DART Karaoke Studio CD+G Changelog

What's new in DART Karaoke Studio CD+G 1.4

• NEW A new, updated DeVocal tool featuring better controls for more successful vocal suppression. If you thought using DeVocal was fun before, the new version will astound you. Tracks that previously only produced 'so-so' results should be able to be made much, much better with the use of new powerful controls over the DeVocal filter (see more on this, below).
• NEW A new "one-step" synchronization mode was introduced for setting timing flags when creating new karaoke projects. This new 'mode' allows you to start at the "Word" level much more easily. In many cases, you will only have to set your flags in one 'pass' of the audio. The current two-step mode (synchronization of lines followed by synchronization of words) is still available.
• Note: You do not have to do anything to turn on, or enable, this "one-step" mode. The Karaoke Author utility will simply work that way at all times when placing timing flags for your lyrics.
• NEW The In-program Help files have been updated to the HTML Help file standard. This will make using the in-program Help systems far easier to search and use.
• NEW There were various fixes added for different "known" issues from past versions:
• - denotes that a feature/fix is only available in the "Karaoke Studio CD+G" product, but not in the "Karaoke Studio".
• Resolved a common configuration in the "Generate CDG Track" tool that would cause a message ("Unnamed file not found") when building .bin files.
• Changes were made to our CD+G 'build' engine (the "Generate CDG Track" tool) which should produce smoother graphics and transitions for created .bin and .cdg files.
• Updates were made to the included CD-Recorder 4 Basic to better support Plextor CD-R/CD-RW and DVD burners for reading/writing CD+G tracks.
• DirectX 9.x support and changes for "Recorder/Player" - This should fix many instances of problems displaying the "Recorder/Player" interface and with recording audio via the PC's microphone.
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• DART's new, ultra-powerful DeVocal:
• Vocal suppression ('removal') made better...
• In our tireless zeal to provide the best possible software vocal suppression, we went back to the drawing board and added many new powerful controls for our already popular DeVocal tool.
• The new controls should make it possible for soundtracks to be used that before held no promise. If you've tried to use DeVocal (or other vocal 'removers') before and had less-than-stellar results, now is the time dust off that audio and give it another pass. Even songs DeVocaled by past DART versions will benefit greatly from another pass with this powerful new standard in software vocal suppression.
• Note!!: The results for vocal elimination can and will vary greatly depending on the original recording. Some recordings will produce incredible results while others will not work at all, and in some cases, the lead vocal will be completely eliminated but an artifact or background will be heard from the vocal recorded on background mikes. While the new DeVocal tool makes it possible to do more, there will always be some audio files that simply will not successfully allow for this kind of processing.
• Below, the new controls are marked in red:
• Attenuation - A left to right slide bar that is the DeVocalizer filtering control with a range of 0.0 (0%) to 1.0 (100%), or no DeVocalization (0.0) to full DeVocalization (1.0). Remember that, in some cases, it's a good idea to leave in some, or maybe even much, of the vocal to be left as a background. It's very common for the best vocal suppression to happen when this is set to 70-90% (0.7-0.9).
• Bass Retrieval On/off - (On/off selection). Bass retrieval can be turned on or off altogether. Generally, this wouldn't be a good idea, since this can help a lot with obtaining better results.
• Bass Retrieval - A left to right slide bar that adjusts the 'low' frequency ranges (bass) used in the removal. As the slide bar is moved right, the bass frequency cut-off is raised. This allows some of the instrumental accompaniment to be ignored in the elimination process. By setting this slider to the far right, you will retain more of the bass of the original audio while putting back in a bit more of the lead vocal.
• Treble Retrieval On/off - (On/off selection). Treble retrieval can be turned on or off altogether. Generally, this wouldn't be a good idea, since this can help a lot with obtaining better results.
• Treble Retrieval - A left to right slide bar that adjusts the 'high' frequency ranges (treble) used in the removal. As the slide bar is moved right the base frequency cut-off is raised. This allows some of the instrumental accompaniment to be ignored in the elimination process. It also means that the DeVocal tool will better focus on the area of the audio to be suppressed.
• Channel Balance - For a majority of recordings, the vocal is centered on both channels. Should this not be the case, use the Balance slider to improve the vocal suppression (move the slider to the left/right to find the position that guarantees the maximum attenuation). This allows you to 'point' the DeVocal tool to an off-center lead vocal track to target it for suppression.
• Enhance Stereo On/Off - (On/off selection). Stereo enhancement can be turned on or off altogether. In most cases, you will not want to disable this option, since almost every DeVocaled file will benefit from some level of stereo enhancement.
• Enhance Stereo - Any Devocalization process seriously degrades the stereo content of the processed audio file. The sterophonic content of the devocalized recording can be enhanced (faked) by applying special digital signal processing techniques. Using the Enhance stereo slider allows you to control the "depth" (width) of the stereo effect. Stereo enhancement may occassionally raise the signal level to the point where clipping occurs. Since clipping, indicated by the red clip light, next to "Output Level", results in audible sound distortions, it should be avoided. You can achieve this by reducung the level of the output signal (see below).
• Output Level - A left to right slide bar. The volume control for the audio that is produced from the filtering process. This can also help in the elimination of the vocal.
• Clip Indicator - An indicator light used with Output Level to help select the proper volume control so that no signal is lost in the results. When you see this indicator go bright red, you'll know that you need to turn the Output Level slider to the left to lower the DeVocalizer's output volume.
• DeVocalizer ON/OFF - This new control allows you to specific when the DeVocal tool should turn on/off when processing your audio. If you don't want to devocalize the entire recording, click the DeVocalizer ON/OFF control checkbox to activate the DeVocalizer ON/OFF Control Bar. The ON/OFF bar, situated between the Soundfile Window and Text Window in the main Karaoke Author window, allows you to select fragments that will not be devocalized. Using this control, you can mark all parts of the recording that should be preserved 'as are' (i.e. no vocal suppression applied).
• Range Selector - A selection box that specifies the DeVocalizer processing range - Frame, Entire File, or From Cursor. This tells Karaoke Studio where to start the Devocalizer process and where to stop it. The options being within the frame that has been marked, or within the window that is displaying the wave form, or from the beginning of the file. This is primarily used to test the settings within a certain part of the file.
• Other controls - There other controls on the panel that are more obvious - Play Source, Play Result, Change, Process, Help, and Close.