LAMA

LAMA 1.34

2012-01-23T00:00:00+00:00

The release notes for this version can be found here.

Enhancements to Spectral Analysis

LAMA 1.34 adds an accumulation mode setting to the Spectrum Analyzer, it can be changed between

White Noise is flat
Pink Noise is flat
Peak

Let me try to explain what it does: A FFT analyzer works with a fixed number of points (called bins) which are distributed linear in the spectrum. Suppose you have 8192 FFT points and a sample-rate of 44100Hz - this gives a linear resolution of 44100Hz/8192 which is approximately 5Hz. This resolution is quite low for bass frequencies and much too high for HF, as our ear perceives frequencies in a logarithmic domain - the difference between 80Hz & 85Hz is “more” than the difference between 10kHz and 10k005Hz.

To display the FFT-result in a logarithmic scale, some of the points in the high frequency area need to be averaged - a few thousand points have to be scaled down to a few pixels on the screen - a lot of frequency bins fall into the “range” of a “pixel”.

When the white noise is flat setting is being used, the level of the bins is averaged, the pink noise is flat setting use the power of the bins to calculate the average. Averaging the power is similar to our ears perception, while averaging levels is good for technical analysis. And Peak? Well this simply takes the bin with the highest level in the particular frequency range and displays it.

While rewriting the averaging algorithm, also a new curve smoothing in 1/n octaves has been introduced to the LAMA analyzers (both Spectrum Analyzer and Spectral History Instrument). I think it is better that you try by yourself - it is a graphical thing that is better seen as to be talked about – however, it makes the results more readable.

dropping PowerPC Support, 10.6 is required

Sorry folks, yes it is true - and my heart is bleeding, but support for OS X 10.5 Leopard is dropped, and by that also support for PowerPC machines. The Mac eco system changed a lot in the last 12 months - not only for its best, I simply could not find a suitable way to support from 10.5 to 10.7 with a single build, and I do not want to have two different product versions out there.

A note on Leopard: it is quite likely that LAMA will work with an Intel machine (this is developer-speech for: “yes it works, but it is not tested”), but remember to run in 32-bit mode as Apple “marked all the bugs filed against Leopard as ‘not to be fixed’” and there is an 64-bit issue in the Accelerate Framework.

and a personal note

Yes I know it has been a long time since the last update, and some people thought LAMA would be dead. But no, it is not. Fitting the product into that what a Mac has become in 2012 has been hard, and let me add my personal opinion: I do not like the way how this platform changes (after about 15 years on the Mac…) But I do like what I am doing here with LAMA, I do like what you guys out there are doing with it, and all the positive feedback form around the world keeps this project going. I hope I can shorten release-cycles in the future.

LAMA 1.34 Build 1121

2012-01-23T00:00:00+00:00

Some more information about this release is available in our blog.

Requirements and Compatibility

This release requires Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. PowerPC machines are longer supported. (bye bye AltiVec and thank you for the joyful time!) LAMA is fully functional with OS X 10.7 Lion.

New Features

Accumulation Mode for Spectrum Analyzer and Spectral History instrument: the accumulation of spectrum analyzer can be switched between pink noise is flat, white noise is flat or peak.
Ocatve smoothing for Spectrum Analyzer and Spectral History instrument: new method for smoothing curves, creating more readable results for continuous traces.
Changed algorithm for pink noise Signal Generator, having lower crest-factor and is “pinker” now…

Bugs fixed

Fixed a bug where the “frequency detail” reading could disappear. RS

LAMA 1.33

2011-05-08T00:00:00+00:00

It is a pleasure to announce that LAMA Version 1.33 has just been released! This update is recommended for all users - for a detailed description of the new features have a look in the Version History

LAMA 1.33 Build 1110

2011-05-08T00:00:00+00:00

New Features

Input Patch: With the new Input Patch Window it is easy to route instrument inputs to an other physical input. Furthermore it is possible to give a Channel Name Alias to an input channel.
Multiple Delay Finder Results: The Delay Finder can store the last measured results in it’s window.
Session loading when Audio Hardware changes: The last session is now bound to an audio hardware device - when using a different device, LAMA can restore it’s state into the one being used the last time with this hardware.
Drop Files into Recordings Window: it is possible to drop audio files from the Finder into the Recordings Window - so it can act as a clipboard for often used files for the File Player.

The LAMA Website is Online

2011-05-07T00:00:00+00:00

Good news: LAMA has got it’s own dedicated website now. This should also be a place for some tutorials and how-to’s regarding the LAMA Audio Measurement Application. I hope everybody will enjoy the new site - every kind of feedback is very welcome, either use one of the comment forms or use the contact form.

LAMA 1.32 Build 1100

2010-10-19T00:00:00+00:00

New Features

The application is now named LAMA - LAMA Audio Measurement Application (It’s a feature…)
The Level History Instrument shows Level Distribution
SPL Log Window: A Window holding all SPL Logs.
Big SPL Window: A SPL Meter can open Big Windows - they allow you to have a bigger numeric readout of the Sound Pressure Level. They can also work as a traffic light, as the text color can change with certain level thresholds.
Growl Notification when Audio Hardware or properties change. (For those of you fighting with loose Firewire connectors)
Meter: The table to show/hide a input channel can be controlled with the keyboard (use space bar to show or hide a channel)
Meter: You can check all channels to be shown or hidden by holding down alt when clicking one of the checkboxes in the table.
Meter orientation can be changed with a “rotate” gesture on trackpad or Magic Mouse.
Some Instruments are moveable by dragging the instrument background - fixes an issue where a vertical meter could become too narrow to be moved by dragging the titlebar.
The Instrument Settings View can be shown by double-clicking into the instrument background. If requested, LAMA’s default behavior (showing the settings view by moving the mouse into the lower area of the window) can be disabled with the new show settings view only with double-click item in LAMA’s Preferences.
More frequency labels are shown when there is sufficient space and the appropriate setting in the Preferences is checked.
SPL: LEQ Prediction - A prediction (based on the linear average of the last minute) of the expected LEQ value is displayed.

Bugfixes

fixed a bug, where a SPL Instrument with a hidden log-area was not restored correctly. (The log-area was shown in this case)

Changes

Improved Goniometer display.
Solid lines for frequency scales are drawn at the same frequencies. (was dependent on the lowest frequency before).
The Info Panel can be closed (and shown again with Window - Info Panel).
Changed Meter Peak and RMS Fall Time (Peak: 1.7sec for 20dB, RMS: 20dB/sec).

LAMA in 32bit mode

2010-09-24T00:00:00+00:00

LAMA is a so called Universal Application. In the Application Bundle there is code for several CPU types: i386, x86_64 and PowerPC.

What are the advantages of 64 bits with LAMA?

On Intel CPU’s the code is executed a little bit faster compared to 32 bits. The precision of the calculations remains the same.

Known issues with 64-bit code

Currently, there are some known issues when LAMA works in 64-bit mode.

The AUNetSend and AUNetReceive AudioUnits support only certain formats in 64-bit mode. As the Net Send and Net Receive functionality in LAMA requires those AUs, the functionality is limited when LAMA is in 64-bit mode.
Under Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) there is an issue where the “Continuos” and “Fill” Mode of the Spectrum Analyzer and the coherence display of the Transfer Analyzer might not work and can lead to a crash of the application.

When these issues affect you, you should start LAMA in 32-bit mode.

Launching in 32-bit mode

Select the LAMA Icon in the Finder.
Hit Command-I (Show Info) (or right click with the mouse)
Check the Open in 32-bit mode checkbox.
Restart LAMA

LAMA 1.31 Build 1093

2010-06-26T00:00:00+00:00

New Features

Delay Time Offset: delay times are displayed relative to a variable reference point.
Delay Finder: the delay finder window has some enhancements and responds to keyboard commands. Please refer to the user manual for the new functions.
Spectrum Analyzer: the fall time for the peak curve is customizable.
Peak Bar Drawing Mode: new drawing mode for Transfer and Spectrum Analyzer.
SPL Limit Alert: you can be informed with a Growl Notification when the current SPL exceeds a certain limit.
Clipping Alert: you can be informed with a Growl Notification when one of the input channels is clipping.

Bugfixes

Fixed a bug where the name of transfer instruments was not editable.
Faster redraw on SPL Meter when measurement speed is fast.
Fixed a bug where the SPL Meter window could disappear from screen.

Aux Inputs and Summing Channels

2010-06-01T00:00:00+00:00

About

Aux Inputs & Summing Channels are additional stereo channels that are available in LAMA next to the “native” input channels of your audio interface.

Aux Inputs: This is either File Player, Net Receive or Signal Generator.
Summing Channels: Create the Sum and Difference of two other channels (including Aux Inputs)

CPU Power

Aux Inputs and Summing Channels use CPU-Power, so it is recommended to deactivate them when not required. For Aux Inputs, closing the window is not sufficient – you need to deactivate them in the Audio Settings window.

Audio Configuration Change

Creating or removing Aux Inputs or Summing Channels changes the audio configuration of LAMA and requires the audio-engine to be stopped and restarted. Therefore it is not possible to do so when a recorder is currently recording.

Notes about Aux Inputs

Audio Output

The signal of an Aux Input is also fed to the default stereo-output of your Macintosh. This can be changed with the Audio MIDI Setup application in your Utilities folder.

Sample Rate

Important: The Sample Rate of your default stereo-output device must match the sample rate of the input device LAMA. You will get wrong measurements when they differ. To change Sample Rate of the output device, use the Audio MIDI Setup application.

Purchase LAMA and License information

2010-05-26T00:00:00+00:00

You can purchase a copy of LAMA with eSellerate. eSellerate is a payment provider — they perform the financial transaction and issue a serial number.

To purchase, click the Buy Now button or follow this link — you will be redirected to the eSellerate webstore.

How can I pay?

You can pay with credit card or with your PayPal account.

How to activate LAMA

When the transaction is complete, you’ll receive an email with your serial number. Enter the serial number in the LAMA — License window & click Activate.
Note: It may take a few minutes until the license server has processed your order – so when it fails, have a cup of coffee and try again.

License Information

Can I activate LAMA on a second machine?
One license is intended to be used by either one person or one computer. Since “one person” may use more computers, we grant a second activation per license.

If you do need further activations, don’t hesitate to contact us.

Product deactivation

If you stop using LAMA on a machine, click Deactivate in the license window – now you have one activation left for an other machine. (again, give the server a few minutes to process your request). Important: the number of deactivations is limited. If there are problems please contact us.