Edit Chain crash

[samsung]

I recently installed 1.3.13 on MacOSX, and I'm creating a simply chain to normalize, amplify, and save
a sound. I've noticed that if you click the "Edit Parameters" for any command and then click the
Preview button, Audacity immediately crashes.

I know the Preview button doesn't seem to make any sense here, but I accidently clicked on it,
and it crashes every time. Then, when I run Audacity again, and go back to the same "Edit Parameters"
under Amplify, the default values are messed up. It says "-Infinity" for peak amplitude, and I can't
get it to reset.

[steve]

Thanks for the report.
I can confirm that the crash also occurs with 1.3.13 on Windows XP.

I've also tested with Audacity 1.3.14 (nightly) on Windows XP and on Debian Linux and the problem appears to be fixed.
If you have OS X 10.4 or later you could try the nightly build for Mac which can be downloaded from the top of this file list. http://www.audacity.homerow.net/index.p ... order=desc

when I run Audacity again, and go back to the same "Edit Parameters"
under Amplify, the default values are messed up. It says "-Infinity" for peak amplitude, and I can't
get it to reset.

When editing a Chain it is normal for the Amplify effect to say "-Infinity" for peak amplitude. The effect is not actually being run on an audio selection. "-Infinity" is the peak amplitude of silence - in this case it is the peak amplitude of no sound at all and of course no matter how much you try to amplify no sound, there will still be no sound.

If you want to amplify up to a specific level, use the Normalize effect in the chain.
If you want to amplify by a specific amount, use the Amplify effect in the chain.

[steve]

I forgot to mention - the Normalize effect has been improved in 1.3.14 by adding an option to Normalize stereo channels together, or independently. The new feature is described in the on-line manual here: http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/Normalize

[samsung]

If you want to amplify up to a specific level, use the Normalize effect in the chain.
If you want to amplify by a specific amount, use the Amplify effect in the chain.

Thanks. I wanted to normalize to a fixed absolute level, so it appears Amplify is not needed here.

[Gale Andrews]

I can confirm that the crash also occurs with 1.3.13 on Windows XP.

I've also tested with Audacity 1.3.14 (nightly) on Windows XP and on Debian Linux and the problem appears to be fixed.
If you have OS X 10.4 or later you could try the nightly build for Mac which can be downloaded from the top of this file list. http://www.audacity.homerow.net/index.p ... order=desc

Steve, could you update and check again in HEAD on Debian?

I checked this issue a few days ago in r11307 on Windows 7 and there was no crash. In r11308 on Ubuntu (in which revision effects were broken), Preview in Edit Chains was not crashing but was actually playing a selected track. Now on Ubuntu in current HEAD (r11312), Preview in Edit Chains gives a segfault whether there is a track selected or not (at least in Normalize, Leveller and Equalization).

I see no real reason why Preview shouldn't play a selection if there is one (if it's safe) given you can apply chains to projects. But it is certainly confusing for the Preview button to be enabled otherwise.



Gale

[steve]

Steve, could you update and check again in HEAD on Debian?

Not so good
Testing with r11311, no crash with Amplify but Segmentation fault with Normalize.
Other effects crash some of the time but not 100% repeatable. I guess I must have been lucky when I tested before.

Added to Bugzilla as bug 455.