Download Surround Spatializer
The application is currently under development. You use it at your own risk in accordance with the license described below, which you accept by downloading the application. We assume no liability for its use.
Download the Windows version:
User Guide
Version 1.0.0.23 · Oct 23, 2026
Surround Visualizer shows the spatial sound of a multichannel audio file (5.1, 7.1, 9.1.6…) as a 3D animation in a window, using an analysis file that has already been computed. It only reads and displays.
Overview and launching
- Windows: double-click surround_visualizer.exe.
The window opens at 1280 × 720 pixels with no file loaded. It starts in Glow2 mode, with both the RMS and Peak layers shown.
Opening files
Lite reads .3DCalc, .3DCalcv2, .3DCalcv3 and .3DCalcv4 analysis files, alone or grouped in a .zip archive.
- Open button (top left) or the O key: opens a file picker.
- Drag and drop a file or an archive into the window.
- .zip archive: every .3DCalc file inside forms a track list. The file name at the top becomes a drop-down list: click it to pick a track.
- Changing track: the previous and next buttons in the bottom bar, or the Page Up and Page Down keys. The drop-down list follows the current track.
If a file cannot be read or contains no track, a short message appears in the top bar.
Interface
Top bar
From left to right:
| Element | Role |
| Open | Opens a file or an archive |
| About | Version, license and link to the website |
| File name / drop-down list | Current file; track list for a .zip archive |
| Mode: Particle / Glow / Glow2 | Rendering style (see below) |
| Trails | Trail length, from 0 to 20 (0 = no trails) |
| Fade | Check box: makes trails fade out. Inactive when Trails is 0 |
Settings apply immediately, without reloading the file.
Bottom bar
- Play and Pause: two buttons. The one matching the current state is highlighted.
- Previous / next track: active only with an archive holding several tracks.
- Time: current position on the left, total length on the right.
- Position slider: click or drag to move within the track; a tooltip shows the time under the mouse.
- Information line, below a separator: Format: 9.1.6 (16ch) | Temporality: 0.1s | Visual v2 | [skip: N]. It shows the channel format, the length of one analysis zone, the rendering version and the number of skipped frames when the computer cannot keep up. “End” is added at the end of the track.
- MagicVinylDigital.net, at the very bottom right: link to the website.
Mouse and keyboard
Mouse, on the graphic
| Action | Effect |
| Left button + drag | Rotates the scene (no angle limit) |
| Right button + drag | Zoom |
| Middle button + drag | Moves the scene |
| Wheel | Zoom |
Keyboard
| Key | Effect |
| Space | Play / pause |
| ← / → | Previous / next frame (while paused) |
| Page Up / Page Down | Previous / next track (.zip archive) |
| O | Open a file |
| R | Reset the camera to its default view |
| S | Saves a PNG capture of the graphic (without the bars) in the current folder, named capture.png (then capture(001).png, etc.) |
| Esc | Closes an open dialog, or quits the application |
Reading the display
Each speaker of the format (L, R, C, LFE, Lw, Rw, Ls, Rs, Lsb, Rsb, LTF, RTF…) is shown inside a cube. Particles appear where the sound is located:
- Position: derived from how the energy is distributed between channels. “Front” and “Rear” mark the front and back.
- Color: follows frequency (gradient at the top of the window, from 0 to 22 kHz). Height (Top) channels use the red → blue gradient on the right.
- Size and intensity: follow the sound level.
- RMS and Peak: both layers are shown together.
Rendering modes
- Particle: sharp particles.
- Glow: same rendering as Glow2 with a more discreet halo (glow radius and strength halved). Handy when Glow2 saturates the image.
- Glow2 (default): luminous particles with a blended halo. Softer, and a little heavier to compute.
Trails
The Trails slider keeps 1 to 20 past positions of each particle, which shows movement. With Fade checked, older positions fade out; unchecked, they stay at full intensity.
Smoothness
Playback follows the computer’s clock. If rendering cannot keep up, frames are skipped rather than slowing the track down: the [skip: N] counter in the information line counts them. To reduce skipping, switch to Particle, lower Trails or make the window smaller.
About, license and troubleshooting
The About button shows the version number (1.0.0.25), the license and the link https://magicvinyldigital.net. Close the box with Close, Enter or Esc.
License: You are free to share and use the generated graphics (including commercially), on the strict condition that the logo remains visible on the final image. Removing the logo is prohibited without prior permission. The logo cannot be turned off.
Common problems
| Symptom | What to do |
| “Unsupported format” | The file is not a .3DCalc, .3DCalcv2, .3DCalcv3, .3DCalcv4 or .zip |
| “No 3DCalc file in …” | The .zip archive contains no analysis file |
| “Error: …” | The file is corrupted or truncated: generate it again |
| Frames skip ([skip] keeps rising) | Switch to Particle, lower Trails or make the window smaller |
| The window does not open on Linux | A graphical environment (X11 or Wayland) is required |
| macOS blocks the launch | Right-click the application › Open, or allow it in Settings › Privacy & Security |