WACUP

General => General Discussion => Topic started by: Mmusicman on May 11, 2021, 02:59:34 PM

Title: AWESOME! JUST DISCOVERED WACUP!
Post by: Mmusicman on May 11, 2021, 02:59:34 PM
My first post here:
OMG! Just discovered WACUP, this is AWESOME!!!
How the HECK did I miss this!!!

Hello everyone! I have been an avid user of Winamp for decades, and I use to actively participate in the old forums as well. I was there when DrO was first developing JTFE (I still have all the beta releases) and was actively involved in some of the early-on requested features, to which DrO always came though! This plugin was a huge deal for my needs and use in my mobile DJ work, and still is to this day.

As stated, I've been using Winamp for my DJ use for decades.  To this day, I use it constantly every day, as well as for my weekend use, where I do small to large outdoor events (typically classic car shows or city events).  I've expanded my use to include streaming as well, where the programs run continuously non-stop (longest run so far is multiple players on one computer about 1/2 year).  I also run additional audio processing before sending out a final signal. 

I don't like fancy spinning programs that suck up ram.. just give me what works!

I keep it simple!  It's always been Classic player for me.  No skins, no frill.. just the core of what makes it work. I only use playlists (no media library).. they are everything to me.  I have years worth of stored playlists to match any type of music gig... and have it all on multiple laptops and PC's.

I lost track of Winamp when it went though it's recent dark stage, and all the cool resources suddenly disappeared.  So I settled back with what I had, happy that it serves my needs.  I've run it on XP for many many years, now mostly Windows 7 (on multiple machines).. but recently decided to learn and accept Windows 10 (not really terribly different once you get under the hood). W7 however, on all my laptops (they only play music).

Winamp player has always worked flawlessly for me. The way I use it, it is extremely rare for a crash, if ever. But I have to admit, I stopped upgrading after Winamp 5.35 (where things started getting messy).  I tried a few upgrades, and immediately got crashes, and went back to old reliable, which is essential when I'm working public events. 

But I also have to admit one of MY BIGGEST REASONS for my use of Winamp was because of the 3rd party SQRSOFT Crossfader plugin... which gives fully adjustable amazing radio-station quality "db-based" cross-fades (not time-based which suck terribly).  This plugin is VITAL to me!

Not sure why.. but I eventually discovered through testing that the SQRSOFT v1.75 was giving me somewhat distorted audio sine-waves at 44.1K sampling rate (didn't really notice it at the time with music).. and the 48K was dramatically improved (although not without issues too).  But I'd have to live with it as the incredible "learning crossfades" were that important to me (I hate jumbled time-based crossfades). Unfortunately, this really old plugin version has conflicts with newer Winamp versions, causing unreliability and crashes.  I tried the newest SQRSOFT v1.79 which made HUGE sound improvements and works with newer Winamps, but also discovered it has a memory-leak which would go off the charts for my internet steams that run non-stop, so I can't use it for streaming.  But I found ways to make the older version work with newer winamps, or just stick with Winamp 5.35 that has served me for decades.  But I became obsessed with audio testing that had revealed some issues.

On the flip side, I found the newer Winamps either lacked a couple features I've grown to need, or didn't work with older plugins.

I realize WACUP does not actively support 3rd party plugins, but this SQRSOFT db-based crossfader plugin is everything for me (unless there's another one I've missed).  I was very excited to see WACUP work happily with either version so far, as I am currently testing it all out (I only discovered WACUP two days ago).  I am also VERY excited to see WACUP working with other older plugins I've grown to need.

I've discovered a few minor bugs which may already be known, but don't really affect me much.
But there are a LOT of exciting improvements I can see! 

Thank you DrO for your continuing efforts over the many years!
I'm excited to be back on board!!!  :)


Title: Re: AWESOME! JUST DISCOVERED WACUP!
Post by: MourningStar on May 11, 2021, 10:24:02 PM
(https://i.imgur.com/dTNpRvK.gif)
Title: Re: AWESOME! JUST DISCOVERED WACUP!
Post by: Dr.Flay on May 29, 2021, 04:37:51 AM
The DSP side of things is being reworked but many old plugins work well.
It is useful to report any bugs you find with old plugins, as it does help with knowing what to support or fix if the problem is in the old Winamp code.

*cough* Also useful is providing a link to plugins you are referring to, so others can confirm the same results.
http://sqrsoft.com.ar

As it seems active I think you should report your bug in the newest version to them, and perhaps suggest they also checkout WACUP as the active continuation of the Winamp project.
A new core means new plugin possibilities so maybe they will be able to make use of new features as available.