u-BACCH plugin software for Windows


I have been interested in the BACCH software for sometime. My problem with it is it is Macintosh based and since I have a dedicated Wolf Audio streamer/server with Windows softwareI had no desire to go back to a noisy laptop for digital music playback. When I heard about the u- BACCH plugin for Windows, I did an internet search to see what others were saying about it and could only find one online review. As a result, I decided to add my two cents for others who might be interested. Previously, I did a post on PS Audio in relation to this but some of you might not go there. I am an audiophile who has absolutely no affiliation with u-BACCH and if I make a mistake about their software I encourage them or others more knowledgeable to correct me.

Some of you may remember Bob Carver’s Sonic Hologram Generators. They worked with the crosstalk between two speakers to create an effect somewhat similar to a binaural recording . Properly set up the effect could be uncanny. Unfortunately,  it had a very narrow sweet spot and sometimes inches made all the difference. As I understand it, u-BACCH works on somewhat similar principles but the sweet spot is not nearly as restrictive.

u-BACCH(uB henceforth )is available with a 14 day trial and should you decide to purchase it the cost is $399 which is very reasonable compared to their other software. I decided to import uB to J. River. You must have J. River 30 or above. They have detailed download instructions as well as a video online so for brevity’s sake I won’t go into all the details. 

Once I had the software installed, I kept the DSP studio on J. River open so I could engage or disengage uB by checking the uB box. I also used this for the calibration. The calibration screen allows you to use pink noise or speaker placement to set it up. You must be playing music to generate pink noise . Pink noise is generated by clicking on the L or R. You may want to turn the volume down before playing the pink noise. The online video shows you how to use the slider for calibration. The video states that if you can’t hear the pink noise beside your ears then try to place it to the left and right of the respective speakers which is what I did. When I could hear the pink noise outside the speakers the pictured cone was almost the exact opposite of my speaker placement cone. At this point I contacted uB and Cole Boillat promptly got back to me. After talking about speaker placement, he suggested trying between 20 and 30 degrees. After awhile I decided that 28 degrees worked the best.

At 28 degrees I would occasionally get sound beside my ears but I think this software is very music dependent and even though my speakers have the perfect triangle my right speaker is 2 feet from the wall and an acoustic panel whereas my right speaker is six which might effect the software performance.

After it was dialed in uB gave me a nice live concert hall ambiance that I found very pleasant. No ,I didn’t get a regular “sonic hologram “ but others might have a different experience depending upon their speakers and listening room. I would love to hear what other user’s experience.

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Last month u-BACCH issued an upgrade that was free to subscribers. I have spent a couple of weeks listening to it and I like the improvements. You still get the added liveliness to the sound but the holographic effects are more noticeable. It is still song dependent but now I am hearing the holographic effects on songs that I didn’t before. There is a free 14 trial and I haven’t heard any negatives with the software only positives.

After extensive listening and playing around with this software I have concluded that it is very music dependent. On some songs or albums you may get holographic sound effects and on others nothing. One of my audiophile buddies recently spent a couple of days visiting and he liked what he heard when we were sitting side by side. He liked a setting of 60 degrees whereas for individual listening I now have it at 32 degrees. When it was at 28 he said it was fatiguing. At 60 he liked how it livened up the sound and felt it was worth purchasing just for that reason. The BACCH folks probably didn’t intend for this software to be used in this manner but I like what it does to the presentation. Yes ,the holographic effects are gone at 60 degrees but when I don’t have company I put it back to 32 degrees.

To me the occasional holographic sound effect is the frosting on the cake. The added live concert hall ambience is the cake because it is present on all music.

If you have tried this software ,I would love to hear your impressions and if you felt it was worth purchasing.

That is the only review I was able to find. Overall the reviewer did a good job but he couldn’t get the pink noise to work because he wasn’t playing music as required.