U BACCH VST3 plug-in not working without Realtime enabled

Usb port to see, click apple menu about this mac… system info and select usb on left panel

The playback pre-load memory buffer allocation is found in Audirvana SettingsAudio

These are your locally attached devices… Black Hole competes for the USB bus…

@RunHomeSlow

Thanks. I’m aware of that. I have the exasound dac plugged into an External USB. I can plug it in directly.

This problem is not really just about the exasound though, because it also occurs via UPnP.

It is most likely related to how uBACCH API’s are implemented…

Thanks again also @Agoldnear. I have lowered the pre-load memory buffer, as I said before. It made no difference,

I really appreciate your efforts to help me on this. Remember though, that I’m encountering this problem on two very different systems (with some variation). Mac Studio and Windows running under BootCamp on an Intel Mac Mini.

To try to solve the problem on the Mac, I could uninstall BlackHole. I still really believe though, that this is a software issue between Audirvana on both platforms and this uBACCH plug-in, when it runs with RealTime switched off, and will probably only be resolved between the Audirvana guys and the uBACCH guys.

The lower playback pre-load buffer allocation will help with playback interrupts, etc… but all bets are off when running the Windows virtual machine… :wink:

just posted that on another thread here… you could try it since it is upnp bug also…

You wanna try v2.4 before it started to go less good with upnp like in 2.5 and up
i have put it in my dropbox the other day for people to try… Origin and Studio 2.4

just close your Audirvana…remove it from your applications folder and keep it elsewhere for the test… then choose which one you want from the two 2.4 version and put it in your applications folder… start it…

if still buggy, just put back your new version in applications and replace :slight_smile:

Thanks so much for that. Will give it a try.

BTW the way, I’m not affiliated with uBACCH in any way; but I’ve listened to a variety of music through it and been impressed; but just now I decided to play Bryan Ferry’s Mamouna Deluxe album from Qobuz. When it comes to the surround effects it blew me away. I just can’t believe this can be coming from just the two front speakers.

I actually have a 5.1 system and the rear left and right speakers are connected to the same exasound DAC. This album is stereo only; but I’m hearing so much sound which seems to be coming exactly from those two rear speakers. I keep having to check they’re not on.

This is truly freaking me out!

BTW, to be clear; the problem is not just limited to UPnP. It occurs when playing from Audirvana direct to the DAC, when RealTime for plug-ins is turned off.

Turned on; all is fine. It’s just that plug-ins don’t work via UPnP with RealTime on.

No alternative to that plugin that might work?

Yes, at least a 5.1 system or Atmos with Blu-Ray releases or Apple’s (lossy) spatial recordings.

Then it comes down to the mix and how well it was done. From a legendary mixer, such as Steven Wilson or Giles Martin, or someone else.

Obviously it also comes down to taste.

With BACCH, nobody has decided where to place specific sounds anywhere. It just removes the corrupting effect of crossfeed between the stereo speakers. The benefit will differ from recording to recording; but it’s not down to the choices of a particular mixer.

Mamouna, is a recording which might use modern studio effects to create a surround illusion; just as some Roger Waters albums do. Those effects though are usually momentary.

What I’m hearing with Mamouna is some of the best surround sound I’ve heard, throughout the entire album.

With more conventional recordings of acoustic music in live spaces, the effects are more subtle; but impressive nonetheless.

In both cases it’s recording dependant then. With uBACCH though it is more consistent and not dependant on the choices of mixing engineers. So to me, it’s more natural.

… and you don’t need a cartload of extra speakers.

Natural ‘surround’ sound is the reflections from the surrounding surfaces of the listening environment. Which I get from my stereo setup, as the sound reflects from the surrounding surfaces of my listening environment…. no magic plug-in needed, the effect is controlled by the loud knob…:rofl:

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Those reflections can also get in the way of you hearing what was intended for you to hear by the artists; etc. behind each recording.

Your room may be working very much in your favour in this respect. So you might have lucked out there, or put a lot of effort into acoustically designing the room?

I know how the room can work both for you and against you, depending on your room.

In my room (without the uBACCH filter) I get a wonderful sense of height from plain stereo, with sounds that correspond to exactly where my centre channel speaker is. That centre channel speaker is higher than most, as it sits above the housing for an electric projection screen.

… but I never get side and rear information to the extent I do with the uBACCH filter, from just plain stereo recordings, and to me the result sounds entirely natural and right, meaning as intended. Although I can’t know that for sure; but hell, I’m enjoying it!

I agree, it’s whatever works for you. I come from a live music production background, and like the ‘live venue’ sound . Left / right speaker stack, let the sound fill the space.
To my mind, if the original recording was a stereo mix, with instrument positioning created within those parameters, the stereo setup is how it is best, and most accurately, heard.

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For the money you invested, you should get white-glove support from BACCH Labs in resolving this behavior. :wink:

Not wishing to go too far off piste, but I stopped going to the cinema when everything became surround and immersive…. I don’t want to be part of the action, I want to be the observer, the outsider looking in, watching the story… much like live theatre.

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I’m still on the 14 day trial. The price was quite reasonable at $399; but they raised it recently to $980 is seems.

I think this was because $980 was the price agreed with Dutch & Dutch. So if someone wants to purchase it for use with D & D speakers, that’s what they have to pay, even though it could previously be purchased and downloaded at $399 to use with Mac or PC apps, such as Audirvana.

Srajan Ebaen of 6Moons raised this with D & D, and I’m wondering if that’s why they raised the price for the plug-in. I’m not blaming Srajan as he was just doing his job as a journalist and, in any case, it was Srajan who brought it to my attention. So I thank him for that.

Jump to the Dutch & Dutch chapter

In the cinemas they’re using Atmos or Multichannel surround systems so different sounds come out of different speakers spread around the cinema. People also use Atmos/Multi-channel at home, of course, and I’m sure you know the 5.1 or Atmos recordings are much dependant on the mixer engineer who decided where he/she thought sounds should be placed.

The uBACCH filter can generate a wider soundstage and a room filling sound, with sounds on some recordings appearing to be very close to or behind you. All this happens from standard stereo recordings. They now behave like Binaural recordings behave over headphones (only). The folks behind uBACCH will tell you this is how the recordings were intended to be heard. They are simply fixing the problem of crossfeed between the two speakers.

On some recordings the difference is night and day, in my limited experience so far. Like going from black and white to colour.

It works better on directional, focused speakers, such as my Avantgarde’s. Less so on more diffuse speakers. I just tried it on my old Martin Logan CLSZII Electrostats in another room. The effect is not nearly so obvious. It’s also harder to determine the correct settings with the MLs.

The MLs would probably already do some of what the BACCH is doing; but the effect is not so dramatic as with my AVGs. No doubt the room is also playing a part.

Well, they would wouldn’t they…

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