[chuck-users] Filters blowing up: any news?

[mike clemow]

OT:

2010/2/16 Andrew C. Smith <andrewchristophersmith at gmail.com>

>
> Seems that ChucK can crash brains, not just computers!
>
>
Chuck's filter code is actually written in Sumerian.  The Goddess Asherah
created Chuck to erase peoples' minds and make them worship her.  The sound
is actually a nam-shub and if you hear it, you will lose your wits and start
mumbling Sumerian syllables...

(sorry, i couldn't help this outburst.  i finished the book just a few short
weeks ago.  ;)

-Mike





> Actually, my other solution was to run the audio through Jack and into
> Logic, where I can do a much better job of controlling the volume. This
> actually doesn't distort (since the distortion comes at the dac level), and
> changes the sound entirely. Anyway, just an option.
>
> -Andrew
>
> On Feb 16, 2010, at 5:03 PM, Kassen wrote:
>
>
>
> 2010/2/16 Stefan Blixt <stefan.blixt at gmail.com>
>
>> If you do SinOsc s=> dac and the 100.0 => s.gain, are you then able to
>> blow a speaker on a Mac laptop even if it's main volume is turned down?
>> That's the curious thing to me, how the filter messes up so badly it makes
>> my MacBook's speaker scream even though the volume is almost down to zero.
>>
>>
> 100? Try something like this value for a output; 242210436022272.0
> That's a actual recorded output of .last(). I'm not sure what would happen
> if something of that volume would be played back on real speakers; there is
> probably a UN convention against that kind of thing ;-).
>
>
> From what I understand of the situation you wouldn't blow the speaker. If
> Apple was smart they put in a pre-amp that's slightly smaller than the
> maximum load of the speaker yet slightly over-speced for the output of the
> dac to keep repairs down. But yes; apparently you will can get a very high
> volume even though the (software) fader is down.
>
> This is what we know.
>
> Then from that I speculated (and unless something more credible comes by I
> think it's a good theory) that Apple is doing everything in float (with
> virtually unlimited headroom for practical applications), setting the master
> volume with a floating point multiplication, and handing the resultant value
> to the dac where inevitably it will be turned into a plain integer. In this
> case that integer will be the highest volume the poor little dac can take.
> If that's not it I can't imagine why +/- some 15 digit number would have a
> higher amplitude than +/-1, as a final output, post master fader.
>
> This is cheap compared to tweaking the voltage on the final hardware amp
> (which would always preserve the full bit-range) and probably sounds a lot
> better than going integer and throwing away a lot of bits at low volume, but
> it fails to take into account that we may not just turn the volume down for
> a more pleasant listen but also to protect our ears. Combine that with with
> potentially very sensitive studio or DJ headphones and you have a situation
> that may lead to hearing damage. I know that my own pro DJ headphones will
> output a lot more volume than my mid-range earbuds at the same volume
> setting for a headphone jack.
>
> IMHO this would be a oversight by Apple and I'm a bit surprised there
> hasn't been a storm of practical joke mails aimed at OSX users featuring
> videoclips embedding floating-point audio. I'd offer at least a optional
> output limiter like what has been proposed for mp3 players. I don't believe
> in those for protecting children's ears through mandatory regulation because
> of the differences in headphone output volume, but for user-set protection
> it might be a good idea. Of course ChucK is a bit more likely to cause this
> sort of issue than the average off-the-shelf audio player.
>
> Here is the original topic if you'd like to try to reproduce the findings
> so far; http://electro-music.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=37921
>
> Yours,
> Kas.
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-- 
http://michaelclemow.com
http://semiotech.org
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