Feature request: Flash/Pulse for Equaliser effect

[JimmeeMan]

I am trying to get my G560 speakers to flash/pulse on beat.

I'm aware that device support has been requested, however I currently have them set up as a generic device in Aurora.

The current Audio Visualiser's "Equalizer Effect Type" are all centred around a keyboard with different animations. These aren't suitable for a non keyboard, light only, device as they don't show up well with the animation and detract from the effect of being an Audio Visualizer. Can a pulse/flash Equalizer Effect please be added to the Audio Visualizer Layer type. Also, "View Type" would need to have a Colour Cycle mode with a colour change speed control as currently the "Gradient Color Shift" goes too fast when concentrated on just the speakers and again detracts from the effect of the Audio Visualizer.

[gitmacer]

can you precise what you mean with pulse/flash Equalizer Effect? -change speed when music is louder? -light up when music is over a specific loudness level? -only on certain frequencies?

Also can you further describe what you mean with colour change speed control.

Also you can set lower animation speed by using the Override System. I do not understand what you want to tell me with: Concentrated on just the speakers and again detracts from the effect of the Audio Visualizer?

[JimmeeMan]

Hi @gitmacer With regards to: can you precise what you mean with pulse/flash Equalizer Effect? -change speed when music is louder? -light up when music is over a specific loudness level? -only on certain frequencies?

The speakers are made up of (i think) 2 on the sides of each of the L + R speakers. Then there is a cluster of 4 LEDS at the back of each of the speakers (L+R). Generally from what I've seen, you have those options already. You have "Scale with Volume" which I'm assuming changes with volume? If not, yes showing up brighter when louder would be great option to have.

It also appears you can select the frequencies, so I'm not worried about that. I will just have to find the best frequencies. However, the issue is not so much the customization but the animations. Currently there are three effects "Power Bars", "Waveform", Waveform (from bottom).". When using these effects they translate badly to a strong flash of colour when there are not multiple keys to shows these animations. The Power Bars, for example, create a kind of flickering effect from what would be the top end of the bar effect if on a keyboard that could display it. This obviously weakens the effect when you are expecting the lights to flash on the beat (Frequencies). It does flash up on the beat (sort of), but it also has a flickering occurring from it trying to translate the Power effect to a cluster of four single LEDs (on the back of the speakers) that are trying to throw a single flash of color on a beat. "Waveform" almost doesn't show up at all as it does not translate well at all to a flash of color. It tends to make the side speaker LEDS glow only. Essentially, the animations themselves are not appropriate for LEDs that just need to throw out non-animated color on beats. The animations just need to be removed and a single color/colors flashed without animations.

On a side note, having presets for some effective frequencies for which to flash on would also be great.

Also you can set lower animation speed by using the Override System. I do not understand what you want to tell me with: Concentrated on just the speakers and again detracts from the effect of the Audio Visualizer? Again, these issues are created by single LED clusters trying to translate effects like "Gradient notched Color", "Gradient Color Shift" and "Gradient (Horizontal/Vertical)". Single LEDs can't display these effects. These just translate badly. The "Gradient Color Shift" is probably the best, but creates almost a flickering sort of color change. I also don't seem to be able to see the "Effect Speed" option on any of these settings in the Override System.

I hope this was clear. It's a bit hard to describe.

I have attached some photos for reference purposes.

[gitmacer]

I created a profile that could be like you want but it probably needs some value tweeking for your system. It works best on music with big volume differences because it can only react to all frequencies. It uses the override system so read here to find out more. 1 key EQ VU meter.zip

[JimmeeMan]

I created a profile that could be like you want but it probably needs some value tweeking for your system. It works best on music with big volume differences because it can only react to all frequencies. It uses the override system so read here to find out more. 1 key EQ VU meter.zip

Hi @gitmacer Thanks for your help here.

I have loaded in your profile. I can see your logic changes in the Override System (though i'm not yet use to the logic process there). Unfortunately the LocalInfo/SpeakerLevel value is not being detected. I changed this to SystemVolume and I'm getting all constant red with no change regardless of volume level or beat. I'm not sure yet how to tweak the variables effectively, but i'm going to assume it is simply the SpeakerLevel detection not working that has broken this for me. Amy hints for getting this to work? Also, ultimately what I'm after is a color cycle mode that flashes or perhaps the brightness changes on beats (or a combination of both) as I always found the 2 tone color mode fairly limited. The color cycle speed will be adjustable. Either way, I can tweak this when I get more familiar with the specific variables and functions. I guess I need to get the SpeakerLevel detection working first.

Cheers

[JimmeeMan]

Looking into this, it looks like the "Blinking" Layer Type is what I'm after if this was to be added as a View Type in the Audio Visualizer and the Equalizer Effect Type could be turned off. With both these things added/changed, it would also enable the ability to just have a "Solid Color" beat flash as well by simply disabling the Equalizer Effect Type and changing the View Type to the already included Solid Color option. The other feature would be the ability to add Opacity Level to Equalizer Effect Type so that (if wanted) the speakers (or other device) would flash brighter based on the frequencies set as well.

I hope this has clarified the feature request.

[gitmacer]

Try to select the right audio device in the settings also you can tick the debug checkbox to see the values to check if it changes when you play a sound.

[JimmeeMan]

@gitmacer I have assigned the device for GSI Playback Device (and the GSI Recording Device) in General Settings and I have no change. There is still no reaction from the LocalInfo/SpeakerLevel option.

[gitmacer]

Have you a audio app like nahimic installed?

[JimmeeMan]

Have you a audio app like nahimic installed?

Nope. I just did a look through my Program Files and installed programs. I had broadcaster software which I just uninstalled and restarted my PC. Nothing I can see that ties directly into my audio besides the Realtek driver/software.

[gitmacer]

I guess you also don't use a USB audio device

[JimmeeMan]

For my headset I do. It's got a little USB DAC for the headset... but this is what is handled by G Hub. the G560 speaker themselves also USB controlled, but again, this is handled by G Hub. Other than that, no.

[gitmacer]

Can you try if it works when you playback audio over your onboard realtek audio? USB Soundcard can cause problems if so you can try if it works when you passthrough the audio through virtual audio cable and set it as GSI playback device and enable playback in the windows settings.

• Set "Realtek High definition audio" as GSI playback device.
• Set "Realtek High definition audio" as Windows playback device.
• Restart Aurora

It should look like that

[JimmeeMan]

@gitmacer, looks like you nailed it on this one. I plugged my headphones in directly to the Realtek Onboard audio and it worked. I can even keep the speaker audio plugged into USB and it passes it through to the lights. With a little tweaking for its responsiveness (at the moment it needs a bit more bass end tweak), an option for a color blink/cycle and it'll be pretty close. Thanks for your work on this one. Unfortunately, the fact that it needs some sort of pass through for USB audio does also mean that the way in which you have configured it does not work for the speakers. Hopefully this will at least help others with non-animated type devices though.

Thinking about this approach, I think what will creep up as a problem will be that frequencies will need to be added to get a more satisfying beat flash.

[gitmacer]

with virtual audio cable you can create a useable middle software device to get the data from and you can still listen to the sound when the speaker are used.

With that aproach the lights will flash depending on the overall loudness and you can't choose the frequencies to listen.

BTW: you can reduce the flashing by enabling smoothing on the normal Audio layer.

[JimmeeMan]

OK, so i gave this a go and the virtual connection did work which is great in the interim if i need it before device support is added. As far as the light flashing by level, it's not quite the right responsiveness for music without adjusting for frequencies. The smoothing ... i'm not sure if it is better in for music visualization or not. I definitely feel like this would need to be implemented as previously mentioned:

Looking into this, it looks like the "Blinking" Layer Type is what I'm after if this was to be added as a View Type in the Audio Visualizer and the Equalizer Effect Type could be turned off. With both these things added/changed, it would also enable the ability to just have a "Solid Color" beat flash as well by simply disabling the Equalizer Effect Type and changing the View Type to the already included Solid Color option. The other feature would be the ability to add Opacity Level to Equalizer Effect Type so that (if wanted) the speakers (or other device) would flash brighter based on the frequencies set as well.

I hope this has clarified the feature request.

In any case, thank you for your help on this one @gitmacer

[gitmacer]

@JimmeeMan I spend some freetime to do the code changes requierd to map it to the transparency value. You can download a test version of my current code here: https://ci.appveyor.com/project/gitmacer/aurora-8tn27/builds/34750118/artifacts And please give feedback.

Demo: