Aro by Orbit Spatial
Ambisonics · Mid-Side · A-format · macOS

Ambisonic decoding,
made beautiful.

Aro decodes Ambisonics, first to seventh order, to any speaker layout up to 9.1.6 or to Orbit Binaural on headphones — and turns Mid-Side, Double Mid-Side and A-format recordings into sound you can place. And you can see every bit of it.

Coming soon. We’re putting the finishing touches to Aro. Join the list and you’ll hear the moment it’s ready.

Get notified See what it does
1st–7th orderUp to 9.1.6Apple Silicon
Aro’s Speakers view: a 7.1.4 layout seen from above, each speaker drawn as a blue disc with its level in dB, output set to Orbit Binaural.Aro’s Map view: the whole sphere unrolled into a flat azimuth-by-elevation map, with a blue heat trail showing where the energy has been and the speakers marked across it.Aro’s Sphere view: a wireframe sphere with each 7.1.4 speaker marked in blue, a red heat trail near the centre and the dominant direction read out as azimuth +162°, elevation −14°.Aro’s Head view: top, front and side views of a listener’s head with the sound direction drawn around each, above a graph of direction over time.
One app, three ways in

Bring whatever you recorded.

Choose a method — or just drop a WAV. Aro will suggest what it is; you decide.

  • Ambisonics

    Open a WAV and Aro will suggest what it is.

    Open Ambisonic WAV…

  • Batch

    Decode a whole set of files in one go.

    Add WAV files…

  • Combine

    Build one file from the separate mono files of an Ambisonic, Mid-Side, Double Mid-Side or A-format recording.

    Combine files…
Four views

See where the sound is coming from.

Sphere, Map, Speakers and Head follow the dominant direction as the file plays, with a heat trail of where the energy has been.

Decode

First to seventh order, to any layout.

Choose a speaker layout or Orbit Binaural and listen before you commit. Every output has a level and a mute, so what you hear is exactly what you decode.

Orders

1st to 7th — 4 to 64 channels, AmbiX or FuMa

Layouts

Stereo, 5.1, 7.1, 7.1.4, 9.1.6 or your own OSLS layout

Headphones

Orbit Binaural

Orient

Turn, tilt and roll the whole scene

Shape

Beamforming and custom decodes

Encode

Encode to Ambisonics, up to 7th order

Aro’s Mixer view for a 7.1.4 decode: a fader, solo and mute for every output from L to Rtb, grouped into front, LFE, sides, rears and heights, with a master fader.
Convert

Mid-Side and Double Mid-Side, made easy.

Five steps from the mics to a finished file — keep it classic stereo, or make it spatial.

  1. 01

    Load your Mid and Side WAVs

    Separate files or one M-S file. Double Mid-Side adds the rear mic.

  2. 02

    Aro converts

    Mid and Side become a stereo pair, with each mic’s pickup drawn so you can see what you have.

  3. 03

    You set the width

    Drag from mono to extra wide and hear the image open up as you move.

  4. 04

    Stereo or spatial

    Keep a traditional stereo image — or place the pair on 7.1.4, 9.1.6 or Orbit Binaural.

  5. 05

    Convert

    A finished WAV, ready to drop into your session.

Aro converting a Mid-Side drum recording: the Mid and Side pickups drawn as a stereo pair on the left with a width slider at 100%, and the pair placed across the front of a 7.1.4 layout on the right, ready to convert.

What you hear is what you decode.

Before you install

System requirements

System

macOS 13 (Ventura) or later. Apple Silicon only — there is no Intel build.

Formats

A standalone app first. AU, VST3 and AAX plugins follow, late 2026 to early 2027.

Opens

Ambisonic WAV, 1st to 7th order (AmbiX, FuMa and .amb). Mid-Side, Double Mid-Side and A-format recordings.

Writes

A decoded WAV for your layout, or Orbit Binaural for headphones.

Plays through

Any output your Mac can see — speakers or headphones.

Decoding, made beautiful.

Aro is coming soon to macOS 13 and later on Apple Silicon, with AU, VST3 and AAX plugins to follow, late 2026 to early 2027.

macOS 13+Apple Silicon · coming soon AU · VST3 · AAXLate 2026 – early 2027

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