AetherDSP Settings¶
Use the AetherDSP Settings dialog to tune the advanced parameters of AetherSDR's client-side noise-reduction engines (NR2, NR4, MNR, DFNR, RN2, BNR). The six DSP modules are selectable via a toggle row at the top; clicking a toggle also activates or bypasses that engine.
Opening AetherDSP Settings¶
- Click
Settings > AetherDSP Settings....
The dialog opens with the currently active noise reduction tab selected.
Dialog chrome¶
The AetherDSP Settings dialog uses a frameless 18 px gradient title bar with a grip glyph (⋮⋮) on the left and the dialog title "AetherDSP Settings". Three window-control buttons sit at the right:
- — (Minimize) — Minimizes the dialog.
- □ (Maximize) — Maximizes or restores the dialog. Double-clicking the title bar also toggles maximize/restore.
- × (Close) — Closes the dialog.
The dialog has a 6 px resize hit zone around the inner content widget. Drag the title bar to move the dialog. Resize the dialog by dragging any edge or corner (8-axis resize). The dialog geometry is persisted between sessions under the setting key AetherDspDialogGeometry.
The dialog uses themed styling applied through ThemeManager rather than a hardcoded stylesheet.
Tab selector behavior¶
The six tabs at the top (NR2, NR4, MNR, DFNR, RN2, BNR) act as both tab selectors and engine enable/disable controls. Clicking a tab selects that page and activates the corresponding DSP engine. When a new engine is activated, AetherSDR cascades exclusion, disabling DFNR and other mutually exclusive modules.
Platform notes:
- MNR (macOS only) — The MNR tab is dimmed on Windows and Linux builds because the macOS MMSE-Wiener engine has no backend on those platforms.
- BNR — The BNR tab is dimmed on builds without the NVIDIA Broadcast SDK.
- RN2 — The RN2 tab is purely informational and has no adjustable parameters.
NR2 tab¶
Use the NR2 (musical-noise-reduction) engine for noise suppression that avoids musical artefacts.
Controls¶
| Control | Default | Valid range | Setting key |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gain Method | Gamma | Linear | Log | Gamma | Trained | NR2GainMethod |
| NPE Method | OSMS | OSMS | MMSE | NSTAT | NR2NpeMethod |
| AE Filter (artifact elimination) | Enabled | — | NR2AeFilter |
| Reduction: | 1.50 | 0.50–2.00 | NR2GainMax |
| Smoothing: | 0.85 | 0.50–0.98 | NR2GainSmooth |
| Threshold: | 0.20 | 0.05–0.50 | NR2Qspp |
Reset NR2 defaults¶
- Select the NR2 tab.
- Click Reset Defaults (↺ icon).
All NR2 controls return to Gamma, OSMS, AE Filter enabled, Reduction 1.50, Smoothing 0.85, Threshold 0.20.
NR4 tab¶
Use the NR4 (libspecbleach) engine for speech-focused noise reduction with adaptive noise estimation.
Controls¶
| Control | Default | Valid range | Setting key |
|---|---|---|---|
| Noise Estimation: | MMSE | MMSE | Brandt | Martin | NR4NoiseEstimationMethod |
| Adaptive Noise Estimation | Enabled | — | NR4AdaptiveNoise |
| Reduction (dB): | 10.0 | 0.0–40.0 dB | NR4ReductionAmount |
| Smoothing (%): | 0 | 0–100 | NR4SmoothingFactor |
| Whitening (%): | 0 | 0–100 | NR4WhiteningFactor |
| Masking Depth: | 0.50 | 0.00–1.00 | NR4MaskingDepth |
| Suppression: | 0.50 | 0.00–1.00 | NR4SuppressionStrength |
Reset NR4 defaults¶
- Select the NR4 tab.
- Click Reset Defaults (↺ icon).
All NR4 controls return to MMSE, Adaptive Noise Estimation enabled, Reduction 10.0 dB, Smoothing 0, Whitening 0, Masking Depth 0.50, Suppression 0.50.
MNR tab (macOS only)¶
Use the MNR (macOS MMSE-Wiener) engine for noise reduction with asymmetric gain smoothing. This tab is only available on macOS builds.
Controls¶
| Control | Default | Valid range | Setting key |
|---|---|---|---|
| Enable MNR (macOS only) | — | — | MnrEnabled |
| Strength | 100 | 0–100 | MnrStrength |
Enable MNR — Enables MMSE-Wiener noise reduction with asymmetric gain smoothing. Initial state read live from AudioEngine. Strength — Adjusts MNR aggressiveness (0 mild, 100 max). Persisted as normalized 0.00–1.00.
DFNR tab¶
Use the DeepFilterNet3 engine for neural-network-based noise reduction.
Controls¶
| Control | Default | Valid range | Setting key |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attenuation Limit | 100 | 0–100 dB | DfnrAttenLimit |
| Post-Filter Beta | 0.00 | 0.00–0.30 | DfnrPostFilterBeta |
Attenuation Limit — Sets maximum noise attenuation applied by DeepFilterNet3. 0 = passthrough; 100 = maximum. Post-Filter Beta — Applies an additional post-filter for extra suppression. Slider stores value×100 internally.
RN2 tab¶
The RN2 (RNNoise) tab is purely informational and has no adjustable parameters. When RN2 is active, it uses a neural network model for real-time noise suppression without user-configurable settings.
BNR tab¶
The BNR (NVIDIA Broadcast) tab uses the NVIDIA Broadcast SDK for AI-based noise reduction. The intensity is controlled from the overlay menu. The BNR tab is dimmed on builds without the NVIDIA Broadcast SDK.
Tips¶
- Reset Defaults affects only the tab where you click it. Resetting NR2 does not alter NR4 settings, and vice versa.
- Changes take effect immediately. If a noise reduction engine is active on a receive slice at the time, you will hear the engine change behaviour as soon as you adjust any control.
- The six DSP toggles act as exclusive selectors and engine enable/disable controls simultaneously. Activating one engine may disable other mutually exclusive modules.
Related¶
- Tune NR2 reduction depth and threshold
- Switch NR2 gain method between Linear, Log, Gamma and Trained
- Change NR2 noise power estimator (OSMS/MMSE/NSTAT)
- Adjust NR4 reduction amount in dB
- Enable or disable NR4 adaptive noise estimation
- Tune NR4 masking depth and suppression strength
- Choosing the right noise reduction: NR2, NR4, DFNR, MNR