I've been asked to provide easy integration between the exaU2I USB to I2S interface and Allocator. This post presents the results of my first successful configuration.

The Loudspeaker Frequency Allocator is a 4-way, stereo DSP loudspeaker crossover (2 in- 8 out). It is a VST compatible plug-in which means that it can be used with VST hosts applications. Allocator comes prepackaged with a VST host. The use of the Allocator / VST Host package can be quite complicated. My preference was to use the standalone Allocator VST component and to integrate it properly with a VST compatible player.

Foobar2000 provides VST integration (and many other advanced features) by using third-party plug-ins. For this test I used the Foobar2000 VST 2.4 adapter by Yegor Petrov. Additional information about this Foobar component can be found here.

This step by step guide assumes that Foobar2000 is configured for use with exaU2I USB to I2S interface in 8 channel mode. The exaU2I DIY Guide provides detailed information on this topic. 1. Download and install The Loudspeaker Frequency Allocator 2. Download the current version of Foobar2000 VST 2.4 adapter. 3. Copy the foo_vst.dll too the Foobar2000 Components folder. By default this is C:\Program Files\foobar2000\components\. 4. Start Foobar2000 and go to File -> Preferences -> Components -> VST Plugins. Click Add and select the Allocator VST plug-in Allocator.dll. You should see the following screen:

5. Go to the Playback node -> DSP Manager and in the Available DSP list double-click The Thuneau Allocator. At this point you can click OK.

6. The Allocator configuration screen can be accessed from the Fooba2000 View menu -> Visualizations -> DSP:

7. Foobar2000 can keyboard shortcut associations with DSP configurations. The following screen can be displayed from File -> Preferences -> Keyboard Shortcuts.

8. A final adjustment to the VST 2.4 adapter must be made in the advanced section of the Preferences window. The default output number limit must be set to 8.

9. You can see a screenshot of Foobar 2000 playing a stereo piece at 192 kHz. Allocator produces 8 channel output. I was able to listen only to the base channels coming from my front speakers and the mid-range playing from the rear speakers. I don't have the proper equipment for using a digital crossover. At this point I can only verify that this setup is functional.

Hopefully someone with the proper amplifiers and speakers in place can verify this experiment and report back to us his findings about sound quality.