Flag to switch multi-channel processing

[regorxxx]

I see the latest update has introduced multi-channel support, but I think it should be tweaked by a flag instead of forced.

There is no need to get so much data or process all channels if the final use only requires downmixed data.

It also simplifies handling on third party scripts, since downmixing would be done internally (like before), instead of requiring extra code.

For these reasons I think an extra argument would be better
AudioWizard.StartWaveformAnalysis(metadata, resolution, bMultiChannel);

[TT-ReBORN]

@regorxxx,

I’ve decided to stick with automatic per-track detection because it is more robust for real-world usage in foobar2000.

A global flag assumes every track in a selection has the same channel layout. If a user selects a mix of Mono, Stereo, and 5.1 Surround tracks, a global flag would fail or force unnecessary processing. My logic detects the channel count during the decoding of each individual track and updates the property automatically. This means the dev doesn't need to know the format beforehand, the component simply tells you what it found.

The provided GetWaveformTrackChannels() call is essentially zero overhead, it just returns a cached value. Audio Wizard only processes channels that exist in each track, so there's no wasted processing.

The current approach handles:
Compilation albums with mixed stereo/mono tracks, playlists with varying channel counts, and unknown formats where the user doesn't need to know technical details upfront.

A manual flag would fail for:
Mixed-channel compilations (where one flag cannot represent the whole selection) and would require the user to implement their own logic to 'guess' the format before calling the analysis.

Automatic detection handles 100% of use cases (including multi-channel), whereas a manual flag adds complexity for the user to solve a problem the component already handles internally."

-TT

[regorxxx]

I'm not asking to know the channel layout beforehand, neither setting the number of channels for analysis. Just a simple flag to either downmix to mono and output a single channel (previous output!) or just all available channels (current output).

After this clarification, hope you see it has none of the downsides you mention.

There is no need to get so much data or process all channels if the final use only requires downmixed data.

It also simplifies handling on third party scripts, since downmixing would be done internally (like before), instead of requiring extra code.

And see here I was talking about processing within JS scripts, not the component. That's exactly how audiowaveform and ffmpeg work, you can either output all channels or a downmix to mono.

Note data has to be stored, it's not the same storing 1 channel than 2+. So a flag lets you simplify al the process, specially in cases where the user only wants downmixed data.

In fact my request would greatly simplify JS coding, since those use-cases which only require a single stream of data don't have to perform downmixing in code too. If you check my waveform script that's exactly what's done.

[TT-ReBORN]

Ok, sorry this was a misunderstanding.
After re-reading, I see you're asking for a downmix-to-mono flag, not manual channel specification.
A downmix-to-mono flag makes sense for storage optimization and script simplification.

I'll add this in the next release:
AudioWizard.StartWaveformAnalysis(metadata, resolution, downmixToMono);
When downmixToMono = true, all channels are averaged into mono, reducing data size and eliminating the need for manual averaging in the scripts.

Good catch, this will definitely benefit use cases that only need aggregate waveform data.

-TT

[regorxxx]

Great :) thanks! I will keep coding the implementation having that design in mind.