(Unofficial) Aurora Synesthesia

[DeltaBlast]

FYI: The latest version introduced the always-on-red-lights (actually flickering red) problem for me. I had set the stereomix to 70, now everything above 7 will get me flickering red I now have to put the music very loud to have it work properly... I suppose I'll go back to the previous version for now.

[Zodius]

As you were one of the people for which the old version worked, your master volume doesn't influence the stereo-mix in any way, yet your now saying that you have to turn your volume up really high (I don't count stereo-mix as volume) which was what Teh_uberer and others had to do with the old version, but not with this.

With the new adaptive mode, i've tested and confirmed that you can get lighting effects even from inaudible sounds that appear when the 256 multiplier is used.

I would encourage you to play about with the options more on this version as what your saying just shouldn't be happening . And please provide more information as what you've said doesn't really help me diagnose your problem, other than suggesting you set stereo-mix to 100%.

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[DeltaBlast]

Sorry, I'm not very awake.. I just started using the new version without actually looking into the settings.. I've set the multiplier to one and now it's back to normal. Why doesn't it start at one? That doesn't make sense :p
What is the Delta multiplier btw (where it starts at)?

[Zodius]

The Delta multiplier is the Adaptive Mode. It was an easy shorthand to write. The reason its the default is because this mode works for people with as well as without the volume issue of old, without requiring anybody to change settings, unless they choose to.

I think i've discovered why you got a red flickering glow (just reproduced it). In the Playback controls (not where Stereo-mix is located) you have things like Wave, CD Audio, Line-in, and Microphone there. If the latter two aren't muted then noise gets picked up by the system (that you can't hear) and this appears on the Stereo-Mix. So to solve your problem, either manually set the sensitivity, or mute the microphone and line-in channels, so that way any noise requires more than a 256 multiplier which is Synesthesia's upper limit, causing the lights to turn off.

Hope that makes some kind of sence.

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[DeltaBlast]

Thanks a lot! Took me a while to find it (they're actually part of the sound levels of the standard loudspeakers in vista), but it now works properly again! yay ^_^

[Milmoor]

Zodius, I've been thinking about the delays in the lights in effect to the sound (Synestesia). I understand why you need some time to analyse and to drive amBX. Would it be possible to delay the actual playback of the sound instead? This is how LCD TV's work with their screen enhancements, just delay the sound for the same period of time. You'd have to buffer the sound somehow, but it would provide you with time for perfect syncing. The delay would not be a problem for music playback. Gamers won't like it and movies will be more challenging: it's possible in most players to set delay options, but that's player specific.

[Zodius]

Zodius, I've been thinking about the delays in the lights in effect to the sound (Synestesia). I understand why you need some time to analyse and to drive amBX. Would it be possible to delay the actual playback of the sound instead? This is how LCD TV's work with their screen enhancements, just delay the sound for the same period of time. You'd have to buffer the sound somehow, but it would provide you with time for perfect syncing. The delay would not be a problem for music playback. Gamers won't like it and movies will be more challenging: it's possible in most players to set delay options, but that's player specific.

I see your thinking, but I can't imagine there being anyway to delay the playback of every piece of sound played on your computer so that the light effects go off at just the right time.

As the program only works at 10 frames per second, there is an inherent delay of 100ms between sound and screen events, plus the reactive pulses introduce a greater perceived delay. However, I do admit that the actual delay of Synesthesia is probably around 300ms to 500ms, and slowly grows over hours of use (despite my best efforts).

Your mention of this topic got me thinking about it again though, and maybe I've been going about it wrong, as although the recording is in sync with the stereo-mix, its the internal playback that is the problem. So I've had a bit of a play about, and changed a few things to see if I could get a better result, and I believe I have (I will need to do more testing though).


Essentially what I've done is rather than record the stereo-mix continually, I record it in 100ms chunks. This helps in two ways. Firstly, there is always the same amount of sound recorded, and secondly, the internal playback position can be set to the end of that chunk rather than trying to keep the playback position behind the recording position.

As I said, I need to do a lot more testing, but this seems to produce more responsive effect, and also removes the "five seconds of flashing" I mentioned a while back when I introduced the manual sensitivity options, where if you go into a higher sensitivity and stop the music, the lights will dim and then suddenly flash in a variety of colours. People can test this effect if the wish, change to a manual setting that fits your currently playing music, and then go to 256x and stop your music. Fixing this alone is a good thing, but if this change also reduces delay and prevents the buildup of delay over time then its a definite keeper.

Thanks for making me look at this again Millmoor
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[Milmoor]

You're welcome. Glad to be able to be of service.
I might have an idea how to buffer the sound. You're already using a recording device. Windows supports more than one playback device. Would it be possible to use a playback device which doesn't actually playback, but instead is a dummy which is recorded. I'm not sure how this would interfer with the stereomixer. Setup would definitly be more complex. Not sure if it's worth it.
About the growing delay: it's a dirty workaround, but can't the program just restart itself every few hours? Till you found the leak?

[Zodius]

You're welcome. Glad to be able to be of service.
I might have an idea how to buffer the sound. You're already using a recording device. Windows supports more than one playback device. Would it be possible to use a playback device which doesn't actually playback, but instead is a dummy which is recorded. I'm not sure how this would interfer with the stereomixer. Setup would definitly be more complex. Not sure if it's worth it.

Its quite easy for Synesthesia to buffer the sound, as that's what it does to keep the playback position behind the recording position. I think I get what your trying to say though. Rather than sounds going straight to the master volume, have them just go to stereo-mix and then introduce another channel that will send the sound out a short time later. Brilliant in theory, however (and you knew it was coming) this can't be done (unless someone is able to prove me wrong with a working example).

Two problems with this. One, preventing any sound from getting to the Master-Volume will prevent it also getting to the stereo-mix (as if you muted all playback devices). Secondly, FMOD can't create its own playback device, it can only playback sounds through the Wave playback device which is where all of the other sound is coming from. Essentially this idea requires that Synesthesia completely replace your sound card drivers, and although there may be some possible way of achieving it, its beyond my scope of understanding to even try.

About the growing delay: it's a dirty workaround, but can't the program just restart itself every few hours? Till you found the leak?

I did consider that, but if this latest change proves to be reliable then there won't be any need for such a workaround. Because I'm now recording in chunks there is no way for the playback position to drift away from the recording position as its always within the 100ms goal.

I'll see after tonight though as the delay started to appear in the evening after having my computer on all day.

BTW, help is still required with handling Aero better as detailed in this post. A bit more details about the bonus prize. I know I said you'll get the illuminate mode before anybody else, and that is indeed true, but that's not all. What your actually getting is my current working version, including all the changes I've mentioned since the release of 1.05. So this also includes that little disable feature, and this improved Synesthesia mode once approved!

Please PM me with your email address if your interested and have a computer with Vista or Windows 7.

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[Milmoor]

Since I ruined my Windows 7 setup (which does take quite a bit of effort), my amBX experience is HTPC only at the moment. I'll contact you as soon as I restored the image. I just can't find the time for it and most stuff still works.

[Pio]

A simple "disable all" in the context menu would be good. It saved the setting and you don't have to exit the programm.

Consider it added The option is now just above the exit button. This sets Aurora and Synesthesia into disable modes, so if you want effects back, you have to go into their menus.

Keep the comments and feedback coming in
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Thanks, but in my eyes it would be better if AS saves the preset as it was before. I think if one found the best preset, one wouldn't like to set it again after disabling. So I think if AS is enabled, you press disabled, and if you press the same button again, it is enabled as before.
It's good you're trying to work on the delay. Now I noticed that I have a similar delay in every movie, so I guess it's the way the system works. It is just more noticeably for music. Maybe less with your new tweak
Another sugestion would be the use of a profile manager similar the one for games. Don't know if its possible, though. For me for instance I do need Synthesia only for Music/Winamp. At the moment I can see every little OS sound (it's bad enough I have to hear an error message ). Is it possible to use AS as a plugin which only illumintaes winamp sounds (guess this would change too much due to stereo mix)?
Or at least something like:
starting winamp --> automatically starting a profile with Synthesia on
closing winamp --> automatically "muting" AS light effects

[DeltaBlast]

For me for instance I do need Synthesia only for Music/Winamp. At the moment I can see every little OS sound (it's bad enough I have to hear an error message ). Is it possible to use AS as a plugin which only illumintaes winamp sounds (guess this would change too much due to stereo mix)?
Or at least something like:
starting winamp --> automatically starting a profile with Synthesia on
closing winamp --> automatically "muting" AS light effects

Actually, it would be awesome if this could somehow be made into a winamp plugin alltogether. Then you can use winamp's playback drivers and have it start/stop only with winamp. But then again, that's something completely different than this program is, so it would be a completely different project. Would be great if someone made it though :p

[Zodius]

But doesn't having a program that works with ALL music players defeat the purpose of having a plugin for a single media player, plus reduce the number of potential users, as is the case with the current WMP plugin? Thats just my opinion and the reason I went down this route in the first place.

I get the point about the lights flashing when you hear error messages, but the same kind of thing occurs if you have enabled event effects. If you don't want to have the lights do that then disable the sound in Windows settings as then you don't even have to hear the annoying error at all .

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[DeltaBlast]

Yeah but having it as a plugin eliminates the need for an extra program, allowing Illuminate to take over when closing winamp etc.
I only really need the synthesia part to work when listening to music, it's a bit silly during video and games and skype conference calls
Let's just say it has its advantages and disadvantages :p

[Zodius]

Yeah but having it as a plugin eliminates the need for an extra program, allowing Illuminate to take over when closing winamp etc. I only really need the synthesia part to work when listening to music, it's a bit silly during video and games and skype conference calls
Let's just say it has its advantages and disadvantages :p

True enough, I just thing that such a plugin will be a long time coming, and may work no better than the WMP plugin currently available. I agree with you that Synesthesia isn't needed for videos, games and skype, and I suppose in that regard a plugin would be better, as it doesn't require you to remember to disable the synesthesia mode.

I know its no substitute for the real illuminate, but in the next version of AS there is an illuminate mode and that does fade back in once music stops playing, which i'm hoping will make some people happier with this tool.


Just a quick update on the new improvement to synesthesia I mentioned previously. I've been having AS running pretty much all day and have seen no noticable increase in delay over time . Also the delay seems to be rather good, and I don't think I can get much better without doubling the frame rate back to 20fps and increasing the demand on performance that Aurora Synesthesia produces (and causing headaches with flashing images).

So without making Aurora Synesthesia into a media player in its own right, there isn't anything else I can do to reduce the delay, apart from introduce a time machine into the system .

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