4 ms·

Show HN: Strobie – Strobe tuner for Mac

15 points by dsego 12y ago

IneffablePigeon 12y ago
This is really cool -- how does it work? It seems to work really well for everything except the bottom E string on my guitar, I just seem to get a blur however close to tuned it is.
- dsego 12y ago
  Hey, thanks for trying it out! Instead of estimating pitch (except for detection) it generates an internal reference and shows the difference between that and the input signal. There's also filtering to get the separate octave bands. Not sure why it wouldn't work for the low E string. Does it lock onto the correct note? If it doesn't you can manually set the desired pitch by clicking on the note display and selecting E. Also, there is a gain setting in preferences, might be that the signal is too weak for the display.
nemo 12y ago
Nicely done. It's similar to iStroboSoft, but I like the UI here. I still prefer Tonal Energy Tuner, though what works best for you will depend on your instrument.
- dsego 12y ago
  Thanks, when I started working on this 4-5 years ago, there was only StroboSoft. Now there are a lot of strobe tuner out there, especially for smartphones. I was always fascinated by the mechanical strobes I saw on youtube and wanted to try replicating the effect. When I started I didn't know about Nyquist, PCM, FIR, IIR, FFT, etc. Had to learn about everything first and I still have so much to learn. First version was written in Vala, with JackAudio. After getting a Mac I rewrote everything in C and Obj-C.
coldcode 12y ago
Downloaded the file and unzipped but OSX says it's damaged.
- dsego 12y ago
  Which OS X? Unfortunately it supports only 10.9 or later.
crcastle 12y ago
Doesn't seem to be working for me. I'm on OSX 10.10 public beta 3. Here is what I see when I hit the low E on my guitar: http://cl.ly/image/2E3d0w2D3I1u http://cl.ly/image/2E3d0w2D3I1u The note changes to E, but am I supposed to see something in the black area? Not sure if it's related, but when I open the application I get a bunch of these messages in Console.app 9/21/14 6:40:06.000 PM kernel[0]: Sandbox: appleeventsd(31) deny file-read-metadata /Library And several of these 9/21/14 6:40:06.000 PM kernel[0]: Sandbox: appleeventsd(31) deny mach-lookup com.apple.ocspd
- dsego 12y ago
  Thank you so much for reporting this. The black area is supposed to display a pattern. It is implemented with OpenGL and CVDisplayLink. Apparently, it doesn't work on some machines (the display is black), but I tried on several and could never replicate it. I do not know if the console messages are related. Could you try running the binary from terminal and see if it prints out an error message?
  - crcastle 12y ago
    I don't see anything when running it from the command line :( http://cl.ly/image/3u3X24292e12 http://cl.ly/image/3u3X24292e12 Can I give you anything else to help you repro it?
    - dsego 12y ago
      Oh, that sucks :/ So far, my best guess is that it is a graphic/driver issue. Can you send me your specs, processor, graphic card, that kind of thing? Maybe I can find a similar machine somewhere to debug on. Btw, thank you for taking the time to run it from terminal, I really appreciate it.
      - crcastle 12y ago
        Maybe retina-related? It's the 2.3GHz version here http://support.apple.com/kb/SP653 http://support.apple.com/kb/SP653

15 points by dsego 12y ago

This is really cool -- how does it work? It seems to work really well for everything except the bottom E string on my guitar, I just seem to get a blur however close to tuned it is.

dsego 12y ago
Hey, thanks for trying it out! Instead of estimating pitch (except for detection) it generates an internal reference and shows the difference between that and the input signal. There's also filtering to get the separate octave bands. Not sure why it wouldn't work for the low E string. Does it lock onto the correct note? If it doesn't you can manually set the desired pitch by clicking on the note display and selecting E. Also, there is a gain setting in preferences, might be that the signal is too weak for the display.

nemo 12y ago

Nicely done. It's similar to iStroboSoft, but I like the UI here. I still prefer Tonal Energy Tuner, though what works best for you will depend on your instrument.

dsego 12y ago
Thanks, when I started working on this 4-5 years ago, there was only StroboSoft. Now there are a lot of strobe tuner out there, especially for smartphones. I was always fascinated by the mechanical strobes I saw on youtube and wanted to try replicating the effect. When I started I didn't know about Nyquist, PCM, FIR, IIR, FFT, etc. Had to learn about everything first and I still have so much to learn. First version was written in Vala, with JackAudio. After getting a Mac I rewrote everything in C and Obj-C.

coldcode 12y ago

Downloaded the file and unzipped but OSX says it's damaged.

dsego 12y ago
Which OS X? Unfortunately it supports only 10.9 or later.

crcastle 12y ago

Doesn't seem to be working for me. I'm on OSX 10.10 public beta 3. Here is what I see when I hit the low E on my guitar: http://cl.ly/image/2E3d0w2D3I1u http://cl.ly/image/2E3d0w2D3I1u The note changes to E, but am I supposed to see something in the black area? Not sure if it's related, but when I open the application I get a bunch of these messages in Console.app 9/21/14 6:40:06.000 PM kernel[0]: Sandbox: appleeventsd(31) deny file-read-metadata /Library And several of these 9/21/14 6:40:06.000 PM kernel[0]: Sandbox: appleeventsd(31) deny mach-lookup com.apple.ocspd

dsego 12y ago
Thank you so much for reporting this. The black area is supposed to display a pattern. It is implemented with OpenGL and CVDisplayLink. Apparently, it doesn't work on some machines (the display is black), but I tried on several and could never replicate it. I do not know if the console messages are related. Could you try running the binary from terminal and see if it prints out an error message?
- crcastle 12y ago
  I don't see anything when running it from the command line :( http://cl.ly/image/3u3X24292e12 http://cl.ly/image/3u3X24292e12 Can I give you anything else to help you repro it?
  - dsego 12y ago
    Oh, that sucks :/ So far, my best guess is that it is a graphic/driver issue. Can you send me your specs, processor, graphic card, that kind of thing? Maybe I can find a similar machine somewhere to debug on. Btw, thank you for taking the time to run it from terminal, I really appreciate it.
    - crcastle 12y ago
      Maybe retina-related? It's the 2.3GHz version here http://support.apple.com/kb/SP653 http://support.apple.com/kb/SP653