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PostPosted: Sat Nov 25, 2017 12:58 pm 
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To knf & Alan: I'd say time to revisit this software and give it another chance. :wink:

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PostPosted: Sun Nov 26, 2017 1:32 am 
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Compuhost has built in normalization but... IT DOES NOT WORK FLAWLESSLY.
It only normalizes to a certain degree.

I use Compuhost at my shows with the Normalization always enabled but I accompany it with activating the compressor on the audio channel setting a medium threshold around -15 to -20dB. I know it's a bit much but it evenly balances out many tracks.


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PostPosted: Sun Nov 26, 2017 11:55 am 
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karaokeniagarafalls wrote:
Maybe I must've missed something with this software.

So you're telling me:
1) Run Breakaway software in the audio chain
2) Run my favorite karaoke software
3) Play a karaoke song (Karaoke software Unzips the karaoke track)
4) Breakaway software processes the MP3 part of the karaoke song in "real time" (Normalizes song without permanent alteration to the song.
5) No cdg syncing issues

All this on a "Windows PC" with no lag?

Yep x's 3

In the beginning (2008 or so) there was an ever slight lag (graphic sync) that seemed to be remedied since, but even if that is the case most softwares have a sync adjust in the settings you can just bump and save (at least Hoster does).

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PostPosted: Thu Dec 07, 2017 2:58 pm 
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my only complaint was it wouldn't run on my setup when i switched to windows 10, but whatever the problem was, it's been fixed.

Now if i could just find my license to put on my new laptop computer.. No response from the website.. But for $30 i just may cave and buy another one.. lol


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PostPosted: Fri Dec 08, 2017 11:42 am 
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karaokeniagarafalls wrote:
Maybe I must've missed something with this software.

So you're telling me:
1) Run Breakaway software in the audio chain
2) Run my favorite karaoke software
3) Play a karaoke song (Karaoke software Unzips the karaoke track)
4) Breakaway software processes the MP3 part of the karaoke song in "real time" (Normalizes song without permanent alteration to the song.
5) No cdg syncing issues

All this on a "Windows PC" with no lag?


You've attempted to take a very simple audio processing tool and make it much more complicated than it really is. Breakaway is nothing more than a virtual audio device that works as an audio processor then sends the signal on to a physical audio port. That's it and even that makes it sound more complicated than it is.

Latency happens any time an audio signal changes. Lag happens when the signal exits an audio cable . Any audio processor, physical or computer based creates a lag. Heck, getting the signal to a physical audio processor creates lag. The question isn't IF latency happens. The question is how much and is the amount noticeable. PC USB I ports were notorious for their latency. PC processors (which is all that happens with Breakaway)? Not so much. In the case of breakaway, it is able to work no differently than any VST, process the signal and pass it along without any significant latency. I understand from reading this earlier versions had bugs or issues. Those issues were not a representation of port or PC interface latency but probably more a design flaw.

I have Breakaway but I do not use it. It isn't that it doesn't work.. It works beautifully for what it is suppose to do. But I wrote my own volume control into my program and that works much better for me. Some softer songs do not need to be as loud as others. AC\DC needs to be turned up a notch or two. lynyrd skynyrd also needs to be turned up... Ronnie Van Zant told us so.. :lol: I will go through Breakaway if its a long stretch of DJ stuff or a wedding..


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PostPosted: Fri Dec 08, 2017 1:24 pm 
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The thing I like about Breakaway is it's not only a normalizer, it's a multiband processor so if bass, mid, highs are over powering it will mellow out just those frequencies as well while keeping the overall volume in check.

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PostPosted: Sat Dec 09, 2017 4:02 am 
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my problem with it is that it is not a normalizer.
it is a compressor...plain and simple.
it turns up the volume when the CURRENT volume is below "X" and stops turning it down when it gets below "Y" volume NOW.
so quiet parts of a song (just an acoustic guitar which is a LOT of high mids) get turned up way too far, and then when the full band comes in the compressor stops turning things up and the volume is too low.
then, after it leaves compressor 1, it goes into a multiband compressor which compresses frequencies based on ENERGY, not percieved volume. and every one of them...look at how much they compress (any preset) and you have the perfect smiley face EQ.

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PostPosted: Fri Dec 22, 2017 2:07 pm 
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If anyone is still looking for something to run mp3gain/ReplayGain against their mp3+g zip collection, I just released a tool to do it. I already had a basic working version that I wrote for myself, but when I saw this thread, I went ahead and adapted it for public release. I'm calling it KaraokeRG. It is currently available for Windows 64bit and Linux. I'll put together a Mac and Windows 32bit version soon.

You give it a directory and start it, and it will find all of the zip files that contain mp3 and cdg files, extract them, run mp3gain against the mp3, create a new zip, and replace the existing zip with it if everything goes right. If there is an error, it will just leave the mp3 alone. It also adds a marker text file to the new zip so that it knows to skip processing if it finds that marker, speeding up subsequent runs.

Note: I would consider this to be early beta quality, so if you decide to run it, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A BACKUP of your karaoke collection (you do anyway, right?) in case something goes terribly wrong and it starts killing kittens or sacrificing your children.

Source: https://github.com/OpenKJ/KaraokeRG
Windows 64bit downloads: https://openkj.org/windows_unstable_downloads
Linux: Follow the instructions on the OpenKJ website for installing the OpenKJ repos, and install the package "karaokerg" using your package mgr.


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PostPosted: Sat Dec 23, 2017 8:16 am 
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IsaacTN wrote:
If anyone is still looking for something to run mp3gain/ReplayGain against their mp3+g zip collection, I just released a tool to do it. I already had a basic working version that I wrote for myself, but when I saw this thread, I went ahead and adapted it for public release. I'm calling it KaraokeRG. It is currently available for Windows 64bit and Linux. I'll put together a Mac and Windows 32bit version soon.

You give it a directory and start it, and it will find all of the zip files that contain mp3 and cdg files, extract them, run mp3gain against the mp3, create a new zip, and replace the existing zip with it if everything goes right. If there is an error, it will just leave the mp3 alone. It also adds a marker text file to the new zip so that it knows to skip processing if it finds that marker, speeding up subsequent runs.

Note: I would consider this to be early beta quality, so if you decide to run it, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A BACKUP of your karaoke collection (you do anyway, right?) in case something goes terribly wrong and it starts killing kittens or sacrificing your children.

Source: https://github.com/OpenKJ/KaraokeRG
Windows 64bit downloads: https://openkj.org/windows_unstable_downloads
Linux: Follow the instructions on the OpenKJ website for installing the OpenKJ repos, and install the package "karaokerg" using your package mgr.


Hi Isaac, do you have a solution for replay gain for m4a (apple lossless) files? mp3gain has one for aac, I believe, but it doesn't seem to work with m4a. I tried changing the extension to aac but no luck.

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PostPosted: Sat Dec 23, 2017 11:06 am 
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I've never used it personally since all of my files are ogg, mp3, or flac, but it looks like there's a program called aacgain that's supposed to support m4a. I found it here: http://aacgain.altosdesign.com/


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PostPosted: Sat Dec 23, 2017 11:32 am 
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IsaacTN wrote:
I've never used it personally since all of my files are ogg, mp3, or flac, but it looks like there's a program called aacgain that's supposed to support m4a. I found it here: http://aacgain.altosdesign.com/


That's the one that doesn't work for me. Maybe I'm doing something wrong but I followed the directions closely. It doesn't read the files.

I wonder if I use your program and change the extension from m4a to aac if it would work?

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PostPosted: Sat Dec 23, 2017 1:28 pm 
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My program won't help. It just uses the standard mp3gain program. It's basically just a convenience wrapper to make it easy to use mp3gain on mp3+g zip file libraries.


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PostPosted: Sun Dec 24, 2017 5:46 am 
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Breakaway audio processor is a multiband compressor. It compresses/limits different parts of the audio spectrum as needed while leaving other parts alone. This is no different than the processing done in Meyer, Eaw, Jbl, Bose and other processed professional speaker systems since the 80's. The cheap alternative to breakaway is the external Behringer multiband compressor/eq at around $200.00 for
a rack mount unit. You have to program it yourself. Another alternative is a Driverack Pa or equivalent speaker processor and you set your "dynamic" eq to follow the input. This tweaks the eq based on volume.
The drawback is that with breakaway you are affecting only your track while the others affect the whole mix so you still have mixing problems. Breakaway or a similar solution is really an awesome solution even if you have a processed system.
I wish they would make a stand alone hardware version so I could supply it with my party/corp rental pa systems.

I do recommend a speaker processor with dynamic eq and compression for smaller cheap systems anyway. This way you can raise
low cuts and drop painful eq's as the volume is increased. This keeps your signal out of the speaker's internal crowbar type limiters.
Very frustrating doing a rock song and hitting the powered speakers limiters (Jbl, Mackie, Behringer, AM Audio etc). This results in me leaving the venue after the first time instead of only singing la-la-la songs. QSC and other high end cabs have much more fluid limiting.

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PostPosted: Sun Dec 24, 2017 8:04 am 
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screamersusa wrote:
Breakaway audio processor is a multiband compressor. It compresses/limits different parts of the audio spectrum as needed while leaving other parts alone. This is no different than the processing done in Meyer, Eaw, Jbl, Bose and other processed professional speaker systems since the 80's.

You are very wrong Screamer. It does more than the listed processors, because it has the the ability to listen ahead before the note is played and adjust gain. I know of no processors that do that.

So instead of increasing the gain and then having to beat it down, it listens for quiet parts and then brings them up.


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PostPosted: Sun Dec 24, 2017 10:40 am 
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Holy Cow! I can't believe that some posters are criticizing others for their "mixing skills" or lack there of. What mixing skills? Unless I'm totally missing something here I was under the impression that at best a karaoke host is blending one or two live vocalists into a pre-mixed sound recording. Calling that a mixing skill is like saying that someone who paints a bridge possesses the skills of a structural engineer. Come on folks this isn't rocket science.


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PostPosted: Sun Dec 24, 2017 4:10 pm 
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So, I've decided I want the Breakaway program... and now I need a "how to"... Needless to say I've not yet reached neophyte status when it comes to computer "stuff"... in other words, I'm an incomplete novice.

Unlike this machine, my show computer and it's back-up never see the internet. So, if I order Breakaway, how do I get it installed on my show computer and the back-up?

I'd be downloading with this machine, but wanting to install on two others. I hope this makes sense.

I know this is elementary to most of you, but to me it's akin to rocket science.

After you finish laughing at my utter absence of computer skills, your assistance would be appreciated. Thanks.

And while we're at it... Have a Super Christmas, and all good things for the new year.

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PostPosted: Sun Dec 24, 2017 4:44 pm 
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Earl, you can download on a regular computer that you might not be using for shows at all. Then all you really need is a flash drive to copy the file to and install them on both show computer and backup computer. You can also turn your registration email to PDF or whatever format your show and backup computers can read. From there you can copy and paste the codes into Breakaway's validation box.

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PostPosted: Sun Dec 24, 2017 6:21 pm 
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mrmarog wrote:
So instead of increasing the gain and then having to beat it down, it listens for quiet parts and then brings them up.

this is the part i have the biggest problem with.
quiter parts of songs (verse for instance) i get the singer mixed in correctly and then it gets to the chorus or other loud part and the singer jumps up in volume (as they should even with a compressor) and the music gets turned down.
i end up spending more time riding the faders than without.

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PostPosted: Sun Dec 24, 2017 7:42 pm 
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Paradigm Karaoke wrote:
mrmarog wrote:
So instead of increasing the gain and then having to beat it down, it listens for quiet parts and then brings them up.

this is the part i have the biggest problem with.
quiter parts of songs (verse for instance) i get the singer mixed in correctly and then it gets to the chorus or other loud part and the singer jumps up in volume (as they should even with a compressor) and the music gets turned down.
i end up spending more time riding the faders than without.

I find it quite the opposite. I only have to ride the faders when I am not using Breakaway.

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PostPosted: Sun Dec 24, 2017 9:01 pm 
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In spite of the fact that I've never used Breakaway or similar software programs I'm going to throw my 2 cents in here mostly because it's Christmas Eve, and I'm home alone and bored. I have played with a few auto-gain/leveling apps in the past and here's how they work for the most part. Depending on the app itself, you or the app sets the parameters by which the software will take action to either lower or raise the volume. Same goes for EQ. So if the app is set to adjust the volume to an RMS value, then on the upside it will pretty much make each track appear to be playing at the same volume. The downside however is that these apps are dumb and don't know the difference between a passage in the music that is intended to be soft like a tacet in the music with just a vocal and acoustic guitar for several measures, etc., and a section of the recording that for one reason or another was not compressed consistently with the rest of the track either intentionally or otherwise. If the app allows you to adjust its setting to peaks and thresholds instead of RMS, then it won't be as problematic for songs that have passages that are intentionally meant to be soft, but the downside here is that the volume from song to song will still need to be adjusted although probably not as much as it would without having the app engaged at all.

The same here goes for EQ. The app is dumb and can't tell the difference if a song's key is in the key of G or in the key of C, or if the song was just poorly EQ'd to begin with. Putting the latter aside for the moment, songs in different keys have their own "frequency personality" so to speak (I just made that term up for lack of knowing how else to explain it). It's the reason why people with perfect pitch can determine what any note is on the musical scale just by listening to it. If the app is told to adjust the EQ of a track it will apply the same EQ curve regardless as to the key of the song. On some songs it could present an obvious problem such as in a song that uses a band pass filter in the recording to create a telephone effect. Even without the application on special effects, in a normal recording, to me it would probably sound like fingers on a chalk board and if you were playing for a room full of musicians or audio engineers then that might be the same problem as well. For the most part however most people probably won't notice it much.

Another issue is that a lot will depend on the library that the host has. To give you a perfect example, most karaoke producers don't produce "radio ready" mixes, but are more like project studio mixes. So if you took a Sound Choice track (which were project studio mixes) and played it on your system it will usually sound terrific. If you took the same Pop Hits Monthly track (radio ready mixes) and played it on the same system, it wouldn't sound as good. Now if you took that same Sound Choice track, that same Pop Hits Monthly track and the original recording and played it over your home stereo or through a set of decent headphones, the Pop Hits Monthly track would win hands down, and you will notice that the PHM track is far closer to the original recording that the SC track is (as an aside, if I had it to do over again, I would not make radio ready mixes for use in live karaoke venues). So here's the issue. A PA or sound reinforcement system uses speakers with much stiffer suspensions than that of home stereo speakers due to the fact that they must be able to stand up to much higher SPLs than home speakers. Therefore recordings that are mixed for radio are much less dynamic but more sensitive to nuance than mixes done in project studios. This is a perfect example of a case where less is more. It definitely takes much more skill, extra steps and resources to create a radio ready mix, but in cases where these tracks will be played on commercial PA systems it is an unnecessarily expensive and time consuming step. The bottom line here is that an app like Breakaway on a PHM track probably would not alter the dynamics at all, whereas it may kick in on a SC track depending on the intensity of the setting. So now imagine that same scenario with several different products from different labels. So you can see that depending on a host's library or maybe I should say the host's show genre, how such an app like Breakaway may be very effective for one show but maybe not so much for another. I probably would use an app like Breakaway sparingly and without allowing it to alter the EQ, but each scenario is different and there's really no right or wrong way of doing it. Just whatever way works for you and your clients.

So my advice would be to use apps like Breakaway as another tool in your arsenal but not to use it in such a manner as to put your system on autopilot. Same thing goes for devices like the Barcus Berry BBE Maximizer. Here is another device that should be labeled as a controlled substance. If I had a dime for every time I heard one of these things misused I'd be as wealthy as Bill Gates.


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