Penteo Pro 16 Upmix/Downmix Plug-In

[HomerJAU]

I've loaded everything but can't work out how to record the Penteo output. I can't seem to map the output to anything. Any pointers please?

I can also only hear the right front channel even on stereo wav files. Same WAVs play perfect in other s/w.

Penteo shows stereo input and 5.1 output channels (when I've selected 5.1 in Penteo)

 

[IMachine]

I've loaded everything but can't work out how to record the Penteo output. I can't seem to map the output to anything. Any pointers please?

I can also only hear the right front channel even on stereo wav files. Same WAVs play perfect in other s/w.

Penteo shows stereo input and 5.1 output channels (when I've selected 5.1 in Penteo)

Which DAW do you use?

 

[MC Maniac]

I've loaded everything but can't work out how to record the Penteo output. I can't seem to map the output to anything. Any pointers please?

I can also only hear the right front channel even on stereo wav files. Same WAVs play perfect in other s/w.

Penteo shows stereo input and 5.1 output channels (when I've selected 5.1 in Penteo)

All the output settings are specified in Reaper...Use the BATCH option - there you add your stereo files - specify where the 5.1 files are to go and and things like 24 bits, 96 khz, wav or Flac

Click on FX chain to open the Penteo panel

 

[HomerJAU]

Wow thanks John. That was easy!

The good news is it does the selected conversions faster than real time! I was worried it would be real time and take 40 mins or so for each album.

My first impressions are that Penteo ‘Descrete’ mode sounds best but the default centre level is too high. I‘ll do a few 5.1 conversions today then do listening tests on my big system. Then I’ll try 7.1 conversions and listen to those.

What Penteo settings are you using?

 

[HomerJAU]

Which DAW do you use?

Reaper, which I’ve never used previously

 

[MC Maniac]

Wow thanks John. That was easy!

The good news is it does the selected conversions faster than real time! I was worried it would be real time and take 40 mins or so for each album.

yes simple to do, and very fast - this is why I don't bother to listen, as it would then record in real time - it's faster to do the upmix offline - listen to the results - then redo if necessary

My first impressions are that Penteo ‘Descrete’ mode sounds best but the default centre level is too high. I‘ll do a few 5.1 conversions today then do listening tests on my big system. Then I’ll try 7.1 conversions and listen to those.

What Penteo settings are you using?

I haven't done any 2.0 to 5.1 using this new version of Penteo - the former version instead of composite and discrete - had settings such as 4.0 quad, and Music - I always used Music and most often the default levels resulted in the rears being too loud..

 

[HomerJAU]

Yea. Looking at the meters you can see the default surround levels are a smidge louder than the fronts. Playing back now I can hear that now. Early days for me with tweaking settings but first impressions listening on a real 5.1 system, not my crappy PC 5.1, is Penteo is doing a pretty good job of stereo to 5.1. No upmixing artefacts. Very promising.

Thanks for your help!

 

[IMachine]

Something to keep in mind:
When you export a Flac file the channel mapping is not correct, because Penteo uses a Pro Tools standard output:
Pro Tools: L, C, R, Ls, Rs, LFE
Flac: L, R, C, LFE, Ls, Rs
So you have to redo the channel mapping in Audacity to have the correct mapping.

As for the levels in Penteo:
Just lower the rears, that they have the same power, like fronts and lower the LFE channel.

Yesterday I made a surround Flac of Paul Simons "Rhythm Of The Saints".....it's simply stunning perfect!

 

[MC Maniac]

Something to keep in mind:
When you export a Flac file the channel mapping is not correct, because Penteo uses a Pro Tools standard output:
Pro Tools: L, C, R, Ls, Rs, LFE
Flac: L, R, C, LFE, Ls, Rs
So you have to redo the channel mapping in Audacity to have the correct mapping.

The previous Penteo version let you reassign the channels within the app itself - I dont see that option now

if you are upmixing to 12 channels, you have to fix the channel mapping

I run the 12 channel output through AudioMuxer - and then use a Bat file that splits the file into 12 mono wavs and also fixes the mapping and renames the files to what the DTSX encoder wants to see

 

[HomerJAU]

Penteo 16 has an option for channel layout in Settings. There’s one for FLAC: L R C LFE SL SR etc

 

[HomerJAU]

I’ve been using Penteo 16 for a couple of days and I’ve lowered C by 3db and rears by 9db in my latest test files.

 

[Sonik Wiz]

Based on comments elsewhere by Jon I'll give the Reaper app a try as an alternative to AA3. Perhaps 2>3 years ago I gave a trial version of Penteo a try. Back then Reaper wasn't a known option so I paired it with a trial version of Pro Tools. It was a mess very frustrating. And I decided I won't have anything to do with an iLok device. Even after un-installing I had to go search and destroy manually all left over files & clean the registry to keep "trial version expired" pop ups from hounding me. I am glad others are having better results with it!

I would be interested if someone can make a good comparison between upmixing stereo on Penteo vs SpecWeb vs Surround Master. For the most part I am very happy with SM results my own S2S upmix efforts have reduced considerably.

 

[aludra]

I agree...Ilok is (still) a nightmare and I avoid it like the plague...It is the quintessential definition of bloatware...I have it installed in only one of my computers out of a need for a particular piece of software, but keep it out of everything else...There are better methods for software protection.

 

[JonUrban]

Well I downloaded Reaper, but I am totally stumped with it. I'm used to Sound Forge, which is a wav/flac/etc file editor that allows me to work on all 6 channels as individual files, yet as a cohesive file. So I can highlight say the center channel and raise the volume or apply a plug in, etc.

However, Reaper opens "projects", and when I went to import a 5.1 flac file, it put it into one "channel", showing all 6 channels within that channel, and I could not seem to do anything to it.

Also, in Sound Forge, my output is set to "Direct Sound Surround Mapper", and the audio from Sound Forge (and Vegas) goes to my sound card and out to the proper speakers, F,L,C,LFE,SL,SR. With Reaper, I do not have an option for DIrect Sound Surround Mapper, only Direct Sound. And when I press PLAY, I hear nothing.

I don't like this. It might be my own stupidity or unfamiliarity of the software, but this software acts more like Cubase than an audio editor.

 

[J. PUPSTER]

Well I downloaded Reaper, but I am totally stumped with it. I'm used to Sound Forge, which is a wav/flac/etc file editor that allows me to work on all 6 channels as individual files, yet as a cohesive file. So I can highlight say the center channel and raise the volume or apply a plug in, etc.

However, Reaper opens "projects", and when I went to import a 5.1 flac file, it put it into one "channel", showing all 6 channels within that channel, and I could not seem to do anything to it.

Also, in Sound Forge, my output is set to "Direct Sound Surround Mapper", and the audio from Sound Forge (and Vegas) goes to my sound card and out to the proper speakers, F,L,C,LFE,SL,SR. With Reaper, I do not have an option for DIrect Sound Surround Mapper, only Direct Sound. And when I press PLAY, I hear nothing.

I don't like this. It might be my own stupidity or unfamiliarity of the software, but this software acts more like Cubase than an audio editor.

View attachment 44168

Maybe dumb question, but is the Evaluation License full featured? Yeah, that looks like a whole 'nother animal to the likes of AA3 & Audacity also

 

[HomerJAU]

I spent a few hours with Reaper and couldn’t get it to play out my 5.1 PC speakers.

However, Reaper’s batch command is very easy. I got that converting a folder full of stereo with Penteo in no time. Then I play back the 5.1s in Foobar.

I‘ll post a ‘how to’ tomorrow. Sorry busy today.

 

[HomerJAU]

Penteo eval is full featured, just limited to 14days.

 

[IMachine]

Jep. Reaper is a DAW like Cubase.
You have to learn.
I only know Cubase very good, so I cannot explain anything about other DAWs.
With ILok...I have it, I need it, I have no problems for about 10 years with it.

 

[IMachine]

An alternative to Penteo is Nugen Halo!

 

[Sonik Wiz]

An alternative to Penteo is Nugen Halo!

Thanks for the lead cuz I love looking at & learning about the various upmix tools like this. But, Sheesh! At $1500 plus the DAW for it to work in really makes it out of reach for a home experimenter.