Using the Vividizer Plug-in with Foobar

 Instructions

  1. Download and install the latest stable version of Foobar found here. [Note: please use the 64-bit version.]

  2. Download and install the latest Vividizer Plug-In. Can be purchased here.

  3. Download the Foobar “VST 2.x/3.x Adapter” here.

  4. Open Foobar and add the VST Adapter to your plug-ins.

    1. Go to File->Preferences-> Components

    2. Click “Install…”

    3. Navigate to the VST Adapter you just downloaded called “foo_dsp_vst3.fb2k-component”

    4. Click “Open”

    5. Click “Apply”

    6. Restart Foobar

image-20240619-161344.png
The Components list with the VST 2.x/3.x Adapter correctly installed.
  1. Add the Vividizer Plug-In to your active DSPs.

    1. go to File->Preferences->Playback->DSP Manager.

    2. In the “Available DSPs” column on the right, click the ‘+’ next to the “VST 2.x/3.x Adapter” to add it to the Active DSPs column. [Note: if “VST 2.x/3.x Adapter” is not an option in your “Available DSPs” step 4 was not completed correctly and must be redone.]

    3. Click the three dots next to the VST 2.x/3.x Adapter in the Active DSPs column. A window called “VST Effect Configuration” will open.

    4. Click the drop-down and add the Vividizer plug-in. [Note: if no VST effects are found, click “Folders …” and ensure the path to the Vividizer.vst3 is selected. The Vividizer.vst3 should be stored at C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3\Vivaldi3d\Vividizer.vst3. If it still doesn’t show up, the Vividizer plug-in was not installed correctly. Follow the steps in the Vividizer installer again.]

      image-20240619-162322.png
      Vividizer VST added.
    5. When the Vividizer interface pops up, add your license key or start a trial.

    6. Adjust your Half-Span Angle as desired based off of your speaker set-up. Then close the Vividizer interface and the VST Effect Configuration page.

    7. Click “Apply” and then “Ok”.

  2. The Vividizer plug-in will now be applied to your audio path. To remove Vividizer, click the “X” to remove it from the “Active DSPs” column. To re-add Vividizer to your audio path, click the “+” next to “VST 2.x/3.x Adapter”. It should show up as “VST: Vividizer”. If it does not, re-initialize Vividizer by repeating Step 5.

  3. To bring up the Vividizer tuning interface again, simply navigate to File->Preferences->Playback-> Components and under “Active DSPs” click the three dots on the right of “VST: Vividizer“.

 

Walkthrough Video

 

Tuning Vividizer in Foobar

  1. Import the “L” and/or “R” pink noise files above into Foobar.

  2. Right click the ‘Play’ button in Foobar and select “Playback Order”.

  3. In the “Order:” drop down menu, select “Repeat (track)”. This is how you ‘loop’ audio files in Foobar. Once finished with the tuning procedure, turn this off to prevent audio files from continuing to loop.

  1. Click play on the pink noise track.

  2. Go to File->Preferences->Playback->DSP Manager, click the three dots next to Vividizer to bring up the Vividizer interface.

  1. Adjust the Half-Span Angle to fit your audio setup and then close the Vividizer interface and VST Effect Configuration windows.

  2. Finally, click “Apply” in the ‘DSP Manager’ window to save the changes to your Half-Span Angle.

 

Tuning Recommendations: To tune Vividizer simply change the Half-Span Angle until the noise sounds clearly and cleanly outside the speaker, off to your right or left, and preferably up next to your ear. If one side is more obvious to you, it is recommended to just tune on that side and go with that angle setting.


Ballpark examples (not exact, just where most fall into):

  • Desktop studio monitors: 20-40º

  • Far field/floor standing speakers: 15-30º

  • Film configuration L/R: 20-25º

  • Laptops: 12-18º

  • Soundbars 10-16º

 

Known Foobar Issue

Foobar does not follow standard VST plug-in formatting and procedural calls, thus, it can be sensitive to crashing when running VST plug-ins. One such Foobar crash occurs when aggressively scrubbing the playback head. This crash shows the error window below. If this crash occurs, simply close the error window and restart the selected audio track.