It took a little work on my part, but now I can get custom logos into 12b. Bobo, I don't need you to compile my kernels for me any more.

Has anyone else been successful at this yet? It took me several steps. My problem was getting my original .GIF file into the correct format.

First problem: My paint program won't save it in anything resembling the proper format, so I had to use Bobo's gif-to-empeg converter program.

Second problem: Bobo's converter doesn't save a binary file. It saves a snippet of C code that creates the proper 2k data structure when it's compiled into his custom 11a kernel. So I have to take an ASCII editor and do some search-and-replace work to trim it down to a proper shape.

Third problem: The file is still in ASCII, so I wrote a quick-and-dirty VB program to input all those ASCII numbers and convert them into single binary bytes and write those out to a final file. Oh, and to add "empg" to the beginning and write two copies of the bitmap to the file.

Now, finally, I can run DOWNLOAD.EXE IMAGE.BIN A000 on com1 and squirt the image into flash. Up it comes, pretty as can be, right after the Empeg logo.

And the cool thing is, I'm now using Rjlov's volume adjustment kernel (he's got a 12b version that isn't up on his web site yet but will be soon) with the custom logos. Sweet!

Empeg guys, thanks for this really cool and awesome feature!

Now, does anyone want to actually roll all that crap above into a single windows GUI program? Please? Bobo, are you up to it? I realize that I don't need to have three separate pieces of software doing the work for me, but I'm too busy to integrate all of that stuff into one UI (although I know I could do it if I had the time).

___________
Tony Fabris

If nobody else beats me to it I will try and knock something together this evening (UK time).

__
Unit serial number 47 (was 330 in the queue)...

If nobody else beats me to it I will try and knock something together this evening (UK time).

Cool, looking forward to it!

Suggestions for the program if you can do it:

1) Allow the COM port to be selected from a drop-down list. The version of DOWNLOAD.EXE I've got is hard-coded to COM1.

2) Make it work on NT as well as 95/98. I don't think the DOWNLOAD.EXE that I've got will work on NT (although maybe it does, I'm not so sure now).

3) Allow the user to input two separate image files as sources. The player allows for two different bootup images depending on whether you're at home or in the car.



___________
Tony Fabris

I made it too.

Downloaded download.c and compiled it on my linux machine.
Painted some ugly logos, couldn't get it into the right format without
a hexeditor. Fixed this, FTP'ed the logo to the Linux machine
downloaded from there.

It worked, but I really need to create a better logo ....

Next thing for me to try is the volume adjusting kernel. Any words when
12b kernel will be available??

TommyE

Next thing for me to try is the volume adjusting kernel. Any words when 12b kernel will be available?

Well, Richard e-mailed me a copy of it and it worked great, but I don't think he's been able to post it to his web site yet. I don't have a copy with me that I can e-mail you, I won't have access to the copy until after 6pm Pacific time today. If, by that time, Richard still hasn't had a chance to put it on his web site, e-mail me and I'll get it to you.

___________
Tony Fabris

Great, Thanks.

We'll just wait and see what comes first....

TommyE

We'll just wait and see what comes first...

Well, it turned out that Richard did. The 12b volume-adjustment kernel is at the usual place now.

To use it: Unzip the .zImage file from Richard's archive, locate a compiled copy of download.c, such as the one posted at Bobo's site, and send it to the Empeg via Com1 with the command:

download.exe empeg-voladj.12b.2.zImage 10000

Enjoy!

___________
Tony Fabris

Well now its in there, but I must say I have a hard time hearing any diference.
Hmm, may have done something wrong. (doubt it as the upload to empeg was ok).

Any good tips on how to hear any diference??

Do I have to set the volume controll to the 'middle', about -23db, so that the
routine has an area to work within??

I'm going to have a longer trip this evening, maybe I'll hear it then.

TommyE

The volume control setting is in the DSP - after the strongarm's output so the empeg volume setting will make no difference to the operation of the voladj stuff.

Hugo

Well now its in there, but I must say I have a hard time hearing any diference.

Good. The difference should be subtle, not irritatingly obvious. Theoretically, you should simply be able to listen like you always have, and just come to the realization that you're not jockeying the volume nearly as much as you used to.

The important thing is that its main job is to correct low-volume passages and bring them up above the car noise floor. If all your music is loud, then it won't be doing anything to the music and you won't notice any change at all.

Any good tips on how to hear any diference?

Yeah, any song with quiet parts mixed with loud parts. Or any quiet song played next to a loud song, or a song with a long fade-out.

Examples:

Peter Gabriel: Sledgehammer: The wood flute intro is usually so quiet you can't hear it at all, and when the horn section comes in, it blows your speakers. With this kernel, the wood flute intro's volume is brought up so that you can hear it well in relation to the horns, but the horns come in at the correct volume. (Incidentally, Rjlov: the timing on this is much better with the last couple releases, it used to pump too hard on this bit, now it sounds pretty good.)

Rush: A Farewell To Kings: The classical acoustic guitar intro is amplified more in comparison to the loud electric part of the song. A lot of other Rush songs benefit from this, too, because of similar acoustic guitar intros.

Dire Straits: Why Worry (from Brothers in Arms): A very quiet song with extremely gentle dynamics. I swear that there are times when Mark Knopfler isn't so much plucking the strings as simply moving the air around the strings to make them vibrate. The overall problem is that the song tends to be so quiet compared to the other albums in my collection that I turn up this song too loud and then have a heart attack when the next song is from Nine Inch Nails or something. Great song, though, I just listened to it again. The instrumental section at the end leaves you with such a wonderful feeling, that you just go "ahhhhh..." on the last chord...

Pink Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon (entire album): The intro to the album is a faint heartbeat which fades in from silence. The heartbeat (and the noise floor surrounding it) is brought up to audible levels and that whole intro is leveled out so you can hear the whole thing without cranking up the volume. There are other examples elsewhere on the album: The ticking clocks at the beginning of "Time", etc.

Richard, if you're reading, do you have any other favorite examples?

Do I have to set the volume controll to the 'middle', about -23db, so that the routine has an area to work within?

No, that's the beauty of this algorithm. It doesn't interact with the player software's volume at all. It alters the actual wave data of the tracks at the bit level. Just use your volume like you always have, set it to where it sounds good. You can benefit from this algorithm at any volume setting, even 0db (which I often run at when I'm alone in the car).



___________
Tony Fabris

Hello.

Well now its in there, but I must say I have a hard time hearing any diference.

Ah, how gratifying. Sometimes when I was testing I couldn't tell whether it was working or not, until I replayed the sample without the volume adjustment, and realised how much quieter it was! It would be nice to able to just turn it on and off, so you can easily see how much benefit (if any) it is providing.

Peter Gabriel: Sledgehammer: The wood flute intro is usually so quiet you can't hear it at all, and when the horn section comes in, it blows your speakers. With this kernel, the wood flute intro's volume is brought up so that you can hear it well in relation to the horns, but the horns come in at the correct volume. (Incidentally, Rjlov: the timing on this is much better with the last couple releases, it used to pump too hard on this bit, now it sounds pretty good.)

I haven't had Sledgehammer crop up lately, but I'm glad to hear it's better. I expect it was improved when we went to the exp(log()/a) scaling. Before that, everything that was quieter than -10db would be scaled up to almost exactly the same volume. Now, it maintains some relationship between louds and softs.

(I actually haven't spent enough time at home to download 12b.2 to my empeg, I'm still on the previous version, which has the FM clipping)

Richard, if you're reading, do you have any other favorite examples?

Well, pretty much any classical music. I like Holst's "The Planets". I have a recording by the LSO where the start of "Mars" has samples of around 30 (that's 30 out of 32768, or around -30db). And this is actual signal, too! The loud bits of the same track are maxed out, so it has already been normalised. Most of "Neptune" from the same suite is usually completely inaudible in the car (actually, even at home on the CD player it's mostly inaudible with the amp at my normal listening levels), but I can hear it fine now.

On the other hand, you're more likely to notice 'problems' with classical music, as well. It's interesting to listen to "Fanfare for the Common Man". A tam-tam decays so slowly, that the volume adjustment can easily keep pace. So, after the third timpani note, you can notice the tam-tam actually getting a little louder before it starts fading (slowly) away again. If you have any (even vague, hand-waving) suggestions for how to avoid this sort of thing, I'd like to hear them.

Richard.

On the other hand, you're more likely to notice 'problems' with classical music (...) If you have any (even vague, hand-waving) suggestions for how to avoid this sort of thing, I'd like to hear them.

Well, I don't know how much experience you've got with dynamic compressors. But if this were a compressor, I'd be playing with its attack and release times, its ratios, and its soft-knee settings to take care of the problems you describe.

I'm willing to get into a long discussion about how a compressor works compared to how voladj works, but that's for another thread. If you want to get into that, Richard, either e-mail me directly or start up another thread under "programming". I'd prefer the latter, it would allow other experts to throw in their two cents.

___________
Tony Fabris

Well, after having my 2hours long trip, I can now hear the difference.
I think I like it so far, I'll have to play with it for awhile.


I had a go with Kims sidplayer as well, that I liked too...


TommyE