Better Paula

8bitbubsy · 09 July 2010, 21:03

We all know that the Amiga has got this "rough/hard" panning to the sound, which is horrible if you use headphones...
EDIT: Ok, the title is a bit misleading, but that's what the mod from Aminet is called.

But... Ever heard of that simple BetterPaula.LHA mod from Aminet? It makes the channel seperation smaller, and it goes like this:

I just made one, here's a picture:

You might think: "Haha, this one will sound like crap! LOL!"

Well, take a listen:
http://16-bits.org/betterpaula.mp3

00:00 to 00:21 = standard paula
00:23 to 01:02 = standard paula + betterpaula adapter

This is MOD.Musiklinjen played in ProTracker 2.3D on my Amiga 1200.
These are raw recordings from my A1200, there's NO editing on the panning! (I just removed some parts so that you didn't have to wait while I changed to the adapter)

What do you think?

Hungry Horace · 09 July 2010, 21:38

i like the separation... it makes every track sound like Strawberry Fields

on a more serious note, it comes in handy when you want to use FX etc on 2 channels but not the others.

i'm sure the adaptor suits a more 'general' need though

10 July 2010, 03:46

Nice one, it sounds well good, might have to try this mod myself. Thanks for this!

Amiga1992 · 10 July 2010, 18:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hungry Horace

on a more serious note, it comes in handy when you want to use FX etc on 2 channels but not the others.

true, separation in my case, as a musician, is good

but thiswould be useful if you are using headphones without anything in themiddle that can join more the separation.

Hewitson · 12 July 2010, 13:14

Not sure why anyone would think a small voltage divider with a cap would make anything sound crap..

I think this would be a great idea for anyone unfortunate enough to have to use headphones on their Amiga (I would mod the headphones, not the computer).

AmigaFriend · 12 July 2010, 14:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hewitson

(I would mod the headphones, not the computer).

Not the computer per se, more of a external solution, which I think is way more pratical than modding the headphones. At least whenever you want, you can revert to the original output.

For it's purpose, it works really well. At least you don't have to buy a mixer to mix the channels. Is really a cost saving solution.

bebek · 12 July 2010, 21:57

I am not sure, I like this old school sound and both channels separated ...

Zetr0 · 24 September 2010, 15:54

instead of using a 10k resistor - I would suggest a 10k long variable - that way you can play with 100 seperation and 100 mixed till your hearts content.

=)

HonestFlames · 24 September 2010, 22:50

Am I the only one hearing the loss of fidelity in the audio from the mod?

It sounds really flat and lifeless.

Paul_s · 24 September 2010, 23:35

what track is that music from busby? sounds familiar!

8bitbubsy · 25 September 2010, 06:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by HonestFlames

Am I the only one hearing the loss of fidelity in the audio from the mod?

It sounds really flat and lifeless.

Please get your ears washed. You might hear more details of the samples when they are hard panned and not mixed completely together, but all in all it's not much of a difference at all. Getting 8kHz 8 bit samples hard panned in your ears = pain and misery.
It sounds MUCH less lifeless with the new soft panning (00:22+). I can't believe you think elsewise, just listen to the strings at 00:22.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul_s

what track is that music from busby? sounds familiar!

It's from the demo "Enigma" by Phenomena, the Swedish Amiga demoscene group.
http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=394

Made by Firefox and Tip, both were members of the group. The part I captured is the part Tip made, if I recall correctly.

...
..
.

IT'S BUBSY! Not busby! (*flashback from bubsy-misspellings in #abime*)

Paul_s · 29 September 2010, 01:01

Sorry about misspelling your name bubsy!

Ta for the name of the tune

I do have it, just rummaging through my demo disks!

HonestFlames · 29 September 2010, 13:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by 8bitbubsy

Please get your ears washed. You might hear more details of the samples when they are hard panned and not mixed completely together, but all in all it's not much of a difference at all. Getting 8kHz 8 bit samples hard panned in your ears = pain and misery.
It sounds MUCH less lifeless with the new soft panning (00:22+). I can't believe you think elsewise, just listen to the strings at 00:22.

It's from the demo "Enigma" by Phenomena, the Swedish Amiga demoscene group.
http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=394

Made by Firefox and Tip, both were members of the group. The part I captured is the part Tip made, if I recall correctly.

...
..
.

IT'S BUBSY! Not busby! (*flashback from bubsy-misspellings in #abime*)

I'll get the Sennheiser earphones and headphones out later and have another listen. I don't have the vocabulary of the pretentious audiophiles required to describe it, but there's definitely a different quality to the sound which isn't entirely explained by the narrower stereo focus introduced by the mod.

There was an effect similar to that of inverting just one side of a stereo recording, but really nowhere near as pronounced.

Paul_s · 29 September 2010, 19:54

I'm listening through some Senny HD-600's. The original recording through stock sounds more lively but seperation isn't so great as said originally... the latter (betterpaula) helps with seperation but muddies the sound and loses dynamics in the higher range... so mixed feelings... some good and bad with both!

HonestFlames · 29 September 2010, 23:59

I'm probably going to agree with Paul s.... I'm not sure if what I'm hearing is what Paul is describing, but it seems to be about right.

Sennheiser HD-25 headphones and Sennheiser CX550 earphones both give me a sense of something being lost in the modded audio. I can even tell from the speakers in my laptop (they're good speakers though).

8bitbubsy · 30 September 2010, 20:52

I use Sennheiser HD 595 on Pinoeer A-505R on Creative X-Fi Titanium, and I'm not agreeing with either of you. How can a tune be more lively when each segment of frequencies (e.g. dark bass, high hi-hat, middle/high lead) can (and does) vary a LOT in panning seperation? A little does, but THIS wide..? Come on guys...
There's nothing good in the 100% stereo seperation when using headphones, it's just a horrible fetish for insane musicians.
At the latter part (better-paula) you get a better "audible overview" of all the frequencies, it's much more lively. On the first part (100% seperation), you even hear the rather bad loop point of the bass sample. And you get this rubbish "filter" kind of sound from it, like something is stuck in your ear.
Also the drums are so widely panned they get a lot of attention and destroys what's on the same channel. I know this hack doesn't change the four channels individually (of course), but it still makes it easier for the ear to fetch the frequency range.

Keep in mind: this MOD's low-freq samples have a horribly big frequency-change gap, maybe it's easier to hear how static they really are when using a softer panning .. I don't know though.

01 October 2010, 05:05

I have left/right Paula going into my mixing desk and bring each up from hard pan to sit the sounds just nice when listening to the amiga "normally". I make music with midiIn though so need both channels separate so I can affect them differently but if you're not bothered about that then I guess this solution might be ok for you. If you're making music then get a mixing desk.

The sound quality in this mp3 does suffer with the mod, but maybe that's just inconsistent recording?

Amiga1992 · 01 October 2010, 06:15

Rushy, how do you manage to get midiIN not to lock up?

8bitbubsy · 01 October 2010, 15:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by rushy

The sound quality in this mp3 does suffer with the mod, but maybe that's just inconsistent recording?

It doesn't, really. The recording is fine, I have OK equipment...
It's probably just the crossfeed that makes it sound a bit worse. In theory a softer panning (without modifying a hard panning output) shouldn't change anything in the sound quality at all.

paulo_becas · 28 November 2011, 10:15

So i decided to give it a go with this hack but made it more clean than the above

Check it out.

09 July 2010, 21:03	#1
8bitbubsy Registered User Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Norway Posts: 1,711	Better Paula We all know that the Amiga has got this "rough/hard" panning to the sound, which is horrible if you use headphones... EDIT: Ok, the title is a bit misleading, but that's what the mod from Aminet is called. But... Ever heard of that simple BetterPaula.LHA mod from Aminet? It makes the channel seperation smaller, and it goes like this: I just made one, here's a picture: You might think: "Haha, this one will sound like crap! LOL!" Well, take a listen: http://16-bits.org/betterpaula.mp3 00:00 to 00:21 = standard paula 00:23 to 01:02 = standard paula + betterpaula adapter This is MOD.Musiklinjen played in ProTracker 2.3D on my Amiga 1200. These are raw recordings from my A1200, there's NO editing on the panning! (I just removed some parts so that you didn't have to wait while I changed to the adapter) What do you think? Last edited by 8bitbubsy; 09 July 2010 at 21:22.

30 September 2010, 20:52	#16
8bitbubsy Registered User Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Norway Posts: 1,711	I use Sennheiser HD 595 on Pinoeer A-505R on Creative X-Fi Titanium, and I'm not agreeing with either of you. How can a tune be more lively when each segment of frequencies (e.g. dark bass, high hi-hat, middle/high lead) can (and does) vary a LOT in panning seperation? A little does, but THIS wide..? Come on guys... There's nothing good in the 100% stereo seperation when using headphones, it's just a horrible fetish for insane musicians. At the latter part (better-paula) you get a better "audible overview" of all the frequencies, it's much more lively. On the first part (100% seperation), you even hear the rather bad loop point of the bass sample. And you get this rubbish "filter" kind of sound from it, like something is stuck in your ear. Also the drums are so widely panned they get a lot of attention and destroys what's on the same channel. I know this hack doesn't change the four channels individually (of course), but it still makes it easier for the ear to fetch the frequency range. Keep in mind: this MOD's low-freq samples have a horribly big frequency-change gap, maybe it's easier to hear how static they really are when using a softer panning .. I don't know though. Last edited by 8bitbubsy; 30 September 2010 at 21:04.

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09 July 2010, 21:38	#2
Hungry Horace Wipe-Out Enthusiast Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: . Age: 43 Posts: 2,538	i like the separation... it makes every track sound like Strawberry Fields on a more serious note, it comes in handy when you want to use FX etc on 2 channels but not the others. i'm sure the adaptor suits a more 'general' need though

10 July 2010, 03:46	#3
ami_junkie Posts: n/a	Nice one, it sounds well good, might have to try this mod myself. Thanks for this!

12 July 2010, 13:14	#5
Hewitson Registered User Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Melbourne, Australia Age: 41 Posts: 3,773	Not sure why anyone would think a small voltage divider with a cap would make anything sound crap.. I think this would be a great idea for anyone unfortunate enough to have to use headphones on their Amiga (I would mod the headphones, not the computer).

12 July 2010, 21:57	#7
bebek Registered User Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Poole UK Posts: 349	I am not sure, I like this old school sound and both channels separated ...

24 September 2010, 15:54	#8
Zetr0 Ya' like it Retr0? Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: United Kingdom Age: 49 Posts: 9,768	instead of using a 10k resistor - I would suggest a 10k long variable - that way you can play with 100 seperation and 100 mixed till your hearts content. =)

24 September 2010, 22:50	#9
HonestFlames Registered User Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Telford / England Posts: 38	Am I the only one hearing the loss of fidelity in the audio from the mod? It sounds really flat and lifeless.

24 September 2010, 23:35	#10
Paul_s Registered User Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Amigaville Age: 46 Posts: 3,335	what track is that music from busby? sounds familiar!

29 September 2010, 01:01	#12
Paul_s Registered User Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Amigaville Age: 46 Posts: 3,335	Sorry about misspelling your name bubsy! Ta for the name of the tune I do have it, just rummaging through my demo disks!

29 September 2010, 19:54	#14
Paul_s Registered User Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Amigaville Age: 46 Posts: 3,335	I'm listening through some Senny HD-600's. The original recording through stock sounds more lively but seperation isn't so great as said originally... the latter (betterpaula) helps with seperation but muddies the sound and loses dynamics in the higher range... so mixed feelings... some good and bad with both!

29 September 2010, 23:59	#15
HonestFlames Registered User Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Telford / England Posts: 38	I'm probably going to agree with Paul s.... I'm not sure if what I'm hearing is what Paul is describing, but it seems to be about right. Sennheiser HD-25 headphones and Sennheiser CX550 earphones both give me a sense of something being lost in the modded audio. I can even tell from the speakers in my laptop (they're good speakers though).

01 October 2010, 05:05	#17
rushy Posts: n/a	I have left/right Paula going into my mixing desk and bring each up from hard pan to sit the sounds just nice when listening to the amiga "normally". I make music with midiIn though so need both channels separate so I can affect them differently but if you're not bothered about that then I guess this solution might be ok for you. If you're making music then get a mixing desk. The sound quality in this mp3 does suffer with the mod, but maybe that's just inconsistent recording?

01 October 2010, 06:15	#18
Amiga1992 Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Location: ? Posts: 19,645	Rushy, how do you manage to get midiIN not to lock up?

28 November 2011, 10:15	#20
paulo_becas Registered User Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Porto, Portugal Posts: 464	So i decided to give it a go with this hack but made it more clean than the above Check it out.

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