diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 8a11578276dab7540913940492e1d676703fc8cb..df709ee95044a9d53f712e09e305cd49d13b58bc 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ variables:
   CI_REGRESSION_THRESH_ODG: "-0.05"
   GIT_CLEAN_FLAGS: -ffdxq
   INSTR_DIR: "scripts/c-code_instrument"
+  TESTS_DIR_CODEC_BE_ON_MR: "tests/codec_be_on_mr_nonselection"
   BUILD_WITH_DEBUG_MODE_INFO: ""
   ENCODER_TEST: ""
   MANUAL_PIPELINE_TYPE:
@@ -105,6 +106,8 @@ stages:
   - prevalidate
   - build
   - test
+  - compare
+  - postvalidate
   - deploy
 
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -121,6 +124,70 @@ stages:
     echo "Commit time was $CI_COMMIT_TIMESTAMP"
     date | xargs echo "System time is"
 
+.print-common-info-windows: &print-common-info-windows
+  - |
+    echo "Printing common information for build job."
+    echo "Current job is run on commit $CI_COMMIT_SHA"
+    echo "Commit time was $CI_COMMIT_TIMESTAMP"
+    ("echo 'System time is'", "Get-Date -Format 'dddd dd/MM/yyyy HH:mm K'") | Invoke-Expression
+
+.disable-debugging-macro: &disable-debugging-macro
+  # automatically disable #DEBUGGING macro in options.h using /**/-comment
+  - sed -i.bak -e "s/^[[:space:]]*\(#define[[:space:]]*DEBUGGING\)/\/\*\1\*\//g" lib_com/options.h
+
+# From float CI
+.mr-fetch-target-branch: &mr-fetch-target-branch
+  # first delete local target branch to avoid conflicts when branch is cached and there are merge conflicts during fetching
+  # depending on chaching, the branch may not be there, so prevent failure of this command -> should maybe be done smarter later
+  - git branch -D $CI_MERGE_REQUEST_TARGET_BRANCH_NAME || true
+  # needed when depth is lower than the number of commits in the branch
+  - git fetch origin $CI_MERGE_REQUEST_TARGET_BRANCH_NAME:$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_TARGET_BRANCH_NAME
+
+# From float CI
+.mr-get-target-commit: &mr-get-target-commit # compare to last target branch commit before pipeline was created
+  - target_commit=$(git log $CI_MERGE_REQUEST_TARGET_BRANCH_NAME -1 --oneline --before=${CI_PIPELINE_CREATED_AT} --format=%H)
+
+# From float CI
+.merge-request-comparison-setup-codec: &merge-request-comparison-setup-codec
+  ### build test binaries, initial clean for paranoia reasons
+  - *disable-debugging-macro
+  - make clean
+  - make -j
+  - mv IVAS_cod IVAS_cod_test
+  - mv IVAS_dec IVAS_dec_test
+  - mv IVAS_rend IVAS_rend_test
+  - git restore .
+
+  ### store the current commit hash
+  - source_branch_commit_sha=$(git rev-parse HEAD)
+
+  ### checkout version to compare against
+  - *mr-fetch-target-branch
+  - *mr-get-target-commit
+  - git checkout $target_commit
+  - echo "Building reference codec at commit $target_commit"
+
+  ### build reference binaries
+  - *disable-debugging-macro
+  - make -j
+  - mv IVAS_cod IVAS_cod_ref
+  - mv IVAS_dec IVAS_dec_ref
+  - mv IVAS_rend IVAS_rend_ref
+  - git restore .
+
+  # rename test binaries back
+  - mv IVAS_cod_test IVAS_cod
+  - mv IVAS_dec_test IVAS_dec
+  - mv IVAS_rend_test IVAS_rend
+
+.merge-request-comparison-check: &merge-request-comparison-check
+  - echo "--------------- Running merge-request-comparison-check anchor ---------------"
+  - if [ $zero_errors != 1 ]; then echo "Run errors encountered!"; exit $EXIT_CODE_FAIL; fi
+  - if [ $exit_code -ne 0 ] && [ $non_be_flag == 0 ]; then echo "Non-bitexact cases without non-BE tag encountered!"; exit $EXIT_CODE_FAIL; fi
+  - if [ $exit_code -ne 0 ] && [ $non_be_flag != 0 ]; then echo "Non-bitexact cases with non-BE tag encountered"; exit $EXIT_CODE_NON_BE; fi
+  - exit 0
+
+
 .activate-debug-mode-info-if-set: &activate-debug-mode-info-if-set
   - if [ "$BUILD_WITH_DEBUG_MODE_INFO" = "true" ]; then
   -   sed -i.bak -e "s/\/\*\ *\(#define\ *DEBUGGING\ *\)\*\//\1/g" lib_com/options.h
@@ -185,7 +252,20 @@ stages:
   - cd $LTV_DIR
   - git pull
   - cd -
-  
+
+.get-commits-behind-count: &get-commits-behind-count
+  - echo $CI_COMMIT_SHA
+  - echo $CI_MERGE_REQUEST_TARGET_BRANCH_NAME
+  - commits_behind_count=$(git rev-list --count $CI_COMMIT_SHA..origin/$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_TARGET_BRANCH_NAME)
+
+.check-commits-behind-count-in-compare-jobs: &check-commits-behind-count-in-compare-jobs
+  - |
+    if [ $commits_behind_count -ne 0 ]; then
+      echo "Your branch is not up-to-date with main -> Compare tests will not run as they can contain false negatives this way."
+      echo "Main might have changed during your pipeline run. Run 'git pull origin $CI_MERGE_REQUEST_TARGET_BRANCH_NAME' to update."
+      exit 1
+    fi
+
 .copy-ltv-files-to-testv-dir: &copy-ltv-files-to-testv-dir
     - cp "$LTV_DIR"/*.wav scripts/testv/
     - cp "$LTV_DIR"/*.met scripts/testv/
@@ -194,6 +274,10 @@ stages:
 .activate-Werror-linux: &activate-Werror-linux
   - sed -i.bak "s/^# \(CFLAGS += -Werror\)/\1/" Makefile
 
+.activate-WX-windows: &activate-WX-windows
+  - (Get-Content -Path "CMakeLists.txt") -replace '# \(add_compile_options\("\/WX"\)\)', '$1' | Set-Content -Path "CMakeLists.txt"
+  - Get-ChildItem -Path "Workspace_msvc" -Filter "*.vcxproj" | ForEach-Object { (Get-Content -Path $_.FullName) -replace '<TreatWarningAsError>false', '<TreatWarningAsError>true' | Set-Content -Path $_.FullName }
+
 .rules-pytest-to-ref-short:
   rules:
     - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == 'web' && $MANUAL_PIPELINE_TYPE == "pytest-compare"
@@ -259,6 +343,39 @@ stages:
 # Job templates
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------
 
+# When designing templates, try not to use too much inheritance and
+# if multiple templates and extended on, remember that on conflict,
+# latest overwrites the parameter.
+
+# templates for rules
+.rules-basis:
+  rules:
+    - if: $MIRROR_ACCESS_TOKEN # Don't run in the mirror update pipeline (only then MIRROR_ACCESS_TOKEN is defined)
+      when: never
+    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == 'schedule' # Don't run in any scheduled pipelines by default (use schedule templates below to enable again for certain conditions)
+      when: never
+    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == 'trigger' # Don't run triggered pipeline by default
+      when: never
+    - if: $MANUAL_PIPELINE_TYPE == 'test-be-release' # Skip all the normal jobs when testing manually against release codec
+      when: never
+    - if: $MANUAL_PIPELINE_TYPE == 'test-long-self-test' # Skip all the normal jobs when testing manually against release codec
+      when: never
+    - if: $MANUAL_PIPELINE_TYPE == 'ivas-conformance'
+      when: never
+    - if: $MANUAL_PIPELINE_TYPE == 'ivas-conformance-linux'
+      when: never
+    - if: $MANUAL_PIPELINE_TYPE == 'check-clipping'
+    - if: $MANUAL_PIPELINE_TYPE == 'test-branch-vs-input-passthrough'
+      when: never
+    - when: on_success
+
+.rules-merge-request:
+  extends: .rules-basis
+  rules:
+    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == 'merge_request_event'
+    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == 'push'
+      when: never
+
 # templates to define stages and platforms
 .test-job-linux:
   tags:
@@ -271,6 +388,14 @@ stages:
   tags:
     - ivas-basop-linux
 
+.build-job-windows:
+  stage: build
+  needs: []
+  timeout: "4 minutes"
+  tags:
+    # TODO: set up ivas-basop-windows runners
+    - ivas-windows
+
 # template for test jobs on linux that need the TESTV_DIR
 .test-job-linux-needs-testv-dir:
   extends: .test-job-linux
@@ -609,6 +734,42 @@ uninterruptible:
   tags:
     - ivas-basop-linux
 
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------
+# Validation jobs
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------
+
+branch-is-up-to-date-with-target-pre:
+  extends:
+    - .rules-merge-request
+  stage: prevalidate
+  needs: []
+  tags:
+    - ivas-basop-linux
+  script:
+    - *get-commits-behind-count
+    - echo $commits_behind_count
+    - |
+      if [ $commits_behind_count -ne 0 ]; then
+        echo "Your branch is behind the target branch, run 'git pull origin $CI_MERGE_REQUEST_TARGET_BRANCH_NAME' to update."
+        exit 1
+      fi
+
+branch-is-up-to-date-with-target-post:
+  extends:
+    - .rules-merge-request
+  stage: postvalidate
+  tags:
+    - ivas-basop-linux
+  script:
+    - *get-commits-behind-count
+    - echo $commits_behind_count
+    - |
+      if [ $commits_behind_count -ne 0 ]; then
+        echo "Your branch is behind the target branch, possibly main changed during your pipeline run, run 'git pull origin $CI_MERGE_REQUEST_TARGET_BRANCH_NAME' to update."
+        exit 1
+      fi
+
+
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------
 # verification jobs
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -617,7 +778,7 @@ clang-format-check:
   extends:
     - .test-job-linux
   rules:
-    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == 'merge_request_event' && $CI_MERGE_REQUEST_TARGET_BRANCH_NAME == "main" # only have MR pipelines for MRs to main
+    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == 'merge_request_event'
     - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == 'push'
       when: never
     - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == 'schedule'
@@ -625,6 +786,8 @@ clang-format-check:
   variables:
     ARTIFACT_BASE_NAME: "mr-$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_IID--sha-$CI_COMMIT_SHORT_SHA--formatting-fix"
   stage: prevalidate
+  tags:
+    - ivas-basop-linux
   needs: []
   timeout: "5 minutes"
   script:
@@ -680,6 +843,8 @@ build-codec-linux-make:
       when: never
   extends:
     - .build-job-linux
+  tags:
+    - ivas-basop-linux
   script:
     - *print-common-info
     - *activate-Werror-linux
@@ -690,19 +855,48 @@ build-codec-linux-instrumented-make:
   rules:
     - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == 'web'
     - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == 'push' && $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == $CI_DEFAULT_BRANCH
-    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == 'merge_request_event' && $CI_MERGE_REQUEST_TARGET_BRANCH_NAME == "main" # only have MR pipelines for MRs to main
+    - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == 'merge_request_event'
     - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == 'schedule'
     - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == 'push'
       when: never
   extends:
     - .build-job-linux
   timeout: "7 minutes"
+  tags:
+    - ivas-basop-linux
   script:
+    - *update-scripts-repo
     - *print-common-info
     - *update-scripts-repo
     - bash scripts/prepare_instrumentation.sh -m MEM_ONLY -p BASOP
     - make -j -C $INSTR_DIR
 
+
+# make sure that the codec builds with msan, asan and usan
+build-codec-sanitizers-linux:
+  extends:
+    - .build-job-linux
+    - .rules-basis
+  tags:
+    - ivas-basop-linux
+  script:
+    - *update-scripts-repo
+    - *print-common-info
+    # TODO: re-enable once all the warnings have been fixed
+    #- *activate-Werror-linux
+    - bash ci/build_codec_sanitizers_linux.sh
+
+    # TODO: reactivate once windows runners are available in BASOP project
+.build-codec-windows-msbuild:
+  extends:
+    - .build-job-windows
+    - .rules-basis
+  script:
+    - *print-common-info-windows
+    - *activate-WX-windows
+    - MSBuild.exe -maxcpucount .\Workspace_msvc\Workspace_msvc.sln /property:Configuration=Debug
+
+
 build-codec-linux-debugging-make:
   rules:
     - if: $CI_PIPELINE_SOURCE == 'web'
@@ -1193,6 +1387,146 @@ voip-be-on-merge-request:
     - python3 -m pytest tests/test_be_for_jbm_neutral_dly_profile.py
 
 
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------
+# Test jobs for merge requests
+# ---------------------------------------------------------------
+
+# test that runs all modes with 1s input signals
+# TODO: disabled temporarily, needs to be adapted to BASOP
+.codec-smoke-test:
+  extends:
+    - .test-job-linux-needs-testv-dir
+    - .rules-merge-request
+  timeout: "20 minutes"
+  tags:
+    - ivas-basop-linux
+  stage: test
+  needs: ["build-codec-linux-make"] #, "build-codec-instrumented-linux", "build-codec-sanitizers-linux"]
+  script:
+    - *print-common-info
+    # LTV update needed as ltv ISM metadata files are used
+    - *update-ltv-repo
+    - bash ci/smoke_test.sh
+    ### analyze for failures
+    - if ! [ -s smoke_test_output.txt ] || ! [ -s smoke_test_output_jbm.txt ] || ! [ -s smoke_test_output_hrtf.txt ]; then echo "Error in smoke test"; exit 1; fi
+    - ret_val=0
+    - if cat smoke_test_output.txt | grep -c "failed"; then echo "Smoke test without JBM failed"; ret_val=1; fi
+    - if cat smoke_test_output_jbm.txt | grep -c "failed"; then echo "Smoke test JBM part failed"; ret_val=1; fi
+    - if cat smoke_test_output_hrtf.txt | grep -c "failed"; then echo "Smoke test with external hrtf files failed"; ret_val=1; fi
+    - exit $ret_val
+  artifacts:
+    name: "mr-$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_IID--sha-$CI_COMMIT_SHORT_SHA--stage-$CI_JOB_STAGE--results"
+    expire_in: 1 week
+    when: always
+    paths:
+      - smoke_test_output.txt
+      - smoke_test_output_jbm.txt
+      - smoke_test_output_hrtf.txt
+    expose_as: "Smoke test results"
+
+# compare renderer bitexactness between target and source branch
+renderer-pytest-on-merge-request:
+  extends:
+    - .test-job-linux-needs-testv-dir
+    - .rules-merge-request
+  needs: ["build-codec-linux-make"]
+  # TODO: set reasonable timeout, will most likely take less
+  timeout: "20 minutes"
+  tags:
+    - ivas-basop-linux
+  stage: compare
+  script:
+    - *print-common-info
+    - *get-commits-behind-count
+    - *check-commits-behind-count-in-compare-jobs
+    - *merge-request-comparison-setup-codec
+
+    # some helper variables - "|| true" to prevent failures from grep not finding anything
+    # write to temporary file as workaround for failures observed with piping echo
+    - echo $CI_MERGE_REQUEST_TITLE > tmp.txt
+    - non_be_flag=$(grep -c --ignore-case "\[rend\(erer\)*[ -]*non[ -]*be\]" tmp.txt) || true
+    # TODO: ref_using_target comes from float repo, but does not apply here - disable for now
+    # - ref_using_target=$(grep -c --ignore-case "\[ref[ -]*using[ -]*target\]" tmp.txt) || true
+    - ref_using_target=0
+
+    ### If ref_using_target is not set, checkout the source branch to use scripts and input from there
+    - if [ $ref_using_target == 0 ]; then git checkout $source_branch_commit_sha; fi
+
+    - exit_code=0
+    - testcase_timeout=60
+    - python3 -m pytest -q --log-level ERROR -n auto -rA --html=report.html --self-contained-html --junit-xml=report-junit.xml tests/renderer/test_renderer.py --create_ref --testcase_timeout=$testcase_timeout || exit_code=$?
+
+    ### Run test using branch scripts and input
+    - if [ $ref_using_target == 1 ]; then git checkout $source_branch_commit_sha; fi
+
+    # run test
+    - python3 -m pytest -q --log-level ERROR -n auto -rA --html=report.html --self-contained-html --junit-xml=report-junit.xml tests/renderer/test_renderer.py --create_cut --testcase_timeout=$testcase_timeout || exit_code=$?
+    - zero_errors=$(cat report-junit.xml | grep -c 'errors="0"') || true
+
+    - *merge-request-comparison-check
+
+# compare bit exactness between target and source branch
+ivas-pytest-on-merge-request:
+  extends:
+    - .test-job-linux-needs-testv-dir
+    - .rules-merge-request
+  stage: compare
+  # TODO: broken dependency needs to be removed temporarily, see above
+  # note: this step doesn't really depend on codec-smoke-test
+  # it's just pointless to run this step when the smoke test fails and the smoke test should be reasonably fast
+  # thus, overall, this should save time
+  needs: ["build-codec-linux-make"] #, "codec-smoke-test"]
+  timeout: "40 minutes"
+  tags:
+    - ivas-basop-linux
+  script:
+    - *print-common-info
+    - *get-commits-behind-count
+    - *check-commits-behind-count-in-compare-jobs
+    - *merge-request-comparison-setup-codec
+    - python3 ci/remove_unsupported_testcases.py $PRM_FILES
+
+    # some helper variables - "|| true" to prevent failures from grep not finding anything
+    # write to temporary file as workaround for failures observed with piping echo
+    - echo $CI_MERGE_REQUEST_TITLE > tmp.txt
+    - non_be_flag=$(grep -c --ignore-case "\[non[ -]*be\]" tmp.txt) || true
+    # TODO: ref_using_target comes from float repo, but does not apply here - disable for now
+    # - ref_using_target=$(grep -c --ignore-case "\[ref[ -]*using[ -]*target\]" tmp.txt) || true
+    - ref_using_target=0
+
+    ### If ref_using_target is not set, checkout the source branch to use scripts and input from there
+    - if [ $ref_using_target == 0 ]; then git checkout $source_branch_commit_sha; fi
+
+    ### prepare pytest
+    # create references
+    - python3 -m pytest $TESTS_DIR_CODEC_BE_ON_MR -v --update_ref 1
+
+    ### Run test using branch scripts and input
+    - if [ $ref_using_target == 1 ]; then git checkout $source_branch_commit_sha; fi
+
+    ### run pytest
+    - exit_code=0
+    - testcase_timeout=600
+    - python3 -m pytest $TESTS_DIR_CODEC_BE_ON_MR -v --html=report.html --self-contained-html --junit-xml=report-junit.xml --testcase_timeout=$testcase_timeout || exit_code=$?
+    - zero_errors=$(cat report-junit.xml | grep -c 'errors="0"') || true
+
+    - *merge-request-comparison-check
+
+  allow_failure:
+    exit_codes:
+      - 123
+  artifacts:
+    name: "mr-$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_IID--sha-$CI_COMMIT_SHORT_SHA--stage-$CI_JOB_STAGE--results"
+    expire_in: 1 week
+    when: always
+    paths:
+      - report-junit.xml
+      - report.html
+    expose_as: "pytest ivas results"
+    reports:
+      junit:
+        - report-junit.xml
+
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------
 # Complexity measurement jobs
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/lib_enc/cod_tcx_fx.c b/lib_enc/cod_tcx_fx.c
index 890f98e12e9b5fa6b4f750cca9d3811999a14db6..5bde2d5c01e9d7bb7a14e140dbef5d98dbd1a8a3 100644
--- a/lib_enc/cod_tcx_fx.c
+++ b/lib_enc/cod_tcx_fx.c
@@ -4236,7 +4236,7 @@ void QuantizeTCXSpectrum_fx(
 
         Word8 tmp8 = 1;
         move16();
-        if ( ( st->last_core == ACELP_CORE ) )
+        if ( st->last_core == ACELP_CORE )
         {
             tmp8 = 0;
             move16();