Software decoding

[gpayne]

Is there no way to turn off software decoding in Hoster Version 3.310? I know that 3.310 is suppose to automatically determine whether you need it or not but I did import some Chartbuster disks that had snow in the graphics with the disk drive speed set at max. I changed it to 6x (slowest) and still had a little snow. I am using a MTU certified Plextor 760-A drive.

gpayne

[ddouglass]

Gary, if I remember from the beta testing that if you are using a plextor supported drive, then software decoding is turned off.

[gpayne]

That would make sense because you should not need the software decoding with one of their drives but if you had a poor disk, the software decoding theoritically could make the import better than hardware decoding. I don't think it is possible to turn software decoding on or off in this version of hoster! My backup system has a Plextor 716A drive and I have looked in the tools/default CD/DVD drives menu and there is no on or off selection for software decoding. However, this is also a MTU certified drive. I don't have anything but MTU certified drives and I have had 3 of them now. It was my experience with Versions earlier than 3.310 that hardware decoding was better even though I was using brand new disks.(Mostly Chartbuster) I could play older disks on my external karaoke player and have no snow but import them into hoster and have snow although if software decoding was turned off the imports were better. Before this version, there was no way to slow down the read speed of the drive so maybe that was why hardware decoding worked best for me. At any rate for the disks that I have been importing under version 3.310 the import process is slower becuase I have to slow down the read speed of the drive to get better quality imports. Maybe MTU could tell us how software vs hardware decoding works now that you can slow down the drive read speed. I know this was done so that it would work better with more drives. To me, it appears that it has slowed me down a bit. I am for sure not going to buy any Sound Choice disks. I wonder if this version of Hoster is better or worse for the majority of Hoster Users.

gpayne

P.S. My name is George. I sign off with gpayne so there is no confusion with the other George who posts in these forums.

[ddouglass]

I'm sorry George...I knew that but had a senior moment.

I think their reasoning was to eliminate the confusion factor for those who are less computer literate. There was a lot of problems with people not setting it correctly when the previous version was released.

I don't think being able to turn it on will make your import any cleaner for the plextors.

[gpayne]

Originally Posted by ddouglass

I'm sorry George...I knew that but had a senior moment.

I think their reasoning was to eliminate the confusion factor for those who are less computer literate. There was a lot of problems with people not setting it correctly when the previous version was released.

I don't think being able to turn it on will make your import any cleaner for the plextors.

I see! I would not want to turn it on as my experience is that my imports are better with it off (hardware decoding). You are saying that you believe that Software decoding is turned off automatically if you are using a MTU approved drive. Therefore if software decoding is turned off, you are using hardware decoding. That might be so, but my experience was with the prior version, with software decoding turned off that my imports were good and fast. Now with the new version software decoding is turned off as I am using a MTU approved drive but my imports are not as good and much slower. I can live with it if I have too. In your opinion, what types of things would help? These are brand new disks. I read in the Troubleshooting section of Hosters help menu that a lot of Chartbuster disks are warped and that is the reason you must slow down the read speed of the drive. Are any other manufacturers disks better? I have not seen their recommendations but I am assuming they would not recommend one over the other. It is possible that the three disks I just imported are worse than others and I have not imported them on my backup system yet(716-A drive) so it is possible that this is more of a drive issue. I am going to import them into my backup system and see. I will post what I find.

Thanks

gpayne

[ddouglass]

I have found more problems with Sound Choice and their cheap disks than I have with Chartbuster. I do all my imports on my backup machine with a 716 and have had the least problems with it over my 760 on show machine.

I don't slow the speed down unless the disc shows a lot of snowflakes. I also use the least compression as I have a 250GB and a 300GB hard drive so space isn't a problem. Less compression also helps eleminate snow also.

You can also import the worst through Microstudio (current versions) and reburn them onto a good cd to load in Hoster and that will also get rid of most of the snow. The version being worked on now will allow export as a Hoster KMA file directly (according to the News page), so that will save a bunch of steps.

[gpayne]

Originally Posted by ddouglass

I have found more problems with Sound Choice and their cheap disks than I have with Chartbuster. I do all my imports on my backup machine with a 716 and have had the least problems with it over my 760 on show machine.

I don't slow the speed down unless the disc shows a lot of snowflakes. I also use the least compression as I have a 250GB and a 300GB hard drive so space isn't a problem. Less compression also helps eleminate snow also.

You can also import the worst through Microstudio (current versions) and reburn them onto a good cd to load in Hoster and that will also get rid of most of the snow. The version being worked on now will allow export as a Hoster KMA file directly (according to the News page), so that will save a bunch of steps.

I just imported the same three disks into Hoster on my backup machine. The first disk had the same results as the it did on the show machine except, the minimum speed was 8x. The import at 8x on the 716A was better than the 760A at 6x. I might have imported at 192k on the 760A so this might explain why the import at the slow speed on the 716A was better as I know when the popup screen came up it was on 192k. I changed it to 128k for the import at 8x. The subsequents disks at 128k and 8x seemed perfect on the 716A. I might try re-importing on the 760A making sure I am at 128k and 8x or 6x just to see if they are better than before. Don't get me wrong, what I have done so far is very very usable, just not perfect.
I have been wondering when they were going to come out with the latest version of Microstudio as it is supposed to be able to import the Multi-session disks without the workaround that is currently being used to get the last track on those types of disks. I will definitley purchase that upgrade although people who are using Microstudio for their shows will not like it because it will not be able to be used to run a show. I too have 2 extra internal drives. Mine are Maxtor 200gbs. I run 1.5 gbs of memory. Both of my machines are 2.8gb Pentium processors. I have plenty of space, memory and processor speed to run Hoster. At any rate, I can fool around with the drive settings and use Microstudio to make a custom disk or duplicate & then import as you suggested. Thanks for your suggestions Dale.

gpayne

[ddouglass]

Glad to help George.

The difference in the speeds is governed by the drives capabilities. Actually the 192K is the least compression, but if 128K worked better then I guess that would be the best for you. I personally have found that the 716 is a better drive than the 760, though the 760 is faster as far as DVD burning goes.

I can't really discuss the new Microstudio, but it is in testing now so hopefully it will be out soon.

[gduns - with the Lord]

Ddouglass,
did you know the 716 uses the software decoding, and the 760 uses hardware decoding?

The plextor website says that the 716 does not support cdg. I suppose that is why the 716 is better, it has the error correction from the software decoding and is superior to the hardware.

[ddouglass]

Originally Posted by gduns

Ddouglass,
did you know the 716 uses the software decoding, and the 760 uses hardware decoding?

The plextor website says that the 716 does not support cdg. I suppose that is why the 716 is better, it has the error correction from the software decoding and is superior to the hardware.

Check the datasheet for the 716A - CD+G is listed as one of the usable formats, so it does support it and does use the hardware decoding. My thought is because of the increased speed capability of the 760 that it isn't as clean.

[gduns - with the Lord]

Ask admin he can tell you about the 716. It is not made by plextor, it is made for plextor. I have one, and before we started doing the software decoding it was useless. It only works on the newer version of hoster.

Sorry, I wish it wernt so. I have a few programs it will not work with .

[gpayne]

Originally Posted by ddouglass

Glad to help George.

The difference in the speeds is governed by the drives capabilities. Actually the 192K is the least compression, but if 128K worked better then I guess that would be the best for you. I personally have found that the 716 is a better drive than the 760, though the 760 is faster as far as DVD burning goes.

I can't really discuss the new Microstudio, but it is in testing now so hopefully it will be out soon.

Yes I agree 192k is less compression than 128k and should result in a cleaner import. I had a senior moment also. Mine did come out very well at 128k and that is what I usually use. I might tend to agree that the 716A is a better drive than the 760A as well when importing cdg. I know Plextor had problems with the drive when it first came out as a 760 because it would not burn at the intended 18x on DVD. If Iam correct, that's why they came out with a 760A. When they corrected the problem with the 760 and it would burn DVD at 18x they came out with it as a 760A. I have had the 716A since it frist came out and have used it with prior versions of Hoster. I don't remember what version of Hoster we were on when MTU started selling the 716A but I do know it worked better when I turned off Software Decoding in those prior versions. I do also know that CDG was supported on it because I bought a 716A from Fry's Electronics in Phoenix Arizona and it worked in Hoster even though it was not MTU Certified. I believe that was in or around January of 2005. So that would have been about 1 and half years ago. I remember because it was on sale and I bought another one from MTU for about the same price. Any way, I seem to be having more problems with this Version of Hoster than all the other ones combined. I am doing things that I had not done before such as importing from Hard Drive files etc. The main thing is my shows are not suffering. I am being able to address problems using this forum and being able to solve those problems to a certain extent by finding workarounds etc. Iam grateful for that.

See ya

gpayne

[MTUSUPPORT]

Gduns,
These Models use the Hardware Decoding, this means it is built into the drive and will work with Microstudio or Hoster .

Plextor 716a 716al 716uf 716sa
Plextor 708a 708uf
Plextor 712a 712uf 712sa
Plextor 755a 755sa
Plextor 760a

These are the only models currently supporting the hardware decoding.

These models below will only work with Software decoding and that is if your lucky to get one that will work.

Plextor 740 models
Plextor 750 Models

These models are cheaper drives and were made by another company for Plextor. They are not the Same "Plextor" quality as the 716 or 760 models are.

Hope this helps to clarify this.

[gduns - with the Lord]

OOPs........I meant 740......sorry