Frequently Asked Questions

Minimum OS requirements?

macOS 10.11 (El Capitan) or later
Windows 10 version 1903 or later,but except Enterprise
>2.4GHz CPU with at least two cores
Must have stereo input and stereo output
Less busy multi-tasking workload is recommended.

How to install?

The software is being distributed via App Store or Microsoft Store.
The best way to download and install the app is to use the OS built-in "Store" app (such as "App Store" on macOS or "Microsoft Store" on Windows 10+). A registered user account with Apple or Microsoft will be required to start with.

Although a transaction can be finished outside of the "Store" app, e.g.: via a Web browser, the actuall download/install has to be completed by using the OS built-in "Store" app. So, it is recommanded to do all the procedures by using the "Store" app. Do not try to download the app via a Web browser.

Why App/MS Store?

Yes, App/MS Store is frustrating.
For buyers, the registration procedure is overly cumbersome. For sellers，considerable amount of sales will be cut off, not to mention the restrictive rules for getting app approved there. Fortunately, there are also non-negligible benefits. App/MS Store resolves many common problems of software distribution for both sellers and buyers, as enumerated below:
- Centralized and regulated marketplace
- Trusted/secured payment
- License management/transfer/sharing/revoking
- User account, invoice/receipt and tax
- Auto update of purchased apps
- Anti-virus
- Anti-piracy
- App search
- Download hosting & bandwidth, 24x7 availability world-wide

It's all about software distribution model. In the past, the traditional Creditcard/PayPal and activation-key modle requires each software developer to pay administrative effort/overhead behind the scenes. The new MS/Apple Store eliminated the overhead, which allows small developers to focus on development work without being distracted by the retail hassles. Otherwise, if each software developer has to set up its own solution for providing the aforementioned services, the developer will be much distracted from developing/improving apps, until being saturated as a full-time sales. And the app's final price will be considerably higher due to the additional distribution overhead which has no contribution to the app's functionality & quality. Thus, the buyers may end up paying more for less, and the transaction may not necessarily be easier as it might seem -- imaging the concern of giving credit card to a stranger, filling in forms with personal information, manually typing the received license key and dealing with activation errors via email/phone...etc.

The decision may sound fancy/ridiculous at first, but the motivation behind it is a realistic compromise rather than a hipster idea.

Related questions: Side-Load Possible? Repurchase or renew?

Side-loading possible?

Unfortunately, installing the app on a computer without going through the App/MS Store (aka: side-loading) is not supported because apps designed for App/MS Store are "sandboxed" by its technical root, which is not suitable for being distributed via the traditional way. Either Apple or Microsoft are enforcing sandbox technologies on their latest operating systems (macOS or Windows), which requires App/MS Store as the centralized software distributer. Developers are encouraged to adopt the new sandbox technologies for being more "future proof" into the new ecosystem, at a cost of losing backward compatibility with the traditional package based installation.

Related questions: Why App Store?

Too expensive?

Yes, this is surely not a life-changing app that everybody needs everyday. But it still requires comparable amount of time, efforts and knowledge to develop because niche needs are not negligible needs. It makes total sense for those who have been needing such a specialized tool for a long time, or completly the other way around for others. Nevertheless, if someone is willing to commit, would it worth being recognized?

Related questions: Too Cheap? Repurchase or renew?

Too cheap?

Well, inexpensive ≠ inferior quality. The app is not an impromptu product, an academic demo or an experimental prototype. It is nothing lack of deep thoughts, scientific research, software engineering and originality. However, it is certainly not flawless and may contain bugs — like with any other software products including those high-profile apps. Perhaps, it is a poor product in terms of profitability. But the birth of the app would not happen if it was solely driven by commercial motivation.

Related question: Too Expensive? Repurchase or renew?

For Win8/7/Vista/XP?

Unfortunately, this app is based on the new sandbox technology which is not backward compatible with Win8/7/Vista/XP.

Related questions: Why App Store? Side-Load Possible?

For Linux?

Unfortunately, there is no plan to make a native app for Linux. However, the PC version of the app may work in VirtualBox on Linux. But Wine is not supported.

Trial/demo version?

No,but with apologies. This requirement itself is natural, logical and fair, but can not be realized right away because staged license management costs too much overhead. It is not as simple as it looks like.

Related questions: Why App Store? Side-Load Possible?

Repurchase or renew?

No, no periodical repurchase or renewal will be required after the initial purchase. The software is distributed with perpetual license (no time limit). According to the current Store policy (both MS and Apple), it can be re-installed on the same computer, or, installed on limited number of different computers — as long as it is done under the same account used for the initial purchase, there will be no repeated charge. After installation, the app works offline — no network connection is required to keep it working.

However, the app is exclusively licensed by either MS Store or Apple Store, where app authors are not given a method to share or transfer licenses between the two separate ecosystems — although the the author wished so. As a result, a license acquired on Windows can not be transferable/extendable to macOS, or vice versa. Really sorry about that.

Is it a Pro app?

The app is designed to perform a set of pre-defined conventional audio processing with many operational parameters pre-setermined without obligating the user for verbose inputs. It is optimized and priced with the consumer user in mind, especially avoiding feature stacking with busy UI akin to a spaceship's cockpit.

Can it work with my gaming or pro sound device?

It depends. The app works only with standard stereo input/output audio configuration. This is the typical and intuitive audio configuration for consumers. Advanced sound devices that come with different channel layouts other than the standard stereo will not automatically work. Channel re-mapping (to the standard stereo) will be required outside of this app, by using software tools provided by either the Operating System or the device manufacture.

Some gaming sound devices may come with built-in sound effects, some other entertainment sound devices may come with hearing enhancement filters, which will defeat the audio measurement purpose and impact the results. Those filters should be disabled before using any audio analysis tools including this app.

Related questions: Is it a Pro app?

No sound or crash?

The most likely cause is incompatibility of some (older) sound driver(s). An easy way to tell the case is to check if the sound card/device needs a factory provided software driver to work properly, especially if the factory provided software driver was made for older OS versions than current OS (even if it appears to work on the current OS). If so, a good way to further test the case is to temporarily replace the sound card/device with a another newer one that can automatically work on the current OS without needing a proprietary software drivers, or with a software driver designed for the current OS. For example, if it is an external USB sound device, try again with the built-in sound card if available, or vice-versa.

Technically, App/MS Stores are not only a new business model but also a new technical platform. Apps designed for the App/MS Stores are fundamentally different from the traditional apps. They are required to adopt the new generation of sandbox technology on each platform (macOS or Windows respectively) for being more "future proof" into the new ecosystem, at a cost of sacrificing backward compatibility with the traditional technologies. For some older sound cards/devices which have to rely on proprietary (factory provided) software drivers to work properly, if the software drivers already existed before the birth of the new sandbox technology, it may not be fully compatible with the new technology. In this case, apps based on the traditional technologies may continue to work without problem, whereas, apps based on the new sandbox technology may demonstrate problem, although all the apps are installed and tested on the same system.

So, one solution is to check if the sound card/device manufacture has published an updated software driver for the newer OS. If not, another solution is try to temporarily uninstall the old proprietary software driver and see if the new OS can recognize the sound card/device as a plug-and-play device and automatically install a built-in native driver for it. If so, using the OS built-in driver instead of the (older) factory-provided driver may have better chance to resolve the problem. However, please note that even the sound card/device can work with a built-in driver this way, it may lose some control or special features. It's a matter of trade-off after all.

Finally, the app assumes that the sound card should at least support the standard stereo mode by default. If the sound card is a PRO advanced card, or a theatre/game enhanced card with multi-channel setup, the user may be required to manually configure the channel layout in order to map multiple channels to the standard L/R stereo channels.

Related questions: Why App Store? Side-Load Possible?

Unexpected W&F spikes on some PCs?

This is a known issue occasionally observed on some Windows PCs (not on Mac). The cause is that the new C# based audio programming interface keeps creating too many small blocks of memory for transferring audio data without reusing them, which significantly increases the workload of the "Garbage Collector" at the system level to recycle them. Normally, this is not a big deal, but the W&F algorithm in this app is rather computation intensive and easily interrupted by a busy CPU, which manifests as intermittent spikes (every few seconds) caused by the audio dropouts.

The technical solution is to replace the audio programming interface from C# based to C++ based at the deep lower level. This requires non-trivial work with unpredictable schedule. Before that, users are recommended to use this app on a relatively faster PC, and keep the workload of the PC as low as possible, for example, close other programs that are temporarily not needed when using this app.

[Update] Since version 2.4.8, the app is able to use WASAPI audio interface as the second option, which significantly reduced memory garbages. However, it is currently in experimental stage.

Please recommend a sound card?

Thank you for asking, but it's hard to suggest a specific sound card because there is no best one for everyone.

However, here are a few general criterias for selecting a sound card for this app:
(1) Choose quality sound card from reputable manufactures.
(2) Choose a sound card that supports the version of your Operating System, especially with an external USB sound card.
(3) Avoid gaming sound cards since they often come with unwanted sound effects.
(4) Choose a sound card that supports plain standard 2-channel stereo output by default. Avoid multi-channel PRO sound cards unless you are confident to manage channel remapping.