Spatial Audio Switcher

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Spatial Audio Switcher

Spatial Audio Switcher

 

A simple taskbar tray application created with AutoHotkey v2.0+ provides quick access to various audio settings, including show/hide desktop icons.

Original Author: Tremontaine
Modified by: DestructiveBurn
Tools Used: Nirsoft SoundVolumeCommandLine & Nirsoft SoundVolumeView
Donate: If you wish to support the work I’ve done, you can do so here: Paypal
My GitHub Version:  https://github.com/DestructiveBurn/spatial-audio-switcher

Versions

If Dolby Access or DTS Sound Unbound is not switching, due to a Microsoft update, go to Nirsoft SoundVolumeCommandLine and download the 64-bit zip.
Replace both svcl.chm and svcl.exe in the resources folder, and it will work again.

 

 

️ Reasons why I updated this taskbar tray application.

Spatial Audio Switcher 1

I run a full surround sound system on my PC.  Audio & Video outputs from my GPU to an audio extractor that goes off to my Atmos amplifier & the video off to another monitor on my PC.  This gives me the ability to have 7.1 surround sound on my PC for videos or games that support it.

Since Windows is not targeted for surround sound on a lot of streaming services, they tend to stay as stereo sound (2.0), all but Netflix, which will do 5.1, though the Edge browser with Dolby Access enabled.  Most games do support 7.1 surround sound, and movies/TV shows do support it, though applications like PotPlayer, if your video itself supports that feature.  What I am getting at is you’ll end up switching from 2.0 or 7.1 a lot, as 2.0 will make the amp virtualize the surround to the back speakers.  If left on 7.1 and it’s a 2-channel audio stream, the back speakers stay quiet.

In Windows 10, it was simple.  Right-click on the speaker icon in the taskbar and select speaker setup to choose 2.0, 5.1 or 7.1 easily.  In Windows 11, they pulled that option completely.  So, to change the speaker setup, you need to go to Control Panel / click Sound (best to create a shortcut on the desktop) / on the Playback tab, right-click on the default device / Configure Speakers, then change the Audio channels you want.  It’s unnecessary extra steps.  Typical for Windows 11.  More extra steps, and I changed this a lot.

So I am looking around for 3rd party applications that can simply do this, like how it was done on Windows 10.  I came across Tremontaine version of the Spatial Audio Switcher, and this was exactly what I needed.  A tool to bring back a simple audio channel selector, which is in the taskbar tray location.   There were some things I wanted to change, like how Configure Speakers says Five-point One and Seven-point One to 5.1 and 7.1.  From using this for a week or so, I thought it was going to be worth my time to improve it, since he left the uncompiled version up, I can tweak the code.

So I spent a bunch of hours looking over the code from Spatial Audio Switcher.ahk, and figuring out how AutoHotkey Dash works, and I like it.  Found some limitations, though, like you can’t change the menu background, but I decided to do a bunch of tweaks and figured, why not also add the other thing I use on Windows to the application too?  Show/Hide desktop icons with just double-clicking, which I decided to change in v1.3 after realizing you need to double-click desktop icons to open in an explorer window, so yeah, I changed that to a triple-click.   At least now opening desktop icons won’t hide when you open one.

After I had everything I wanted and cleaned up that code as well, I thought I’d fork the version onto my GitHub page and upload the zip and the version name.  That was a mistake. I found out right away that I have no damn clue how to use GitHub, as it randomly generated a source code folder.  Not sure how it can figure out the source code from non-source code.  Not sure. I am new to GitHub, ok lol.   I’ll figure it out. I would rather just post here, which I will, but I’ll figure the system out eventually.    Don’t look at the commits.  Might get larger with me trying to figure out their system lol.  Learning that code is easier than figuring out GitHub lol.

But that being said.  I love Spatial Audio Switcher, and my improvements to it make it better.  I’ll continue to support it.  Never know, might add something else cool to it too.

 

✨ Features

Spatial Audio

  • Dolby Atmos for Headphones
  • Dolby Atmos for Home Theater
  • DTS Headphone:X
  • DTS:X for Home Theater
  • Windows Sonic for Headphones

⚙️ Audio Settings

  • Advanced: Opens SoundVolumeView by NirSoft
  • Modern: Opens System Sound settings
  • Traditional: Opens classic Sound Window

Speaker Configuration

  • Stereo: FL | FR
  • Quadraphonic: FL | FR | RL | RR
  • 5.1 Surround: FL | FC | FR | SL | SR | Sub
  • 7.1 Surround: FL | FC | FR | SL | SR | RL | RR | Sub

Note: Quickly change your sound configuration if your system supports surround sound.

Default Format (Sample Rate)

Bit Depth Sample Rates
16 Bit 44100 Hz, 48000 Hz, 96000 Hz, 192000 Hz
24 Bit 44100 Hz, 48000 Hz, 96000 Hz, 192000 Hz

Exclusivity

  • Exclusive: Allows applications to take exclusive control
  • Not Exclusive: Prevents exclusive control

Note: Some audio applications request exclusive mode for higher quality playback, but this prevents other apps from playing sounds simultaneously.

️ Volume Mixer

Quickly adjust individual application volumes.

️ Show/Hide Desktop Icons

Triple-click on the desktop to toggle icon visibility.

Start With Windows

Adds a shortcut to:

C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

Other Functions

  • Reload: Reset all settings to default
  • Exit: Close the application
  • About: Version information and changelog

 

️ Preview

  • You can open this menu by left-clicking on the tray icon or using this shortcut Windows + Alt + S shortcut.

Spatial Audio Switcher 3

  • This one is opened by right-clicking on the tray icon.

Spatial Audio Switcher

 

Installation

  1. Download the Spatial Audio Switcher zip
  2. Extract the Spatial Audio Switcher folder from the zip
  3. Download SoundVolumeCommandLine & SoundVolumeView
  4. Both SoundVolumeCommandLine & SoundVolumeView files go into the Resources directory. (SoundVolumeView.exe & svcl.exe)
  5. Place the folder in a permanent location (portable tool)
  6. Click on Spatial Audio Switcher.exe
  7. Check the taskbar tray location for the icon.

 

️ Requirements

 

 Icon Credits

All icons used in this project are attributed to their respective creators:

Feature Icon Source
Spatial Audio Flaticon – Waves
Audio Settings Flaticon – Settings
Speaker Config Flaticon – Surround Sound
Default Format Flaticon – Music Wave
Exclusivity Flaticon – Song
Volume Mixer Flaticon – Setting
GitHub Flaticon – GitHub
Power Flaticon – Power Button
Monitor Flaticon – LCD

ℹ️ About GUI

On all versions from v1.02, there will be a ChangeLog in that version of the Spatial Audio Switcher.exe. To see the main change log, scroll down to see the full extent of the updates done below.

Spatial Audio Switcher

VirusTotal Verification (False Positives)

⚠️ Important Security Note

When compiling the AHK script to EXE, some antivirus engines may flag the output due to:

  1. The nature of AutoHotkey’s compiler (used by both legitimate and malicious software)
  2. The program’s ability to modify system audio settings
  3. Common false positives with script-based utilities

Key Points:

  • Windows Defender typically doesn’t flag the compiled EXE
  • Detection varies based on the compiled filename and compiler version
  • You can verify safety by:
    • Reviewing the source code.
    • Compiling it yourself with AutoHotkey v2+
    • Scanning with your preferred antivirus

I personally guarantee the code is clean – I wouldn’t invest time improving unsafe software. These false positives are an unfortunate reality of script-based tools.

VirusTotal

I’ve been working with the Spatial Audio Switcher.ahk, and when I compile it to an .exe using AutoHotKey Dash, I’ve noticed that some antivirus programs are incorrectly flagging the executables. While I haven’t seen this issue with Windows Defender, there are definitely some false positives on VirusTotal. Changing the name during compilation alters the results on that site. I can assure you the code is clean. If you’re curious, you can download AutoHotKey Dash and compile the Spatial Audio Switcher.ahk yourself to check what VirusTotal says.

I suspect that since this is a script-based tool builder, some users may have employed it for unusual purposes. Who knows? If it weren’t safe, I wouldn’t be dedicating my time to modding this application.

 

ChangeLog

v1.04 2025-09-23
  • Fixed settings persistence: Spatial Audio, Speaker Configuration, Default Format, and Exclusivity are now properly remembered
  • Added INI file support to save and restore user preferences between sessions
  • Settings are preserved when closing and reopening the application
  • No more forced resets – user choices are maintained
v1.03 2025-07-04

• Changes & Addons

  • Changed Show/Hide from double-click to triple-click.
  • Added donate link under about.
v1.02 2025-07-03

• Spatial Audio Formats:

  • Added Dolby Atmos for Home Theater support.
  • Added DTS:X for Home Theater support.

• Speaker Configurations:

  • Added Quadraphonic (4.0) speaker setup.

• User Interface:

  • Added “Start with Windows” option.
  • Added a bunch of icons in the UI.
  • Added developer website link.
  • Added link to original source code.

• Show/Hide Desktop Icons:

  • As a bonus, I have added the ability to show/hide icons when you double-click on the desktop.
Posted in Windows Software.