The official final release of DXVUMeterNETGDI is now available. This version now substitutes the old DirectX-based version providing a huge number of new features, improvements and unsurpassed stability.

Here's what's new in this version:

• The library has been recompiled to use .NET 4.0
• The FFT algorithm has been considerably enhanced and it now uses an internal complex number data type which, not only makes my life a lot easier, but it also has a considerable impact on the performance.
• A new visualization (FFTLineChannelMode) called "Phase" has been added, which performs a phase detection between the left and right channels.
• A new display style for the FFT analysis (FFTStyle) called "TransferFunction" has been added, which performs an advanced analysis over the left and right signals, using the signal from the left channel as a reference.
• The DTMF detection algorithm has also been improved allowing the detection of DTMF tones even under noisy conditions. It also now supports the detection of the A, B, C and D keys, Dial Tone, Busy Tone and Ringback Tone.
• Fixed a nasty bug with the Freq2FFTIdx() and FFTIdx2Freq() functions.
• Included two new samples: CenterFrequency and SilenceTrigger.
• The documentation has also been updated to reflect the latest changes in the control.

This version implements all the missing features from the previous release and improves its stability and performance.

Also, this version includes a release of MixerProNET that, although not 100% compatible with Windows Vista and Windows 7, it will still work, solving many problems that occurred with previous versions.

I'm really exited to release the first beta version of DXVUMeterNETGDI.

As I have explained before, this new version of DXVUMeterNET uses GDI+ instead of DirectX as its rendering engine making it less resource intensive.

If you have already built a project using the DirectX version of DXVUMeterNET and you would like to test this release you just have to change the reference on your project to point to DXVUMeterNETGDI.dll and then recompile -- as simple as that.

Also, as previously announced, this version includes a new sample application (with source code) called BPMDetection which demonstrates yet another type of program that can be created with DXVUMeterNET

Although not perfect, this rather simple application is capable of perfoming an automated detection of the beats per minute (BPM) of any audio stream being monitored by DXVUMeterNETGDI.

In the upcoming days I will be releasing a new version of DXVUMeterNET that utilizes GDI+ instead of Direct3D to perform the rendering.

Although GDI+ is considerably slower than Direct3D, it is enough to allow DXVUMeterNET to render its different modes while providing a more lightweight control.

This version will be 100% compatible with the Direct3D version so if you decide to use it you will only need to update the reference on your project and recompile it.

Also, with the release of DXVUMeterNET I will include a new sample application that can be used to perform BPM detection. The sample uses a very similar algorithm used by many popular applications such as Tracktor, although it may not be as accurate but still it makes a pretty nice example of the things you can do with DXVUMeterNET.

DXVUMeterNET is an extremely powerful .NET library which can be used to perform many different tasks.

I, for example, have found some very curious and cool things that can be done with it... so I decided to create a special section where I will showcase some of the most interesting things that I have done with this control

You will be able to find these sample applications here. In this section you will find unusual, but very cool, applications developed using DXVUMeterNET and, whenever possible, I will make the source code available.

This version enhances the display algorithms which makes it quite faster than previous versions.

Also, there's a new function "LoopbackLine", added to the RecordingSources collection which provides direct access to any line that can be used as a loopback line, that is, a line that can be used to record (or monitor) whatever it is being played through the sound card. This can be extremely useful to easily locate the line that must be used to allow DXVUMeterNET to monitor the audio being played back on a sound card.

The DXVUMeterNET Tester application makes use of this new function and highlights the loopback line on the Mixer window so that can be easily selected.

This new version of the installer should resolve some issues that could cause crashes on systems without VisualStudio 2005
This version also installs three new samples and their source code.

You already know that DXVUMeterNET includes some of the most amazing audio rendering modes such as the well known digital leds display, oscilloscope mode and the professional-featured FFT/Spectrum display. But, DXVUMeterNET also provides means for developers to create their own displays either using GDI+ or DirectX.

As seen in this movie, you can see a custom display created using CGI+ that renders semi-circular digital leds and an impressive rotating cubes digital leds display...

This new release of DXVUMeterNET provides several bug fixes, a new sample application (an Automatic Gain Control for Winamp) and the ability to record the monitored audio in MP3 format!

The release candidate for DXVUMeterNET is now available for download.
This version is based on the new .NET 2.0 and the latest DirectX 9 version which provides enhanced stability and performance.

DXVUMeterNET features the ability to display monitored audio using highly customizable leds, oscilloscope, spectrum (FFT) and two additional user modes so you can provide your own custom audio displays.
In this version we have added a new spectrum display mode under the FFT style and the ability to detect DTMF tones.

We have just re-released DXVUMeterNET so it can be properly used with Microsoft's latest DirectX 9 SDK (August update).

This release is more stable (thanks to the updated SDK) and it also fixes a problem with the installer which wasn't installing all the required files for the sample application "DXVUMeter Tester".
This version also provides a highly enhanced rendering engine which considerably reduces the required CPU resources.

This beta fixes lots of bugs and implements playback support. Among the most important fixes are:

• Fixed problem with the control suddenly disappearing and displaying an either black or gray background
• Recorded files may have contained an invalid header which caused problems with some editors such as Sound Forge
• The FFT display could cause the control to crash when changing the FFT Size
• The control could stop working after a prolonged period of time

With this release we're almost ready to make DXVUMeterNET officially available as a final product. Please report any bugs you find...

This update to the current beta version of DXVUMeterNET should resolve the problem regarding a missing Microsoft.DirectX.DirectSound dependency.

The new installer will now check for the proper versions of the .NET Framework and Managed DirectX before installing DXVUMeterNET and will provide means of downloading these components so the control can be properly installed.

Well... not quite. This is the first public beta and there're still a couple of things that need to be done in order to consider DXVUMeterNET a terminated product. But, even though it's still a beta it is quite impressive!