macOS convolver that works with Audiolense

[Grand_ded]

Hello again,

for the follow up and in order to help the community, I solved my issue after a clean install of macOS.

However, I would recommend a step that I forgot to check before performing this heavy process. I would double check the privacy settings first. Indeed, while reconfiguring my system preferences I remembered that Element needs to allow accessing the microphone.

Cheers !
Thomas

 

[2234rew]

Hello again,

for the follow up and in order to help the community, I solved my issue after a clean install of macOS.

However, I would recommend a step that I forgot to check before performing this heavy process. I would double check the privacy settings first. Indeed, while reconfiguring my system preferences I remembered that Element needs to allow accessing the microphone.

Cheers !
Thomas

Glad to hear this resolved it.

Curious if/why/how the mic access settings changed for you though, in the time it was working then stopped?

Good reminder for everyone though to check that first.

 

[2234rew]

Hi @Foly83

Regarding your message, lets discuss here so others can also help and maybe it helps others in future.

I am desperately trying to get the convolver to work under Element. But in vain. I am certainly missing a step or a program. Could you be helpful to me?

Element I have already bought at KUSHVIEW
Now I try to get the X-MCFX_convolver to run. Don't I need another program for this or do I have to copy and paste the download from X-MCFX? LoopBack I have also already installed on my Mac, that can also be selected in Element, only the Convolver not.

See my attached screenshot - you can see the X-MCFX VST3 plugins at the bottom have been scanned/imported into Element.

Are you already at this step?

Also see the left side of the screenshot - this is where you can add the X-MCFX 'block' to the main window

 

[Foly83]

Hi
Thanks for the help
I have tried the scan function but without success.
Do I have to copy (X-MCFX-Convolver-1.0.2-MacOs) to an extra folder so that it is found during the scan?

Loaded the file. Maybe I am also missing an installer ?

The HL Convolver was installed normally, this was found again.
I'm apparently too green behind the ears (German expression)

Many greetings Alex

 

[2234rew]

Do I have to copy (X-MCFX-Convolver-1.0.2-MacOs) to an extra folder so that it is found during the scan?

Hi, where is the VST3 file now?

See guides like the below, where plugins need to be copied on macOS

https://helpcenter.steinberg.de/hc/en-us/articles/115000171310-VST-plug-in-locations-on-Mac-OS-X-and-macOS

https://help.ableton.com/hc/en-us/articles/209068929-Using-AU-and-VST-plug-ins-on-Mac

https://spitfireaudio.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/115001867103-Where-are-the-AU-VST-AAX-plugins-on-Mac-

 

[Grand_ded]

Have you tried what hulkss suggested in its post #34 ?

 

[2234rew]

Have you tried what hulkss suggested in its post #34 ?

Good reminder - I forgot how much of a pain in the bum Gatekeeper caused trying to get Element to see these VST3s

 

[Foly83]

Found the path and element wants to load the data, now the next problem.
(can not be opened, because Apple can not search for malware in it). !Picture!
Has this problem been described before in post, if so I'll read it up. If not yet, I would be very grateful for another tip

Even if I go to Privacy as described under #34 and mark the convolver with (Still open / allow) it does not work.

 

[2234rew]

Found the path and element wants to load the data, now the next problem.
(can not be opened, because Apple can not search for malware in it). !Picture!
Has this problem been described before in post, if so I'll read it up. If not yet, I would be very grateful for another tip View attachment 46812

Even if I go to Privacy as described under #34 and mark the convolver with (Still open / allow) it does not work.

I can't read German but I'm guessing that is Gatekeeper related.

See the posts just above your post.

 

[Foly83]

Tried to disable the gatekeeper as described in #34, without success. Will tonight (German time) As soon as I have time again try my luck and report. Thanks a lot until here

 

[2234rew]

Tried to disable the gatekeeper as described in #34, without success. Will tonight (German time) As soon as I have time again try my luck and report. Thanks a lot until here

I personally used this method below but do it at your own risk.

You have to remember Gatekeeper is there to protect macOS so remember to enable Gatekeeper again immediately

Leaving Gatekeep disabled permanently is a bad idea.

How to Disable Gatekeeper from Command Line in Mac OS X

Though most Mac users will want to keep Gatekeeper enabled for security purposes, some advanced users find that Gatekeeper is overly zealous in preventing third party apps from being used in macOS …

osxdaily.com

 

[Foly83]

So
I have now tried everything I could think of.
I would like to switch off Gatekeeper only reluctantly. I am too often on the Internet for that. The danger that I forget to activate it again is great.
I took a closer look at post #34. I noticed that in this line
(sudo xattr -rd com.apple.quarantine /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/*)
On my Mac instead of Library --> Bibliothek it says.
This error also occurred because I used a translator. I read a lot in the original language, but when it is important I use this translator. Here, of all places, he changed the word in my language, of course, and I didn't notice
I am very embarrassed, but now I can load the plug-in

Thanks a lot for your help

Now that it's up and running allows me for today one more question about plug-ins.
Have any of you found a plug-in similar to a Mini Dsp 2x4HD, Manual 10 Band Eq or more? That would be a dream in combination with the Convolver and FIR filter. So I could use IIR and FIR at the same time. IIR would only be for fine tuning.


Looking forward to testing the many plug-ins.
Many greetings
Alex

 

[2234rew]

Manual 10 Band Eq

For speakers I use Audiolense XO of course.

But for headphones I use Toneboosters EQ4 plugin, really great parametric EQ.

I use 10 bands but I'm sure it allows alot more

ToneBoosters | Audio Plug-ins | Equalizer

Pro-grade audio software

www.toneboosters.com

 

[hulkss]

Have any of you found a plug-in similar to a Mini Dsp 2x4HD, Manual 10 Band Eq or more?

Apple provides a free plugin called AUNbandEQ. Should be on your system. I think it comes with Garage Band or load the Logic Pro Free Trial.

 

[2234rew]

Apple provides a free plugin called AUNbandEQ. Should be on your system. I think it comes with Garage Band or load the Logic Pro Free Trial.

Nice, had no idea about this. Happy with Toneboosters EQ4 but good to see a free option there too.

16 bands.

 

[Medister]

Hi! First, many thanks to 2234rew for sharing your solution!

But, being an amateur, I have read this thread three times now, but still I am very far from getting my 4 way stereospeakers with active XO (filter from Audiolense) to play from my mac! I have a RME Fireface UFX soundcard, I use 8 channel in total. This setup works great on my PC, there I use Jriver as a convolver with .cfg filters from Audiolense.

I've started to make a step by step recipe, but as you can see, I havent got very far!

Recipe (in progress) for running audiolense filter with XO on Mac (for dummies):

1. Download and install Element and Blackhole 16ch
2. Download and unzip the X-MCFX-Convolver. Copy the .VST3 file that suits your need(ex 8x8 if you have a 4-way stereo setup) to: Library/Audio/Plug-ins/VST3
3. Open terminal and paste: sudo xattr -rd com.apple.quarantine /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/*
4. In System Preferences > Sound: choose Blackhole 16ch as Input. Choose Allow when asked if the BlackHole can use the microphone
5. Open Elements, choose View > Plugin Manager the press Scan button, the X-MCFX-Convolver should turn up in your list
6. In Elements, in Graph Editor View, choose Node on lefthand menu, select your soundcard and enable only the outputs you are going to use
7. Right click in the Graph Editor, add the X-MCFX plugin
8. Option > Audio Input Device and choose BlackHole 16ch

What type of filter should I make in Audiolense?
What exactly am I supposed to do in Audacity?

 

[hulkss]

You need to route 8 signals into the convolver. Left to 1,2,3,4 (bass, low, mid, high) and Right to 5,6,7,8.
I think you can export mono filter files from Audiolense. Then put together an eight filter wave file in Audacity.
When you open the filter file with the convolver don't type in anything, just check the diagonal matrix box.

Use REW to play test sweeps through the convolver channels one at a time. Loop back the output to measure. You can test everything before you amplify a signal to your speakers.

 

[Medister]

Yes, now it works. Thanks! Please let me know if there are some mistakes:

Audiolense filter with XO on macOS, step by step:

You need 3 apps and 1 plugin.

Element h ttps://kushview.net/element/download/form/
Blackhole 2ch h ttps://existential.audio/
X-MCFX-Convolver. h ttp://www.angelofarina.it/Public/X-MCFX_convolver/
Audacity h ttps://www.audacityteam.org/

One of the app (Audacity) you can delete after. All the app is free except BlackHole (2$). Element is the main app that you have to open every time, this app let you route the audio on your Mac thru the convolver and into your soundcard. Blackhole is a virtual audio driver: in Mac’s preference>Sound you choose BlackHole instead of Built in Audio or Headphones. The Convolver is a plugin that you load into Elements. The last App, Audacity you only need to gather your Audiolensefilters, the .bin-files, into one .wav file that the convolver can read.

1. Install the apps
2. Unzip the X-MCFX-Convolver. Copy the .VST3 file that suits your need(ex 8x8 if you have a 4-way stereo setup, 6x6 if you have a 3-way setup) to: Library/Audio/Plug-ins/VST3
3. Open terminal and paste: sudo xattr -rd com.apple.quarantine /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/* (this is to prevent macOS to block the plugin)
4. In System Preferences > Sound: choose Blackhole as input and output. Choose Allow when asked if the BlackHole can use the microphone
5. Open Elements, choose View > Plugin Manager, then press Scan button, the X-MCFX-Convolver should turn up in your list
6. In Elements, in Graph Editor View: Right click and make sure you have a input and a output. Go to Node on lefthand menu, left click once on the input in the graph editor(to select it), select BlackHole on the left side menu. Select the output, choose your soundcard on the left side menu.
7. Right click in the Graph Editor, add the X-MCFX plugin
8. Route 4 lines from the first node from BlackHole input (this is the left channel) down to the 4 first nodes on the upper side of the X-MCFX-Convolver (if you have a 4 way stereo setup). Then draw 4 lines from the second node on the BlackHole input to node 5-8 on the convolver. (see image)
9. In Audiolense: Setup> Correction File Format > Bin(Open DRC). Make your filter, audiolense will make one filter for each channel, saved as .bin files
10. Download Audacity, run it, change project setting (lower left corner) to 48000. Audacity>Preferences: under Import/Export choose “Use Advanced Mixing Options.
11. Then: File>Import>Raw Data: Choose all the .bin-files you exported from Audiolense. Encoding: 32-bit Floating, Byte Order: No endianness.
12. Export > Export as Wav: Encoding: 32-bit float, press Save. Choose 8 output channels (or as many you need), route it directly: filter number 0 from (see image) Audiolense = Channel 1 and so on (See image)
13. Back in Element left click the X-MCFX-Convolver, Press Filter>Open Filter From File: Choose the .wav file you made in Audacity. Choose Diagonal filter matrix.

 

[vego99]

Hi Everyone!

I am very new to Computer Based DSP. I would like to implement it with my 2way + sub woofer system.

With using these programs does it allow you to process the audiolense filters and passes the audio to the multi channel dac?

With implementing this, are you looping back audio from analog sources plugged into the input section of the MCDAC?



Any info would be great, thanks!

Vego

 

[DWPress]

Since many of you are using VST, AU, etc in your signal routing within Element I thought I'd share this interesting plugin. The Bertom EQ Curve Analyzer can be used in a DAW or similar to give a visual representation of what's happening in your PEQ or even hardware adjustments. Here's the video from the website to give you an idea of the capabilities and use:

 

[hulkss]

If using Reaper as a VST host (like in the video) you can use this to verify all the AL filters loaded in a VST convolver plugin. This can also be done with measurement software like REW but channel routing and loopback must be configured for it.

 

[Mitchco]

Mitch has already mentioned he has something coming in 2021.

Running way behind! Yes, MCH convolution development is nearing completion. I am looking for a few Beta testers. If interested, please drop me a note a mitch@accuratesound.ca

 

[Grand_ded]

Running way behind! Yes, MCH convolution development is nearing completion. I am looking for a few Beta testers. If interested, please drop me a note a mitch@accuratesound.ca

And you’re referring to a MCH version, running on macOS, right ?
If so, that’s a great piece of news !

I would have tested this Beta version if I had bought my amps :/

 

[dathzo]

Running way behind! Yes, MCH convolution development is nearing completion. I am looking for a few Beta testers. If interested, please drop me a note a mitch@accuratesound.ca

Hi @Mitchco, wondering if the MCH version of your convolver is going to be released soon? I'm sure that like me, many people are waiting.
Cheers!

 

[hulkss]

Hi @Mitchco, wondering if the MCH version of your convolver is going to be released soon? I'm sure that like me, many people are waiting.
Cheers!

I’m waiting too. I have done some testing of a beta version and I can say the product truly is in active development. You will need to hear from Mitch for any estimated release date. I tend to test some challenging use cases and it is looking good.