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Topic: Winamp - Playing mono files as (faux) stereo? (Read 3876 times) previous topic - next topic
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Winamp - Playing mono files as (faux) stereo?

Hi,

I have noticed that whenever I use a stereo DSP effect (like a reverb) and try to play a mono file (such as a mono .wav file), it won't produce stereo output, rather process it in mono (and produce eg. a mono reverb) or won't process it at all.

I wonder if there is a solution to have Winamp play mono (single channel) files in faux stereo (2 channel) mode so stereo effects would have their stereo width?

I have tried various output plugins and effects but I didn't find any 'force stereo' or 'mono to stereo' options. (I'm using Winamp 5.2)

Any help would be appreciated,
Thanks in advance!

Winamp - Playing mono files as (faux) stereo?

Reply #1 –
Quote from: hightype on
Hi,

I have noticed that whenever I use a stereo DSP effect (like a reverb) and try to play a mono file (such as a mono .wav file), it won't produce stereo output, rather process it in mono (and produce eg. a mono reverb) or won't process it at all.

I wonder if there is a solution to have Winamp play mono (single channel) files in faux stereo (2 channel) mode so stereo effects would have their stereo width?

I have tried various output plugins and effects but I didn't find any 'force stereo' or 'mono to stereo' options. (I'm using Winamp 5.2)

Any help would be appreciated,
Thanks in advance!


Unfortunately, the Winamp Input Plugin and DSP Plugin API do not allow for the possibility that the DSP plugin can change the number of channels.

Winamp - Playing mono files as (faux) stereo?

Reply #2 –
Thanks for the quick reply!

It could be practical though - I guess everyone met archived radio streams encoded into very low quality mono files that require heavy post-processing to be even barely enjoyable... it would be cool if that could be done on-the-fly (not having to decode and post-process it in a sound editor).

While we're at that - is there a Winamp plugin to _upsample_ the output on-the-fly,  e.g. if playing back a 11khz file, could it be upsampled to 44.1 or better?

Winamp - Playing mono files as (faux) stereo?

Reply #3 –
Quote from: hightype on
While we're at that - is there a Winamp plugin to _upsample_ the output on-the-fly,  e.g. if playing back a 11khz file, could it be upsampled to 44.1 or better?

Why would you want to do that?

Winamp - Playing mono files as (faux) stereo?

Reply #4 –
Quote from: pdq on
Why would you want to do that?


Basically to be able to boost high frequencies. Staying at the above example, when playing back a 11 kHz file, EQ plugins (including the built-in Winamp EQ) won't change anything in sound above circa 3 kHz.

On the other hand, for audiophile purposes - listening to a CD upsampled to 96 kHz / 24 bit _does_ make a difference on good sound systems.

Winamp - Playing mono files as (faux) stereo?

Reply #5 –
Quote from: hightype on
On the other hand, for audiophile purposes - listening to a CD upsampled to 96 kHz / 24 bit _does_ make a difference on good sound systems.

You need to review TOS#8.

Winamp - Playing mono files as (faux) stereo?

Reply #6 –
Quote
Basically to be able to boost high frequencies. Staying at the above example, when playing back a 11 kHz file, EQ plugins (including the built-in Winamp EQ) won't change anything in sound above circa 3 kHz.


That's because in the 11khz file there aren't any frequencies above 5.5khz. Upsampling a bandlimited track/sample won't add anything that isn't there. Which leads me to

Quote
...listening to a CD upsampled to 96 kHz / 24 bit _does_ make a difference on good sound systems.


No it doesn't.

Winamp - Playing mono files as (faux) stereo?

Reply #7 –
Quote
Basically to be able to boost high frequencies. Staying at the above example, when playing back a 11 kHz file, EQ plugins (including the built-in Winamp EQ) won't change anything in sound above circa 3 kHz.
There are no "high frequences" to boost.    An 11kHz file is limited to 5.5kHz, and there is absolutely nothing above that.   

There are "exciter" effects that can generate high-frequency harmonics after upsampling, but an EQ only boosts what's already there.

Quote
On the other hand, for audiophile purposes - listening to a CD upsampled to 96 kHz / 24 bit _does_ make a difference on good sound systems.
If it makes a difference there is something seriously wrong with the upsampling. 

And, before we get into a discussion about audio quality,  please read TOS #8 and how to do a Blind ABX Test.

Winamp - Playing mono files as (faux) stereo?

Reply #8 –
Well, thanks for the replies. Let's drop the audiophile part as it is subjective and I'm not a pro.

On 11 kHz playback however, a dithered upsampling could allow working in the higher frequency range (somewhat), especially in Winamp.

Winamp - Playing mono files as (faux) stereo?

Reply #9 –
DVDDoug: Yep, read TOS#8, got it & you're right about exciters as most handy means of improving sound quality.

So - is there any plugin or option to upsample in Winamp (so I could add e.g. an exciter or some other DSP on it)?

Winamp - Playing mono files as (faux) stereo?

Reply #10 –
Quote
So - is there any plugin or option to upsample in Winamp (so I could add e.g. an exciter or some other DSP on it)?
I don't know...  Maybe try the Winamp forum.  In general, exciter effects seem to be rather rare.



Quote
On 11 kHz playback however, a dithered upsampling
Normally you dither when you down-sample.  Dither is noise.  It's a trade-off and it's supposed to make an improvement in perceived sound quality.    No... not really an "improvement", but it's supposed to sound better than "normal" downsampling (truncation).

I've never heard of adding dither during up-sampling.  I can't hear dither (or the effects of dither) at 16-bits or better anyway.    If you have 8-bit files, it might be worth experimenting with.

BTW - Your digital-to-analog converter puts-out analog, of course.  An analog signal is continuous which is essentially up-sampling to a sample rate of infinity!

And the bit-depth of your DAC is also fixed, so if you have a 24-bit DAC everything gets automatically up-sampled to 24-bits.

Of course, none of that improves the sound.

Winamp - Playing mono files as (faux) stereo?

Reply #11 –
Whoa... thanks for clearing this up! In the meantime I think I might have missed the term - perhaps interpolation might have been the right term (or at least more accurate).

I'll try Winamp forums for plugin info.