Auto Gain Staging JSFX

[TBProAudio]

After feedback from user David Else about my JSFX plugin AB Level Matching JSFX i made a plugin which automatically levels the gain of the input to a certain level and restores the level after a number of plugins.

This could be useful for your work with certain VSTs like Nebula which require a certain gain level to work properly.

Please download here.

How it works:

1. Place AutoGainStage_src before plugins you want to gain stage and AutoGainStage_cntrl after
2. Click "SYNC PDC" to get delay of your chain
2. Setup Drive Reference Level, e.g. -18 for most Nebula custom programs (0dBVU = -18dBfs)
3. Set Drive Control to "Analyse" in order to determine necessary gain to reach reference level and then let the DAW play ...
4. Set Drive Control to "Drive" in order to "drive" the following plugins with measured add. gain, the add. gain will be compensated in the control plugin
5. Click "BYPASS" button to switch between processed and unprocessed signal
6. Have phun with it :-)

Changelog
1.0: first public release
1.1: Rearrangement of includes
1.2: Automatic PDC Calculation
1.3: LinkID Bug Fixed, PDC extended to 128k SMP
1.4: LinkID as drop-down menu, removed libs
1.5: Small Fixes
1.6: Removed TP measurement
1.7: Small fixes
1.8: Small fixes, R5 compatibility

Please let me know if you find it useful and if there are possible improvements, thanks

regards
Thomas

[David Else]

Amazing!!!! Can't wait to try it, thanks!!!

[TBProAudio]

So i updated this plugin set as well with "automatic PDC calculation".
You can use this feature to measure "real" delay caused by any plugin (chain).
Interestingly i found out the my nebula setup reports wrong (to much) PDC!?!

regards
Thomas

[Quest The Wordsmith]

I'm sorry, I'm not understanding this as opposed to your A/B plugin. Could you explain the difference?

[G-Sun]

Thanks!
Maybe I used the other version with colored pre/post levels.
Used 11% of my cpu

Seems I might have better luck with this version.

[TBProAudio]

I fixed a nasty bug with linkid:
now it should be possible to run several pairs of the script combo in parallel.

[RJHollins]

heard mention of a type of 'plugin' that could load a script so that it could be used as a VST plugin.

I use a chaining program [Plogue Biddle] that I would like to experiment with ... if I could get this script into a VST shell.

Thanks for any additional info/ help !

[Halma]

Originally Posted by RJHollins

heard mention of a type of 'plugin' that could load a script so that it could be used as a VST plugin.

I use a chaining program [Plogue Biddle] that I would like to experiment with ... if I could get this script into a VST shell.

Thanks for any additional info/ help !

You need ReaPlugs for this. With ReaJS you can load any JS script into your DAW.

And nice job Thomas! Kudos.

Regards
Sebastian

[TBProAudio]

Originally Posted by RJHollins

heard mention of a type of 'plugin' that could load a script so that it could be used as a VST plugin.

I use a chaining program [Plogue Biddle] that I would like to experiment with ... if I could get this script into a VST shell.

Thanks for any additional info/ help !

Please use ReaPlugs 2.2 beta from here.

[Fergler]

What's the difference between this and your A/B matching plugin?

[TBProAudio]

Originally Posted by Fergler

What's the difference between this and your A/B matching plugin?

AB Level keeps the loudness after all plugins on the same level as before the plugin chain. This is mainly used to compare the impact of plugins in a "fair" listening environment (remember: louder "is" better).

Autogain levels the input gain of plugin(s) e.g. Nebula to a defined level (e.g. -18dBFS) and after it removes the fixed gain change (please refer to Nebula gain staging). This does not mean that the loudness after is the same as before.

In other words:
use Autogain to set the right gain for Nebula
and wrap AB Level around to compare effect of Nebula (or any other plugins) on the same loudness level.

I hope this helps

[buckman]

Sorry to be a pain as I'm useless with any scripts and coding but this plug in looks great!

I have downloaded, but as im on Mac OS X i just get a folder of .inc .ctrl files.

Do you know where I am to place these inorder for this to work in Reaper on Mac and maybe Ableton?)

Thanks

[TBProAudio]

hi,

in reaper under actions run "Show reaper resource path in explorer" or similar.
Under Effects you will find all jsfx scripts. This is also the place where you could place the gain staging combo.

regards
Thomas

[111]

Hello! I just have been looking for gain staging for Nebula, and that`s it! But I can`t understand how to install it, I moved those files firstly to the script folder, then to \InstallData\Effects and in both cases when I open Actions and click them in the list Reaper says Extension not supported. Could you specify how to install it?

[nolman]

menu->options->open reaper resource... put the scripts in the right folder.

This is an fxplugin, ad them from the fx window.

[111]

Originally Posted by nolman

menu->options->open reaper resource... put the scripts in the right folder.

This is an fxplugin, ad them from the fx window.

Thanx a lot! Now it works. Look, sorry for my bored to death curiosity, but I would like to know. Let`s say I`ve made gain staging on all my tracks with Nebula, and in order to save CPU I would render them to stems. Then I`ll add another different Nebulas to those tracks - should I do gain staging again or not?
And the last question. If I mix those tracks, I`ll move faders, higher or lower. Will it affect gain staging and should I somehow worry about it? Thanks in advance!

[pepe44]

Been testing this Script , the idea of it it´s great.

I´ll Explain my simple chain:

First insert Autogainstage_src -> EQ ( Altech Clone , Excessive Boosting only for testing) -> Autogainstage_cntrl

-Analyse audio content
-Drive Audio content
-Meters Change for optimum gain

Results:
Dry signal -> (-30LUFS integrated)
After Processing (EQ) no Autogainstage applied ->(-20LUFS integrated)
With Autgainstage applied -> (-20LUFS integrated)

It plays at same loudness levels , no gain change to match original gain.
I´m I doing something wrong, or is not the intention of this script to do gain stage match?

[TBProAudio]

Differences between JSFX "Auto Gain Staging" and "JSFX AB Level Matching" are described just 6 posts before.

If you want AB level matching you need to grab this:-)

Regards
Thomas

[pepe44]

Oh, ok, thanks, i was doing something wrong indeed ! eheh
Regards

[PitchSlap]

Thanks for this, very useful!

Usually the levels are too hot on my master where I want to put Nebula, and it was a hassle trying to manually guess the right level and put trim plugins before and after and hope to get it right. Nebula is NOT very forgiving when it overloads.

I assume it's probably best to analyze the loudest part of a song?

[eox08]

Okay, I'm a little confused here..

I've followed the instructions for AutoGainStage_src - Nebula - AutoGainStage_cntrl

but nothing seems to sound any different nor am I able to change the levels with the "drive" knob. Now, I am probably doing something wrong because..well I am new to this but I just purchased Nebula yesterday and I am trying to get the gain staging correct.

Next, why would the gain stage cntrl be AFTER the plugin? Isn't Nebula iffy about levels going in instead of out in order to get the correct impulses responding?

[vanhaze]

Originally Posted by TBProAudio

After feedback from user David Else about my JSFX plugin AB Level Matching JSFX i made a plugin which automatically levels the gain of the input to a certain level and restores the level after a number of plugins.

This could be useful for your work with certain VSTs like Nebula which require a certain gain level to work properly.

Please download here.

How it works:

1. Place AutoGainStage_src before plugins you want to gain stage and AutoGainStage_cntrl after
2. Click "SYNC PDC" to get delay of your chain
2. Setup Drive Reference Level, e.g. -18 for most Nebula custom programs (0dBVU = -18dBfs)
3. Set Drive Control to "Analyse" in order to determine necessary gain to reach reference level and then let the DAW play ...
4. Set Drive Control to "Drive" in order to "drive" the following plugins with measured add. gain, the add. gain will be compensated in the control plugin
5. Click "BYPASS" button to switch between processed and unprocessed signal
6. Have phun with it :-)

Changelog
1.0: first public release
1.1: Rearrangement of includes
1.2: Automatic PDC Calculation
1.3: LinkID Bug Fixed, PDC extended to 128k Smp
1.4: LinkID as drop-down menue, removed libs
1.5: Small Fixes

Please let me know if you find it useful and if there are possible improvements, thanks

regards
Thomas

So let's say i have 3 (or whatever number) FX plugins in a chain.
Those plugins don't have input and output metering, so i can't see if input and output signals of plugins are too hot.
Does it mean that this script automatically cares for those signals , not being too hot ?

That would be just awesome :0)

[TBProAudio]

Well, if you have a plugin like Nebula and you have loaded a program that works best at -18dB (there are some console programs), then AGS cares for the right input level (-18dB) regardless how hot the original signal is.

So, if you have 3 plugins you need to warp each of them with the AGS combo (just use different LinkIDs) and the the right Drive Reference Level :-)

regards
TBProAudio

[vanhaze]

Aha, many thanks for the clarification !

[TBProAudio]

New Version V1.9

[vitalker]

Originally Posted by TBProAudio

New Version V1.9

What is new?

[TBProAudio]

Small fixes and R5 compatibility :-)

[Juljan]

Originally Posted by TBProAudio

After feedback from user David Else about my JSFX plugin AB Level Matching JSFX i made a plugin which automatically levels the gain of the input to a certain level and restores the level after a number of plugins.

This could be useful for your work with certain VSTs like Nebula which require a certain gain level to work properly.

Please download here.

How it works:

1. Place AutoGainStage_src before plugins you want to gain stage and AutoGainStage_cntrl after
2. Click "SYNC PDC" to get delay of your chain
2. Setup Drive Reference Level, e.g. -18 for most Nebula custom programs (0dBVU = -18dBfs)
3. Set Drive Control to "Analyse" in order to determine necessary gain to reach reference level and then let the DAW play ...
4. Set Drive Control to "Drive" in order to "drive" the following plugins with measured add. gain, the add. gain will be compensated in the control plugin
5. Click "BYPASS" button to switch between processed and unprocessed signal
6. Have phun with it :-)

Changelog
1.0: first public release
1.1: Rearrangement of includes
1.2: Automatic PDC Calculation
1.3: LinkID Bug Fixed, PDC extended to 128k SMP
1.4: LinkID as drop-down menu, removed libs
1.5: Small Fixes
1.6: Removed TP measurement
1.7: Small fixes
1.8: Small fixes, R5 compatibility

Please let me know if you find it useful and if there are possible improvements, thanks

regards
Thomas

I am sorry but I don't understand the use of that JSFX at all.
Is it possible to put source and control one after another so that I can simply gain stage down to -18 dBFS? It always felt like there was no effect on the sound.

[mschnell]

Gain staging will only have an effect on non-linear effects (dynamics, distortion, ...) that don't feature an appropriate input level control.

-Michael

[TBProAudio]

Originally Posted by Juljan

I am sorry but I don't understand the use of that JSFX at all.
Is it possible to put source and control one after another so that I can simply gain stage down to -18 dBFS? It always felt like there was no effect on the sound.

AB Level Matching JSFX works different, as mschnell explained.
It ensures that the sandwiched plugin chain is feed with a certain loudness level. The levels outside are untouched.

If you need a certain level in your plugin chain you may look at GainRider2.

[Juljan]

Sorry for my late reply.
Okay, then I know what it is about. Thanks!

[hopi]

plz... where exactly is the reaplugs beta?

[TBProAudio]

Originally Posted by hopi

plz... where exactly is the reaplugs beta?

please look here: https://www.reaper.fm/reaplugs/index.php

[SubbaseDnB]

so this works abit like the Hornet Normalizer?

[TBProAudio]

Originally Posted by SubbaseDnB

so this works abit like the Hornet Normalizer?

I do not know much about Hornet Normalizer but Auto Gain Staging works differently. It helps to feed your sandwiched plugin with the "sweet spot" loudness level by adding (or removing) a fixed gain. Afterwards the additional gain is removed (or added). This ensures the consistency of loudness levels across the track.

In short: Auto Gain Staging works with fixed additional gain, volume normalizer work usually with dynamic gain to keep loudness constant => different concept.

Usage of the plugin is described in the source code.

I hope this helps.

[Vagelis]

Link is expired.

[vitalker]

Originally Posted by Vagelis

Link is expired.

Go here: https://www.tb-software.com/TBProAudio/download.html
And you'll find all the JS under Reaper JSFX Plugins section.

[Vagelis]

Cool, thanks!

[Lynx_TWO]

I’m currently out of state but will be trying this soon…. My question is this; if I sandwich this script/plugins between multiple plugins across multiple tracks (designed to increase threading efficiency) will it work properly in the analysis stage? Most gain staging plugins I use end up doing this:

https://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=248906

[TBProAudio]

Originally Posted by Lynx_TWO

I’m currently out of state but will be trying this soon…. My question is this; if I sandwich this script/plugins between multiple plugins across multiple tracks (designed to increase threading efficiency) will it work properly in the analysis stage? Most gain staging plugins I use end up doing this:

https://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=248906

Sender/receiver pair does not work across multiple tracks, only within a track. Sender and receiver cannot be synchronized across tracks.


Auto Gain Staging JSFX does not modify the gain structure of the track.

It ensures that the input loudness of the FX chain meets the reference e.g. -18 dBFS and afterwards that the output is back to original level of the track.

So it just helps that the FX chain operated at the sweet spot:-)