EStim sound library and EStimSurprise Tease

[mantrid]

I noticed a bug. If you use the alternate sound pack with the additional stereo 3-phase sounds you have to replace 'calibrate.scr' by this version

I'm not sure if this is the problem, but as I has written before I also don't like the signals because it's spiky, noisy how ever this is called, they just don't feel good over a longer time for me.

I may have found the issue. If the spikes occur in many but not all files it might be a more fundamental problem. MPGenerator tries to control the phases independently. This is only possible if the impedances (resistances of the coils and between the electrodes) are known. In practice this is not the case and MPGenerator assumes equal impedances on all phases. The stim files in the easy levels contain no fast low to high transitions, but fast high to low transitions. If such transitions occur in only one phase they cause jumps in phase and amplitude modulation in both audio channels. If your setup is to far away from the model assumption you may recognize them as spikes.

Here is a pseudo 3-phase sound set which uses the windowing functionality I mentioned in my previous post. This avoids the jumps but is probably not as interesting as the real 3-phase sounds.

[cfs6t08p]

Continuous waveform files are a massive improvement, thank you!

While testing these files I used a basic stereostim device; off the shelf stereo amplifier, audio transformers & series resistors.

[mantrid]

I may have found the issue: The power saving 3-state signal contains frequency remnants from the modulation waveform. I should be able to fix this and will send and update in the next days.

I did not recognized it due to a safety feature in my setup: A series capacitor between transformer and amplifier which acts as high pass filter. Low frequencies should be avoided because the can cause electrolysis. Real dangerous frequencies (DC currents) does not come through the transformer. Nevertheless, the component costs a few cents and health should be worth that investment.

Because we do not need frequencies below a few hundred Hz I recommend a -1db to -2db (90% to 80%) filter at 500 Hz. Formula for capacitance in µF is 1200/R to 2800/R where R is the DC resistance of the transformer coil plus an optional series resistor There are bipolar electrolytic capacitors which can be used for this purpose. (If R=15Ω and 100µF capacitor is perfect)

[mantrid]

I may have found the issue: The power saving 3-state signal contains frequency remnants from the modulation waveform. I should be able to fix this and will send and update in the next days.

Was premature: The weak low frequency components in the spectrum came from a to small window for the Fourier analysis. Due to the low duty cycle a wider window has to be used in order to have sufficient non-zero samples.

I performed some analysis and measurements:

Spectra
The spectrum of the power saving 3-state signal (it's not rectangular) has its maximum between 600 Hz and 1500 Hz. Frequency components below 600 Hz are less than -20db compared to peak and there are no frequency components below 175/2 Hz.

As written earlier, the 2-phase spectrum has a maximum at 175 Hz and strong peaks at 3 times, 5 times, ... this frequency. The spectrum of the 3-state signal is better. I can resort something such that the 2-phase spectrum looks similar to the 3-phase spectrum.

If I run these files through a 300Hz high-pass filter they improve massively, they still feel "busier" than the original but the uncomfortable sensations are all gone.

Means that you filter something that does not come from the sound files.

Measurement
I also attached an oscilloscope to my estim box. The signals look as desired. The 2-channel signal is a little bit deformed due to the my high pass filter (60% at 175 Hz).

Conclusion
If the spiky sensation disappear with a high-pass filter, either the sound card or amplifier seem to generate low frequency components. That can be caused by some kind of equalization using a to narrow window/filter. I would also expect this effect with continuous signals, but it would be much weaker.

As mentioned in the previous post: Very low frequencies can be dangerous. If the transformer lets them through you have to filter them.

[sbdx]

The latest version of Guideme I can find is 0.3.8 (found at memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=21239).

Where would we find Guideme 0.4.0?

Thank you.

[mantrid]

Where would we find Guideme 0.4.0?

There. No clue why no binaries are released. It's possible that not everything works properly.

I rebuild it myself: GuideMe-0.4.0-diff.zip. Unpack the contents into your GuideMe directory. It overwrites 'GuideMe.jar' (make a backup in order to revert changes) and installs a new file. Should work with all OS's, but only tested it under Linux.

If you switch between versions you have to delete all '*.state' files in the 'data' directory.

[sbdx]

Thank you!

[mantrid]

This is a preview for the next release. I'm working on major changes in sound file generation. Sinusoidal amplitude modulation and phase modulation are now independent. Sinusoidal frequency is fixed for each channel because different parts react different at different frequencies. This knowledge allowed further improvement of the signals.

ATM I'm not happy with the 4 channel files, but stereo signals (in 3-phase setup) work very well.

To test it, download this archive and unpack it into the tease directory. ('calib.scr' will be overwritten). Carrier waveform is continuous because some of you had problems with low frequency components which did not came from the (uncompressed) sound files. (I strongly recommend a simple high-pass filter because very low frequncies are dangerous due to electrolysis, see previous posts.)

[emiumfinal]

This is a preview for the next release. I'm working on major changes in sound file generation. Sinusoidal amplitude modulation and phase modulation are now independent. Sinusoidal frequency is fixed for each channel because different parts react different at different frequencies. This knowledge allowed further improvement of the signals.

ATM I'm not happy with the 4 channel files, but stereo signals (in 3-phase setup) work very well.

To test it, download this archive and unpack it into the tease directory. ('calib.scr' will be overwritten). Carrier waveform is continuous because some of you had problems with low frequency components which did not came from the (uncompressed) sound files. (I strongly recommend a simple high-pass filter because very low frequncies are dangerous due to electrolysis, see previous posts.)

I noticed if you drop this in then you no longer get the option for the 2 and 4 channel versions, but if you rename the new folder the option comes back (which is interesting and makes me wonder how that works) - is there any way to get all three options at once, the new 2 ch, the old 2ch, and the 4 ch? That way it would be easier to experiment, and not have to exit and change the folder names.

[mantrid]

I noticed if you drop this in then you no longer get the option for the 2 and 4 channel versions, but if you rename the new folder the option comes back (which is interesting and makes me wonder how that works) - is there any way to get all three options at once, the new 2 ch, the old 2ch, and the 4 ch? That way it would be easier to experiment, and not have to exit and change the folder names.

The only file that changed is 'calib.scr'. The sound files are in different directories, e.g. 'Audio/2c', 'Audio/6us', ....

This version of 'calib.scr' makes all audio files available. Button names had to be shortened:

• 2c: New algorithm, 1x3-phase, continuous, channel 1 (usually left) to most sensitive place. Recommended for playing because in future all files will be generated using the new algorithm
• 3u: Old algorithm, 1x3-phase, continuous, channel 1 (usually left) to most sensitive place.
• 3u: Old algorithm, 1x3-phase, continuous, symmetrical.
• 3t: Old algorithm, 1x3-phase, continuous, symmetrical
• 6us: Old algorithm, 2x3-phase, power saving (non-continuous), Channels 1+2 should be equivalent to 3u and channels 3+4 should be equivalent to 3s.
• 2: Old algorithm, 2x2-phase, power saving (non-continuous), symmetrical

Download links for audio packs:

• 2c
• 3u, 3s, 3t
• 6us, 2: These files are power-saving and should feel same as continuous files with much less energy induced. In practice they feel a little bit noisier due to compression artifacts in form of overshoots. But some users reported they fell uncomfortable. That seems to be caused be low frequency components that does not come from the files (see previous posts)

[emiumfinal]

I noticed if you drop this in then you no longer get the option for the 2 and 4 channel versions, but if you rename the new folder the option comes back (which is interesting and makes me wonder how that works) - is there any way to get all three options at once, the new 2 ch, the old 2ch, and the 4 ch? That way it would be easier to experiment, and not have to exit and change the folder names.

The only file that changed is 'calib.scr'. The sound files are in different directories, e.g. 'Audio/2c', 'Audio/6us', ....

This version of 'calib.scr' makes all audio files available. Button names had to be shortened:

• 2c: New algorithm, 1x3-phase, continuous, channel 1 (usually left) to most sensitive place. Recommended for playing because in future all files will be generated using the new algorithm
• 3u: Old algorithm, 1x3-phase, continuous, channel 1 (usually left) to most sensitive place.
• 3u: Old algorithm, 1x3-phase, continuous, symmetrical.
• 3t: Old algorithm, 1x3-phase, continuous, symmetrical
• 6us: Old algorithm, 2x3-phase, power saving (non-continuous), Channels 1+2 should be equivalent to 3u and channels 3+4 should be equivalent to 3s.
• 2: Old algorithm, 2x2-phase, power saving (non-continuous), symmetrical

Download links for audio packs:

• 2c
• 3u, 3s, 3t
• 6us, 2: These files are power-saving and should feel same as continuous files with much less energy induced. In practice they feel a little bit noisier due to compression artifacts in form of overshoots. But some users reported they fell uncomfortable. That seems to be caused be low frequency components that does not come from the files (see previous posts)

Wow, that's great, thank you. So the 2C, 2, and 6us are the same as before, and you've added the 3-series ones? So we'd only need to download the group with the 3 ones if we already have the other packs?

[mantrid]

Wow, that's great, thank you. So the 2C, 2, and 6us are the same as before, and you've added the 3-series ones? So we'd only need to download the group with the 3 ones if we already have the other packs?

The button names ("2c", "6us", ...) are the names of th subdirectories in directory 'Audio'. Just check which ones exist and download the missing packs.

Packs for '2c', '6us' and '2' can be found in the initial post. The 3 ones where presented in the replies in order to verify problems with the power saving waveforms (if it works as desired they are obsolete)

If you test them, here are a few question which are helpful (questions marked bold, normal text are explanations):

1. Which estim device are you using?
2. Does the power saving carrier waveform work? If you have a surround sound card: Channels 1+2 (front) of '6us' should be similar to '3u' and channels 3+4 (rear) should be similar to '3s' at same volume setting. Without surround sound card you can verify '2' with one '3s'. In 3-phase setup they feel a little bit different but at least the volume should be the same and '2' should not be more painful.
3. Does the pain files work? Test it with you favorite sound pack. As described in the initial posts, the sound files starting with 'x' and are divided in 10 difficulties: 'x0*.ogg' are the easiest ones, 'x9*.ogg' are the most difficult ones.
   1. The easiest levels should be at least a little bit painful. Best tested in the tease after you pressed the skip button the 2nd time.
   2. Does the difficulty progression work? Thats best tested with the audio files directly, but you only need to test one or a few from each level (and you may have to reduce volume )
   3. The pain files can be divided in 4 groups
      • 'x0' and 'x1' have the lowest shock density
      • 'x2', 'x3' and 'x5' have a medium shock density
      • 'x4' and 'x6' have the highest shock density but shocks are non-synchronous
      • 'x7', 'x8' and 'x9' have the highest shock density, shocks are synchronous
      Furthermore the volume increases with increasing difficulty.
      
      Can you describe the differences between groups? If the shock density is to high, that feels more like a constant signal and is not that painful and more or less pleasureful. In 3-phase setups non-synchronous shocks are less painful. I compensated this with higher volume.
4. Which audio pack is your favorite? Especially: Is the new algorithm better. For me it is and that's why I plan to switch.

[Stimmer0815]

I Have a question because of guidme 4.
Do in need a previous version eg 3.8 for example and put in only your rebuild binaries?

Or do i need to download the Guidme from Philo and put in your binaries?
But this download is only 5 megabyte. 3.8 is 115 megabyte...

When i use 3.8 and overwritre files with your binaries Guidme does not start.

My System is Windows 10 Professional
#
Thank you very much
Christian

Where would we find Guideme 0.4.0?

There. No clue why no binaries are released. It's possible that not everything works properly.

I rebuild it myself: GuideMe-0.4.0-diff.zip. Unpack the contents into your GuideMe directory. It overwrites 'GuideMe.jar' (make a backup in order to revert changes) and installs a new file. Should work with all OS's, but only tested it under Linux.

If you switch between versions you have to delete all '*.state' files in the 'data' directory.

[mantrid]

You do not need GuideMe 4.0 in order to use my tease. The only problem with 3.8 is that the state cannot be saved.

I Have a question because of guidme 4.
Do in need a previous version eg 3.8 for example and put in only your rebuild binaries?

Or do i need to download the Guidme from Philo and put in your binaries?
But this download is only 5 megabyte. 3.8 is 115 megabyte...

You need version 3.8 from philo (the large file) and put int the contents from the small file. Furthermore you need to replace the .state files because the new format is incompatible. GuideMe silently exits if th old state files still exists.

But there are two issues I did not considered

1. You need a newer version of Java, at least version 11. The version included in philos package (thats why it is so large) does not work
2. You need a start script similar to 'start.sh'

The patch as it is will only work on Linux and MacOS, see this thread. Either a windows user makes a Windows package or you ask philo to release a new package.

[Stimmer0815]

Thank you for your clarification.