Free Sound Spatialization Software

 APG, a French loudspeaker manufacturer, who designs sound reinforcement systems for immersive live sound has released NESS (New Experience of Sound Spatialization) which they describe as  the industry's first free sound spatialization software.

A spokesperson told us, "We see competitors selling sound spatialization solutions for very big productions with hardware that is often in excess of $20000 and we do not understand why people should pay this price for a  technology that is public and ready for 20 years. We decided to offer this tool to democratize immersive sound and let every artist / sound designer / producer be part of this new exciting world. Put it on a mac or PC with a low latency sound card, and you can enter the exciting world of live immersive sound for quite nothing!"

Here's more details from the company...

NESS offers a reliable sound spatialization solution based on established, proven audio algorithms. It works on PC and Mac with any kind of sound card and allows managing up to 16 audio objects on 32 output channels. The software has been optimized to work on scalable configurations, from small home studio setups to big live venues.

What can you do with NESS ?

• If you work with any audio software that handles multitrack projects, you can route all those signals to NESS to render each track in a dedicated position in your room.
• You can configure your loudspeaker setups directly in the software within minutes, or directly work with headphones thanks to its binaural engine.
• Unlock your creativity with the automations features, create synchronized movements, and realistic spaces with the reverb engine.

 

NESS comes with some convenient tools:

• Plugins to control the audio object's position from your DAW
• A TouchOSC patch for remote control of NESS features
• A full OSC API for interactive sound art installations, or synchronization with light and video

 

Resources are also available online:

• Tutorials, including how to integrate NESS in your workflow
• Demo projects
• User documentation
• FAQ
• The processing is explained in the white paper

 

Free licenses can be obtained here.
Users can also join the facebook group to share their feedbacks, experiences and discuss new features.
 

More information:

• NESS