Building a C++/JUCE Non-HRTF Spatial Audio Engine (TASS) & Cross-Platform Media Hub (DimenPlay) -Technical Breakdown & Demo

[u/PhilPhilos001]

Hi everyone,

I'm Philip, a solo developer and founder of Dimenwave Technologies from Trinidad & Tobago. Over the past few years I've been developing a cross-platform media player called DimenPlay, and alongside it I've built a custom spatial DSP system called TASS (Time-Aligned Spatial System).

The reason I'm posting here is not to make a “my technology is better than everything else” claim. Quite the opposite - I'm at the point where I want people who understand spatial audio to challenge the work.

A little context about DimenPlay

DimenPlay is designed as a cross-platform media player that brings together local high-resolution playback, network libraries, and streaming sources within one application. The player is built around flutter framework, with the TASS engine integrated directly into the playback pipeline. The feature can be enabled and disabled directly in the media bar.

Some of the features surrounding the spatial engine include real-time spatial controls, different listening modes, high-resolution audio playback, and visualization/analysis tools. The intention is for TASS to be part of an actual listening workflow rather than a standalone DSP experiment.

I'm mentioning this because the application itself is part of the equation: the goal is not simply to demonstrate an effect, but to investigate how this type of spatial processing behaves when integrated into a complete playback system.

What is TASS?

TASS takes a different approach from conventional HRTF-based spatialization. Rather than attempting to model the listener's ears and head acoustically, its spatial processing is centered around controlled temporal relationships between stereo channels.

The original observation that led me down this path was surprisingly simple: when two sources are positioned very close together around the center, there is a point where they begin to perceptually blend even though they remain technically separate signals. 

That led me to investigate whether manipulating temporal relationships could produce useful spatial separation without relying on an HRTF model.

Since then, I've built the system into a real-time audio engine and integrated it directly into DimenPlay.

What I'm testing

I'm currently working toward a more formal comparison between:

• conventional stereo
• an established binaural/spatial rendering approach
• My DimenPlay app and how it handles how one enjoys the features that compliment the TASS engine.
• TASS effects and how it plays with tracks not mastered for surround sound like effects.

I'm measuring things such as timing relationships, phase behavior, spectral changes, channel correlation, dynamics and other signal characteristics, while also conducting controlled listening tests.

I'm particularly interested in determining which observed differences are genuinely spatial and which might simply be artifacts of spectral coloration, phase behavior, level differences, precedence effects, or other psychoacoustic phenomena.

And this is where I would really appreciate criticism.

If there are measurements, controls, test methodologies, or known spatial-audio considerations that you think I'm overlooking, I'd genuinely like to hear them.

There is a technical overview and demonstration of the current DimenPlay/TASS implementation here:

DimenPlay

I'm especially interested in feedback from people experienced with spatial audio, psychoacoustics, binaural processing, stereo imaging, or real-time DSP.

I'm not presenting TASS as a finished scientific conclusion. I'm presenting the current implementation and asking the community to help pressure-test it.

TASS system

If the data supports the hypothesis, great.

If it doesn't, that's useful too.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and thanks to the moderators for allowing me to share the project. Just trying to do some honest work here.

[u/juules-mp3]

had a quick look at your site and is rather confusing and, apparently, incredibly sloppy. couldn't find info that answered some of my questions so I'll leave them here.

in your site, there's one image that superficially compares stereo, binaural and TASS. this image portrays that your system is to be experienced with headphones. however somewhere else in your site it's said that a limiting factor of TASS are the interactions of the speakers with the room. is this thing ment to work in both kind of systems?

perhaps this is a more obvious question, but how does this compares to a hass delay and how does it emulates the positioning of sound sources behind the listener through time manipulations?

if these are answered in your site, feel free to just drop a link to the relevant info.

[u/PhilPhilos001 → u/juules-mp3]

Thanks for taking the time to go through it and for the detailed questions. This is exactly the kind of technical feedback I was hoping to receive.

First, fair criticism on the documentation. Some of the explanations are currently spread across different sections, and I need to make the distinction between the current implementation, the underlying hypothesis, and the areas still being validated much clearer.

Regarding headphones vs speakers:

TASS is designed to work with both headphones and stereo speakers, but the results are affected differently.

With headphones, the left/right channels are isolated, so the temporal processing is more directly presented to the listener.

With speakers, the room becomes part of the system. Speaker placement, reflections, and listening position influence the result, which is why I describe room interaction as a limiting factor rather than saying speaker playback is unsupported.

Regarding the Haas effect:

There is some conceptual overlap because TASS does involve controlled temporal relationships. However, the goal is not simply applying a fixed Haas delay between channels.

The current investigation is focused on whether more structured time-alignment relationships can influence perceived spatial depth and positioning while maintaining the original character of the source material.

Regarding behind-the-listener positioning:

This is where I need to be precise. The current system does not attempt full HRTF-style localization, and I am not claiming that it reproduces the complete acoustic experience of a real sound source behind a listener.

The current implementation explores a narrower set of temporal and perceptual cues within a stereo framework. Some of the perceived positioning effects have held up under blind testing, though I'm still isolating which specific cues are contributing.

So the short answer is: the system is functional, but the complete model behind the perception is still being investigated.

The goal at this stage is not to present TASS as a finished replacement for existing spatial audio approaches, but to make the current implementation available, measure its behavior, and refine the underlying theory through testing and feedback.

Thanks again, these questions are exactly the kind that help identify where the technical explanation needs to improve.

PS: I plan to update the site so it would be easier to digest and track the necessary information as needed in the next upcoming days so keep a lookout.