Cavernize user guide

What is Cavernize?

This software is able to convert 3D surround sound to formats that can be played on your PC. What was only possible with expensive AVRs before, like true Dolby Atmos playback, can be done for free with Cavern. Curious users can have fun with listening to one or few objects at a time with the filtering capabilities of the tool. You can find Cavernize on the Downloads page.

Cavernize is a conversion tool, meaning it will create a new file for your content, with the audio transformed for spatial playback. Provide what channel layout you would like to use, and Cavernize will render the selected content to that specific layout. Layouts like 5.1.2 are possible on any 7.1 system by reassigning a few channels. In that case, the side outputs become top outputs, and if you wire in-ceiling speakers as sides, you will experience true height surround on that system.

What files are supported?

Supported codecs:

Enhanced AC-3 with Joint Object Coding (Dolby Digital Plus Atmos)
Audio Definition Model Broadcast Wave Format
Limitless Audio Format
RIFF WAVE

Supported file types:

Matroska (.mka, .mkv, .weba, .webm)
MP4 variants (.mov, .mp4, .qt)
Enhanced AC-3 (.ac3, .eac3, .ec3)
Limitless Audio Format (.laf)
RIFF WAVE (.wav)

How to convert content?

Cavernize is layed out in the order of the steps you should take They are described in detail below.

Step 1: System setup

This is where you set how many speakers you have and where they are placed. The Render target field lists all available layouts.

Only select a number of channels you've actually connected. Most PCs support 8 channels at max, limiting you to 5.1.2.

The image of the room shows all supported channels, and the speakers that will be used are marked with green. To see which output of your sound card connects to which speaker, press the Display wiring button. This will show messages like "Connect the Top side left channel to your system's Side left output." for each speaker. When the wiring matches this setting, the rendered content will be true 3D surround sound, but the PC or player will think it's a simple 7.1 file.

Next to the preset layouts, two custom options are available:

Cavern Driver: Use the layout you set up in the Cavern Driver. This allows you to go beyond the 16 channels present in the presets, or customize the layout exactly to your room, re-rendered down to the degree.
Headphone Virtualizer: Outputs a stereo file that provides ambisonic listening experience through headphones.

For advanced users, the Rendering menu has some toys. Hover the mouse on each option to learn more about them.

Step 2: FFmpeg

For some conversions, FFmpeg has to be used until Cavern fully supports all formats required for a conversion process. First, download FFmpeg from its website. After unpacking it anywhere, press the Locate FFmpeg button, and find where ffmpeg.exe is. It's usually in the bin folder of the downloaded archive.

Step 3: Content processing

Cavernize will remember step 1 and 2, so at later launches you only have to work in this small area. Open the file you want to convert for PC playback with the Open content button. All important info about the file will appear, along with the final settings that you might not even have to change. The Track field lists all detected audio tracks with their languages, with the highest quality object-based track already selected. When you change the track, the file info will update. The Output field selects the final codec. All of these are supported on a PC, and there is no perceived quality difference between them. The PCM option is only there for some media players, but Opus is the recommended option to keep file sizes to a minimum. When everything is set, press Render now. Name the output file, then wait for the conversion to finish, and enjoy the result!

Troubleshooting

Sound is coming from wrong directions - Use a player that guarantees standard channel output, like MPC-HC.
Silent output - This happens when you exported more than 8 channels (like 7.1.4) to a player that only supports 8 channels at max.
Conversion errors - Most likely not enough free disk space or FFmpeg was closed accidentally.
Something else - Write to me through this form.