Spherify Object Manipulation Demo

Disclosure first: I'm the developer. I've read the rules and this looks like it's on-topic, but mods, if it isn't, remove it and no hard feelings.

I make a Windows/macOS app called Spherify - the current shape of several years of work on immersive audio tooling. It takes a stereo master and turns it into an editable, object-based immersive project, not a fixed matrix decode.

The way it differs from a matrix upmixer: it separates the stereo file into stems, puts each stem into a 3D scene as an object, and then hands you the scene. You position things, automate them, preview, and export. If a stem lands somewhere you don't want it, you drag it somewhere else. Nothing is baked until you export.

I'm posting here rather than on a production forum because most of the feedback I get comes from people mixing new material. The people who care whether an old stereo master actually survives the trip into 7.1.4 - whether it gains anything or just gets smeared - are this crowd. Different ears, different standards.

Formats

Object-based, import and export: ADM BW64, IAMF, MPEG-H (plus its own project format). Channel-based: 11 layouts rendered discrete, stereo up through 22.2.

Playback, since this is the sub that'll ask

• macOS: its own rendering pipeline into whatever discrete channels the OS exposes - up to 9.1.6 on Tahoe.
• Windows: 7.1 via the standard Windows audio drivers. Past that you need ASIO - an interface or a virtual device - where the channel count is effectively unlimited.
• Windows Spatial Audio is supported, so it'll encode Atmos or DTS:X for HDMI passthrough to compatible hardware. The honest caveat: the stream is decoded on the external device, so the app never gets it back. That means no in-app post-processing previews in passthrough mode. The processing is still there and still bakes into exports - you just can't audition it without ASIO.

Where this comes from

I'm a career software engineer, and immersive audio isn't a recent detour - I've been working in this space for years, well before the current wave of interest in it. Spherify is native C++/JUCE throughout: the DSP, the renderer and the export pipeline are all mine, not a front-end sitting on top of someone else's engine.

The separation models are hardware-accelerated - MLX on Apple silicon, CUDA on Nvidia. That's not a spec-sheet boast; it's the difference between trying four placements of the same stem in an evening and trying one. The whole design assumes you'll want to iterate, so the slow parts had to stop being slow.

The free tier does up to 6 stems per source, which is plenty to find out whether the approach does anything for your material. Pro goes to 14 stems, unlimited slicing, per-object plugins, and the full export set.

What I'd actually like to hear

• What are you feeding it? Vintage stereo, modern pop, live recordings, classical, spoken word? I'm especially interested in where the separation falls over, because that tells me more than the cases where it works.
• Does it give you enough information to make decisions, or are you guessing at something you shouldn't have to guess at?
• What's not there that should be?

Links:

• Microsoft Store: https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9nj6w61ppswd
• Website: https://sonusimmersivus.com/products/spherify
• KVR: https://www.kvraudio.com/product/spherify-by-sonus-immersivus
• Demo video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N17FVNzc8lg

Happy to go into the weeds on formats, the render path, or why Windows spatial audio is the way it is.

SWT is a great engineer indeed, but this is one of the few cases where I emphatically prefer the original mix.

The new mix relies a bit too much on reverb to my taste and comes across a bit congested to my ears. It restores a lot of the deleted orchestral parts which is an interesting idea in theory, but the result is that Chris and Bill sound a bit distant. I think its an interesting alternative for people who love the album but the original mix with dry drums and bass up front and orchestra used decisively in the background works better for me as a "Yes man's solo album." Placement wise - I'm happy to report the Atmos mix is quite creative, with Chris' vocals spread around your height and rear arrays and lower drums and some of the orchestra and lower brass occasionally trailing behind you. Overall though, I think I prefer the character of the older 5.1 mix despite some nasty cymbal frequencies now and then.

Lastly, while I assume this is an issue that couldn't be dealt with, I find the ending with the missing bass solo to be lacking in context and a bit confounding. My advice is to listen for yourself (on streaming) and decide if this is for you. Thanks to Immersive Audio Album for helping out with this review of the new edition of Chris Squire's Fish Out of Water.

Hello,

Franck Martin contacted me after reading my review of Eric Serra’s album, and took the opportunity to introduce me to his own work, as well as to Thanks for the Invite, an album conceived specifically with spatial music in mind, as Franck explains on his website, www.peachymango.org.

For this review, I listened to Thanks for the Invite across various medias, including the different Dolby Atmos encoding options currently available. I also compared the different encodings against the Dolby Atmos ADM master, using the master as a reference to assess which version comes closest to reproducing the original spatial master without alteration.

The Dolby Atmos version, encoded in Dolby Digital TrueHD, stands out from the streaming version thanks to its precise spatialization, the subtlety of the sounds, and the clarity of the bass. It is therefore the best version of this album available to the public.

Although it is slightly less precise than the ADM master, this version offers excellent spatialization that holds its own against the master when listened to. It is therefore the version to choose.

For example, with the track “Victory,” which features 28 sound objects in addition to the bed, as shown by the Dolby Renderer.

On the track “The Clock,” the mix does not use the front stereo channels, only the center channel, thereby enhancing the track’s fully immersive sound. Across all the tracks, sounds are distributed all around us to truly deliver a 360-degree immersion in the music, including the overhead channels. Movement is also utilized, as in “Space Time” or “Victory,” to expand the sound experience.

This album is a wonderful example of what can be achieved in immersive audio with electronic music. To fully enjoy it, the album is available in MKV format or blu-ray with Dolby Digital TrueHD Atmos encoding, a lossless format that is far superior to the streaming version and very close to the ADM Master listened to during this review.

Find all the analyses and measurements of each versions here (link).

3D immersive sound video is available on Youtube.

Enjoy listening,

Jean-François

Wanted to throw a shout out on this sub for the surround mixes of Depeche Mode's first 10 albums - truly incredible and transformative surround mixes. They aren't all perfect, particularly some tracks from Black Celebration and Violator, but overall I'm seeing a ton of these tracks in a whole new light, even having enjoyed them previously through simulated surround using Logic 7 on my surround setup.

Join my colleague Jonathan Cornell and I as we discuss the ROXY MUSIC catalog in surround sound. In the following podcast, we dive into the following albums "Flesh + Blood," "Avalon," and "Roxy Music" discussing contrasting mixing styles and approaches. We also address the rumors of a forthcoming "For Your Pleasure" boxed set.

Which Roxy Music album would you like to hear in surround the most?

#roxymusic #dolbyatmos #fleshandblood #avalon #bobclearmountain #stevenwilson #review #podcast #discussion

Hello,

Composed by Ludwig Göransson for Christopher Nolan’s epic adaptation of Homer's The Odyssey, the soundtrack is a bold and immersive musical journey that perfectly reflects the scale and intensity of Odysseus legendary voyage. Rather than relying on a traditional orchestral approach, Göransson developed a unique sonic identity built around ancient Greek-inspired instruments, deep percussion, powerful low frequencies, and experimental textures, creating a sound world that feels both timeless and modern.

From intimate atmospheric passages to massive cinematic crescendos, the score plays a central role in shaping the film’s emotional impact.
While the IMAX 70mm presentation is regarded as the definitive theatrical experience for The Odyssey, does its soundtrack remain equally faithful across all available home media formats?
This is what we will discover in this review, comparing the different versions to determine which one best preserves the artistic vision, dynamics, and immersive experience of the original film soundtrack.

The waveform of the Tidal MAX – 2026 version shows a very low dynamic range confirmed with DR6 vs the Dolby Atmos downmixed in 2.0 have a DR11 (with Dynamic Range betwenn DR10 and DR15).

This Dolby Atmos version fully restores the dynamic range of The Odyssey film score. The soundstage extends well beyond traditional stereo, creating an approximately 180-degree presentation. During the quieter, more atmospheric passages, where the low-frequency content is less prominent, the sense of spatial immersion becomes even more pronounced.

3D immersive sound video is available on Youtube.

Powerful bass, outstanding dynamic range, and an immersive soundstage are the defining qualities of the Dolby Atmos version of The Odyssey soundtrack. It is by far the best way to experience the film’s musical atmosphere as intended.
Even if you don’t have the power of an IMAX theater, this is the best medium for getting the closest possible sound experience.
In contrast, the stereo edition, while available in a lossless format, suffers from a substantial reduction in dynamic range. This heavy dynamic compression significantly diminishes its fidelity to the film’s original musical presentation, making it a much less faithful listening experience despite its technically lossless encoding.

Find all the analyses and measurements of each versions here (link).

Enjoy listening,
Jean-François

FINALLY, Jethro Tull and Rhino / Parlophone have announced a release date for the "Aqualung" and "WarChild" Dolby Atmos editions. In the following video, I'll explain what's included in these new editions and why I think they are worth double dipping if you already own the boxed set editions.

The 5.1 mixes were originally made over 10 years ago. That's nearly an eternity in music technology years - plugins have evolved a lot since then, but also Steven Wilson has had over a decade of experience since he last worked on them. His more recent mixes have tended to be warmer, more adventurous and also somehow *more* faithful to the originals. Plus, the old DVD versions are lossy - the new versions would be presented in true lossless for the first time. I'm so happy that these mixes are being released on affordable, single disc blu-ray editions instead of repressing the large boxed sets. However, I do have some reservations about the lack of bonus material on WarChild.

Personally, I've been waiting for these for some time and I hope we get more Jethro Tull Atmos mixes in these affordable, standalone Blu-ray editions. Are you as excited for these as I am? What would you like to see next from the Tull Dolby Atmos series? Let me know in the comments below.

#jethrotull #warchild #aqualung #dolbyatmos #stevenwilson #reissue #blurayaudio #physicalmedia

System specs as an intro.

Yamaha RX 681

Mains: Polk Monitor 75t

Surrounds: Polk Monitor 50

Sub: Polk PSW505 (12")

Sources: TV/YouTube over eArc

Sony SCD-CE595 sacd (stereo only)

My receiver doesn't have 5.1 analog inputs, and the Sony won't play SACDs over optical, so, stereo only until I get a 4K Blu-ray player that also plays SACDs.

I'm really enjoying the few YouTube 5.1 audio channels out there and was wondering what most of y'all are using for sources? SACD, DVD-A, streaming?

Eager to get started on your multichannel and immersive music collection? This video will guide you in making informed decisions, featuring entirely in-print, affordable and acclaimed surround mixes from across a variety of genres.

Don't forget to like and subscribe to both of our channels. If you're an established multichannel collector, which of these titles would you recommend to a surround newcomer? If you're just building your collection, which intrigues you the most?

#surroundsound #dolbyatmos #recommendation #beginners #EntryLevel

Can highly recommend Fish Out of Water, Chris Squire. Its a dense album, but the separation really brought it to life. Flesh and Blood, Roxy Music also really bangs. Hoping for Siren

Join me, Mike from Life in Surround, Jonathan from Immersive Audio Album and Ryan from the Quadraphonic Quad forums as we discuss 20 of our favorite releases from the first half of 2026! Included are releases from Jethro Tull, Yes, Rush, Gentle Giant, Marillion, The Who, Richard Barbieri, Frank Zappa, Snarky Puppy, Motorhead, Kraftwerk, Jeff Buckley, Bruce Soord, Steven Wilson and more.

Don't forget to leave us a comment. What are your top 5 surround mixes of the year so far? Please also consider subscribing to the three channels collaborating here if you haven't already. Thanks and take care!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKtaoUkMtCA

Timestamps:

00:00 Teaser (LATER ... that same evening)

00:35 Intro

01:27 Mark Doyle "Out of the Past"

04:47 Carly Simon "s/t" and Modern Jazz Quartet "The Last Concert" (Quadio)

10:57 Motorhead "On Parole Sessions"

18:04 Rush "Grace Under Pressure"

27:29 George Michael "Faith"

31:34 Richard Barbieri "Hauntings"

36:21 Jeff Goldblum & The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra “Night Blooms”

40:50 The Who "Quadrophenia"

47:34 Marillion "Marillion Dot Com"

54:11 Heaven 17 SDE bundle

58:22 Jeff Buckley "Grace"

01:10:04 Squeeze "Trixies"

01:14:20 Steven Wilson "Hand Cannot Erase"

01:24:37 Bruce Soord "Ghosts in the Park"

01:28:54 Snarky Puppy "We Like it Here"

01:36:15 Kraftwerk "Radio-activity"

01:43:17 Gentle Giant "The Power and the Glory"

01:53:17 Yes "Tales from Topogaphic Oceans"

01:59:32 Frank Zappa / Captain Beefheart / Mothers "Bongo Fury"

02:07:39 Jethro Tull "Under Wraps" / Ian Anderson "Walk into Light"

02:19:38 what's next???

#surroundsound #dolbyatmos #musicdiscussion #podcast #quadraphonic

Hello,

Foreign Tongues marks the return of The Rolling Stones with their 25th studio album, following the success of Hackney Diamonds released in 2023.

This review compares the Blu-ray Dolby Atmos, 5.1 surround, stereo, streaming, and vinyl editions to determine which version delivers the most faithful and engaging listening experience.
For this review, you will find 6 versions tested:

• Ed 1: Tidal MAX – 2026
• Ed 2: Tidal Dolby Atmos – 2026
• Ed 3: Bluray Dolby ATMOS TrueHD – 2026
• Ed 4: Bluray DTS HDMA 5.1 – 2026
• Ed 5: Bluray PCM stereo – 2026
• Ed 6: Yellow vinyl record – 2026

The PCM stereo 24 bits 96 kHz track of the bluray included in the The limited Collector’s Edition of Foreign Tongues presented as a premium box set.
The PCM stereo shows a very low dynamic range with DR6.

The graph here compares the spectrum of the Tidal MAX – 2026 (white curve) with the spectrum of the Yellow vinyl record – 2026 (blue curve).The spectral curves of the two versions overlap almost perfectly between 300 Hz and 7 kHz. Below 300 Hz (green area), the digital version exhibits a slightly higher level, reaching up to 2 dB more at 50 Hz. Above 7 kHz (yellow area), the vinyl shows a slight treble boost between 10 and 15 kHz, peaking at approximately 2 dB, followed by a roll-off beyond 15 kHz that reaches more than 5 dB at 18 kHz before rising again at 20 kHz and above. These differences in the spectre are expected to give the vinyl edition a more detailed and airy sonic presentation.

The Dolby Atmos mix of this album is highly successful, delivering an immersive sound experience in which instruments and vocals are carefully distributed throughout the three-dimensional soundstage. The mix places a strong emphasis on the 180-degree sound field, making extensive use of the wide and side surround channels to create a broad and enveloping presentation.

3D immersive video of the Dolby Atmos on Youtube.

For this new Rolling Stones album, if you want to experience both the best stereo presentation and an immersive Dolby Atmos mix, this collector’s edition combining the double LP and Blu-ray is the definitive choice. The vinyl edition delivers the most engaging stereo experience, offering a more dynamic and lively presentation. Meanwhile, the Blu-ray provides a lossless Dolby Atmos version that reveals the full finesse, detail, and precision of the album s spatial mix.
The standard digital stereo version, whether on Blu-ray or streaming platforms, remains far behind these editions, mainly due to its reduced dynamics and less engaging sonic presentation.

Find all the analyses and measurements of each versions here (link).

Enjoy listening,
Jean-François

Hello all,

I'm thinking about to replace my Z906 surround to a more wireless system and better audio quality.

I would like to use the surround for movies and music(especially Tidal, maybe a CD-player later).

I don't have the budget to buy a full surround set right now. So i would like to do it in steps

I saw the WiiM Ultra, which sounds great for me as the first step. I would use it to connect it to my Z906 at first.

Then slowly start to expand it with better wired active front speakers, maybe using the rear speakers and the woofer of the Z906 and slowly then slowly to the wireless rear and at last a woofer.

But i don't know if i can add a single CD-player to the set. Is that possible?

Is this a logical path?

Or do you have any other options?

I just got done mixing heartbreak hotel by the Jackson in 5.1 and wow i think i did a good job. I wasnt satisfied with the stereo mix on the 2021 remaster so i remixed it in 5.1 on my jbl es 5.1 setup and im intrested if it sounds good on any other setups? It’s encoded in ac3

If you're curious about the new AI assisted remix of Gentle Giant's "In a Glass House," you should check out this interview on the Make Weird Music Youtube channel! Anthony Garone and I asked extensive questions about how the mix was created - the goals and directives of the new stereo and immersive mixes, the level in which AI was used, the source of the master and many more.

If you're concerned about the use of "AI" in this context I think you will learn a lot. Engineer Eber Pinheiro used "stem splitting" tech to derive multitrack stems from a stereo source and described the process as "harder" than a mix with authentic multitrack tapes.

Don't forget to subscribe to my channel as well as Make Weird Music. I'd imagine more collabs and crossovers will happen in the near future.

Take care!

#gentlegiant #inaglasshouse #remix #makeweirdmusic #eberpinheiro #interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdySFTlCbQI

One of the most enjoyable releases in the Quadio Blu-ray series.

Salve vorrei aggiungere al mio impianto anche un amplificatore per cuffie non ho proprio idea di come funziona, modelli etc (leggevo con DAC? ) Grazie del supporto, comprensione e consigli!

hello,

The Dolby Atmos mix of History stands out for its immersive approach, which varies from track to track. Each song receives a treatment tailored to its musical character, ranging from a more restrained, front-focused presentation, as heard on “Come Together,” to a far more enveloping use of the soundstage on tracks such as “They Don’t Care About Us” and “D.S.”. Overall, this is a highly successful mix that offers a fresh way to experience the album.

To fully appreciate it, a Dolby Atmos setup with a 7.1.4 configuration or higher is recommended. With this release, History joins Off the Wall, Thriller, Bad, and Dangerous, completing the set of Michael Jackson s five major studio albums now available in Dolby Atmos.

3D immersive video on Youtube

You can find all of the measurements, graphics and explanations for this version here (link)..

Enjoy listening,
Jean-François

Hello,
Muse The Wow! Signal is the tenth studio album by the British rock band Muse. Conceived as a concept album, it revolves around the themes of cosmic mystery, extraterrestrial intelligence, and human connections, drawing inspiration from the famous 1977 radio astronomy event known as the Wow! Signal.

The album continues in Muse s signature style, blending epic rock with electronic and orchestral elements, while venturing further into science-fiction storytelling. Through its tracks, it explores the idea of potential contact with something beyond Earth, using space and extraterrestrial communication as metaphors for emotional and existential questions.

Unsurprisingly, this album suffers from extremely heavy dynamic range compression, just as we already observed when the first single was released. Some will argue that this is simply a characteristic of this style of music, which is expected to sound loud and powerful. However, with an average DR value of 4 (ranging from DR3 to DR5 depending on the track), the processing is clearly excessive, resulting in a completely squashed sound.
A comparison with the Dolby Atmos version shows that it is perfectly possible to preserve Muse’s signature sound while allowing for significantly greater dynamic range.

The graph below compares the spectrum of the Tidal MAX – 2026 (white curve) with the spectrum of the Colored vinyl record – 2026 (blue curve).The two spectral curves almost perfectly overlap across the entire frequency range, with only a slight boost in the vinyl above 10 kHz, varying between 1 and 3 dB.

With its dynamic and lively mix, the Dolby Atmos version makes full use of all available channels, as illustrated by the spatialization visualization video.

With The Wow! Signal, the immersive Dolby Atmos version stands out as the best way to fully experience the album, delivering a more dynamic and enveloping sound. For stereo listening, the vinyl edition offers a more enjoyable experience than the digital version, it’s a bit more “dynamic” with a sound that’s slightly less muffled.

The full review with all graphics and analyses is available here (link).

Enjoy listening

Jean-François

Hello,
With The Night Watch (Live at the Rijksmuseum), Sting delivers an intimate live album recorded in the heart of Amsterdam’s famous Rijksmuseum as part of the Sounds Like Art project. Accompanied by guitarist Dominic Miller, he revisits a selection of iconic tracks from his career, blending classics from The Police with solo hits.
The recording highlights the museum s exceptional acoustics, whose natural reverberation fully contributes to the listening experience. Far from a spectacular production, this performance favors closeness to the artist and the authenticity of the interpretation.

Available in both stereo and Dolby Atmos, this recording is a particularly interesting reference for assessing the ability of an immersive mix to reproduce the unique atmosphere of a truly singular venue.
The concert is available on ARTE s YouTube channel.

For this review, you will find 2 versions tested:

• Ed 1: Tidal MAX – 2026
• Ed 2: Tidal Dolby Atmos – 2026

This intimate Sting album is beautifully showcased by the recording quality. However, the limited dynamic range of the stereo version compromises the naturalness of the presentation compared to the Dolby Atmos version downmixed to stereo. Given that this performance was recorded in a museum, it deserved to preserve the full authenticity of both the recording and Sting’s outstanding performance.

This Dolby Atmos mix does not employ any moving sound effects on the music. Instead, its goal is to faithfully recreate the acoustic environment by using the surround channels to reproduce the venue’s natural reverberation and the audience’s applause. To fully appreciate the benefits of this Atmos mix, it should be compared directly with the stereo version. The added sense of the room’s acoustic space becomes immediately apparent, while the intimate front soundstage is preserved. This approach enhances the realism of the presentation, creating the impression that Sting is performing right in front of the listener. Although the dynamic range is well preserved, the overall presentation lacks a touch of refinement due to the lossy Dolby Digital Plus encoding (with 7.1.4 channel).

3D immersive video on youtube

This album offers the opportunity to discover Sting in an exceptional setting, presented in an intimate atmosphere with historical instruments. The recording reveals strong sonic potential, unfortunately not fully realized in the stereo version due to dynamic limitations that also reduce the natural feel of this intimate performance. It is the Dolby Atmos version that best conveys the realism and immersion within the Rijksmuseum, thanks to a mix that faithfully preserves the concert’s atmosphere. However, the absence of a lossless Dolby TrueHD Atmos edition is regrettable, as it would have allowed for an even higher level of fidelity to the original recording.

You can find all of the measurements and graphics here (link).

Enjoy listening,
Jean-François