An apparatus is provided for integrating a removable fader component with an audio component while also enabling the fader component to be connected with one or more external audio components and/or to function as a standalone fader when removed from the apparatus. Embodiments include an audio component configured to produce a first audio signal; a removable fader component configured with a first connection point for connectivity to the audio component and a second connection point for connectivity to an external audio component that produces a second audio signal, wherein a hardware component, a software component, or a combination thereof for performing a mixing of the first audio signal and the second audio signal is contained within the removable fader component; and a receptacle integrated into the apparatus, wherein the receptacle is configured to hold the removable fader component to the apparatus.

A system and methods for acquiring cadence and selecting a song version based on the acquired cadence are disclosed. If the system detects a new cadence, then a new song version that corresponds to the new cadence can be played. The new song version playback can start in a corresponding position as the location of playback in a currently-playing song version. Each related song version shares one or more characteristics, such as melody, but is different in at least one characteristic, such as tempo.

An apparatus for decomposing an audio signal into a background component signal and a foreground component signal includes: a block generator for generating a time sequence of blocks of audio signal values; an audio signal analyzer for determining a block characteristic of a current block of the audio signal and for determining an average characteristic for a group of blocks, the group of blocks including at least two blocks; and a separator for separating the current block into a background portion and a foreground portion in response to a ratio of the block characteristic of the current block and the average characteristic of the group of blocks, wherein the background component signal includes the background portion of the current block and the foreground component signal includes the foreground portion of the current block.

The present invention relates to a method for processing and playing audio data comprising the steps of receiving mixed input data and playing recombined output data. Furthermore, the invention relates to a device for processing and playing audio data, preferably DJ equipment, comprising an audio input unit for receiving a mixed input signal, a recombination unit and a playing unit for playing recombined output data. In addition, the present invention relates to a method and a device for representing audio data, i.e. on a display.

In exemplary embodiments of the present invention systems and methods are provided to implement and facilitate cross-fading, interstitials and other effects/processing of two or more media elements in a personalized media delivery service so that each client or user has a consistent high quality experience. The effects or crossfade processing can occur on the broadcast, publisher or server-side, but can still be personalized to a specific user, thus still allowing a personalized experience for each individual user, in a manner where the processing burden is minimized on the downstream side or client device. This approach enables a consistent user experience, independent of client device capabilities, both static and dynamic. The cross-fade can be implemented after decoding the relevant chunks of each component clip, processing, recoding and rechunking, or, in a preferred embodiment, the cross-fade or other effect can be implemented on the relevant chunks to the effect in the compressed domain, thus obviating any loss of quality by re-encoding. A large scale personalized content delivery service can be implemented by limiting the processing to essentially the first and last chunks of any file, since there is no need to processing the full clip. In exemplary embodiments of the present invention this type of processing can easily be accommodated in cloud computing technology, where the first and last files may be conveniently extracted and processed within the cloud to meet the required load. Processing may also be done locally, for example, by the broadcaster, with sufficient processing power to manage peak load.

A fade device includes a processor that couples a crossfader to a mixer, the processor using crossfader input to apply an acceleration or a latency to an audio signal passing through a mixer.

In exemplary embodiments of the present invention systems and methods are provided to implement and facilitate cross-fading, interstitials and other effects/processing of two or more media elements in a personalized media delivery service so that each client or user has a consistent high quality experience. The effects or crossfade processing can occur on the broadcast, publisher or server-side, but can still be personalized to a specific user, thus still allowing a personalized experience for each individual user, in a manner where the processing burden is minimized on the downstream side or client device. This approach enables a consistent user experience, independent of client device capabilities, both static and dynamic. The cross-fade can be implemented after decoding the relevant chunks of each component clip, processing, recoding and rechunking, or, in a preferred embodiment, the cross-fade or other effect can be implemented on the relevant chunks to the effect in the compressed domain, thus obviating any loss of quality by re-encoding. A large scale personalized content delivery service can be implemented by limiting the processing to essentially the first and last chunks of any file, since there is no need to processing the full clip. In exemplary embodiments of the present invention this type of processing can easily be accommodated in cloud computing technology, where the first and last files may be conveniently extracted and processed within the cloud to meet the required load. Processing may also be done locally, for example, by the broadcaster, with sufficient processing power to manage peak load.

Techniques for providing acoustic feedback are disclosed. Several audio clips have a synchronized beat. A sensor signal received from a sensor has a sensor signal range divided by first and second thresholds into at least three sensor signal sub-ranges. An audio signal is output in response to the received sensor signal, the output audio signal comprising one or more of the audio clips. If the received sensor signal exceeds the first threshold, at least one of the one or more audio clips is discontinued and/or at least one additional audio clip of the audio clips is initiated in synchronization with the one or more audio clips. If the received sensor signal falls below the second threshold, at least one of the one or more audio clips is discontinued and/or at least one additional audio clip of the audio clips is initiated in synchronization with the one or more audio clips.

Systems and methods are presented for efficient cross-fading of compressed domain information streams on a user/client device. Exemplary systems may provide cross-fade between AAC/Enhanced AAC Plus information streams, between MP3 information streams, or between information streams of unmatched formats. These systems are distinguished in that cross-fade is directly applied to compressed bitstreams so a single decode operation is performed on the resulting bitstream. Thus, a set of frames from each input stream associated with the time interval in which a cross fade is decoded, and combined and recoded with a cross fade or other effect now in the compressed bitstream. Once sent through the client device's decoder, the user hears the transitional effect. The only input data that is decoded and processed is that associated with the portion of each stream used the crossfade, blend or other interstitial, and thus the vast majority of input streams are left compressed.

A guitar multi-effects pedalboard is provided. The pedalboard has footswitches and a memory storing guitar-effect presets for processing an inputted guitar signal when the processing is triggered by pressing a footswitch. The pedalboard has one or more processors coupled to the memory and configured to process a first portion of an inputted guitar signal on a first audio-engine thread with a first guitar-effect preset when processing the first portion is triggered by pressing a footswitch. The one or more processors also process a second portion of the inputted guitar signal on a second audio-engine thread with a second guitar-effect preset while simultaneously processing the first portion of the inputted guitar signal on the first audio-engine thread with the first guitar-effect preset when processing the second portion is triggered by pressing a footswitch. The one or more processors simultaneously output the processed first portion and the processed second portion.