Four Preamps And A Proper Output Stage
· by Kjell
Today I jumped a minor version because this one actually earns it. The signal chain got two significant additions, both things I'd been sketching out in a notebook for weeks.
The first is amp modelling. There are now four EQ preamps to choose from, each with its own tonal character - one leans warm and tape-ish, one is cleaner and more modern, the other two sit in between. I spent an embarrassing amount of time listening to the same four tracks through each of them, tuning coefficients until the differences felt musical instead of clinical. It's the kind of work you can't rush.
The second addition is a proper "Output Tools" section. You can now control the loudness target, do mid-side processing, flip phase on one or both channels, and dial in stereo width. These are the knobs I reach for when I want to tailor playback to a specific listening situation, and having them first-class feels like the player finally has a real output stage instead of a pipe that just hands bytes to the driver.