I downloaded StereoTool audio processor today. It's not too bad considering it's software based. Right now I'm just using one of the presets that's included. Running into the SW200 processor. It gives the SW200 a bit of better punch. I'm going to play around with it a while and see what it can do. Will update more as I tinker with it.
You mention "It's not too bad considering it's software based". Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't most physical proccessor boxes also software based, including the SW200?
Its interesting the SW200 cant produce the sound your looking for on it's own, Ive read nothing but good about the unit. But I guess it's not really made to color the audio.. (I really have no idea, just talking off the cuff).
I would like to see a tutorial on using Stereo Tool specifically for AM broadcast,.and wouldnt it be cool to convert Stereo Tool into an actual physical unit?
@richpowers The Schlockwood is not software. It's all discrete components and some ICs for certain functions but analog processing. The user controls are all analog. I use the Schlockwood by the way. Software is a computer program as opposed to hardware.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software
I can verify that the SW200 has no firmware at all. As Mark said, it is all analog processing. If you so desired, you could reverse engineer it and build your own with discrete parts. No firmware involved.
The SW200 is a great little box. It's an all-in-one processing solution for a Part 15 or even a low power AM station. That last sentence sounded like ad copy, but I'm just a regular guy with a Rangemaster and an SW200 (oh, and a laptop to provide the audio!)
Rich Power said, "Wouldn't it be cool to convert StereoTool to a physical unit?"
Well, that is already done!
There's been some oversimplification.
Firmware is hardware with embedded software.
A computer is hardware with infused software.
The hard doesn't do anything without the soft.
The soft is dependent upon the hard.
And this...
Using two audio processors makes no more sense than using two water heaters. Does anyone really think that two water heaters gives you better heat?
@carl-blare Cant say I agree with that.. seems to me most audio chains comprise of multiple processing units.
However, I continue to believe theres very little difference between firmware and software (or hardware and virtual proccessing). Firmware and software are essentially the same thing. The primary difference is how iits stored.
Firmware or software, irefers to the method of installation, of the programinng.
When you update or install in hardware the programming is embedded in chips. When you update or install in a virtual operating system (ie Windows, Mac, Ubunto) it's stored on a harddrive.
But I agree hardware would be a more dependable [i]icomputer[/i] for radio processing than a Windows machine would, because hardware is dedicated exclusively to the task, whereas a windows machine at the same time deals with other processing needs.