Software on Matthias Kronlachner

mcfx_send and mcfx_receive – multichannel audio over the network

Tue, 01 Sep 2026 16:00:00 +0200

Two new plug-ins in the mcfx suite: mcfx_send and mcfx_receive stream lossless multichannel audio over a wired network – from one computer to another, or from one DAW to another on the same machine. Both also come as standalone apps, so no DAW is needed. Low latency, automatic discovery, optional password protection.

The goal: set up in seconds, no frills, it just works.

mcfx_send

mcfx_receive

Why

They were made for spatial audio jam sessions and concerts, where several people bring their laptops and everything has to end up on one loudspeaker system. Proprietary audio-over-network solutions caused a fair share of problems there: license trouble even after buying one, drivers that stop working after an OS update, endpoints that aren’t discovered. They are built for hardware units, not for laptops. JackTrip needs JACK; SonoBus does much more than needed and costs a lot of CPU.

reaper_ambix – read/write .ambix files - lossless and lossy Ambisonic compression, loudness normalization, ...

Tue, 01 Sep 2026 12:00:00 +0200

reaper_ambix is a free extension for the REAPER DAW that reads and writes .ambix files – the Ambisonics exchange format (C. Nachbar, F. Zotter, E. Deleflie, A. Sontacchi, ambiX – A Suggested Ambisonics Format, Ambisonics Symposium, Lexington, 2011) that goes with the ambiX plug-ins – and adds a few tools for working with Ambisonic sessions. I started it in 2014 and recently gave it a major update.

.ambix as render format and media type

Files can be written as uncompressed CAF, lossless WavPack, or lossy WavPack in hybrid mode at 6, 4 or 3 bits per sample. The noise floor of the lossy mode follows each channel’s level, so the quiet higher-order channels stay quiet and the result survives decoding and rotation.

Dome loudspeaker layout generator – plan an Ambisonic dome in the browser

Sat, 01 Aug 2026 13:00:00 +0200

How many loudspeakers on which rings, at what elevation – and where do they actually go on the truss or the walls of the room? The Dome Loudspeaker Layout Generator is a free web app that answers these questions when setting up an Ambisonic loudspeaker dome, and exports the result straight into the IEM AllRADecoder. It runs entirely in your browser; if it doesn’t load there, use the fallback on Streamlit Cloud.

Reaper libsndfile wrapper – allows to READ and WRITE more audio formats (eg. .paf, .mat, …)

Sun, 17 Apr 2016 14:00:23 +0200

reaper_libsndfilewrapper adds import and export capabilites (reading/writing soundfiles) to the Digital Audio Workstation Reaper (www.reaper.fm) such as RF64 (eg. used by RME Digicheck, mh acoustics Eigenstudio®), .paf, .sf, .raw, …

Complete list of additionally supported file extensions: .au, .avr, .caf, .htk, .iff, .mat, .mpc, .oga, .paf, .pvf, .raw, .rf64, .sd2, .sds, .sf, .voc, .w64, .wve, .xi

Binaries download (easy to use installers)

Updated releases are provided here: https://github.com/kronihias/reaper_libsndfilewrapper/releases

Old:
Windows 32 bit: reaper_libsndfilewrapper_win32
Windows 64 bit: reaper_libsndfilewrapper_win64
MacOSX (32/64 bit): reaper_libsndfilewrapper_osx

How-to:
Install the plugin and drag/drop former not-recognized audio files into the Reaper session.
In the Render dialog choose Output format: libsndfile and the wanted format. Be aware that not all formats support arbitrary channel counts!

**Source code: **https://github.com/kronihias/reaper_libsndfilewrapper

This software is licensed under the GNU LESSER GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE (LGPL) license.
It uses libsndfile by Erik de Castro Lopo which is licensed under LGPL
http://www.mega-nerd.com/libsndfile/

QJackCtl 0.4.1.4 Mac OSX ≥ 10.6 build

Tue, 10 Nov 2015 19:28:43 +0100

I built version 0.4.1.4 of QJackCtl for Mac OS X ≥ 10.6.

Get the .app file here: QJackCtl-0.4.1.4.zip

Or an older Version: QJackCtl-0.3.10.zip

QjackCtl is a very powerful tool for managing your audio connections within Jack.

Sourcecode: https://github.com/rncbc/qjackctl

Requires: Jack OS X / www.jackaudio.org

Headtracking for Binaural Ambisonic Playback

Fri, 02 May 2014 07:04:17 +0200

Here is a short tutorial about an inexpensive headtracking solution which you can use to improve the binaural listening experience with the ambix Ambisonic tools. The calibration software is currently Windows only, but the Pd patch is naturally cross-platform.

It uses the headtracker described here by Dennis Frie: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1677559
Parts: arduino nano, GY-85 sensor board.

A Pure Data patch provided by me receives the serial data from the Arduino based headtracker and sends OSC messages to the host of your choice. In this case I will describe the use within the digital audio workstation Reaper.

ambiX – Ambisonic plug-in suite

Sat, 25 Jan 2014 18:44:35 +0100

ambiX is a suite of free, cross-platform Ambisonic plug-ins for producing and post-producing 3D audio – encoding, rotating, warping, widening, decoding to loudspeakers or to headphones. They work in any multichannel host such as REAPER, Ardour or Max, and as standalone applications.

I first released them in January 2014, developed during my master thesis at the Institute of Electronic Music and Acoustics in Graz. Together with mcfx they won the gold award at the AES Student Design Competition 2014, were promoted by Google for YouTube Ambisonics productions, and are still in wide use. The plug-ins follow the ambiX convention: full 3D, ACN channel order, SN3D normalization.

Download: github.com/kronihias/ambix/releases – installers for macOS and Windows; on Linux they can be built from source. Source code: github.com/kronihias/ambix (GPL).

mcfx – multichannel audio plug-in suite

Fri, 10 Jan 2014 17:54:04 +0100

mcfx is a suite of free multichannel plug-ins for macOS, Windows and Linux: convolution, EQ, filters, delay, gain calibration, metering, network audio and more – each one processing any number of channels in one go. That makes them handy wherever many channels belong together: loudspeaker arrays, Ambisonics (together with ambiX), microphone array recordings.

I first released mcfx in January 2014, alongside ambiX; in 2026 it got its largest update so far. As VST3, every plug-in adapts to the channel count of the track (up to 64); the installers also include fixed 128-channel VST2 versions for hosts that need more.

Download: github.com/kronihias/mcfx/releases – installers for macOS and Windows; on Linux they can be built from source. Source code: github.com/kronihias/mcfx (GPLv3).

Jack meterbridge 0.9.2 OSX package

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 16:17:19 +0200

JACK Meterbridge by Steve Harris is a versatile multichannel Jack metering client. Many different styles of meters with arbitrary channel count may be displayed.

I built and made an installer for MacOSX ≥ 10.6.
Download here: meterbridge-0.9.2-installer.pkg

midi2rms – midi volume fader curve sampling

Fri, 21 Dec 2012 19:18:01 +0100

A very crucial and maybe often underestimated point for working with (volume) faders, especially in live electronics application is their curve/behavior. Which range does it cover? How fast does “it” get “loud”. What is the behavior around the +0 dB mark?

I sampled the midi volume fader behavior from several of the most popular Digital Audio Workstations. The difference is quite obvious as you can see in the graph to the right.

DarwiinRemoteOSC Mountain Lion

Thu, 20 Dec 2012 13:37:05 +0100

I fixed the program DarwiinRemote for Mac OS 10.8 (Mountain Lion) and added Open Sound Control (OSC) support for the most recent version. Download it here:

DarwiinRemoteOSC-2012-12-24-09-47.dmg

DarwiinRemoteOSC allows to connect via Bluetooth to the WiiRemote controller. It also supports Nunchuk, Classic Controller and Balance Board.
All data from the Wii Controller is forwarded via OSC. IP and Port can be changed by command line argument. OSC can be sent to DarwiinRemoteOSC to turn on Force Feedback, LEDs and retrieve Battery status.

Sourcecode available on Github.

Jaaa, Japa 0.6.0 and Jnoise for Mac OS X

Tue, 06 Nov 2012 13:27:51 +0100

I compiled the real-time frequency analyzing tools jaaa, japa 0.6.0 and Jnoise by Fons for Mac OS X (>= 10.6) as easy-to-install package.

japa-0.6.0-installer.pkg
jaaa-0.6.0-installer.pkg

For generating a test signal (white or pink noise) you can use jnoise-0.6.0.zip .

jconvolver 0.9.2 and zita-rev-0.2.1 for Mac OS X

Tue, 06 Nov 2012 10:19:25 +0100

As addition to the Ambisonics Decoder, Microphone Processor and LADSPA Plug-Ins I compiled and packed the convolution software jconvolver 0.9.2 as easy-to-use installer for Mac OS X >=10.6.

This Jack client is a very flexible real-time convolution engine, including configurations for applying Multichannel Ambisonics reverb.

jconvolver-0.9.2-installer.pkg

You can find some additional Ambisonic reverb impulse responses here:
http://www.openairlib.net
http://people.bath.ac.uk/masrwd/sspaces/sciencespaces.html
http://space-net.org.uk

The Jack Reverb Plug-In with Ambisonics mode zita-rev-1-0.2.1 is available here:

zita-rev1-0.2.1-installer.pkg

All developements by Fons Adriaensen:
http://kokkinizita.linuxaudio.org

Get more information about Ambisonics and Ardour in an article by Jörn Nettingsmeier.

ambdec-0.5.1, tetraproc-0.8.2, AMB-plugins-0.8.1 for Mac OS X

Mon, 05 Nov 2012 20:14:01 +0100

I compiled the latest versions of Fons Adriaensens’ Ambisonics Decoder ambdec-0.5.1 (PDF manual) and his Microphone-Processor to convert TetraMic recordings to B-Format tetraproc-0.8.2 (PDF paper) for Mac OS X.

I packed them in easy-to-use installer packages which should run under Mac OS X >=10.6 (Snow Leopard, Lion, Mountain Lion):

Note about ambdec: The manual is outdated! The configuration window is gone. Use a Texteditor to edit .ambdec files!

pd-external: pix_openni 0.10

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 03:03:36 +0100

If you are working with Xbox Kinect Sensor here is another goodie for you – A pure data / Gem external to get Kinect rgb and depth streams as well as skeleton tracking and multiple hand tracking via OpenNI¹

Download the packed Binaries for OSX and Windows pix_openni-0.10.zip .
Latest sourcecode available at github: http://github.com/kronihias/pix_openni

Look at this page if you don’t know how to install a Pd-External.

To control tilt, led and output accelerometer data you can use libfreenect based http://github.com/kronihias/freenect.
To get audio streams you can use libfreenect based http://github.com/kronihias/freenect_audio.

pd-external: pix_freenect 0.10

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 07:00:44 +0100

Version 0.10 of pix_freenect external for Pure Data/Gem now available.
Sourcecode and binary for OSX and Ubuntu 11.10 available at github: https://github.com/kronihias/pix_freenect

Look at this page if you don’t know how to install a Pd-External.

The pix_freenect external can output rgb and depth simultaneously from multiple Kinect sensors.

Features:

open specific Kinect sensor by serial number – useful for multiple Kinect installations
output registered depthmap -> rgb and depth image are aligned
output depthmap directly as 16 bit [mm] values
resolution of rgb image can be set to 1280×1024

To get audio streams you can use http://github.com/kronihias/freenect_audio.

Kinect Headtracking with OSC Support

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 21:11:54 +0200

based on
Real Time Head Pose Estimation from Consumer Depth Cameras by Gabriele Fanelli ¹

======================================
download source and windows/OSX binaries: https://github.com/kronihias/head-pose-estimation

Application that detects head position from a depth image provided by Microsoft Xbox Kinect Sensor in x,y,z and Euler Angles (pitch, yaw, roll) from multiple persons.

–> needs no calibration!!

Application sends data as OSC² Message in the format:

/head_pose [User_ID] [x] [y] [z] [pitch] [yaw] [roll]

GEM pix_video plugin: videoKINECT

Wed, 06 Apr 2011 23:23:48 +0200

!!
I decided to cancel development on the Kinect plugin for pix_video – please use pix_freenect if you need video streams from Kinect or pix_openni if you need some advanced tracking features as well
!!

download source

videoKINECT (very alpha version…)
======================================
plugin for Gem pix_video

* depends on libfreenect

pd-external: espeak

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 23:22:16 +0200

get it from the git repository:
http://github.com/kronihias/espeak

espeak (0.2)
======================================
pure data external to synthesize text to an array with espeak library

based on flite external by Bryan Jurish

* depends on espeak

thanks to
IOhannes Zmoelnig
Bryan Jurish

pd-external: id3

Tue, 05 Apr 2011 23:18:52 +0200

get it from git repository:
http://github.com/kronihias/id3

id3 (0.1 very alpha version…)
======================================
pure data external to read and write ID3 tags from/to mp3 files

* depends on id3lib