DC8 is Almost Here and these are its features:

[Craig Maier]

DC8 has been introduced. Here is the new feature list that DC8 adds to the existing list:


• Big Click Filter Added
• Big Click Checkbox added to the EZ Impulse Filter
• Direct Spectral Editing mode (DSE) added to the Spectrogram
• Manual Click replacement provided in the Spectrograph View
• Extended the length of the time interval capability of the Manual Interpolation Function
• Added a bi-modal algorithm to the Manual Interpolator which uses both time and frequency domain techniques for greater signal replacement accuracy
• Independent Hot key access to the Time Domain Only manual Interpolator
• Added a Sub-Harmonic Synthesizer Effect for recovering lost lower Octaves of the audio spectrum
• Added an Overtone Synthesizer Effect for recovering lost upper Octaves of the audio spectrum
• Provided Multifilter support to the DC Tune Library
• Added Continuous Play Mode to the DC Tune Library
• CD Player Added to the DC Tune Library
• Spacebar now starts and stops the play of any file in the DC Tune Library
• Time Display added to the DC Tune Library
• DC Tune Library has an expanded list of default Genres
• Broadcast .wav (BWF) file support added
• .wav file header editor added
• Vorbis (Ogg Vorbis) Lossy Compression File Support added
• FLAC (.flac) Non-Lossy File Compression File Support Added
• Added a Shuffle Play Feature to the DC Tune Library
• Presets added to the Make Waves Signal Generator
• Entire Musical Scale Ranging from C0 to D9# added as Presets
• Data Disc Burning Capability for CDs, DVDs & CDR-Ws
• Disc at once mode added to the CD burner
• CD text support added to the CD burner
• Data Disc Burning Capability Added (CD & DVD)
• Hotkey access added for the Spectrogram Function
• Added 49 LP Phono Equalization Curves to the VPA
• Added numerous presets to other filters and effects
• Marker Transfer capability provided between the Source and Destination Windows
• Scrubbing Tool added to rock back and forth over a file sector
• Time Domain Tracking / Waveform Scrolling while playing is provided
• DC Playlist play bar scrolling and random access to play position provided
• User Selectable Display Themes provides choices of skins and color schemes based on personal preference
• Improved the flexibility of the Spectrogram Function
• Increased the Frequency Resolution of the Standard Spectrogram
• Added Gamma Control and Inverse Palette to Spectrogram
• Normalized Gain Scaling added to the Batch Processor

[Marc Hildebrant]

Hello,

Any idea yet of the price for those of us who have DC 7 ?

Regards,
Marc

[Craig Maier]

Hi,

The upgrade pricing is yet to be determined.

Craig

[Marc Hildebrant]

Free during January ?

Marc

[Craig Maier]

Marc,

Too many Holiday credit card bills to pay off! I will only speak for myself, but my wife is "high-rent".



Craig

[Ringmaster]

Hey Craig,

Good response!

[Marc Hildebrant]

Big Click ?

Craig,

WIth regard to the new "big click" tool, A number of the cylinders that I have, contain cracks that generate clicks that are large and somewhat longer than impulses. The current click removal tools do not work well on them due to a number of things.

I use a "non-standard" reproducer that does not have as sharp an edge to the click as a magnetic cartridge has...

Would the new DC8 handle these type of clicks ?

Regards,
Marc

[Craig Maier]

Hi Marc,

Without actually seeing one of the clicks, I am not sure, but the new system has two tools that are intended to handle that kind of problem. One is the Big Click Filter (handles only big clicks which are longer than standard clicks. The other tool is the DSE (Direct Spectral Editor) which has the ability to interpolate signals which last as long as a few hundred milliseconds. If you want to, send me a short .wav file of the clicks you are referring to and I will try to run it and return the file to you with a report. Try to keep the file to a length of around 10 seconds and in stereo if possible.

My email is dctools@aol.com

Thanks,

Craig

ps - The Big Click Detector algorithm is not edge sensitive (there are no differentiators in the system).

[Marc Hildebrant]

Craig,

Thanks for the offer. I have sent a short two second section from a cylinder recording I have. The recording has a crack in the record at the end.

Regards,
Marc

[Marc Hildebrant]

Craig,

Excellent results !
The large click from the crack in the cylinder was totally removed and replaced without a "thump" or other sound.

Looks like I'm in for an upgrade.

Regards,
Marc

[Carl Kelley]

DC 8 Release Date

You might want to edit your announcement at the beginning of this thread to reset the release date expectations. It is now January 15th. I know that you are working hard to create another excellent product, but "early January" has passed.

Can't wait to see what DC8 will do that DC7 could not. We have been careful to save every track after every filter. We have assigned a unique acronym for each filter, e.g. IM for EZ Implulse, and appended it to each file as we save them. It consumes a lot of disk space, but we can easily go back and create a new branch using different filters.

It would be very helpful if you would recommend which filters should produce better results in DC8 so that we know what to rework.

Thank you for reading this far.

[Craig Maier]

Hi,

I will correct that intro date; we are still de-bugging the beta version of DC8. As for what filters are improved, look mostly at the EZ Impulse filter with the Big Click checkbox, or look at the new Big Click filer per se. There are other effects which can enhance the useful bandwidth of restorations including the sub-harmonic synthesizer and the overtone synthesizer (so long as they are used judiciously). The Direct Spectral Editor is useful in fixing very long lived recording anamolies. I think that the support of Broadcast wave will be generally useful for following the generation of a restoration project by storing metadata in the .wav file header.

Ultimately, there will be a demo version which you can run fully to evaluate the merits of DC8 for yourself.

Craig

[Marc Hildebrant]

Craig,

With regard to the new sub harmonic and overtone generators...are they much different from the virual value device or the EZ-Enhancer ?

Regards,
Marc

[Craig Maier]

Hi Marc,

The short answer is yes. How? The VVA (and the EZ Enhancer - - - which actually does more than just a VVA) only adds overtones having odd or odd plus even products. These products are always higher in frequency than the excitation signal.

The sub-harmonic synthesizer creates a signal one octave lower than the exciting frequency and is limited to signals below as high as 150 Hz (user adjustable). The overtone synthesizer creates a signal one octave above the exciting frequency (even products only whereas the VVA was odds or odds plus evens).

So, the sounds produced by these effects are different than the VVA; they can be very interesting and flexible when combined with the VVA and the P&C in the multifilter, however.

Craig

[Marc Hildebrant]

Craig,

Could be very useful then with cylinder/acoustic records. Looks like yet another reason to upgrade....

Regards,
Marc