AetherDSP Settings¶
AetherDSP Settings is a dialog that lets you tune the client-side noise-reduction engines available in AetherSDR: NR2, NR4, MNR, DFNR, RN2, and BNR. Each engine has its own tab. Open the dialog from Settings > AetherDSP Settings....
The dialog uses a custom gradient title bar, window-control buttons, 8-axis resize, and drag-to-move. The dialog hosts an embedded AetherDspWidget that contains all controls. Existing signal connections to the dialog continue to work without change.
NR2 tab¶
NR2 is AetherSDR's musical-noise-reduction engine.
Steps¶
- Click
Settings > AetherDSP Settings.... - Click the NR2 tab.
- Select a Gain Method radio button.
- Select an NPE Method radio button.
- Check or uncheck AE Filter (artifact elimination) as needed.
- Drag Reduction:, Smoothing:, and Threshold: to the desired values.
- Click Reset Defaults (↺ icon) to return all NR2 controls to their factory values.
What each control does¶
| Control | Kind | Default | Valid range | Setting key |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gain Method | Radio button | Gamma | Linear / Log / Gamma / Trained | NR2GainMethod |
| NPE Method | Radio button | OSMS | OSMS / MMSE / NSTAT | NR2NpeMethod |
| AE Filter (artifact elimination) | Checkbox | On | On / Off | NR2AeFilter |
| Reduction: | Slider | 1.50 | 0.50–2.00 | NR2GainMax |
| Smoothing: | Slider | 0.85 | 0.50–0.98 | NR2GainSmooth |
| Threshold: | Slider | 0.20 | 0.05–0.50 | NR2Qspp |
| Reset Defaults (↺ icon) | Push button | — | — | — |
NR2GainMethod is stored as an integer 0–3 (Linear=0, Log=1, Gamma=2, Trained=3). NR2NpeMethod is stored as an integer 0–2 (OSMS=0, MMSE=1, NSTAT=2). NR2GainMax is stored internally as value × 100.
Tips¶
- Gamma gain method suits most SSB voice work. Trained can improve results on weak signals.
- Raise Threshold: if NR2 is suppressing speech. Lower it if noise breaks through during pauses.
- Click Reset Defaults (↺ icon) to restore: Gamma / OSMS / AE on / 1.50 / 0.85 / 0.20.
NR4 tab¶
NR4 uses the libspecbleach engine. On Windows, NR4 requires LLVM (clang-cl) to compile. If NR4 is not available on Windows, install LLVM from llvm.org and rebuild AetherSDR.
Steps¶
- Click
Settings > AetherDSP Settings.... - Click the NR4 tab.
- Select a Noise Estimation: radio button.
- Check or uncheck Adaptive Noise Estimation as needed.
- Adjust Reduction (dB):, Smoothing (%):, Whitening (%):, Masking Depth:, and Suppression: sliders.
- Click Reset Defaults (↺ icon) to return all NR4 controls to their factory values.
What each control does¶
| Control | Kind | Default | Valid range | Setting key |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Noise Estimation: | Radio button | MMSE | MMSE / Brandt / Martin | NR4NoiseEstimationMethod |
| Adaptive Noise Estimation | Checkbox | On | On / Off | NR4AdaptiveNoise |
| Reduction (dB): | Slider | 10.0 | 0.0–40.0 | NR4ReductionAmount |
| Smoothing (%): | Slider | 0 | 0–100 | NR4SmoothingFactor |
| Whitening (%): | Slider | 0 | 0–100 | NR4WhiteningFactor |
| Masking Depth: | Slider | 0.50 | 0.00–1.00 | NR4MaskingDepth |
| Suppression: | Slider | 0.50 | 0.00–1.00 | NR4SuppressionStrength |
| Reset Defaults (↺ icon) | Push button | — | — | — |
NR4NoiseEstimationMethod is stored as an integer 0–2 (MMSE=0, Brandt=1, Martin=2). NR4ReductionAmount is stored internally as value × 10.
Tips¶
- Leave Adaptive Noise Estimation on unless the noise floor is stable and you want to lock the estimate.
- Increase Whitening (%): to flatten residual colored noise after reduction.
- Click Reset Defaults (↺ icon) to restore: MMSE / adaptive on / 10 dB / 0 / 0 / 0.50 / 0.50.
- If the NR4 tab is dimmed on Windows, install LLVM and rebuild to enable the engine.
MNR tab¶
MNR is AetherSDR's MMSE-Wiener noise reduction engine, available on macOS only. The MNR toggle is dimmed on Windows and Linux builds.
Before you start¶
- AetherSDR must be running on macOS. The Enable MNR (macOS only) checkbox is present only on macOS builds.
- No radio connection is required to adjust these settings.
Steps¶
- Click
Settings > AetherDSP Settings.... - Click the MNR tab.
- Check Enable MNR (macOS only) to activate the engine.
- Drag the Strength slider to set aggressiveness. 0 is the mildest setting; 100 is maximum noise reduction.
What each control does¶
| Control | Kind | Default | Valid range | Setting key |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enable MNR (macOS only) | Checkbox | (read from audio engine at startup) | On / Off | MnrEnabled |
| Strength | Slider | 100 | 0–100 | MnrStrength |
MnrStrength is persisted internally as a normalized value between 0.00 and 1.00.
Tips¶
- Start with Strength at 100 and reduce it if you notice speech artifacts or a hollow sound. Lower values trade noise suppression for more natural voice reproduction.
- Because MNR's initial enabled state is read live from the audio engine at dialog open time, the checkbox reflects the current engine state rather than a fixed saved default.
Troubleshooting¶
- The MNR tab is visible but "Enable MNR (macOS only)" has no effect — confirm you are running AetherSDR on macOS. The checkbox label explicitly notes macOS-only availability; on other platforms the engine is not active regardless of this setting.
RN2 tab¶
The RN2 tab displays information about the RNNoise engine. There are no adjustable parameters on this tab.
BNR tab¶
The BNR tab displays information about the NVIDIA noise-reduction engine. Intensity is controlled from the overlay menu, not from this dialog. The BNR toggle is dimmed on builds without the NVIDIA Broadcast SDK.
DFNR tab¶
DFNR uses the DeepFilterNet3 engine.
Steps¶
- Click
Settings > AetherDSP Settings.... - Click the DFNR tab.
- Drag Attenuation Limit to set the maximum noise attenuation. Set to 0 for passthrough; set to 100 for maximum attenuation.
- Drag Post-Filter Beta to apply additional post-filtering suppression. Leave at 0.00 if no extra suppression is needed.
What each control does¶
| Control | Kind | Default | Valid range | Setting key |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attenuation Limit | Slider | 100 | 0–100 dB | DfnrAttenLimit |
| Post-Filter Beta | Slider | 0.00 | 0.00–0.30 | DfnrPostFilterBeta |
DfnrPostFilterBeta is stored internally as value × 100.
Tips¶
- Reduce Attenuation Limit if DeepFilterNet3 is over-suppressing and causing artifacts on voice peaks.
- Leave Post-Filter Beta at 0.00 unless residual noise remains after adjusting Attenuation Limit.
Window controls¶
The AetherDSP Settings dialog uses a custom frameless title bar.
Title bar¶
- 18 px tall with a gradient background styled by the current theme.
- A grip glyph (⋮⋮) on the left and "AetherDSP Settings" in bold 10 px text.
- Three window-control buttons on the right: — (Minimize), □ (Maximize/Restore), × (Close).
Drag-to-move¶
- Click and drag the title bar to move the dialog.
- Double-click the title bar to toggle between maximized and restored states.
8-axis resize¶
- Click and drag any edge or corner of the dialog to resize. The cursor changes to indicate the resize direction.
- The resize hit zone extends 6 px from the edges of the inner content widget.