Report preparation

• I used the AI-assisted bug report tool (Help → Support → File an Issue)
• I have attached a support bundle or log file

What happened?

Audio panning stops working when NR2 or NR4 noise reduction is active

Labels: bug, audio, DSP, cross-platform

What happened

When either the NR2 or NR4 noise reduction filter is enabled, audio panning stops working entirely — moving the pan control left or right has no effect on the audio output.

What I expected

Audio panning should function correctly regardless of which noise reduction filter is selected. The NR filter choice should only affect noise processing, not the stereo panning stage of the audio pipeline.

Steps to reproduce

1. Launch AetherSDR and connect to a radio.
2. Enable the NR2 or NR4 noise reduction filter.
3. Attempt to pan audio left or right using the pan control.
4. Observe that panning has no effect — audio remains centered.
5. Switch to the standard NR filter (or no filter) — panning works as expected.

Environment

• AetherSDR version: v0.8.15
• OS: Tested on both Linux and Windows — identical behaviour on both, same hardware specs
• AetherSDR version: v0.8.15
• OS: Windows 11 Home 22H2 (Build 22621.4317)
• CPU: Intel Core i7-13700HX 2.10 GHz (13th Gen)
• RAM: 32 GB (31.7 GB usable)
• Runtime: Latest Visual C++ redistributable installed

Radio model & firmware

• Flex 6600 remote. Latest firmware

Linux distro & Qt version

• OS: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
• Qt version: 6.4.2

Suggested fix

The panning stage may be getting bypassed or overridden within the NR2/NR4 processing chain. Possible causes to investigate:

• NR2/NR4 may output a mono signal internally and skip the stereo panning stage, whereas standard NR preserves the stereo path.
• Check whether the pan control's signal/callback is connected correctly when NR2 or NR4 is selected — the filter switch may be reinitialising the audio pipeline without restoring the pan value.
• Confirm whether NR2/NR4 processing runs in a separate audio path that bypasses the pan node, while NR shares the same path as the unfiltered output.