Need help again: Windows Neutron - how to "load/save" EQ settings XML file

Support questions for Neutron Player only (http://neutroncode.com/apps/player).
DSperber
Posts: 57
Joined: Sun Jul 12, 2020 5:18 am

Need help again: Windows Neutron - how to "load/save" EQ settings XML file

Post by DSperber » Tue Oct 01, 2024 1:55 am

Adding Neutron Player to another new Windows machine. And I'm tryng to copy (if possible) my already completely customized and satisfactory setup from another machine... if that's possible. Many software products have an INI file somewhere, or the equivalent '\Settings" folder with multiple files, etc.

(1) Does Neutron Player have a similar one or more files/folders located in \Users\<username>\Appdata\roaming\Neutron\xxxxx which I can simply duplicate from one machine to another, thereby instantly duplicating the complete setup of the program without having to do anything (or at least minimal additional tweaking thereafter should there be minor differences in the two machines)?

If so, what should I copy from machine 1 to machine 2?

(2) For the life of me, I still cannot figure out how to LOAD an existing EQ preset I have created and somehow "SAVE'd" into XML file. I don't know where that XML file is supposed to go within the folder structure of Neutron Player in Windows.

I have that XML file in my own private folder, which apparently I somehow must have previously somehow stumbled into seeing how to save, or perhaps following directions gleaned from a response to forum post of mine which I can no longer find.

So, I don't know how to get to the point of SAVE AS (or "export to XML"?) for a customized EQ set (call it a "preset" with a name of my own choosing).

I also don't know how to LOAD a previously saved EQ preset.

Please provide the complete sequence of drill-down steps starting from the top, leading me to how I would go about both SAVE and LOAD in Windows Neutron.

blaubär
Posts: 3614
Joined: Tue Apr 02, 2019 6:48 am

Re: Need help again: Windows Neutron - how to "load/save" EQ settings XML file

Post by blaubär » Tue Oct 01, 2024 5:02 am

On my Windows 11 the directory is "C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Packages\NeutronCodeLimited.NeutronMusicPlayer_<...>/LocalState" .

Screenshot 2024-10-01 065926.jpg
Screenshot 2024-10-01 065926.jpg (23.88 KiB) Viewed 1031 times
You can copy the files, surely any xml, perhaps the others too. Make sure that Neutron, both GUI and any processes, are down when you put the new files into the target directory. Otherwise the running Neutron will ignore and later overwrite them.

Btw this is no feature - Neutron is still lacking a proper backup- und restore-funtionality, but a hack, which might work, or might not.

DSperber
Posts: 57
Joined: Sun Jul 12, 2020 5:18 am

Re: Need help again: Windows Neutron - how to "load/save" EQ settings XML file

Post by DSperber » Wed Oct 02, 2024 7:18 am

What about the "settings" folder? There is a "settings.dat" file in it. Is this not relevant??

Image


Also, you didn't answer my question about where/how to SAVE/LOAD a custom EQ XML file. I'm not talking about the external DAC user interface through NConfigurator which supports LOAD/SAVE for the DAC device.

I'm talking about just the player program on Windows, and wanting to use the local EQ setup. I know I can re-create it manually one band at a time, but I already have it somehow previously saved (I don't remember how I stumbled into that facility, but I do have an XML file). I now want to LOAD it in one of my additional Neutron installs on another machine.

How do I get into the LOAD dialog for EQ, in order to point to the XML file???

blaubär
Posts: 3614
Joined: Tue Apr 02, 2019 6:48 am

Re: Need help again: Windows Neutron - how to "load/save" EQ settings XML file

Post by blaubär » Wed Oct 02, 2024 10:36 am

DSperber wrote:
Wed Oct 02, 2024 7:18 am
How do I get into the LOAD dialog for EQ, in order to point to the XML file???
There is no backup/restore functionality and no load dialog. Neutron stores the EQ presets in the eq_presets.xml file. If you stop Neutron and its processes then that is updated with the latest data from the app. If you change it then, eg replace it with another file with the same name, and start Neutron, Neutron will load the contents of this file, and your eq presets will be built accordingly.

DSperber
Posts: 57
Joined: Sun Jul 12, 2020 5:18 am

Re: Need help again: Windows Neutron - how to "load/save" EQ settings XML file

Post by DSperber » Wed Oct 02, 2024 11:05 pm

I don't understand.

Am I supposed to MERGE the separate XML file (created by NConfigurator and its own explicit SAVE capability) inside of the EQ_PRESETS.XML file? And then I'll be able to select it when I drill Neutron Player into its Settings -> Playback -> presets function?

So there's no way to actually SAVE a manually created EQ as a newly named preset XML file using Neutron Player itself??? Only with NConfigurator, and then only if I have purchased an external DAC?

And there's no way to actually LOAD a previously saved EQ preset XML file by name into Neutron Player? Only with NConfigurator for the external DAC?

Despite the wondrous sound of the player and the DAC, this Windows user interface design is preposterous.

MotleyG
Posts: 208
Joined: Thu Sep 23, 2021 6:19 pm

Re: Need help again: Windows Neutron - how to "load/save" EQ settings XML file

Post by MotleyG » Thu Oct 03, 2024 2:13 am

DSperber wrote:
Wed Oct 02, 2024 11:05 pm
I don't understand…

…Despite the wondrous sound of the player and the DAC, this Windows user interface design is preposterous.
I don't see how the two applications need to be interrelated. One application is designed to be a music player and has been around for many years. The other is a control application for a newly designed DAC. Both products can work together in harmony, but that doesn't mean their features are expected to be interchangeable.

The term preposterous is a bit of a stretch. Unfortunate perhaps in your very specific use case. But not some kind of blatant disregard to the typical use case of either product. In the amount of time it likely took to craft the last couple of posts you could have copied the necessary EQ settings for your specific device(s) over and been listening already.

DSperber
Posts: 57
Joined: Sun Jul 12, 2020 5:18 am

Re: Need help again: Windows Neutron - how to "load/save" EQ settings XML file

Post by DSperber » Thu Oct 03, 2024 3:52 am

I didn't want to manually re-enter the 10 band EQ values (which probably would have taken 2 minutes to complete), if the Player App itself supported the ability to "export/save" the current EQ values into an XML file somewhere, and also supported the ability (for another app instance on another machine) to "import/load" that very XML file in order to instantly obtain those identical EQ band values.

So I've come to this forum, ostensibly for "Support - Player"... in order to get such support, if it exists. If the Neutron Player app can do this, please tell me how in precise detail.

If the player app does not support this, and if the only way to create and manage my custom EQs (e.g. if I had several) is to (a) write down the band values of every EQ I want to support, and (b) always manually adjust things as required, then tell me that as well.

I only want to know if the same SAVE/LOAD functionality that exists in NConfigurator for the external DAC and its own DSP functionality and device-located EQ collection, might also exist in Neutron Player.

A straight answer and specific guidance on how-to (if possible) is all I ask.

blaubär
Posts: 3614
Joined: Tue Apr 02, 2019 6:48 am

Re: Need help again: Windows Neutron - how to "load/save" EQ settings XML file

Post by blaubär » Thu Oct 03, 2024 4:24 am

DSperber wrote: I only want to know if the same SAVE/LOAD functionality that exists in NConfigurator for the external DAC and its own DSP functionality and device-located EQ collection, might also exist in Neutron Player.
No, it doesn't.

DSperber
Posts: 57
Joined: Sun Jul 12, 2020 5:18 am

Re: Need help again: Windows Neutron - how to "load/save" EQ settings XML file

Post by DSperber » Thu Oct 03, 2024 10:01 am

Fair enough. But...

Disappointing of course that there is no built-in formal official GUI capability within the Neutron Player for LOAD/SAVE, but a little investigation reveals to me that there is at least some method of accomplishing this myself, using a combination of features in Neutron Player, its EQ_PRESETS.XML collection file, and combining the XML file created by NConfigurator for the DAC. And using an editing tool like Notepad++ it is very easy to accomplish my goal.

(1) Turns out whatever EQ preset you select and enable and activate, there is an automatic "save" to that particular XML definition inside of EQ_PRESETS.XML whenever you make a change to it through Neutron itself. So, for example, even though you might start (as I did) by selecting "10-band FLAT (graphic)" which initially has 0 values for each band and preamp gain, if you then move the sliders to adjust the EQ when you close Neutron the XML definition for "10-band FLAT" is no longer 0 as it was initially but is now "customized" to reflect whatever tweaks you applied.

And then when you re-launch Neutron, the selected/active/enabled EQ preset is reloaded from EQ-PRESETS.XML, and will then reflect your previously tweaked values.

So I can actually replace whatever lines in the XML file correspond to whichever EQ I've started from, with the corresponding lines from the XML file created by NConfigurator for the EQ I placed onto the external DAC. That will manually accomplish at least one part of what I wanted to accomplish, namely to do a conceptual "import/load" into Neutron Player of that XML file to get the same EQ effect, without having to manually move each slider for each band. Just use Notepad++ to edit EQ_PRESET.XML.

(2) So, for example, I did initially select "FLAT 10-band (graphic) to begin with. Inside of the XML file it initially looks like this:

Image

And all I had to do was replace those 10 lines with the corresponding lines from the NConfigurator-produced XML file, to accomplish my "import/load" the next time Neutron is opened. So it now looks like this:

Image

(3) Functionally this accomplishes what I wanted to achieve. But as it turns out Neutron Player actually DOES have the ability to CREATE a new user-defined EQ preset. I would rather see my own custom EQ preset with a proper custom name, rather than tampering with one of the built-in preset names in the product itself.

(a) In the Settings -> Playback -> EQ Presets dialog, at the bottom there is a "+" button:

Image

(b) If you push that +" button it will create a brand new preset (defined by new lines inside of EQ_PRESETS.XML), with a name of "Preset #nn" where "nn" is the next available sequential number corresponding to one more than however many total EQ presets currently live inside of EQ_PRESETS.XML.

The initial default EQ_PRESETS.XML contains 53 definitions. So the first time "+" is pushed it will create "Preset #54". I'm writing this now after having already created my own "Darryl's EQ" (which was originally "Preset #54 but which I've now renamed), so the next push of "+" will create "Preset #55".

Image

NOTE: the EQ preset that gets created through this "+" button appears to be a 10-band (parametric) EQ with something called "shelf" on the bottom and the top. It appears to be identical to the "10-band (parametric) ID=39 found elsewhere in EQ_PRESETS.XML. So depending on what you really want to create, this starting form may or may not be what you want. For me it was not, since I wanted a 10-band (graphic) EQ preset.

(c) If you then select that line which names the new preset (to drill down into it), you are now offered the option of RENAMING it so as to display with whatever custom name you'd like (and of course this also causes a matching change inside of EQ_PRESETS.XML):

Image

(d) For this writeup, I renamed "Preset #55" to be "Example User EQ Preset". Pushing that "rename" button produces an un-annotated screen with three unnamed icon buttons. Turns out pushing the one on the left allows you to enter your EQ name in the data entry area:

Image

(e) On this mysterious rename screen, there is also no "check" or "SAVE" or "OK" or anything. So I'm not sure how exactly you're supposed to complete the operation. But if you press ESC that does return you back, so maybe that implies "save". I'm not sure. But whatever I did does seem to have accomplished my desired renaming:

Image

(4) And now, to complete, the integration of my NConfigurator-created XML EQ preset values into the newly created and named "Darryl's EQ", I used Notepad++ to replace all the initial default lines added from pushing the "+" button to create a new preset, with the proper lines from my NConfigurator-created XML file.

Along with the just also added preset #55, EQ_PRESETS.XML now looks like this:

Image

(5) NOTE: THERE IS NO WAY TO DELETE AN EXISTING EQ PRESET OTHER THAN TO EDIT EQ_PRESETS.XML CAREFULLY.

blaubär
Posts: 3614
Joined: Tue Apr 02, 2019 6:48 am

Re: Need help again: Windows Neutron - how to "load/save" EQ settings XML file

Post by blaubär » Sun Oct 27, 2024 8:28 am

DSperber wrote:
Tue Oct 01, 2024 1:55 am
Adding Neutron Player to another new Windows machine. And I'm tryng to copy (if possible) my already completely customized and satisfactory setup from another machine... if that's possible.
[...]
should now be possible in the new Version 2.25.0
dmitrykos wrote:
Fri Feb 14, 2014 7:22 pm
2.25.0 (10.2024):
* New:
- ability to Backup/Restore settings via Neutron Console (subscription)
- ability to create NeutronID via Settings - NeutronID - [+]
[...]
an FAQ with hints as how to do that is to appear soon.

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests