Orinj Known issues

Orinj version 9.0.0

The following is a list of the known issues in the current version of Orinj.

MIDI

Orinj does not support all MIDI controllers. For example, you can add controllers for volume and pan, but you cannot add a legato.

Wave formats

The following are issues related to the playback and recording of wave files.

• 8-bit recordings will contain noise. This is not because of Orinj but is due to the natural limits of 8-bit PCM data. With 8 bits, a sound sample can take at most 256 values – the values between 0 and 256, since by convention 8-bit PCM sound data is unsigned. Here, the "zero" of the signal will be 128 and the maximum peak amplitude of the signal will be 128 as well. When an analog signal is digitized with an 8-bit representation, values are rounded. If, for example, the value of the analog signal at a specific sample is 35.6, this value may be recorded as 35 or 36, depending on the digitizing equipment. This is a quantization error that may be as low as 0 or as high as 0.5. The signal to noise ratio due to the quantization then, in decibels, is 20 log₁₀(0.5 / 128) = 48 dB. This means that the noise will be audible.
• If the user chooses large playback buffers (see Orinj Preferences), Orinj will behave as expected. Playback may take a long time to stop even after all sound data is used and, depending on the number and ty-pe of effects, may take some time to start.

Sound file formats

The following are notes on audio file formats recognized by Orinj.

• AIFF files will not be recognized by Orinj. Their extension should be changed to "AIF", if appropriate.
• NeXT .snd files are really .au files.

Effects

The following are issues with the Orinj digital signal processing effects.

• In certain effects, if the user changes effect controls during playback, the effects may produce pops and clicks. This does not happen during mixing and does not happen if the user changes controls when playback is stopped or paused. This is most typical of the Orinj high pass filter, low pass filter, and wah wah. It is the result of these effects recomputing specific filters, restarting audio data computations, and therefore creating breaks in processed audio data.
• Compressor effects (compressor, simple compressor, and side chained compressor) with zero attack, especially if these do not have forward looking time or have zero forward looking time, may introduce distortion.
• The compression ratio in the Orinj Compressor is rounded to one decimal point (i.e., 2.1:1 compression instead of 2.12:1 compression). When adding points to the compressor by clicking with the mouse on the compressor graph, the point may appear in a slightly different place than where the user clicked.
• The Orinj phase oscilloscope and spectrum monitor are real time monitors of playback data. However, the Orinj effect framework does not allow effects to know the exact playback time and so the timing of these monitors is approximate.
• When effects do not start exactly at the beginning of a track or wave or end exactly at the end of a track or wave, the signals between the parts with and without effects are crossfaded. Crossfading happens over 5 milliseconds. This time interval cannot be changed. If the effect introduces significant gain in the signal or reduces the amplitude of the signal significantly, the crossfading may not be enough and there might be audible pops.
• The Orinj Compressor may be applied to a part of the full track or wave (i.e., to a shorter time interval). This compressor works on three separate frequency bands. It splits the signal into three frequency bands, applies compression separately to each band, and combines the three bands into one signal. This splitting and combining of the signal may also happen outside of the time interval, where compression applies. How far outside of the interval this will happen depends on the size of buffers and on the preset. The de-esser, for example, splits the signal so that compression is only applied to high frequencies, but not to mid or low frequencies. Other presets do not split the signal. In other words, the compressor may change the signal not just inside the time interval, where compression applies, but also outside of that interval. The change to the signal outside of the compression time interval will be minimal and the signal will not be compressed.

VST

Orinj does not yet support VST automations. Orinj stock effect parameters, however, can be automated.

On MacOS, Java does not run on the main thread and VSTs do. Since Orinj and VST windows are therefore on two different threads, it is possible to access the main Orinj window while a VST window is open. However, even though you can access the Orinj menu, you will not be able to make changes to the Orinj session while a VST window is open.

Current support for VST on MacOS does not include Mac Silicon.

SoundFont (SF2) files

Orinj ignores SoundFont (SF2) specifications related to chorus, reverb, and scale temperament. Some instruments in SF2 files choose to apply reverb or a chorus to notes. Some SF2 presets may choose to alter the default equal tempered tuning of contemporary chromatic scale. These three articulations of the sound are not implemented in Orinj. This is by design, allowing users to choose their own reverb, chorus, or tuning.

File management

If a wave, MIDI, or loop block in a session is changed, not saved, and then removed, the user will have the option of saving the file. However, if the file is saved under a new name, undoing the removal of the block will bring the block into the session before the changes and not the newly saved file with the changes.

If a file is removed from a session, it is never completely closed until Orinj exits. For example, the user will not be able to save over it. This is so that undo works properly (e.g., the user can undo the removal of the file from the session).

Side chaining in the Orinj mix order

Tracks are not mixed in the order in which they are displayed, as described in Mix order. This impacts side chaining.

Suppose that you have two tracks. The first track contains the vocals and the second track contains the wet portion of the reverb on those same vocals. You can use the Orinj side chained compressor on the second track and chain it to the first track. You can then compress the reverb while the vocals are loud and leave the reverb when the vocals stop. You would do so to make sure the reverb does not smear the vocals but is pronounced only when the vocals are gone.

In this example, the vocal track should be mixed first, as it is used to control the reverb track. However, Orinj does not guarantee that this will happen. The reverb track may be mixed before the vocal track, in which case the side chained compressor will be controlled by the previous portion of data that Orinj mixed. Orinj mixes the sound in sections that depend on the size of the Orinj buffers (see Preferences). If the Orinj playback buffers are 10 milliseconds long, then the side chained compressor will be controlled by the previous 10 milliseconds of data and not the current 10 milliseconds, if the reverb track is mixed before the vocal track.

This may become noticeable only if you use long playback buffers.