Hey, t.
We do have some news in this area. First, I’d like to apologize to the forum as a whole for not showing my face here more often this year. A LOT of really cool things have been going on for DPS, especially in the hardware consumer electronics area. I wish I could fill you guys in more but there is a lot of confidentiality to consider. Let’s just say I’ve racked up a ton of frequent flyer miles. And I extend many thanks to Bongiovi team members Dan Rice and Joe Beaty and all of the forum members like Jim Boden who contribute their own free time to helping DPS users.
Regarding our progress on DPS 2.0: I tested the first official alpha version yesterday! We are about a week away from getting a version out to the forum for testing. Here are some of the features…
- Completely redesigned GUI (see this thread) that is SKINNABLE! You can create your own look and feel by replacing a few png files, editing a config file and dropping in your own font. I see a contest on the horizon 😉
- Dynamic Stereo Enhancement
- New structure for adding profiles (especially for Windows users). Just drop them in the appropriate folder.
- Re-vamped audio processing code that is more efficient, more accurate and sounds better.
- Real Time Frequency Analyzer
The Windows version will be available first. When we are all happy with the changes then we will port to Mac. Not only does this save us a lot of work, it will give us a chance to understand Yosemite better in parallel to the Windows beta program.
Regarding Virtual Audio Drivers: Basically, Microsoft and Apple have personally told us, in no uncertain terms, they do not like virtual audio drivers (VAD) and they will not officially support them. This may seem strange on the outside because our Windows driver is based on a Microsoft-supplied example virtual audio driver for XP and Apple users have relied on Soundflower for years. Well, I think the answer lies in Digital Rights Management (DRM). Technically, a VAD can steal music or other audio in perfect fidelity. This bypasses all of the complex DRM controls the record companies and movie studio have put into place with the cooperation of Apple and Microsoft.
With that being said, our VAD for Mac was somewhat (but not completely) broken in Mavericks. After months of dealing with Apples driver support team, they eventually told us we are on our own. We have more details on that in various forum threads.
Yosemite
Out initial tests are a little bit encouraging. Some of the glitches on some computers have been minimized in release D4. If you have trouble with the driver not loading, see this thread. Each release from Apple exhibits different behavior so we are watching it very closely.
Windows 8+
Our Windows driver sent us down a similar path with the Microsoft driver support team which ended in a similar statement. At least for Windows, our driver works fine and causes no problems. It just can’t be used by computer manufacturers. Microsoft looks a little better since they have a solution in the form of an APO if a manufacturer wants to use DPS in their next product.
Future of VADs: Now that we know VADs are not viewed favorably by OS developers, we are actively looking for alternative ways to deliver DPS sound to our users. We will always provide our VAD as an option but perhaps there will be other methods of integration in the future. Keep in mind, it is no problem to add DPS to an application. The issue has to do with affecting all of the sound on a computer.
Please let me know if I can clarify anything!
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