directX audio effects

[grosau]

hey,

i installed some directX audio effects but whatever i do, openmpt does not recognize them!
other trackers do, but openmpt always stays with the same 10 or 11 directX effects (i think they belong to the original installation of directX).
VST's work nicely, no problems. as a workaround i tried vb_ffx4 (which is a vst fx) to load directX-effects. that works, although i haven't really tested it in cpu-demanding situations.
but it's not really a solution now is it.

thanks for reading this far.

hopefully waiting for answers and solutions,

dan

ps: some of the directX effects are not recognized even by vb_ffx4. maybe they are to old or belong more into video...?

[Saga Musix]

How did you install the effects? Are they registered through the registry? OpenMPT can only find DirectX effects that have a link in the registry. Also, if anything, they're probably too new, and not too old.
You can find all registered DX plugins at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, in Software\Classes\DirectShow\MediaObjects\Categories\f3602b3f-0592-48df-a4cd-674721e7ebeb - this is a list of identifiers, which can then be found in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, Software\Classes\DirectShow\MediaObjects\, where you can find the plugin name.

[grosau]

oh, that was quick. thanks. well there is something in there, 11 keys (which is the exact number of directx effects recognized by omt) but i can't see anything but hex values, don't know what they refer to.
i looked through the installed directx f x and i really wouldn't know how to register them. they have these install.log's, but afaik the regdb values are only for the uninstaller.

can i somehow create these registry entries?

d.


bytheway, i did search the forum with "directx" as keyword and got surprisingly little answers none of which fit my problem. why is it so unpopular with openmpt? obviously there is a lot of vst around, but it really seems no-one is using the directx effects. are they low quality? out of date? then why does openmpt recognize them at all? just some thoughts...

[Saga Musix]

but i can't see anything but hex values, don't know what they refer to.

As said, go up two folders in the hierarchy, to Software\Classes\DirectShow\MediaObjects\ - you will find the same IDs there, just click them and you'll see the plugin name in the right view in regedit.
I'm not sure if they IDs are just random GUIDs or of there's a meaning behind them, if it's the former they could be generated and filled in manually in theory, but as far as I understand, this is really something the plugin installer should do.

bytheway, i did search the forum with "directx" as keyword and got surprisingly little answers none of which fit my problem. why is it so unpopular with openmpt? obviously there is a lot of vst around, but it really seems no-one is using the directx effects. are they low quality? out of date? then why does openmpt recognize them at all?

VST plugins are indeed of lower quality - they just do 16-bit integer mixing, compared to VSTs which can do 32-bit or 64-bit (not in OpenMPT) floating point mixing. So they are prone to clipping and have a lower dynamic range and SQNR (the SQNR of 32-bit floating point equals the SQNR of 24-bit integer).
Also, DX plugins have always been less popular, and if you look around, you will also find far less DX plugins available on the web than there are VST plugins. The main advantage of them is that there are a few of them which come pre-installed with DirectX, so you can rely on *some* audio effects to be present, which can for example be used when writing game music.

[grosau]

ok. i looked through the id's and found none of those that i had installed.
so i just searched the whole registry for two dx fx, the first i downloaded onlyt today, the second is from a cd with music software that is 12 y old.

blue cat stereo flanger

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{12DAFDF5-51AA-49E1-B3B7-B468AA435986}
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\DXPlugins\{12DAFDF5-51AA-49E1-B3B7-B468AA435986}
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Filter\{12DAFDF5-51AA-49E1-B3B7-B468AA435986}
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\MfxSoftSynths\{12DAFDF5-51AA-49E1-B3B7-B468AA435986}
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\ActiveMovie\devenum\{083863F1-70DE-11D0-BD40-00A0C911CE86}\{12DAFDF5-51AA-49E1-B3B7-B468AA435986}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{12DAFDF5-51AA-49E1-B3B7-B468AA435986}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\DXPlugins\{12DAFDF5-51AA-49E1-B3B7-B468AA435986}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Filter\{12DAFDF5-51AA-49E1-B3B7-B468AA435986}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\MfxSoftSynths\{12DAFDF5-51AA-49E1-B3B7-B468AA435986}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Sonic Foundry\DXCache\{12DAFDF5-51AA-49E1-B3B7-B468AA435986}
HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-350281380-233495102-1455855570-500\Software\Microsoft\ActiveMovie\devenum\{083863F1-70DE-11D0-BD40-00A0C911CE86}\{12DAFDF5-51AA-49E1-B3B7-B468AA435986}

Hyperprism-DX  Tube/Tape Saturation

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{174BCA02-330D-11D2-90EF-444553540000}
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Filter\{174BCA02-330D-11D2-90EF-444553540000}
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\ActiveMovie\devenum\{083863F1-70DE-11D0-BD40-00A0C911CE86}\{174BCA02-330D-11D2-90EF-444553540000}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{174BCA02-330D-11D2-90EF-444553540000}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Filter\{174BCA02-330D-11D2-90EF-444553540000}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Sonic Foundry\DXCache\{174BCA02-330D-11D2-90EF-444553540000}
HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-350281380-233495102-1455855570-500\Software\Microsoft\ActiveMovie\devenum\{083863F1-70DE-11D0-BD40-00A0C911CE86}\{174BCA02-330D-11D2-90EF-444553540000}

just picked two random effects.
(i left out a few entries that refer to uninstall or pdf-manuals and such)

anyhow the question is still, how can i get omt to recognize these?
both have been installed properly and are being recognized by other programs.

i am no registry-geek, so the answer is probably that i just have to live with it until the developers might take care of it...

[grosau]

...or, what exactly does ompt look for in the registry and where?
maybe it would be enough to add registry entries pointing to the particular dll?

i looked again at the entries in
Software\Classes\DirectShow\MediaObjects
but they don't seem to contain info about where the fx are stored.
i tried to add a key which resembles one of the other dx fx that ompt recognizes, and just put in the name of the aforementioned tube/tape saturation. no effect.

[Saga Musix]

...or, what exactly does ompt look for in the registry and where?

It does exactly look for the things I described in the first post.

i looked again at the entries in
Software\Classes\DirectShow\MediaObjects
but they don't seem to contain info about where the fx are stored.

I suppose adding the same GUIDs as the ones you found (f.e. 12DAFDF5-51AA-49E1-B3B7-B468AA435986) in the MediaObjects and Categories folders could help. Try importing this .reg file:

Code Select Expand

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\DirectShow\MediaObjects\Categories\f3602b3f-0592-48df-a4cd-674721e7ebeb\12DAFDF5-51AA-49E1-B3B7-B468AA435986]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\DirectShow\MediaObjects\12DAFDF5-51AA-49E1-B3B7-B468AA435986]
@="somepluginname"
"InputTypes"=hex:61,75,64,73,00,00,10,00,80,00,00,aa,00,38,9b,71,01,00,00,00,\
  00,00,10,00,80,00,00,aa,00,38,9b,71
"OutputTypes"=hex:61,75,64,73,00,00,10,00,80,00,00,aa,00,38,9b,71,01,00,00,00,\
  00,00,10,00,80,00,00,aa,00,38,9b,71
Dunno if that works, maybe not.