barralutz/spatial-audio-lab — explained in plain English
Analysis updated 2026-05-18
Build a custom multi-speaker surround sound setup out of ordinary PC audio devices.
Capture and play back Dolby Atmos or DTS:X audio from games in real time.
Watch Dolby or Atmos encoded movie files through a custom speaker layout.
Study how Windows spatial audio and virtual audio drivers work internally.
| barralutz/spatial-audio-lab | allentdan/shape_based_matching | amu2mod/radeonmon | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stars | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Language | C++ | C++ | C++ |
| Last pushed | — | 2019-03-01 | — |
| Maintenance | — | Dormant | — |
| Setup difficulty | hard | moderate | moderate |
| Complexity | 5/5 | 3/5 | 3/5 |
| Audience | ops devops | developer | vibe coder |
Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.
Requires Visual Studio, the Windows Driver Kit, and disabling driver signature enforcement for a test-signed driver.
SpatialAudioLab is an experimental Windows project that captures immersive, object based surround sound from games and movies, then plays it back through a custom arrangement of ordinary speakers connected to your computer. Instead of needing an expensive dedicated home theater receiver, it lets a PC route formats like Dolby MAT, DTS:X, and Dolby Atmos to a setup you define yourself, from a simple stereo pair up to a full 7.1.4 speaker layout spread across multiple audio devices. The README is explicit that this is research software rather than a finished product. It relies on a test signed driver, meaning Windows driver protections must be loosened to run it, along with private details of how Windows handles spatial audio internally that were observed on one specific Windows version. It also warns that games using kernel level anti-cheat should not be run while this driver is active. The project is made up of several pieces working together. Studio is the graphical tool where you place virtual speakers, wire them to your real audio devices, and monitor live volume meters. Cinema plays back movie files in formats like E-AC-3 JOC and TrueHD Atmos. A command line tool handles diagnostics and the underlying routing engine, while a C++ core manages mixing multiple audio devices together and keeping their clocks in sync. Building it from source is involved. It requires Windows 11, Visual Studio 2022 with driver development tools, the Windows Driver Kit, and the .NET 8 SDK, plus either Dolby Access or a DTS Sound Unbound license depending on which format you want to decode. Setup is scripted through a series of PowerShell tools that prepare the driver, build the applications, and launch the Studio interface, where you assign your own speakers to channels and save a profile before starting playback. The project studies and reuses several other open source efforts as submodules, including Microsoft's SysVAD sample driver and the Cavern audio library, each keeping its own separate license. This is squarely aimed at audio hobbyists and researchers comfortable with driver level Windows tinkering, not casual listeners.
A Windows research project that captures surround sound from games and movies and plays it back through your own custom arrangement of speakers.
Mainly C++. The stack also includes C++, .NET 8, PowerShell.
Not clearly stated for the main project, bundled third-party components keep their own separate licenses.
Setup difficulty is rated hard, with roughly 1day+ to a first successful run.
Mainly ops devops.
This repo across BitVibe Labs
double-check against the repo, no cap.