

The Orban software runs on Windows XP and Vista computers
having 1.5 GHz or faster Intel Pentium 4 or Intel-compatible
processors that implement the SSE2 instruction set. While the
software can be driven by any installed Windows sound device,
monitoring playback from an application like Windows Media
Player requires the sound hardware to support Windows Wave
I/O.


Bob Orban

[Mr.T]

"Soundhaspriority" wrote in message
...
"Robert Orban" wrote:
Orban today announced that
the first public beta of Orban Loudness Meter software for
Windows XP and Vista is now available for free download

In my long computing experience, you get what you pay for.

In *my* long computing experience, price has very little relationship to
quality. I would have thought Microsoft was enough proof of that.
There are freeware packages available not bettered by more costly ones.
However Bobs press relase makes it clear this is a "stripped" version of a
commercial package, often a very cost effective solution I find, if it fills
your requirements. And a great way to get people to try it and possibly
upgrade. That's what this marketing model is all about after all.


I thought Orban was dead.

Why?

MrT.

[Serge Auckland[_2_]]

"Mr.T" MrT@home wrote in message
u...

"Soundhaspriority" wrote in message
...
"Robert Orban" wrote:
Orban today announced that
the first public beta of Orban Loudness Meter software for
Windows XP and Vista is now available for free download

In my long computing experience, you get what you pay for.

In *my* long computing experience, price has very little relationship to
quality. I would have thought Microsoft was enough proof of that.
There are freeware packages available not bettered by more costly ones.
However Bobs press relase makes it clear this is a "stripped" version of a
commercial package, often a very cost effective solution I find, if it
fills
your requirements. And a great way to get people to try it and possibly
upgrade. That's what this marketing model is all about after all.


I thought Orban was dead.

Why?

MrT.



Agreed. A free-of-charge working but stripped-down version is often very
welcome. As to Orban being dead, the Optimod is still the best and most
widely used audio processor. The 8500 is capable of excellent sound quality
in the right hands. Listen to Radio France , France Musique, sometime when
over there to see how good classical music can sound even after processing.

S.

--
http://audiopages.googlepages.com

[Don Pearce]

On Fri, 11 Apr 2008 11:19:59 +0100, "Serge Auckland"
wrote:

"Mr.T" MrT@home wrote in message
. au...

"Soundhaspriority" wrote in message
...
"Robert Orban" wrote:
Orban today announced that
the first public beta of Orban Loudness Meter software for
Windows XP and Vista is now available for free download

In my long computing experience, you get what you pay for.

In *my* long computing experience, price has very little relationship to
quality. I would have thought Microsoft was enough proof of that.
There are freeware packages available not bettered by more costly ones.
However Bobs press relase makes it clear this is a "stripped" version of a
commercial package, often a very cost effective solution I find, if it
fills
your requirements. And a great way to get people to try it and possibly
upgrade. That's what this marketing model is all about after all.


I thought Orban was dead.

Why?

MrT.



Agreed. A free-of-charge working but stripped-down version is often very
welcome. As to Orban being dead, the Optimod is still the best and most
widely used audio processor. The 8500 is capable of excellent sound quality
in the right hands. Listen to Radio France , France Musique, sometime when
over there to see how good classical music can sound even after processing.

Damning with faint praise! "Even after processing" is a very revealing
phrase. It is like selling makeup with the slogan "It hardly makes you
ugly at all".

In these days of digital radio with decent signal to noise ratios,
there is no place for devices like Optimod.

d

--

d

[Arny Krueger]

"Soundhaspriority" wrote in
message
"Robert Orban" wrote:
Orban today announced that
the first public beta of Orban Loudness Meter software
for Windows XP and Vista is now available for free
download

In my long computing experience, you get what you pay for.

I thought Orban was dead.


Bob Morein
(310) 237-6511

It's not Bob Morein, it's the Buzzardnews forger. :-(

[Arny Krueger]

"Robert Orban" wrote in message


The software accepts two-channel stereo inputs. The VU
and PPM meters are split to indicate the left and right
channels. The PPM meter also displays the instantaneous
peak values of the L and R digital samples.

When I started the program, the Vu and PPM meters started reading mid-scale
and full-scale respectively, with no music playing. This seems
counter-intuitive.

[Don Pearce]

On Fri, 11 Apr 2008 06:52:15 -0400, "Arny Krueger"
wrote:

"Robert Orban" wrote in message


The software accepts two-channel stereo inputs. The VU
and PPM meters are split to indicate the left and right
channels. The PPM meter also displays the instantaneous
peak values of the L and R digital samples.

When I started the program, the Vu and PPM meters started reading mid-scale
and full-scale respectively, with no music playing. This seems
counter-intuitive.


Works as expected for me. my only issue is that the PPM isn't scaled
as a normal PPM.


--

d

[Arny Krueger]

"Don Pearce" wrote in message

On Fri, 11 Apr 2008 06:52:15 -0400, "Arny Krueger"
wrote:

"Robert Orban" wrote in
message


The software accepts two-channel stereo inputs. The VU
and PPM meters are split to indicate the left and right
channels. The PPM meter also displays the instantaneous
peak values of the L and R digital samples.

When I started the program, the Vu and PPM meters
started reading mid-scale and full-scale respectively,
with no music playing. This seems counter-intuitive.

Works as expected for me. my only issue is that the PPM
isn't scaled as a normal PPM.

Is starting out reading mic-scale what PPM meters do?

[Don Pearce]

On Fri, 11 Apr 2008 07:25:03 -0400, "Arny Krueger"
wrote:

"Don Pearce" wrote in message

On Fri, 11 Apr 2008 06:52:15 -0400, "Arny Krueger"
wrote:

"Robert Orban" wrote in
message


The software accepts two-channel stereo inputs. The VU
and PPM meters are split to indicate the left and right
channels. The PPM meter also displays the instantaneous
peak values of the L and R digital samples.

When I started the program, the Vu and PPM meters
started reading mid-scale and full-scale respectively,
with no music playing. This seems counter-intuitive.

Works as expected for me. my only issue is that the PPM
isn't scaled as a normal PPM.

Is starting out reading mic-scale what PPM meters do?


No, mine starts out at zero. The meter bars only show readings when
there is some sound to measure.

--

d

[Richard Crowley]

"Audix" wrote ...
Robert Orban wrote:
Orban has developed a stand-alone loudness meter for Windows,
which we are releasing as a free public beta.

Installed on an XP system and it consistently throws up an exception
error immediately on launch! Perhaps other users will have better
luck.

The 1.5GHz processor requirement seems excessive just to run a
metering application.

Not impressed so far.

Some people would complain if they were hung with a new rope.
Pretty tough crowd when they complain about something free.
Remind me to never release anything free to r.a.t
(PS: It works fine for me.)

[Arny Krueger]

"Don Pearce" wrote in message

On Fri, 11 Apr 2008 07:25:03 -0400, "Arny Krueger"
wrote:

"Don Pearce" wrote in message

On Fri, 11 Apr 2008 06:52:15 -0400, "Arny Krueger"
wrote:

"Robert Orban" wrote in
message


The software accepts two-channel stereo inputs. The VU
and PPM meters are split to indicate the left and
right channels. The PPM meter also displays the
instantaneous peak values of the L and R digital
samples.

When I started the program, the Vu and PPM meters
started reading mid-scale and full-scale respectively,
with no music playing. This seems counter-intuitive.

Works as expected for me. my only issue is that the PPM
isn't scaled as a normal PPM.

Is starting out reading mic-scale what PPM meters do?

No, mine starts out at zero. The meter bars only show
readings when there is some sound to measure.

I think that this computer may have some problems with DC offsets in the
digital domain. Some of the Orban metering code might not ignore them.

I tried on another computer, and over there, the Orban meter doesn't
indicate anything at all.

[Don Pearce]

On Fri, 11 Apr 2008 04:27:04 -0700, "Richard Crowley"
wrote:

"Audix" wrote ...
Robert Orban wrote:
Orban has developed a stand-alone loudness meter for Windows,
which we are releasing as a free public beta.

Installed on an XP system and it consistently throws up an exception
error immediately on launch! Perhaps other users will have better
luck.

The 1.5GHz processor requirement seems excessive just to run a
metering application.

Not impressed so far.

Some people would complain if they were hung with a new rope.
Pretty tough crowd when they complain about something free.
Remind me to never release anything free to r.a.t
(PS: It works fine for me.)

Not only that; it is a beta, and Orban are seeking feedback on
problems.

--

d

[Don Pearce]

On Fri, 11 Apr 2008 07:34:00 -0400, "Arny Krueger"
wrote:

"Don Pearce" wrote in message

On Fri, 11 Apr 2008 07:25:03 -0400, "Arny Krueger"
wrote:

"Don Pearce" wrote in message

On Fri, 11 Apr 2008 06:52:15 -0400, "Arny Krueger"
wrote:

"Robert Orban" wrote in
message


The software accepts two-channel stereo inputs. The VU
and PPM meters are split to indicate the left and
right channels. The PPM meter also displays the
instantaneous peak values of the L and R digital
samples.

When I started the program, the Vu and PPM meters
started reading mid-scale and full-scale respectively,
with no music playing. This seems counter-intuitive.

Works as expected for me. my only issue is that the PPM
isn't scaled as a normal PPM.

Is starting out reading mic-scale what PPM meters do?

No, mine starts out at zero. The meter bars only show
readings when there is some sound to measure.

I think that this computer may have some problems with DC offsets in the
digital domain. Some of the Orban metering code might not ignore them.

I tried on another computer, and over there, the Orban meter doesn't
indicate anything at all.


Not ever? I have found a slightly strange thing - it responds normally
on Real Player (or rather Real Alternative), but doesn't make any
response to Windows Media Player. I've sent a bug report to that
effect.

--

d

[Arny Krueger]

"Don Pearce" wrote in message

On Fri, 11 Apr 2008 07:34:00 -0400, "Arny Krueger"
wrote:

"Don Pearce" wrote in message

On Fri, 11 Apr 2008 07:25:03 -0400, "Arny Krueger"
wrote:

"Don Pearce" wrote in message

On Fri, 11 Apr 2008 06:52:15 -0400, "Arny Krueger"
wrote:

"Robert Orban" wrote in
message


The software accepts two-channel stereo inputs. The
VU and PPM meters are split to indicate the left and
right channels. The PPM meter also displays the
instantaneous peak values of the L and R digital
samples.

When I started the program, the Vu and PPM meters
started reading mid-scale and full-scale
respectively, with no music playing. This seems
counter-intuitive.

Works as expected for me. my only issue is that the
PPM isn't scaled as a normal PPM.

Is starting out reading mic-scale what PPM meters do?

No, mine starts out at zero. The meter bars only show
readings when there is some sound to measure.

I think that this computer may have some problems with
DC offsets in the digital domain. Some of the Orban
metering code might not ignore them.

I tried on another computer, and over there, the Orban
meter doesn't indicate anything at all.


Not ever? I have found a slightly strange thing - it
responds normally on Real Player (or rather Real
Alternative), but doesn't make any response to Windows
Media Player. I've sent a bug report to that effect.

[Serge Auckland[_2_]]

"Don Pearce" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 11 Apr 2008 11:19:59 +0100, "Serge Auckland"
wrote:

"Mr.T" MrT@home wrote in message
.au...

"Soundhaspriority" wrote in message
...
"Robert Orban" wrote:
Orban today announced that
the first public beta of Orban Loudness Meter software for
Windows XP and Vista is now available for free download

In my long computing experience, you get what you pay for.

In *my* long computing experience, price has very little relationship to
quality. I would have thought Microsoft was enough proof of that.
There are freeware packages available not bettered by more costly ones.
However Bobs press relase makes it clear this is a "stripped" version of
a
commercial package, often a very cost effective solution I find, if it
fills
your requirements. And a great way to get people to try it and possibly
upgrade. That's what this marketing model is all about after all.


I thought Orban was dead.

Why?

MrT.



Agreed. A free-of-charge working but stripped-down version is often very
welcome. As to Orban being dead, the Optimod is still the best and most
widely used audio processor. The 8500 is capable of excellent sound
quality
in the right hands. Listen to Radio France , France Musique, sometime when
over there to see how good classical music can sound even after
processing.

Damning with faint praise! "Even after processing" is a very revealing
phrase. It is like selling makeup with the slogan "It hardly makes you
ugly at all".

In these days of digital radio with decent signal to noise ratios,
there is no place for devices like Optimod.

d

--

d


Perhaps not with digital radio, provided that receiver manufacturers
actually implemented dynamic range control. However, much (most?) listening
is done on FM, and even AM, where processing has its uses. As with
everything, it all depends on how well something is done. Near me in
Suffolk, there are two small stations, Star FM and 209Radio. Both process,
but in a car, both station have an excellent sound, especially on speech.

The Hospital Radio station I work with has a low-power AM license, and
without fairly heavy processing, it would be completely unusable. It's
marginal even so.

Consequently, it's not correct to say there's no place for Optimods, there
are many cases where the Optimod is appropriate.

S.

--
http://audiopages.googlepages.com

[rktz]

Soundhaspriority wrote:

In my long computing experience, you get what you pay for.


Are you trying to be a bung or what? Have you never heard of Ubuntu?

Hi Bob!

[LAB]

It doesn't work on my computer. I have no problems in installation, but
when I start the program it gives an error...
Does anyone know why?

Gianluca

[Arny Krueger]

"rktz" wrote in message
m
Soundhaspriority wrote:

In my long computing experience, you get what you pay
for.

Are you trying to be a bung or what? Have you never
heard of Ubuntu?
Hi Bob!

Check the properties of the post. It ain't Bob. It is the Buzzardnews
forger.

[rktz]

LAB wrote:
It doesn't work on my computer. I have no problems in installation, but
when I start the program it gives an error...
Does anyone know why?

Gianluca


Are you running Windows?

[rktz]

Arny Krueger wrote:
"rktz" wrote in message
m
Soundhaspriority wrote:

In my long computing experience, you get what you pay
for.
Are you trying to be a bung or what? Have you never
heard of Ubuntu?
Hi Bob!

Check the properties of the post. It ain't Bob. It is the Buzzardnews
forger.


I was saying "Hi" to Bob O.

I have never heard of the other fellow. Is there a reason I should have?

[Julien BH]

On Apr 11, 9:34 am, rktz wrote:
Arny Krueger wrote:
"rktz" wrote in message
om
Soundhaspriority wrote:

In my long computing experience, you get what you pay
for.
Are you trying to be a bung or what? Have you never
heard of Ubuntu?
Hi Bob!

Check the properties of the post. It ain't Bob. It is the Buzzardnews
forger.

I was saying "Hi" to Bob O.

I have never heard of the other fellow. Is there a reason I should have?

'cause he's named BOB, is there another reason?

[Richard Crowley]

"LAB" wrote ...
It doesn't work on my computer. I have no problems in installation,
but when I start the program it gives an error...
Does anyone know why?

Did you want us to just guess what the error was?
You have offered NO information about your problem.

[hank alrich]

uni-berlin.de!fu-berlin.de!border1.nntp.ams.giganews.com!nntp.gigan ews.c
om!feeder.news-service.com!feeder1.cambrium.nl!feed.tweaknews.nl! nx01.ia
d01.newshosting.com!newshosting.com!post01.iad01!n ews.buzzardnews.com!no
t-for-mail wrote:

"Robert Orban" wrote:
Orban today announced that
the first public beta of Orban Loudness Meter software for
Windows XP and Vista is now available for free download

In my long computing experience, you get what you pay for.

I thought Orban was dead.


Bob Morein
(310) 237-6511

Where the buzzard shtis we get this odor.

X-Complaints-To:

--
ha
Iraq is Arabic for Vietnam

[hank alrich]

"Mr.T" MrT@home wrote:

"Soundhaspriority" wrote in message
...
"Robert Orban" wrote:
Orban today announced that
the first public beta of Orban Loudness Meter software for
Windows XP and Vista is now available for free download

In my long computing experience, you get what you pay for.

In *my* long computing experience, price has very little relationship to
quality. I would have thought Microsoft was enough proof of that.
There are freeware packages available not bettered by more costly ones.
However Bobs press relase makes it clear this is a "stripped" version of a
commercial package, often a very cost effective solution I find, if it fills
your requirements. And a great way to get people to try it and possibly
upgrade. That's what this marketing model is all about after all.


I thought Orban was dead.

Why?

MrT.

You'r responding to an impostor troll. Look at the headers.

--
ha
Iraq is Arabic for Vietnam

[Robert Orban]

In article ,
says...


On Fri, 11 Apr 2008 06:52:15 -0400, "Arny Krueger"

wrote:

"Robert Orban" wrote in message
-
west.giganews.com

The software accepts two-channel stereo inputs. The VU
and PPM meters are split to indicate the left and right
channels. The PPM meter also displays the instantaneous
peak values of the L and R digital samples.

When I started the program, the Vu and PPM meters started reading
mid-scale
and full-scale respectively, with no music playing. This seems
counter-intuitive.


Works as expected for me. my only issue is that the PPM isn't scaled
as a normal PPM.

I spent some time soul-searching about the issue of scales and finally
chose to put all of the meters on identical scales to make it easier for
users to compare the meters. In future version, we may make scales a
user-definable parameter.

Bob Orban

[Robert Orban]

In article ,
says...



"Robert Orban" wrote:
Orban today announced that
the first public beta of Orban Loudness Meter software for
Windows XP and Vista is now available for free download

In my long computing experience, you get what you pay for.

I thought Orban was dead.

I am very much alive, as is the company I work for

www.orban.com

Bob Orban

[Robert Orban]

In article ,
says...


"Robert Orban" wrote in message


The software accepts two-channel stereo inputs. The VU
and PPM meters are split to indicate the left and right
channels. The PPM meter also displays the instantaneous
peak values of the L and R digital samples.

When I started the program, the Vu and PPM meters started reading
mid-scale
and full-scale respectively, with no music playing. This seems
counter-intuitive.

That is not expected operation. With silence, the meters should read
nothing.

The meter uses the standard Windows WDM mechanism to fetch the
audio through Wave I/O. To a large extent, one is at the mercy of one's
sound card and its driver to get proper operation of the meter. Because
this is free software, we will not be able to investigate every hardware-
related problem. The best we can do is to follow the WDM standard as
closely as possible.

If the meter seems to be operating improperly, one thing to do is to
check one's CPU usage in Windows Task Manager. If the meter is
using too much CPU, turn down its refresh rate.

In my tests, I have seen 40% CPU usage on an old 2.56 GHz P4 machine
when the meter's refresh rate is set to 100 Hz. This drops to below 20%
when the refresh rate is descreased to 25 Hz.

Bob Orban

[Richard Crowley]

"hank alrich" wrote ...
Where the buzzard shtis we get this odor.

X-Complaints-To:

Don't bother. They don't even have that mythical
mail ID configured on their server. They explicitly
don't care about McCarty's forgeries.

I've never seen anything legitimate come out of
buzzardnews.com so it seems logical to just
block that entire domain.

[tony sayer]

In article ,
Robert Orban scribeth thus
In article ,
says...


On Fri, 11 Apr 2008 06:52:15 -0400, "Arny Krueger"

wrote:

"Robert Orban" wrote in message
-
west.giganews.com

The software accepts two-channel stereo inputs. The VU
and PPM meters are split to indicate the left and right
channels. The PPM meter also displays the instantaneous
peak values of the L and R digital samples.

When I started the program, the Vu and PPM meters started reading
mid-scale
and full-scale respectively, with no music playing. This seems
counter-intuitive.


Works as expected for me. my only issue is that the PPM isn't scaled
as a normal PPM.

I spent some time soul-searching about the issue of scales and finally
chose to put all of the meters on identical scales to make it easier for
users to compare the meters. In future version, we may make scales a
user-definable parameter.

Bob Orban


Pity it doesn't work on WIN 2000 Pro...
--
Tony Sayer

[Robert Orban]

In article ,
says...


In article -
west.giganews.com,
Robert Orban scribeth thus
In article ,
says...


On Fri, 11 Apr 2008 06:52:15 -0400, "Arny Krueger"

wrote:

"Robert Orban" wrote in
message
-
west.giganews.com

The software accepts two-channel stereo inputs. The VU
and PPM meters are split to indicate the left and right
channels. The PPM meter also displays the instantaneous
peak values of the L and R digital samples.

When I started the program, the Vu and PPM meters started
reading
mid-scale
and full-scale respectively, with no music playing. This seems
counter-intuitive.


Works as expected for me. my only issue is that the PPM isn't
scaled
as a normal PPM.

I spent some time soul-searching about the issue of scales and
finally
chose to put all of the meters on identical scales to make it easier
for
users to compare the meters. In future version, we may make
scales a
user-definable parameter.

Bob Orban


Pity it doesn't work on WIN 2000 Pro...

It might be possible to use it on 2000 Pro with Virtual Audio Cable,
but we haven't tested it.

[Chronic Philharmonic]

"Serge Auckland" wrote in message
...
"Don Pearce" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 11 Apr 2008 11:19:59 +0100, "Serge Auckland"
wrote:

"Mr.T" MrT@home wrote in message
m.au...

"Soundhaspriority" wrote in message
...
"Robert Orban" wrote:
Orban today announced that
the first public beta of Orban Loudness Meter software for
Windows XP and Vista is now available for free download

In my long computing experience, you get what you pay for.

In *my* long computing experience, price has very little relationship
to
quality. I would have thought Microsoft was enough proof of that.
There are freeware packages available not bettered by more costly ones.
However Bobs press relase makes it clear this is a "stripped" version
of a
commercial package, often a very cost effective solution I find, if it
fills
your requirements. And a great way to get people to try it and possibly
upgrade. That's what this marketing model is all about after all.


I thought Orban was dead.

Why?

MrT.



Agreed. A free-of-charge working but stripped-down version is often very
welcome. As to Orban being dead, the Optimod is still the best and most
widely used audio processor. The 8500 is capable of excellent sound
quality
in the right hands. Listen to Radio France , France Musique, sometime
when
over there to see how good classical music can sound even after
processing.

Damning with faint praise! "Even after processing" is a very revealing
phrase. It is like selling makeup with the slogan "It hardly makes you
ugly at all".

In these days of digital radio with decent signal to noise ratios,
there is no place for devices like Optimod.

d

--

d


Perhaps not with digital radio, provided that receiver manufacturers
actually implemented dynamic range control. However, much (most?)
listening is done on FM, and even AM, where processing has its uses. As
with everything, it all depends on how well something is done. Near me in
Suffolk, there are two small stations, Star FM and 209Radio. Both process,
but in a car, both station have an excellent sound, especially on speech.

The Hospital Radio station I work with has a low-power AM license, and
without fairly heavy processing, it would be completely unusable. It's
marginal even so.

Consequently, it's not correct to say there's no place for Optimods, there
are many cases where the Optimod is appropriate.

Not only that, but the main reason "processing" came into widespread use was
because commercial radio stations wanted to be louder than their
competitors. The dynamic range of most commercially available program
material doesn't exceed the dynamic range of FM (or AM in many situations).
I am not referring to the recording medium itself (e.g., CD), I am referring
to the dynamic range of the actual program material being broadcast. Even
Nirvana is dead silent between tracks. Big deal.

It would not surprise me if digital radio stations begin using audio
processing when the competition begins to pick up. If you doubt me, look at
what they're doing to CDs. Yet, CDs certainly have the dynamic range to
accommodate, without processing, any program material you'd care to listen
to. Audio processing (and sadly, its abuse) won't go away.

Bob Orban was (and is) a respected audio engineer, and he was dedicated to
getting the best quality sound in spite of the loudness wars. I have to give
him credit for that.

[WindsorFox[_3_]]

Don Pearce wrote:
On Fri, 11 Apr 2008 06:52:15 -0400, "Arny Krueger"
wrote:

"Robert Orban" wrote in message


The software accepts two-channel stereo inputs. The VU
and PPM meters are split to indicate the left and right
channels. The PPM meter also displays the instantaneous
peak values of the L and R digital samples.
When I started the program, the Vu and PPM meters started reading mid-scale
and full-scale respectively, with no music playing. This seems
counter-intuitive.


Works as expected for me. my only issue is that the PPM isn't scaled
as a normal PPM.



Works in Vista, but the drop down box to change the audio input is
greyed out.

--



"Paul Ireland is a braggart, a bore, and a disgrace to an
already marginalized political party. The is a movement to
kick Ireland out of the Libertarian party. I fully support it." - Mojoey

[Mr.T]

"hank alrich" wrote in message
...
You'r responding to an impostor troll. Look at the headers.

Point taken, but checking the headers on every post just so I don't get
caught is somewhat time consuming.
I think I'll just live with it. This is only usenet after all.

MrT.

[Robert Orban]

In article Gd-
,
says...

I think that this computer may have some problems with DC offsets
in the
digital domain. Some of the Orban metering code might not ignore
them.

The meter doesn't block DC. That gives most accurate peak
indications because AC coupling introduces tilt into the waveform
unless the cutoff frequency is lower than around 0.15 Hz.

Moreover, if the meter blocked DC and there was substantial DC on
the audio, the meter would not detect clipping due to the asymmetry.

[Serge Auckland[_2_]]

"Chronic Philharmonic" wrote in message
news:1ZULj.5732$tw3.1511@trnddc03...


"Serge Auckland" wrote in message
...
"Don Pearce" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 11 Apr 2008 11:19:59 +0100, "Serge Auckland"
wrote:

"Mr.T" MrT@home wrote in message
om.au...

"Soundhaspriority" wrote in message
...
"Robert Orban" wrote:
Orban today announced that
the first public beta of Orban Loudness Meter software for
Windows XP and Vista is now available for free download

In my long computing experience, you get what you pay for.

In *my* long computing experience, price has very little relationship
to
quality. I would have thought Microsoft was enough proof of that.
There are freeware packages available not bettered by more costly
ones.
However Bobs press relase makes it clear this is a "stripped" version
of a
commercial package, often a very cost effective solution I find, if it
fills
your requirements. And a great way to get people to try it and
possibly
upgrade. That's what this marketing model is all about after all.


I thought Orban was dead.

Why?

MrT.



Agreed. A free-of-charge working but stripped-down version is often very
welcome. As to Orban being dead, the Optimod is still the best and most
widely used audio processor. The 8500 is capable of excellent sound
quality
in the right hands. Listen to Radio France , France Musique, sometime
when
over there to see how good classical music can sound even after
processing.

Damning with faint praise! "Even after processing" is a very revealing
phrase. It is like selling makeup with the slogan "It hardly makes you
ugly at all".

In these days of digital radio with decent signal to noise ratios,
there is no place for devices like Optimod.

d

--

d


Perhaps not with digital radio, provided that receiver manufacturers
actually implemented dynamic range control. However, much (most?)
listening is done on FM, and even AM, where processing has its uses. As
with everything, it all depends on how well something is done. Near me in
Suffolk, there are two small stations, Star FM and 209Radio. Both
process, but in a car, both station have an excellent sound, especially
on speech.

The Hospital Radio station I work with has a low-power AM license, and
without fairly heavy processing, it would be completely unusable. It's
marginal even so.

Consequently, it's not correct to say there's no place for Optimods,
there are many cases where the Optimod is appropriate.

Not only that, but the main reason "processing" came into widespread use
was because commercial radio stations wanted to be louder than their
competitors. The dynamic range of most commercially available program
material doesn't exceed the dynamic range of FM (or AM in many
situations). I am not referring to the recording medium itself (e.g., CD),
I am referring to the dynamic range of the actual program material being
broadcast. Even Nirvana is dead silent between tracks. Big deal.

It would not surprise me if digital radio stations begin using audio
processing when the competition begins to pick up. If you doubt me, look
at what they're doing to CDs. Yet, CDs certainly have the dynamic range to
accommodate, without processing, any program material you'd care to listen
to. Audio processing (and sadly, its abuse) won't go away.

Bob Orban was (and is) a respected audio engineer, and he was dedicated to
getting the best quality sound in spite of the loudness wars. I have to
give him credit for that.


As far as I'm aware, most if not all UK digital station already do process.
The BBC uses the Optimod 6200, which is Orban's specialist DAB/DSAT
processor. Parts of GCAP also use the 6200, other smaller stations have used
the TC Finalizer and even Behringer. All do so to reduce the dynamic range
and increase loudness. Unfortunately, DAB/DSAT receiver manufacturers have
not universally implemented Dynamic Range Control on their receivers,
consequently Broadcasters have done what they've always done, and processed
at source.

Processing on FM can be done well, bearing in mind the intended audience,
i.e. people in cars, portable radios in kitchens and the like. Audiophiles
listening under ideal conditions just doesn't figure in Broadcasters'
thinking. BBC Radio 2 has an excellent sound on a portable radio/in a car.
It's processing done well, for the intended audience.

S.

--
http://audiopages.googlepages.com

[Serge Auckland[_2_]]

"WindsorFoxSS" wrote in message
...
Don Pearce wrote:
On Fri, 11 Apr 2008 06:52:15 -0400, "Arny Krueger"
wrote:

"Robert Orban" wrote in message


The software accepts two-channel stereo inputs. The VU
and PPM meters are split to indicate the left and right
channels. The PPM meter also displays the instantaneous
peak values of the L and R digital samples.
When I started the program, the Vu and PPM meters started reading
mid-scale and full-scale respectively, with no music playing. This seems
counter-intuitive.

Works as expected for me. my only issue is that the PPM isn't scaled
as a normal PPM.



Works in Vista, but the drop down box to change the audio input is
greyed out.

--

Mine works fine in Vista too. The drop-down box is only greyed out when the
meter is active. If stopped, then the box is active.

S.
--
http://audiopages.googlepages.com

[Badmuts]

Might i suggest a plugin version for use in mastering software?

[Don Pearce]

On Fri, 11 Apr 2008 11:33:40 -0800, Robert Orban
wrote:

In article ,
says...


On Fri, 11 Apr 2008 06:52:15 -0400, "Arny Krueger"

wrote:

"Robert Orban" wrote in message
-
west.giganews.com

The software accepts two-channel stereo inputs. The VU
and PPM meters are split to indicate the left and right
channels. The PPM meter also displays the instantaneous
peak values of the L and R digital samples.

When I started the program, the Vu and PPM meters started reading
mid-scale
and full-scale respectively, with no music playing. This seems
counter-intuitive.


Works as expected for me. my only issue is that the PPM isn't scaled
as a normal PPM.

I spent some time soul-searching about the issue of scales and finally
chose to put all of the meters on identical scales to make it easier for
users to compare the meters. In future version, we may make scales a
user-definable parameter.

Bob Orban

Can you explain a little more about the variable gain/sensitivity
controls available for a couple of the scales? I'm not really too sure
how one should be using those.

And apropos the PPM scales, do remember that you need to provide IBU,
BBC and Nordic scales at the very least.

d

--

d

[Ken[_8_]]

On Fri, 11 Apr 2008 11:43:43 -0800, Robert Orban
wrote:


The meter uses the standard Windows WDM mechanism to fetch the
audio through Wave I/O. To a large extent, one is at the mercy of one's
sound card and its driver to get proper operation of the meter. Because
this is free software, we will not be able to investigate every hardware-
related problem. The best we can do is to follow the WDM standard as
closely as possible.

If the meter seems to be operating improperly, one thing to do is to
check one's CPU usage in Windows Task Manager. If the meter is
using too much CPU, turn down its refresh rate.

In my tests, I have seen 40% CPU usage on an old 2.56 GHz P4 machine
when the meter's refresh rate is set to 100 Hz. This drops to below 20%
when the refresh rate is descreased to 25 Hz.

Bob Orban


Works fine on my VIA Mini-ITX 1GHz, 4GB RAM and Windows XP.
http://www.via.com.tw/en/products/ma...erboard_id=550
http://tekniken.se/docs/pcny31gb.html
http://tekniken.se/docs/pcny31gb.txt
CPU usage about 45% at 50Hz and 65% at 100Hz refresh rate.

[Robert Orban]

In article ,
says...


On Fri, 11 Apr 2008 11:33:40 -0800, Robert Orban
wrote:

In article ,
says...


On Fri, 11 Apr 2008 06:52:15 -0400, "Arny Krueger"

wrote:

"Robert Orban" wrote in
message
-
west.giganews.com

The software accepts two-channel stereo inputs. The VU
and PPM meters are split to indicate the left and right
channels. The PPM meter also displays the instantaneous
peak values of the L and R digital samples.

When I started the program, the Vu and PPM meters started
reading
mid-scale
and full-scale respectively, with no music playing. This seems
counter-intuitive.


Works as expected for me. my only issue is that the PPM isn't
scaled
as a normal PPM.

I spent some time soul-searching about the issue of scales and
finally
chose to put all of the meters on identical scales to make it easier
for
users to compare the meters. In future version, we may make
scales a
user-definable parameter.

Bob Orban

Can you explain a little more about the variable gain/sensitivity
controls available for a couple of the scales? I'm not really too sure
how one should be using those.

Because the scales are all -30 to 0 dBfs, setup is really somewhat
arbitrary. If you set the VU Gain to +10 dB, the VU meter will indicate
the same as the peak meter on a sinewave. (We sill probably change
this is the next revision so that that this will happen with the VU Gain
set to 0.)

As for the CBS loudness meter, there was never an "official"
calibration published. As stated in the readme, if I want to compare it
with the BS.1770 meter, I set the CBS gain to +7 dB if I want to
compare the peak excursions of the meter wit BS.1770 and to +10 if I
want to compare the experimental long-term CBS loudness to BS.1770.


And apropos the PPM scales, do remember that you need to
provide IBU,
BBC and Nordic scales at the very least.

The wonderful thing about "standards" is that there are so many of
them :-(