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SOLID STATE LOGIC RELEASE NEW X-ISM PLUG-IN… AND GIVE IT AWAY FOR FREE
SSL unveil X-ISM, an innovative Inter Sample Meter plug-in and make it
available for free download.
OXFORD, ENGLAND—Solid State Logic, the world’s leading manufacturer of professional digital and analogue consoles, have unveiled X-ISM, a state of the art VST/AU plug-in which can interpret inter-sample peaks, allowing engineers to make an informed judgment about the ultimate quality of his/her mix. SSL will be giving X-ISM away for free.
There is currently a trend in the in the audio industry known euphemistically as ‘The loudness war’ in which the engineering process is driven to produce a product which is as loud as is technically possible within the constraints of the medium. Debate rages as to whether this produces problems that degrade and distort the audio. One reason for this distortion is often blamed on the presence of ‘inter-sample peaks’, where signals that are usually missed by the Fs sampling of DAW meters, may actually exceed 0dBfs in reconstruction from digital to analogue domain in some Digital to Analogue Converters (DACs).
Why is this important?
Reliable metering and monitoring is a key to consistent results. Recording studios of all sizes choose the best equipment in order to produce the best results possible, and this invariably includes audio interfaces. So it is very likely that the circuitry used in professional audio interfaces will be more sophisticated than those used in consumer devices. It is therefore entirely possible for an engineer to produce a mix which would sound great in the studio but may sound different on some domestic systems.
There have been several tests performed on domestic CD players with signals known to produce inter-sample peaks, with interesting results. The tests indicate that some players are quite capable of handling the peaks without audible results, but some models produce audible clipping.
So if the recording engineer has no idea whether the mixes he/she produces will sound distorted on some domestic playback systems how can the problem be fixed? Probably the best solution would be for the studio to have a variety of types of players to play mixes on, along with an engineer with very good hearing!
A practical alternative is to use a meter which simulates the oversampling DAC filtering processes used most commonly, and can therefore indicate the presence of >0dBfs inter-sample peaks, even if the peaks can’t be heard in the control room. Preferably, this meter would take the form of a VST plug-in that can be inserted at the end of the DAW mix. In this way the pure digital signal can be monitored and results predicted.
Enter X-ISM.. the new VST/AU plug-in from SSL
A deeper explanation of how X-ISM works is available online at www.solidstatelogic.com.. where X-ISM can also be downloaded for free.
The plug-in is available in VST, AU and RTAS* formats making it compatible with virtually all audio software currently available on both PC and Mac. A full compatibility list is available online.
*RTAS is supported through the VST-RTAS wrapper from FXpansion, available from http://www.fxpansion.com
www.solid-state-logic.com.